Hi all , amongst my other projects i currently have underway i thought shit i'mm not busy enough yet lets start something else as well as the house resto and Towdster rebuild (bloody idiot comes to mind here).
Well it all started approx 8 months ago when Buggy Brad decided to sell his EG33 subie Boxer motor and i thought it would be a nice conversion to our 77 Baja Bay Deluxe , so a deal was done and then it sat and sat and sat in the roof of COR till two weeks ago when i took a week and a half off work and had this CRAZY vision that i could do the hole conversion in this time to which Brad couldn't stop laughing about.
Well i'mm back at work now and needless to say the Bus is still sitting at COR unfinished but is still coming along slowly (Comon Brad you know you''ll dig me here so imm ready for it ).
What weve done so far ~
When i bought the motor of Brad it had already been previosly mounted in his old dual cab and had an exhaust fabricated for it and a few other bits and pieces plus had been proven to be quite an easy fit in the dual cab body , but alas not such an easy fit in the kombi body due to the fuel tank .
So after some measuring it was found as noted above that the easiest fix for the fuel tank was to remove it all together from behind the motor and fabricate a new one but more about that later.
Once the engine bay was all cleaned up i mated the motor complete with a "Volksconversions" adapter up to a rebuilt 091 2ltr box rebuilt by Mick @ Mick Motors and after afew final measures fitted it in to the engine bay which is tight but nice fit with the twin throttle bodies and associated plumbing siting through into th old fuel tank area.
With that done i then fabricated a new sump so as to gain 60mm ground clearance back but reatain the oil capacity of the original sump.
As previosly mentioned brad had already had exhausts fabricated for the conversion so that was a pretty quick bolt on item with the next item on the list a new engine crossmember which i fabricated and fitted yesterday so as it no longer had to just hang off the geabox ears.
While this was all going on i also cut and folded a new alloy fuel tank up which is going in front of the old fuel tank area where the back seat would normally go which i don't have anyway and will hold approx 100 litres which will be great for those long road trips. Once fitted this will be fully enclosed with a newly fabricated firewall so as to be safer etc.
The next item to be fabricated is the alloy bull bar / radiator mount which i have allready done some work on and will get folded up this week for fabrication next weekend .
I will post more as soon as done and mabey some photos if i ever rember to take my camera with me .
At this point i would also like to thank Dave and all the boys at Custom Vee Dub formally known as Custom Off Road for their help and keeping my ideas in check.
bond ·
i see alot of text there and no pics... .lol
nick
OZ Towdster ·
OK i finally got round to taking some pics of our progresss.
Looking in to the power house
And a close up
Down stairs
Crossmember
Down stairs from the front
The Exhaust
The Baja Bus with a subtle add for the Shop
11CAB ·
Looking good
handycam ·
top job andrew looking good hope 2 have a look in the flesh one day
kombibob ·
dam! thats looking good👍
reub ·
looks great...and will go nice too no doubt...
Fingers crossed I've got some veedub time when I'm in Brissie between the 19-23...would love to see it👍
h ·
yeah baby yeah.. groovy!
Brad ·
yawn ...... how many days is it so far Andrew ???
I cleared a space in the shed to wire it weeks ago and nothing there but dust and Alpaca poo .... oh well I can give it a good clean at Xmas when I am still waiting for ya bus to show ...
That being said it is looking awesome and you and Dave have done a great job. You are correct I am still laughing about the 7 day thing as it brings back memories of me thinking I could do a subie conversion in 14 days...
As you would now know the bolting in of the engine is the quick and easy part, but the end result will be worth it as you will have the only unfinished EG33 Baja Bus in the world and if we get a really big ass forklift we can put it on the pallet racks nex to the worlds fastest unfinished towdster. 🤓🤓😵💫
Luckily for you the Turd Mk2 is keeping your wife from having to walk to work .....👍👍
You really need to pay more attention and get one job finished before you start another one.. at least I generally sell one unfished project before I start another .. talking of which anyone want to buy a half finished Iguana Buggy ?????
For anyone who wants to see this baby in the flesh or the towdster or Andrew feel free to drop down to Custom Vee Dub (www.customveedub.com.au) 28 Hayward St, STAFFORD between the hours of 1700 - 0730 Mon to Friday or 0800 - 2200 Sat and Sunday, they will all be there and spanners will be flying as Andrew attempts to make Beach Trip 2008 !!!!!!!
Dasdubber ·
Nice work Andrew - looking bloody good! I bet you can't wait to drive it.....funny how the old saying of "work out how long you expect it take and double it, then work out how much you think it will cost and triple it". That's why split is still in Brad's storage shed after (lost count of how many) years - I was going to get around to starting on it in 2005 (or was it 2004!).
😉
OZ Towdster ·
So hows that Mega Manx comming along Brad is it its 10 birthday yet or 11th 😁😁😁
MickH ·
Buggy Brad wrote:.................it brings back memories of me thinking I could do a subie conversion in 14 days...
.. at least I generally sell one unfished project before I start another .. talking of which anyone want to buy a half finished Iguana Buggy ?????
14 day conversions are a thought of the past......
Any pics of the Iguana???? What are you looking for $$$ wise????
kroozzn63 ·
wow that one tuff looking bay
Brad ·
A Westwood wrote:So hows that Mega Manx comming along Brad is it its 10 birthday yet or 11th 😁😁😁
mm lets see, it was started in 97, body was cut in 2000, body was stolen in 2004 or was that 2003 .. I can't remember, floor pan was sent to the paddock in 2006 and that was pretty much time of death.
It is ok as the Mega Iguana has taken over since then
OZ Towdster ·
😁😁😁
OZ Towdster ·
Well i took it for it's first test drive last night ,allbeit a short run down Buggy Brads road and back and wow this thing motors now baby.
Roll on Dyno Day boys as she ain't 52 hp no more.
A big thank you must go to Buggy Brad for wiring the car for me in the last few days , thanks mate.
dangerous ·
Awesome!!
11CAB ·
Well.....that week only took 3 months.....😂
Good job, I look forward to seeing it at the Mt Mee Night Nav Run........😎
bond ·
i give the gearbox a week.... hehe
well done andrew!
nick
OZ Towdster ·
With the Engine Conversion pretty well all sorted and drivable we have now moved onto the body work on the old girl.
First up rust work , now we've all seen good and bad rust repairs and as a sheetmetal worker i have done plenty myself .
First up lets remove the glass and oll'shit we had plenty of holes ( and i'mm not talking about the glass hole ) , the window sills are pretty cactus so over Easter i have rebuilt the 2 rear side window openings and am moving on to the drivers side middle window opening this weekend plus a few other small patches required around the rear.
Other panel repairs comming up will include removing the front nose panel and replacing with new while at the same time removing the vw heater system to make way for the subie climate control airconditioner / heater.
Will post some pics soon but am now aiming for all finished / complete for Valla , which sounds a while off but will be here before i know it.
Andrew
DubCrazy ·
and u get up me for being slow to post pics!!!! 😂
i do hope its going to be a fitting colour for such a loud bus and that it shows its true glory.
steff.............
Dasdubber ·
Yeah c'mon Andrew - where are the pics???
bajachris88 ·
Good stuff westwood, she would go like a bat outta hell. 👍
OZ Towdster ·
Allright lads heres some photos of some of my repairs so far
OZ Towdster ·
As for a colour how do's the Ford Focus metalic orange on the bottom half and still the stock cream on the top half sound with still the cream wheels and a nice metalic dark grey for the bull bar and rear bumper.
Our interier is black so this will probabley be contrasted with a similar grey to the bumpers etc in carpet
dangerous ·
bajachris88 wrote:Good stuff westwood, she would go like a bat outta hell. 👍
Gotta be better than the 50 or so HP it had at the dyno day.
It will be interesting this year....230 did you say andrew?
Brad ·
You will never make VALLA ..........
DubCrazy ·
the orange thats on the focus XR5 i am guessing ur talking about? nice colour but its a transparent one so it will take more than a normal pearl to cover, so bargain on more product than normal. The standard soild cream on the top? I have always found a pearl doesnt really suit a soild colour and another pearl will off set it much better.
with that orange i think u would have a fair better look with say 25d,mazda,snowflake white(very clean white with xirrilic pearl) or if u want a creamy style maybe the nissans er crap cant think of the code of the top of my head buit its found on the X-trails, a xirrilic white but its a cream reather than a clean white. Get who ever is going to do ur paint to show u a couple of spray out cards , i know it seems a pain but really its worth it as it will set the whole bus off. I did a 67 mustang for one of the people i contract to and it was done in a blue pearl, he wanted the stripes over the car in a straight white(soild colour) but i showed him it with a pearl and he loved it. now a couple more in town with stangs have asked if we can change there stripes or add them in the same...
the fun of it all😎
steff..........................
OZ Towdster ·
Well its been a while since my last update but i have been busy cutting out more rust effected metal mostly helped by the PO'S love of bog .
So below are some various shots at different stages of my repairs.
Andrew
OZ Towdster ·
Brad ·
so is it done yet ?
mmm won't make valla, no hope of making Dyno day either, unless you count Dave working on it as a Dyno Day ,,,,😂
In fact I am thinking my Iguana has more chance of making Valla than your Bus ......
Oh in case you missed my question ... is it done yet ? is it ? is it ? is it ?
OZ Towdster ·
At least its moving faster than my Towdster and yes i'mm still trying to make Valla , although my new XR6 Falcon would be nice to take too
Brad ·
OZ Towdster wrote:At least its moving faster than my Towdster and yes i'mm still trying to make Valla , although my new XR6 Falcon would be nice to take too
So that is a NO it isn;t done yet and what about the Dyno day ????? 🥷😂🤪🤓
OZ Towdster ·
Oh it'll be at the Dyno Day , it may just look a little sad , but the horse power will more than make up for the looks
bond ·
nice work andrew.
nick
LIFE IN THE LOW LANE ·
Love your commitment mate!!!!
Brad ·
OZ Towdster wrote:Oh it'll be at the Dyno Day , it may just look a little sad , but the horse power will more than make up for the looks
So I am guessing you would like to borrow a car trailer then ...😎
Dasdubber ·
At least its close to home for Andrew (ie. just outside his side fence!).
Had a quick squiz at the bus today Andrew - that nose certainly will benefit from a reskin!
Al
Brad ·
Dasdubber wrote:Had a quick squiz at the bus today Andrew - that nose certainly will benefit from a reskin!
Reskin ??? why he is just goingto dint it when he drives offroad, you do still intend to drive it off road don't you Andrew ?
If not then you better stay off the trailer as well.. we know what happened last time 😂
Brad ·
so is it done yet ????
11CAB ·
Its a show pony.....they were too scared to take it offroad at Mt Mee..........😂
Brad ·
Is it done yet ???? More pics ????
TheMiniMan ·
How`s about a drag race when you`re finished Andrew?
& then we can do a gearbox change race after that yeah?
:-)
well done mate, looking good, saw it again today while i was at COR having yet another gearbox change :-)
& get well soon old fella, Lots of water, vitamin C & heaps of baked beans, That`ll flush it all outa ya :-)
rocknrob ·
speaking of gearboxes Andrew...something to cheer you up while recovering...
Oh that is so tempting , aits just a pity i'dd have to spend another 2k on it to gear it for the bus , but bullet proof all the same
Brad ·
so is it done yet ??
OZ Towdster ·
you know
LIFE IN THE LOW LANE ·
Could be a whole lot closer if Brad was around there working on it hey Andrew???LOL
Brad ·
LIFE IN THE LOW LANE wrote:Could be a whole lot closer if Brad was around there working on it hey Andrew???LOL
Yeah Andrew, do tell whos part we are aiting on..
Is it Brad's 🙅
Is it Andrews 😂
OZ Towdster ·
Yes i'mm a bit slow but hey at least i've got an excuse for a change
Brad ·
Yawn you know what they say about excuses and eveyone having one ...
Now get back to work and get some pics
OZ Towdster ·
I'mm going I'mm going , bloody slave driver
Brad ·
well ????
TheMiniMan ·
yeah,,, well??? :-)
sorry, couldn`t help it :-)
matberry ·
Shhhh
You'll wake Andrew up.
OZ Towdster ·
Hi lads , yes i'mm awake and will be back in to it this weekend
Brad ·
OZ Towdster wrote:Hi lads , yes i'mm awake and will be back in to it this weekend
mm just thought I would grab a quote as you seem to think the bus will finish itself yet you plan on working on it ?? what gives ?
newoldmanx ·
any progress????
Brad ·
hehe is it done yet ???
OZ Towdster ·
Just got home from working on it and have just finished lately all new inner and outer sills on the drivers side and today finished removing all rotten metal from the inner , outer and intermediat sill on the passengers side .
Will have the bus at Dyno Day next sat as is and am hoping to have all new metal in the passengers sill by end of next weekend.
now you have driven it get of your ass and finish it and stop proving my loom works and start proving your welder works .....
X-I-TED ·
i bet that was a shock !!!!!!!!!!!!😏 needs a hair dryer or two
OZ Towdster ·
Well after a recent disaster with my planned ride to fraser for the Manx Club run next week , i have had to pull my finger out out get tehis bus happening to get me there too , so if you happeneed to be looking for some thing to do one night this week just pop down the Custom Vee Dub and i'll be sure to be there and will quickly hand you some parts to attach in my all out effort to get the beast back on the road.
Thanks Andrew
Brad ·
SO ... is it done yet ????
I will bet you one of the 5 cartons of beer that you owe me that IT WILL NOT MAKE FRASER ...... oh thats right you don't drink anymore, or was that didn't and now do .. hell I can't keep up with it all......
So back to the question at hand .. IS IT DONE YET ???
As I am driving my 80 Series and it is a Toyota I guess I should ask the most obvious thing ...
Do you need a hand ? If so ring me ..... ❗
OZ Towdster ·
I'll take you up on that bet and double or nothing .
It has to make it or i'mm a walking , although i never said it would be pretty
Brad ·
OZ Towdster wrote:I'll take you up on that bet and double or nothing .
It has to make it or i'mm a walking , although i never said it would be pretty
mmm now that is very tempting but since I will no doubt end up helping you to make sure it makes it I would be stupid to bet anymore than what I have. Although if I did then I could give you some special help as I think you could do without 10 cartons of beer and the walking would do you good.
The biggest problem I have is that I really do want to see more of this Kombi under your control on the sand...
I mean last time was so much fun..
Brad ·
Hey come to think of it, I am up at this great time of the day working on what I need done before Fraser, why are there more ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz coming from your mouth than &^%$%&^$ *&%*% which should be flowing if you were working hard on the Kombi ????
LIFE IN THE LOW LANE ·
Buggy Brad wrote:
OZ Towdster wrote:I'll take you up on that bet and double or nothing .
It has to make it or i'mm a walking , although i never said it would be pretty
mmm now that is very tempting but since I will no doubt end up helping you to make sure it makes it I would be stupid to bet anymore than what I have. Although if I did then I could give you some special help as I think you could do without 10 cartons of beer and the walking would do you good.
The biggest problem I have is that I really do want to see more of this Kombi under your control on the sand...
I mean last time was so much fun..
Still got me stuffed Andrew how you got stuck like that on the beach???? did you forget to let some air out or what???
OZ Towdster ·
First time in the Bus on sand mate and only had the tyres down to 12pound at that point for memory + bloody soft spot and slightly up hill from a dead stop take off.
Brad ·
OZ Towdster wrote:First time in the Bus on sand mate and only had the tyres down to 12pound at that point for memory + bloody soft spot and slightly up hill from a dead stop take off.
blah blah blah ... GET BACK TO WORK !!!!!
LIFE IN THE LOW LANE ·
So will it make it's maiden Suby powered voyage???
OZ Towdster ·
Yep
Brad ·
Well rumour has it that a large Orange and White Baja Bus was seen going across the Gateway at about 11.30pm tonight.... looks like I lost a Carton of Beer....
OZ Towdster ·
Not quite 11.30 mate , i have had a some what difficult night after you left and have fun bleeding the water systema nd have only just got home not 3 minutes ago .
Again a BIG thank you to you Brad for comming out tonight and helping get the Bus back on the road ,Thanks mate .
PS i hope i have given you the wiring bible back as i can't find it and i t flashed code 32 on the way home
Pete ·
Oi you havent got time to be on here gas bagging, hurry up and get in here so the front bar can be finished!!!!!
Brad ·
OZ Towdster wrote:PS i hope i have given you the wiring bible back as i can't find it and i t flashed code 32 on the way home
Nope you still have the SVX one I printed out for you.
As for 32 - O2 sensor, just ignore it you will be running rich flogging it on the beach anyway.
From all reports bus is now running well and made it up the cost and back on a test drive ... Beach time in under 24 hrs, expect to see lots of bigged pics :>
LIFE IN THE LOW LANE ·
so did it make it through the weekend without breaking or what?? Have heard very little about the weekend so far from anyone.....
OZ Towdster ·
Well all after a few months of driving the Beast around and sorting a few problems etc and creating some new ones ie the Box is buggered in first due to a shitfull rebuild by others I am back into the body work and finishing mounts etc for it to go to Al's Das Restohaus .
Have got the front skin and all fresh air ducts removed at present and am just this morning being assembling my subaru climate control heater / ac so i can position it behind the dash and mount it etc so as to be able to with stand some hard jolts offroad .
Due to the size of the heater/ac i have had to remove all the standard fresh air ducts except for the drivers side of the intake area behind the outer grill and am now in the process of build a custom duct from behind the inlet that not only feeds the air to the unit well but also as the original did , drains off any water comming through the front vent when driving in rain etc .
As with other areas of the body as seen earlier in the this thread the PO has been more than handy with the bog trowl around the front pillars and wheel arches so they too are getting some fresh metal welded in .
Will post some pics soon of the progress but best get back to it .
Andrew
OZ Towdster ·
Hi folks , Just another quick update
Have spent today cutting out the inner and outer passengers front guards , and as with the rest of this bus , found some more bloody rust hidden in the B pillar behind where the inner and outer guards form a box .
So even though it'll never be seen by anyone but me , i did some nice flush fit fully welded repairs and as of tonight all areas of where the new guards fit are soaking in WD40 to prevent any surface rust and are as they should be nice and straight and rust free.
Again forgot to take my Camera but should get some photo's tomorrow arvo
Dasdubber ·
Good to see you're making some progress mate - I'm sure you can now appreciate the significant amount of time it takes to do repairs properly!
AL
OZ Towdster ·
Well now i'mm back in Brissy it's probaley about time i pulled my finger out and finished this thing
So sat down yesterday arvo and made a list of what needs to still be done
Well!!!!!!!
Baja Bus To Do List
1 : Finish cutting out rust from middle seat forward
2: Cut out tack welds on shifter tube outertube and vacume pipe so as to be able to remove rusty front crossmember
3: Source a T25 or T3 floor mounted handbrake assembly
4: Mount floor mounted handbrake assembly
5: Reroute passengers side handbrake cable tube to suite floor handbrake
6:Make new handbrake cables
7:Fab and fit new front crossmember
8: Adjust angle of brake booster and fab new brake push rod
9:Weld in tow hook crush tubes to chassis extensions
10 : Rework damaged front bulllbar/ radiator support and finish of including driving light mounts etc
11: Fabricate a rear tow bar with class 4 type hitch and mount factory bumper over it with exhaust tip cut outs
12:Mount aircon unit behind dash including crash intrusion bars as support work
13:Fab a air intake systemfor the ac to be fed from the drivers side vent of the front stock grill
14:Fab all ac duct work +mount stereo head unit and ac controller
15: Mount ac condenser under car
16 : Plumb up ac head unit to under car including shrouding of water lines
17:Fabricate lower dash unit so as to hide ac unit
18:Mount new front seats
19:Fab new fuel tank mounts
20:Fabricate fuel tank fire wall
21:Remove fuel tank and sink in sender unit and repair leak
22:Mount new back seat
23 :Fit new seat belt attachment points to suit new seat position
24:Remove motor and gearbox
25:Finish of any body sheetmetal
26: Remove all external existing paint and etch prime
27:Send body to Das resto haus for paint job
28:Mount ac unit
29:Mount new dash cluster
30: Wire up all
31:Send to trimmers
32:Fit all glass
33:Refit motor and recoed gearbox
34 :Final assembly and tit bits etc
Lets just say i may be a little busy for the next few months
11CAB ·
Couple of weekends and you'll be right....... 😂
How's that Tow'd going?
Smiley ·
11CAB wrote:Couple of weekends and you'll be right....... 😂
How's that Tow'd going?
Yeah, there's probably a far longer list for the Tow'd somewhere.
Smiley
bajachris88 ·
Busy for sure. You'll get there Andrew, i'm sure i will see this thing at Valla this yr ay?
OZ Towdster ·
Hopefully
OZ Towdster ·
Well i have been busy back on the bus again this week and as noted in the list above the first item to address was finish removing the rust from the front half of the bus body.
Well some may say i should of probabley started with a better shell , but hey i didn't and even if i had i dought it would be much different in 12 months anyway
OZ Towdster ·
Yes i still have it yes we are still trying to get it ready for paint .
So what have i been doing for the last 12 months you ask , when it should of been finished by now , well lets just say that the marriage of a subaru ac unit and a bay window kombi is not as straight foward as you may think .
To start with i mounted the ac unit in a tube and shs frame inside the front of the bus which was made easier by way of the front nose panel being already removed due to be full of bog and rust
Then spent weeks making a custom air intake system that like the original bus fresh air system , it drops any incomming rain / water of before the fresh air gets to the ac
Now with that all in the way of the stock e brake that had to be moved to the floor in the walkthrough , so a T3 unit was soarced from a wreck at a mates place and fitted along with 2 new crossmembers under the floor to support the lever when in tension
OZ Towdster ·
With that starting to get fairly well sorted it was time to think about somewhere comfy to sit , so with a troll of the local wrecking yards a set of Honda Integra front seat where chosen and a Mitsibishi L300 Delica rear seat .
Under the rear seat is to become a nice storage area for storing a few spares and tools etc plus the ends of the front face of the frame will be receiving some 6 x 9 speakers and nice plywood boxs behind so as to protect the speakers from the storage area and give the speakers that bit more omph
OZ Towdster ·
Also around this time i replaced the front cargo floor crossmember as it was like much of the bus , RUSTY , plus being a baja bus the jacking points are removed which made for some questionable outer strength in this area , so to replace the stock item i used some 50 x 50 x 3 shs which runs full width of the bus from inner sill to inner sill .
Once fitted i drilled out the holes through said shs and pushed the untacked shifter tube back through the crossmember and have since then fited a new booster vacume tube , and throttle cable tube from front to rear .
OZ Towdster ·
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
OZ Towdster ·
I'll try and keep my updates comming folks as it is so close to paint now it is not funny
h ·
so we'll see it at Valla then huh? 😂
OZ Towdster ·
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 .
OZ Towdster ·
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
vassy66T1 ·
The tow bar is a very nice piece of fabrication.
Thanks for sharing!
grinderman ·
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 ·
That tow bar looks great! Very nice work.
What size tires are on the front of this van?
Alex.
OZ Towdster ·
With some pushing from some mates i'mm back at it , stay tuned
tar76 ·
Nice Andrew 👍
h ·
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 😀
OZ Towdster ·
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
h ·
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 😁
OZ Towdster ·
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
h ·
rain? what rain? none here in gods own 😀
OZ Towdster ·
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 .
OZ Towdster ·
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 .
bajachris88 ·
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 👍🙂
OZ Towdster ·
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
tar76 ·
Looking good
handycam ·
looking good andrew
h ·
so all primed for the weekend then 😵💫
OZ Towdster ·
MMMMMMMMMMM No
h ·
what what what !
I'll be there for a saturday day trip
early ferry c u there
OZ Towdster ·
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
OZ Towdster ·
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
nils ·
Hi Andrew,
I keep meaning to ask, is your bus missing the deformation panel at the front?
Whats the plan there?
OZ Towdster ·
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
OZ Towdster ·
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
Scottkombi ·
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.
OZ Towdster ·
Holidays , pfft , not here
A bit more done today after a bit of running around this morning for some more materials before the shops shut for Christmas .
Started on the passengers front pillar ( sorry about the photo )
A bit of filler to clean up where i welded in the new outer sill in front of the passengers rear wheel
The passengers rear wheel arch panel , and as with the drivers side , just a skim of filler to smooth out the ripples from welding up the deluxe holes and the enlarged wheel arches
OZ Towdster ·
Well , as well as working on my Towdster , i'm back into the big bus too , as i need to get it back on the road before the wifes other car drops its guts
So i have basicully finished straightening the back sides of the main shell , i'vve found a perfect sliding door ,,,, finally , have cleaned and striped the front end and ordered all new parts from Boris and the boys @ Vintage Vee dub for both it and the rear suspension and brakes , cleaned all the underside painted and sealed it , and am just about to go and spend a few more hours at it .
All in all , between the two cars they keep me very busy and broke , but i suppose i wouldn't be on here if i didn't have them
adlbeetle66 ·
Yay!! Back at it again!!
Always loved following this bus!!
pete wood ·
Where is that "like" button!?! 🙂
OZ Towdster ·
Yes i have still been working on it and have made considerable progress in the last few weeks
Brakes , suspension , and basicully any running gear has been all cleaned up , reconditioned or both
My new / secondhand RUST FREE sliding door has had it's deluxe holes all welded up , a light skim of filler and now in spray putty waiting for a rub out
And those big flat sides of the body are as they are suppose to be, FLAT & STRAIGHT