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Our Baja Bus ( Back at it again )

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OZ Towdster Keen to finish some projects

1,921 posts · joined Dec 2003 ·

#902916
So with that all done i also found so time and knocked up a tow bar / rear bumper combination which all hugs the back of the body nicely and is strong enough to hook on the odd trailer or bogged 4wd








Don't let body work get in the way of real suspension travel

OZ Towdster Keen to finish some projects

1,921 posts · joined Dec 2003 ·

#902917
I'll try and keep my updates comming folks as it is so close to paint now it is not funny
Don't let body work get in the way of real suspension travel

h fractals - an ever changing lifestyle

7,671 posts · joined Feb 2005 ·

#902924
so we'll see it at Valla then huh? 😂
fractal geometry; the inner most limits of mind altering abuse

Fantasy http://seventhchronicle.com

Z = Z2 + C1/r = 1/0 = infinity

Barrels www.barrelman.com.au

VW Workshop - aircooledgarage.com.au
allcooled.com.au

OZ Towdster Keen to finish some projects

1,921 posts · joined Dec 2003 ·

#902965
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm yeh mabey , but more than likely it will still be at the painters at that time as the lead time for Preptech who are the only blasters anyone trusts is currently out to a month which doesn't leave enough time for the painting and assembly in the 10 odd weeks left till Valla .
Don't let body work get in the way of real suspension travel

OZ Towdster Keen to finish some projects

1,921 posts · joined Dec 2003 ·

#902991
Well i have been at the big bus for yet another full day and and have now got the alloy bull bar / radiator support mainly remade as it had a little incident with a tree while on the road in late 2008 ( approx 3 days after we finished the bar the first time ).
As well as refabbing the drivers side of the bar i am also moving the radaitor back approx 30mm at the bottom so as to be able to fit in the subaru liberty / outback condenser which will then utilise the fans for the main radiator as it would do in it's stock home of a subaru body .
Will post some pics up as soon as i get my desk top back later in the week .

Andrew
Don't let body work get in the way of real suspension travel

vassy66T1 Wow ... are U reading this?

2,120 posts · joined Jun 2003 ·

#903016
The tow bar is a very nice piece of fabrication.
Thanks for sharing!

grinderman Officially Full-On Dubber

378 posts · joined Apr 2011 ·

#903052
Good work Andrew, I love the heavy duty crossmembers and all the custom fab. It feels good to know that a long term project is getting close to paint and you have modded the car to suit your needs. I guess the closer the bus is to being finished the closer the toad is to being finished !!!

crazyfiggi Wolfsburg Wizard

657 posts · joined Jun 2003 ·

#904207
That tow bar looks great! Very nice work.
What size tires are on the front of this van?
Alex.

OZ Towdster Keen to finish some projects

1,921 posts · joined Dec 2003 ·

#936803
With some pushing from some mates i'mm back at it , stay tuned
Don't let body work get in the way of real suspension travel

tar76 Custom Title Time!

1,622 posts · joined Dec 2009 ·

#936808
Nice Andrew 👍
"Obey your Dreams"!


62 Std beetle.
65 11 wnd Split "The Cross".
6? coming very soon!!!!

h fractals - an ever changing lifestyle

7,671 posts · joined Feb 2005 ·

#936809
OZ Towdster wrote:With some pushing from some mates i'mm back at it , stay tuned
yeah bout time
still time before the manx DI run.. c'mon 😀
fractal geometry; the inner most limits of mind altering abuse

Fantasy http://seventhchronicle.com

Z = Z2 + C1/r = 1/0 = infinity

Barrels www.barrelman.com.au

VW Workshop - aircooledgarage.com.au
allcooled.com.au

OZ Towdster Keen to finish some projects

1,921 posts · joined Dec 2003 ·

#936827
h wrote:
OZ Towdster wrote:With some pushing from some mates i'mm back at it , stay tuned
yeah bout time
still time before the manx DI run.. c'mon 😀
Not that much time , unless of coarse you want to come down and help .
I have plenty of tools and a big bus
Don't let body work get in the way of real suspension travel

h fractals - an ever changing lifestyle

7,671 posts · joined Feb 2005 ·

#936828
I would however the minister of war and finance has my rear end hanging out during "her" holiday break
I'm mr plumber today
chauffeur tomoro
vege garden builder the following, a list as big as the rule book to be completed before the DI run
enjoy the challenge 😁
fractal geometry; the inner most limits of mind altering abuse

Fantasy http://seventhchronicle.com

Z = Z2 + C1/r = 1/0 = infinity

Barrels www.barrelman.com.au

VW Workshop - aircooledgarage.com.au
allcooled.com.au

OZ Towdster Keen to finish some projects

1,921 posts · joined Dec 2003 ·

#937007
So for a bit of a n update as to where i am on this Bus

Ok so yes i'vve been slack on this build again , mainly for the fact , that i couldn't afford to get it painted with quotes ranging from $11,000.00 to $15,000.00 and beyond plus $2500.00 to have it stripped .
And those painting quotes were from a range of shops ranging from backyarders to full pro shops , but all of them prof painters .
Had even contemplated parting the bus out in an effort to regain some of the money dropped into this build and just concentrate on the Towdster , but couldn't in the end bring myself to that when it was as close to finishing it as it is .
So here we are ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, so at this point i have stripped the shell of all it's unboltable panels and any catches , door strikes , and rubbers etc and over my Christmas break am hoping to get it fully paint stripped and etch primed with hopefully some of the filler work completed .
If youv've read ealier on in this thread it was originally going to be painted in a pearl orange with cream pearl upper , but as i'mm not a pro painter and it is probabley going to cop the odd scratch up the beach etc i have abandonned that idea and it will be just painted in a nice vibrant solid orange all over , but still have some dark grey accents to break it up in the rear bumper , the bulll bar , and the rims , and the same grey will be used inside in the seat cloth and hood lining etc.
Anyway , i hope this bloody rain pisses of soon as bare metal and dampness are not a good mix .
Will post some pics soon

Andrew
Don't let body work get in the way of real suspension travel

h fractals - an ever changing lifestyle

7,671 posts · joined Feb 2005 ·

#937024
rain? what rain? none here in gods own 😀
fractal geometry; the inner most limits of mind altering abuse

Fantasy http://seventhchronicle.com

Z = Z2 + C1/r = 1/0 = infinity

Barrels www.barrelman.com.au

VW Workshop - aircooledgarage.com.au
allcooled.com.au

OZ Towdster Keen to finish some projects

1,921 posts · joined Dec 2003 ·

#937178
The last couple of days leading up to Christmas i collected a few things needed for the comming weeks , ie bought a compressor and some spray guns , some paint stripper , some etch primer , thinners , prepsol etc etc etc
Well today i was up bright and early and into what i thought was going to be an easy day of paint stripping , but alas it just turned into a very longday of stripping one layer at a time , which would've been great ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, except to previose owners had resprayed this bus 4 plus times , all on top of each other .
Anyway i have got the drivers side stripped and etch primed which turned out pretty well and the wave'y panels are not so wavey with out all the previose dodgy paint jobs .











Don't let body work get in the way of real suspension travel

OZ Towdster Keen to finish some projects

1,921 posts · joined Dec 2003 ·

#937278
Well another fun day of stripping and Etching is done folks , with the drivers rear corner and the rear all stripped and etched .
Again i am happy with how realatively straight this bus is under the many layers .
Don't let body work get in the way of real suspension travel

bajachris88 The international telephone dialing code for Antarctica is 6

6,661 posts · joined Apr 2005 ·

#937282
OZ Towdster wrote:i am happy with how realatively straight this bus is .
haha, was thinking the same thing going through the pictures before coming to your last comment. Very nice work!

Hopefully this rain be gone soon for some more photos of progress by end of the weekend 👍 🙂
(ô_!_/ô) (ô_!_/ô)
69' baja: kombi box, thing spindles, irs, disc front, type 3 rear drums, 2 inch lift kit, 31x10 rears. 👍
New engine in process: 94mm p&bs, 74mm C/w chomol Crank, 35.5x39 SP heads, turbo. Wierd combo, hopeful torque monsta!

OZ Towdster Keen to finish some projects

1,921 posts · joined Dec 2003 ·

#937855
Been at the bus for a few more days now and have basicully got everything below the roof stripped and in Etch Primer which is huge job on any bus when your doing all the stripping with paint stripper and mainly a 40mm wide scraper .
The inside area's have been just servely wire brushed with and the angle grinder and then scrubbed with some hand paper and random orbital where possible with the emphasis on having a nice clean finish and no hidden brown spots under the primer

So heres a few shots







Don't let body work get in the way of real suspension travel

tar76 Custom Title Time!

1,622 posts · joined Dec 2009 ·

#937856
Looking good
"Obey your Dreams"!


62 Std beetle.
65 11 wnd Split "The Cross".
6? coming very soon!!!!

handycam king of something

1,338 posts · joined Oct 2003 ·

#937905
looking good andrew

h fractals - an ever changing lifestyle

7,671 posts · joined Feb 2005 ·

#937933
so all primed for the weekend then 😵‍💫
fractal geometry; the inner most limits of mind altering abuse

Fantasy http://seventhchronicle.com

Z = Z2 + C1/r = 1/0 = infinity

Barrels www.barrelman.com.au

VW Workshop - aircooledgarage.com.au
allcooled.com.au

OZ Towdster Keen to finish some projects

1,921 posts · joined Dec 2003 ·

#937937
MMMMMMMMMMM No
Don't let body work get in the way of real suspension travel

h fractals - an ever changing lifestyle

7,671 posts · joined Feb 2005 ·

#937938
what what what !
I'll be there for a saturday day trip
early ferry c u there
fractal geometry; the inner most limits of mind altering abuse

Fantasy http://seventhchronicle.com

Z = Z2 + C1/r = 1/0 = infinity

Barrels www.barrelman.com.au

VW Workshop - aircooledgarage.com.au
allcooled.com.au

OZ Towdster Keen to finish some projects

1,921 posts · joined Dec 2003 ·

#939757
Not much to report of late , have been repairing one of my drivers door outer skin , and was repairing a pretty rotten sliding door because i couldn't find any others but that is now a right off .
The good news is though that h has found me a pristine sliding door in Sydney , Thanks bud
Have also been under the bus of an afternoon with the scrappers , and a grinder fitted with a wire wheel cleaning off 36 years of crud mainly buried under bloody body deadner where someone was to lazy ( NOT ME ) to clean everything prior to applying the rubbery layer .
Have got to get the Towdster rolling this weekend so it can go to Steel Art for some work over the next few weeks , so that will free up some space here and i'll get into the body filler etc hopefully this week after work
Don't let body work get in the way of real suspension travel

OZ Towdster Keen to finish some projects

1,921 posts · joined Dec 2003 ·

#974293
Well 10 months on i am finally getting onto that body filler , and as expected it is painfully slow trying to get those big flat sides of a bus nice and straight but we'll get there eventually.
So i thought i'dd start on the 2 worst panels on the bus , that are both relativly straight but just a wee bit wavy after welding up all the deluxe holes last year ,and the rear wheel arch which was never a pretty picture with some heat distortion from the welded up bigger wheel arch .
Am happy to say i am starting to get the hang of the hole body filler deal of not putting to much on an spending hour sanding it back to where you need it and or the opposite of not putting enough filler on and having to refill .
Anyway hopefully i can keep inspired on this again for a while , while Paul keeps at my Towdster over at Steel Art Creations



Don't let body work get in the way of real suspension travel

nils Fahrvergnugen

971 posts · joined Jan 2008 ·

#974297
Hi Andrew,
I keep meaning to ask, is your bus missing the deformation panel at the front?

Whats the plan there?
Quit calling rust patina

OZ Towdster Keen to finish some projects

1,921 posts · joined Dec 2003 ·

#974298
I'mm guessing you mean the hump behind the stock front bumper location , if so , thats how it is staying as i removed it to have more room for the front mount radiator and replaced it with the 2.5mm flat panel you see in the pics and the 2 brackets are the mounts for the aluminium front bull bar / radiator enclosure
Don't let body work get in the way of real suspension travel

OZ Towdster Keen to finish some projects

1,921 posts · joined Dec 2003 ·

#978512
Bit more body work on the drivers side and almost ready for some spray putty to get the final ripples out of those big flat panels

The drivers pillar where i joined in the new nose cone to the existing pillar



The bottom corner of the nose where a bit of filler was required to fill the hammer and dolly marks of wrapping the lip around the inner pillar of the nose



The middle drivers side where yesterday i found a dimple dent i hadn't seen previosly



And the back drivers corner with a combination of tiny dings , where i welded up the deluxe trim holes and a badley repaired dent down the bottom from the previous owner

Don't let body work get in the way of real suspension travel

Scottkombi Officially Full-On Dubber

358 posts · joined Dec 2008 ·

#978528
Wow...great effort - now you can appreciate why panel shops charge so much to striaghten and paint a kombi - they are a massive job. Looking excellent though and you have great attention to detail. Should be a show winner when completed.
88 Caravelle Syncro Camper
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05 Mk5 Golf 1.9 TDi DSG