Its been a while since I've posted much in the members ride section as I've been so busy with customer's cars and not my own.....and although this is a customer's car, I felt it was too good not to post.
I'm not trying to drum up business by posting all these pics as we have heaps on for quite a long time in advance, however I thought members would be keen to see what has gone into this amazing bus.
It started out life as a kind of solid 1959 Microbus that the owner purchased from Steve Muller at Kombi Rescue.
Before I dive into a heap of restoration progress pics, I'll fast forward a little over 12 months of solid work to where we are now....not far from paint...
Here is where we are at the current day...
Cheers
Al
Bizarre ·
damn Fuchs suit a split
Great work (as usual) 👍👍👍
squizy ·
Drum away Al, drum away. Looks way cool.
Dasdubber ·
Cheers mate.
Like a lot of 50 plus year old buses, there are always lots of stubborn screws - rather than drilling and retapping all threads, where we can we use heat and then water/air to expand/contract the screw/screw plate to help uncrack them
So often people will assume "the rust is not too bad" when they can only see a small pin hole or two, but this is more often than not what is hiding underneath...
After blasting
The start of one of the major custom mods of this resto....a walk through conversion
A lot of Gerson repair panels went into this bus
Shaping walk through backs/sides
Dasdubber ·
A hell of a lot of time was spent gapping the doors and apertures throughout the welding stage
Although they are the best of what is available, even the Gerson panels do require some tweaking to get right....nothing is just a straight 'chop out he old, weld in the new'
Turbo54 ·
Why cant you be in Adelaide!
Mad job as always. When everyone talks about how good the paint is and never comment on the gaps, panels and all your hard work, just keep telling yourself it is all in the prep.
Well done Al,
Heath
dubai ·
I saw this one at the Run to the sun its really a nice job and I know that the end result will be awesome. good work Guys
jjwebb123 ·
Nice work,we have a similar project about to start.
is that sand or sodablasted?
did your blast/prime the inside?
Cheers👍
Dasdubber ·
Thanks guys. The bus was sandblasted by a guy who only does classic cars and hence knows what he is doing (has never warped a panel on any of our restos). He blasts the inside too but does not blast the inside surfaces of the exterior panels (ie inside door skins) but does the ribs/framework. He has found blasting the inside of the skins increases the likelihood of warping considerably.
Heath, as rad as Adelaide is, I think I'd miss the warm water and surf up here too much 🙂
Hope you're well mate.
Al
Dasdubber ·
There are a lot of subtle (as well as some not so subtle) details on this bus including modified jacking points to keep the lines clean on the side of the bus as these are not very attractive in stock form. A bottle style jack will be used (if necessary) on the chassis rail (strengthened) but the jacking point has been 'cut and shut' so it can still be used a hoist lifting point
Lower windscreen sections had to be replaced as well
A donor door provided a replacement lower section (inner)
And a Gerson section plus a hand formed piece completed the rust repair on the outer skin
Lots of plug welds required for the cargo floor section
RHD locking ball handle Berg shifter is the ducks nuts
The start of the custom air conditioning installation
Another custom touch was the dash treatment including a glove box
vw54 ·
bloody hell Al U have time to SURF as well ???
Top stuff
Dasdubber ·
Not as much as I'd like to Dave - I thought running my own business would give me more time to surf when its 'on'....sadly thats not the case! At least I do what I love for a living so that is the trade off 🥲
Dasdubber ·
The start of the air con evaporator (blower unit) cover
Lots of little details like filling in the original brake fluid reservoir access hole
And fabricating a new heater duct
Hydraulic clutch
One amplifier is mounted behind each front seat and is covered (more details later)
As the owner is a cyclist, he requested we integrate bike mounts (x2) in the rear cargo area that fold away under the floor so remain hidden when not in use
Deluxe bumper trim has been installed on both bumpers
More dash work
ricola ·
I remember reading another more complete build thread for this somewhere, where was it? I need more, lol!
57 Chook Shed ·
Excellent work mate!
GASBNR ·
👍very cool AL are they 18's
Dasdubber ·
ricola wrote:I remember reading another more complete build thread for this somewhere, where was it? I need more, lol!
Ol, Fuchs are the Iozzio custom 17in (18s probably would have looked a bit big on this bus).
Cheers
Al
DieSchnelleKafer ·
woa my jaw is sitting on the floor, are they 17 fuchs from pete?
Dasdubber ·
Yep 17in Fuchs are purchased through Pete Skiba at Airkewld but manufactured via Paul Iozzio - both very nice guys whom I met in the US.
Dasdubber ·
After quite a few hours the glove box door was close to completion
Coolers underneath the bus include the AC condensor, engine oil cooler and intercooler radiator (all with thermo fans mounted above coolers) plus small supercharger oil cooler - cable conduits/tubes etc have been relocated to allow fans to be mounted on top
Speaking of the engine, it will be a 2275cc type I based motor (longblock built by Leon's Motors) with AC compressor, single throttly body (coupled to Link G4 ECU), custom water to air intercooler, and a Rotrex supercharger which will produce around 7 pounds of boost. This was fairly early on in the mockup stage
jjwebb123 ·
more more more.
this is my fav thread on the forum right now.
Dasdubber ·
The start of the custom roof lining (fibreglass/mdf) with the rear sub box (sealed enclosure) housing the 2 10in subs.
Itchy stuff....
Front sections
A T3 engine access hatch was donated to the cause to make engine access easier (funny that)
Lots of time metal working the panels before filler work ensued
Al
Dasdubber ·
Plenums for fuel injection runners ended up rectangular as height was an issue under the supercharger
Top of runners were bellmouthed into plenums
Wedgeports were selected by Leon's Motors
Another engine mockup with cardboard intercooler for dimensions
Intercooler water pump
Intercooler water reservoir
Supercharger oil reservoir
More bare metal work before filler is applied
vwsteve ·
wow, you are a very patient man, a lot of hard work there
Dasdubber ·
Cheers Steve, I am sure you can appreciate how many hours this custom stuff chews up!
Speaking of which under the passenger seat we integrated a fire extinguisher mount which is on a hinged door
The first to be installed in Australia - a Red 9 Design double wishbone front end which incorporates rack and pinion steering (yes we have liaised closely with an engineer who is overseeing the whole rebuild including the vast range of modications) 🙂
The shifter was relocated backwards for both better comfort and also to give more room when in first and third (for clearance to the air con vents)
A mid mount was fabricated and chassis horns and gearbox cradle have been boxed for extra strength
A custom spacer was machined to fit an aero-style filler cap and neck
Obviously in mockup stage at this point but the new filler/tank setup has a block back vent (to relieve pressure whilst filling) as well as a rollover vent which allows the tank to breathe but blocks if there was ever an accident and the bus ended up on its side/roof
squizy ·
Brilliant.
vwsteve ·
love the new front end👍
amazing work
cam070 ·
This is awesome. Can't wait to see more.
Euro_67 ·
Al I Havent been on here for ages, great to see your working hard and attention to details and creativity is brilliant as always.
I would love to have you work your magic on something for me one day......
Dasdubber ·
Cheers gents.
Couple of quick vids....
Fire extinguisher door:
Storage draw under drivers seat
Solenoid operated glove box door:
Roof bare metalled
Cover plates for custom walk through conversion
Custom Plazmaman water to air intercooler
Another mockup of engine with first version of laser cut steel face plate
To get the fatter wheels in the back with wider rubber and deeper dish, the rear torsion housing had to be narrowed
More pics to come soon
Al
Golde60 ·
pics dont seem to be working
Dasdubber ·
Hmmm thats strange Kim, they are all working for me (linked from photobucket)? Anyone else can't see them?
Bizarre ·
all good for me 👍
Dasdubber ·
Thought I might throw another lot of pics up for anyone interested....
The custom fuel tank houses the in tank EFI pump/regulator - painted in two pack base/clear with tank treatment internally
Because part of the tank is "on show" it was cut and buffed
Yes colour sanding can drive you crazy
More paint detail underneath the bus
Custom gauges were ordered and made just for this bus including the km/h GPS speedo with DAS Resto Haus logo
Oil temp, oil pressure, tacho and voltmeter housed inside the glove box
This gives you a brief idea of the huge number of hours of metal work on the bus side panels - so much shrinking and stretching to get them back into shape
Dasdubber ·
Dash vents control hot air and can be directed onto windscreen or back towards driver/passenger - billet trim ring has been machined to fit
Lower heater vent will provide hot air to the feet area - booster fan is mounted in line under the bus to help speed up air flow
The roof lining treatment is another area that makes this bus truly a custom one-off as the time spent on its fabrication would rival the time spent on most full resprays! But the time/dollars will be well worth it in the long run
We have incorporaated a solenoid operated full extension draw into the rear seat/bed for storage
NUG637 ·
Wow, that some pretty cool stuff goin on there... 👍👍
DieSchnelleKafer ·
you have a serious attention to detail disorder
reub ·
🤪
What a friggin wicked build! 👍
squizy ·
This is like watching Al's beetle resto all over again. Love the attention to detail - it's those things that matter.
dangerous ·
Dasdubber wrote:Yes colour sanding can drive you crazy
You really look KRAZY in that pic Al',
especially with the broken tooth.(fighting with a drum-mer)
You haven't just bought a banjo I hope!
What is the latest with the engine?
Mr Bubble Head ·
Al Love your work !
It's so refreshing to see a well thought out and exicuted custom. the speedo is very nice. Along with the front end and engine in this bus it should be a dream to drive nevermind good heating and cooling. Is there going to be heated seats?
I'll be watching this one closely. keep it up !
nIck
Dasdubber ·
Thanks guys - it has been a pleasure to work with (ie. for) Armando (the owner) on this one as its been great to be able to run with ideas and devote the time to each little custom touch, lots of which wouldn't be picked up unless specifically pointed out which was the whole design brief of the project.
Dave, re. the engine - Leon and Andrew (Leon's motors) have all reciprocating parts balanced including the new custom 6PV crank pulley (to run with supercharger etc) with recess for EDIS wheel.....assembly has started and they have found custom pistons were required (dished) to obtain the desired compression ratio (will confirm specs once I get all the numbers). So the pistons will be ready in the new year along with the cam (there was a change of manfacturers due to ongoing delay with the initial order). The supercharger will be running around 7 pounds of boost so the rest of the motor is aimed to be kept fairly mild - the 2275cc of displacement should prove to be quite a nice drivable combination aimed at keeping the peak power lower in the rpm range (esp with the Rotrex coming on very early).
Hopefully will get some more updates up over the next few days.
Cheers for the interest
Al
Dasdubber ·
PS tooth is now fixed thanks mate 🙂
Wish I earnt as much as dentists for half an hours worth of work!
1916baja ·
thats incredible! nice work....
Flintstones ·
Great custom work there Al.
Awesome to see so many detailed enhancements and also for the owner to be creative, yet still keep he character of the split.
In relation to all the shrinks that you've done on that side panel, have a look at a shrinking disk.
Covers a lot area very quickly plus you don't have to stuff around with a torch.
Cheers
D
Dasdubber ·
Yeah I have seen the shrinking discs before but admit I haven't given one a go yet - I normally leave all the metal work up to my panel beater Rob but might see if he wants to give one a try.
Few more pics....front speaker pod coonstruction:
Fibreglass was laid down first to obtain a base to which the MDF speaker mounting rings could be fixed to
Cloth was then stretched over the rings, trimmed and then fibreglassed over
Its always a nice milestone to get a bus into one colour albeit just primer
Dasdubber ·
Fitting the creative engineering deluxe belt line trim was a bit of a nightmare to get right
Although the trim fits roughly without modification, it does not follow the lines of the body swage so Rob and Steve spent considerable time reshaping each piece to parallel the two tone paint cut line so nothing looked out of alignment
The doors were one of the worst areas to get right
The roof lining was taking shape and the trimmer was happy with its shape
vassy66T1 ·
Great work Al.
My favourite parts are the fire extinguisher storage and the bike mount that swings away.
Love the creativity in that.
What will the roof be lined with?
Dasdubber ·
Thanks Marcus, yep it is nice to be able to do things a little out of the ordinary on this one.
Roof lining will be the same as what Mercedes uses on its headliner cloth - nothing too fancy, just subtle enough so the focus stays on the features we want to highlight.
Al
beetleboy88 ·
My god this is gonna be awesome when finished!!! 😁
Dasdubber ·
Lots of fiddly fine tuning to get gaps right including adding material to the edge of the Autocraft rear valance
The top surface had to be pie cut so the engine bay seal retaining strips lined up
Exhaust cut out was filled
Front speaker trim kick panel covers the speaker pods as well as wiring and air con lines etc
MDF skeleton provided basic shape and then material was stretched over areas with more complex curves
Fibreglass matt was then applied to retain the panels shape
Slowly but surely the areas that have been painted already are being reassembled whilst the body exterior surfaces move closer to paint
Cheers
Al
5PL1TDCS10N ·
Amazing stuf as always Al! Love watching no budget builds. So inspiring...
Wayne
59resto ·
Glad you like it Splitdecision .. Been proud to work with Al on this one...
Dasdubber ·
Good to see you here on Aussie Veedubbers Armando - it's certainly been a pleasure working with you on this restoration!
Wayne, I thought you might like to see the prototype of a CNC routed DAS Resto Haus badge seeing you did the hard work of designing such a great logo. I get a lot of positive comments regarding the design so thanks again for your help way back in the design phase!
Cheers
Al
Camo ·
Wow, that is F'n beautiful. You guys at DAS Resto-Haus are pure artists and that is a masterpiece that you are creating there. I wish I had a quarter of the ability that you guys are showing here. You would have to be the number one resto/modification company in Australia. Well done all.
Kev
Dasdubber ·
Thanks Kev, much appreciated. We definitely enjoy doing what we do which I feel is reflected in the workmanship.
Back to some details....
Although there is more than one way to skin a cat, for the lower corner trim panels, a 'plug' (or mould) was made which is basically the reverse of the shape we wanted to end up with
Fibreglass was then laid onto the mould, then removed after cured, trimmed and smoothed
To avoid any visible screws having to fasten the side panels in place, christmas tree clips were fibreglassed into place
The upper rear corner panels were smoothed out more carefully as they will be painted and not trimmed in leather like the lower panels
The front kick panel will be trimmed but care was taken to smooth it out so no bumps were visible through the leather (not trimmed yet)
The wheels are a seriously nice bit of kit - from http://www.iozziowheels.com/ - I met Paul Iozzio when in the US in 2009 and then again in 2010 for the Classic etc in LA so we then arranged a custom set of 17in Fuchs for the bus with our width and offset requirements
Fronts are 17 x 6in with a 195/40 Yokohama S Drive tyre (had to be purchased in the US as that size is not available in Oz)
Rears are 17 x 8in and run 225/50 tyres of the same pattern
More pics soon...
Al
DieSchnelleKafer ·
so let me get this straight, when you were building your 63 dasdubber you obviously weren't planning on opening a resto shop even with everyone telling you you should, and now you have set one up and are going full steem! man i miss out in the action over here in w.a
btw keep it up, love the fuchs! 👍
Dasdubber ·
Dasdubber ·
DieSchnelleKafer wrote:so let me get this straight, when you were building your 63 dasdubber you obviously weren't planning on opening a resto shop even with everyone telling you you should, and now you have set one up and are going full steem! man i miss out in the action over here in w.a
btw keep it up, love the fuchs! 👍
Thanks mate, it is nice to do something you love for a living, makes life a lot more enjoyable!
5PL1TDCS10N ·
Wayne, I thought you might like to see the prototype of a CNC routed DAS Resto Haus badge seeing you did the hard work of designing such a great logo. I get a lot of positive comments regarding the design so thanks again for your help way back in the design phase!
Cheers
Al [/quote]
KOOL! That looks fantastic Al! Are you going to add the fine line around the inside of the curved banner Al?
It was a pleasure to help you out and to see the work that is being produced makes me feel very proud to have been able to do so at the beginning.
You'll have to design a nice display cabinet for all the trophy's this bus is going to collect too!🙂
Wayne
Special Air Service ·
Al,
Couple of questions re. the fibreglassing.
When you building the stuff like speaker panels etc
What weight matting do you use?
How many layers of matting / glass do you build up?
Do you use waxed or normal un-waxed resin?
Oh yeah, awesome work on this bus, giving every one a few new ideas I reckon.
Waxed goes off on the surface so is'nt sticky to touch but therefore needs sanding between layers if allowed to cure, whereas unwaxed stays sticky and no sanding required for the next layer (supposedly, but I believe at least a scuff is required).
Not trying to be a smart arse tho.
Awesome job Al and the crew at Das Resto Haus.
Dasdubber ·
Cheers Matt, much appreciated.
Brendan, will check the label tomorrow as I just go in and order the same product (20L at a time) - the rep knows what I use it for and hence gives me the requried stuff 🙂
I figured it wasn't a laminating resin (unwaxed) but haven't used the term waxed before when ordering the resin previously.
Cheers
Al
More pics:
wilderness ·
👍👍👍
bugboymatt ·
WOW, just looked through this thread. Very very nice.
Great work as ever from Al.
Special Air Service ·
Thanks Al,
Appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions as you go through this build.
Cheers
Brendan
Dasdubber ·
5PL1TDCS10N wrote:Are you going to add the fine line around the inside of the curved banner Al?
G'day Wayne, hopefully we'll get the fine line integrated into the CNC cut logo - haven't had a chance to ask why it was omitted on the pictured prototype. Should look very nice polished.
A few more details....
Third brake light was integrated into the engine lid to match the indicators in the bumpers.
A fair bit of time was spent designing and fabricating the LED mounting plate
The extra hole above the number plate will be fore the reversing camera (would be an expensive dent if Armando reversed into something) 🙂
My first prelminary map of wiring for the bus (not including audio system!)
Dasdubber ·
After a couple rounds of high build primer and block sanding the roof was prepped for paint
The direct gloss (PPG Deltron) white was applied first - sorry these roof pics are a little blurry
This was then guide coated and wet block sanded to flat it out and rectify any imperfections/nibs/dust....then clear coat was applied
A quick shot of the rear bumper during the measurement process to get indicator positions equal
Cheers again
AL
Aussie ·
👍 Super straight. Great job
Dasdubber ·
A few more photos....first of the fuse holder cover (that will supply power to the two amps) - obviously will be painted
And the EFI relay holder cover
Lots of time wet block sanding the primer
Ready for red
Dasdubber ·
When I am not going for an "off the gun" finish knowing the paint will be block sanded, I tend to apply it a little dryer to avoid runs - the orange peel cuts out fairly easily when blocked with 800 then 1200 wet.
The PPG Deltron direct gloss red
Al
Craig Torrens ·
Yummy👍
Camo ·
I've said it before and I will say it again, this is pure artwork and I hope you are going to sign it as all good artist do 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Kev
Dasdubber ·
Cheers Craig and Kev 🙂
Bumpers primed
Before the white could be applied, the small area of red on the lower part of the swage line had to be rubbed (the red was taken up to this point and not masked to the cut line as its virtually impossible to get a straight mask on the underside of the swage).
More red on the panels
Dasdubber ·
The deluxe trim was then reinstalled to ensure the two tone cut line was parallel especially on the nose
White guide coat was to assist with wet rub of red areas prior to clear
Prepped for white direct gloss
White going on
Cheers
Al
annosL ·
amazing pics, shows top-drawer skills, thanks for sharing
baghall ·
OMG. Just got on after a break ans saw this amazing build. Wish I had half the skills you guys had. Love the interior work especially. Thanks for sharing.
Dasdubber ·
Thanks annosL and baghall 🙂
Demasked and ready for the next process of wet block sanding the entire exterior to flatten the direct gloss colour in preparation for clear
Lots of masking just to paint the inside of the wheel arches - these couldn't be painted when the underside was done as the side panels and doglegs had not been bodyworked yet (shrinking etc required)
The number of times we have sanded this bus is pretty crazy but that is the labour required to achieve a deep show quality gloss - here the nose has been rubbed with 800 then 1200 by hand block (wet)
The bumpers received some white direct gloss as well
11CAB ·
Who wants to open their chrissy pressy??.......
Golde60 ·
11CAB wrote:Who wants to open their chrissy pressy??.......
I dont think I could afford too!
even though, I think it would be worth every penny!
great job Al
and congrats on the logo - looking good now that I see it in the final form.
vwsteve ·
very nice al, i remember painting flockes splitty two tone, sooooooo much work involved isnt it!
bet you are sick of masking up stuff
Turbo54 ·
Killer job Mate,
T54
Dasdubber ·
Thanks gents. Steve you are right, we have both sanded and masked this bus what feels like a hundred times!
The PPG Deltron D800 clear was applied next - again with a bit of peel to ensure no runs - fairly easy to block out during colour sanding.
The booth lights always make the orange peel look worse than it does in natural light (in the next pic below)
Flintstones ·
nice work there Al👍👍
that's not the cyclone in the reflection is it❗❓
Dasdubber ·
Haha...just the very tail of it maybe - it is a big, nasty sucker up there!
Dasdubber ·
The body before clear:
and after clear was applied:
I intentionally lay the three coats of clear on fairly dry to prevent any runs as the orange peel is much easier to cut out and buff than runs (esp on the edges of all the vents)
Dasdubber ·
The colour sanding process is where all the previous year's worth of work is realised and demonstrated - it is a very labour intensive process especially when all the cutting is done by hand (1200, 1500, 2000 grits) rather than by DA sander (I only use 3000 grit Trizact pads on a small orbit DA for the final step before buffing starts) - buffing cuts the scratches out (quite a long process to get right), then swirl remover to remove any holograms....and finally a wax.
Since still photos can often deceive (as I have seen many times in the past when photos are seen of cars vs seeing them in the flesh) so I do a quick walk around on each panel after buffing to ensure the owner (and others) that the panel work is straight (when he is not able to inspect it in person)
Here is a quick vid
Cheers
Al
baghall ·
Looking so good in colour!
squizy ·
Seriously Al you never cease to amaze me. awesome work again. 👍
Flintstones ·
A lot of patience in getting not only the panel work right but also the painting/sanding.
First class workmanship 👍👍
Cheers
D
Smiley ·
That thing is like red glass!!!
Fantastic work!
Smiley 😎
11CAB ·
Looking awesome, so do we get to see this at Dubs next weekend?
Dasdubber ·
Cheers guys, hoping to take it up the show next weekend weather permitting - it will not be finished obviously but hoping to have all doors (and wheels) back on. Will be a busy week 🙂
AL
GASBNR ·
😎very😎
Dasdubber ·
Thanks guys, very happy with how the paint and panel are coming up.
The left rear corner.....
Quick vid....
Al
Dasdubber ·
Well after a massive effort last week from Rob, Steve (and just a few hours from myself) we got the exterior of the bus pretty much assembled before the Dubs by the Pub show yesterday.
So now quite a few of you have already seen it, I'll bring this thread up to speed to the present day with some more pics:
Before and after buffing:
Dasdubber ·
Massive thanks to Geoff from Stikman's Classic Transport for taking the bus all the way from the Gold Coast to the show at the Sunny coast, wait around all day in the heat then bring it back safely to my workshop. He takes great care and has brought cars up and back from Sydney previously - highly recommended!
Dasdubber ·
Geoff's number:
Wiring to start now, waiting on longblock from Leon's Motors.....should start to come together steadily now!
Al
Flintstones ·
Absolutely stunning.
You guys should all be proud👍👍
Cheers
D
Dasdubber ·
Thanks mate, we are very pleased with how the bus is coming together, and fortunately so is the owner 🙂
Al
Dasdubber ·
Forgot to say a massive thanks to Geoff from Stickmans Classic Transport who transported Armando's bus to the show last weekend and back to my workshop at Burleigh Heads. Geoff came all the way down from Rockhampton for the show, and also has done quite a few transports for us to and from Sydney.
If anyone needs interstate VW (or other) tranporting, Geoff takes great care and pride in his service. Plug over 🙂
Geoff - 0419 723 815
DieSchnelleKafer ·
ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Dasdubber ·
Work has continued on this bus albeit somewhat unexciting from a pictorial perspective - lots and lots of wiring!
The air con controls knobs were not that attractive and hence rather than cluttering the clean dash we incorporated them into the ashtray:
And another big bonus today was the longblock was finished by Leon's Motorsand hence was collected:
Custom crank pulley accepts a 6PV ribbed serpentine style belt to suit the supercharger and air con compressor. Some fine tuning of the front faceplate that mounts the SC and AC units will be completed shortly then all engine tinwear can be painted and engine installed finally!
On the back side of the pulley is the 36-1 EDIS ring mounted in a machined recess (more pics later)
Cheers
Al
vassy66T1 ·
Nice Al.
I really love the look of the FAT Fuchs under the rear 👍
Nice touch yet again on the air con controls.
What air con's units have you found work well so far? (not the compressor I am really interested in)
cnfabo ·
nothing short of amazing.....lots of trophies will be heading your way🤪
Dasdubber ·
vassy66T1 wrote:Nice Al.
I really love the look of the FAT Fuchs under the rear 👍
Nice touch yet again on the air con controls.
What air con's units have you found work well so far? (not the compressor I am really interested in)
Thanks gents.
Marcus, yep the fat Fuchs do look sweet - you would know first hand how hard it is to get decent rubber under the rear arches! (Hence why the whole rear end had to be narrowed to suit!)
Re. air con unit, the compressor is the easy bit, and to a degree the condensor (radiator part) with twin thermo's (basically as big as you can fit under the bus)....the evaporator (under dash) is the part that is hard to fit anywhere in a kombi.....we just chose a generic unit that had the dimensions as shallow as possible (basically the back of the blower motors are very close to the inside of the nose, and the front of the vents are very close to the edge of the dash). Can get a part number if you need it.
We will be doing a bay window AC install a little later this year (along with GPS, central locking, power windows, power steering......oh and 3.2L Porsche powerplant, G50 box and 930 turbo brakes)......so stay tuned for the bay window install 🙂
Cheers
AL
vassy66T1 ·
Cheers Al
Love your work 😵
I will talk to you about the AC unit in the next few months
Dasdubber ·
Back onto the hoist for the first time in a while to do some more reassembly and wiring under the bus including mounting and connnecting all the relays for the thermo fans, plus running the main two runs of 4G power wire for the amplifiers not to mention a thousand other little jobs underneath!
Heater assist fan
Al
Flintstones ·
just a work of art!!!
westi ·
awsome stuff guy's.breath taking.get's me gee'd up to maybe do mine one day.
but if it comes up to you al.i better start saving.
well worth it when there is a passion for what you do.big fan.
DieSchnelleKafer ·
one word .. UH-MAZE-ING
so whens the photo shoot? haha but no really..
Dasdubber ·
Cheers guys.
Thanks Brad, would love to work on your bus one day....we are doing a 55 23 window concurrently to this one so we should be ready for another on of those funny buses with all those windows if we ever get the chance!
Re. photos.....stay tuned.
First fit of the belly pan today - front will comprise a small scoop to route air into cavity (floor to chassis plates have been installed to stop air escaping out the sides - will get pics later) and back is blocked to force air down through the coolers - the louvres will provide an area of negative pressure to draw the hot air out even faster when the bus is in motion. Even when stationary, the thermo fans expel a lot of air through the louvres (as tested today).
Belly pan will be painted body colour
Al
Dasdubber ·
The wiring is getting close to completion finally
Custom machined vent trim rings tidy up the dash top
Vents swivel so hot air can blow onto windscreen for demisting or back towards driver/passenger
Just gauges to go inside glove box and that is close to the end of wiring (apart from audio)
AL
mikew ·
As mentioned over and over! Nice work Al, and a mention to your workforce.
Look forward to the audio pics when done,
Mike
Octa ·
That dash and glovebox look great in two tone 👍
Nickster ·
Simply stunning. Awesome workmanship and attention to detail has produced a quality classic bus which is truly a work of art. Well done to all involved, your customer is one lucky man!
TICK ·
looked at this bus a few weeks ago . really super sweet . alot of work . well done guys
TICK ·
looked at this bus a few weeks ago . really super sweet . alot of work . well done guys
Dasdubber ·
Cheers guys. Thanks Luke - hope you are feeling well mate.
I've been in the Us for a couple of weeks but back onto the bus now - just finishing up the engine ancillaries and final wiring....now just audio and trimming (and engine run in, plus fine tuning all the bugs associated with such a custom build!). More progress photos soon hopefully.
Cheers
Al
57 Chook Shed ·
Thats just awesome Al.
Well done.
Dasdubber ·
Well things have still been slowly but surely progressing albeit not that pictorially exciting (lots and lots of wiring). Many hours have been spent under the dash with 90% of the wiring completed.
In the interim the front engine face plate needed some minor tweeking for the supercharger/AC mount since the engine block was marginally different to that we used in the mockup phase - nothing major, just a minor adjustment. This pic shows the custom alternator and cank pulley (bolts/nuts holding them on are just temporary) - the crank pulley has the 36-1 EDIS toothed ring mounted on the back face.
More pics soon hopefully.
Al
reub ·
Al,
I look through this thread and am pretty speechless.
This will have to be one of the best (if not the best) splitties in the country when finished. 👍
Dasdubber ·
Thanks Reub - we'd like to think this bus would be right up there.
Al
PS PM me your address mate and I'll send up those shirts
Dasdubber ·
The bus goes off to Leons Motors next week to have the ECU and engine wired up and injector bungs/sensors welded in, then it will return to have the tinwear etc painted.....then off to the trimmers finally!
The owner visited today and was very stoked with how the bus was looking (hasn't seen it for a couple of months)....so that is always a nice feeling. Just a couple quick gratuitous panel work reflection shots 🙂
Al
Dasdubber ·
Unfortunately we had a hold up with the exhaust from the US (long story but short version is the one I ordered was sold to someone else).....so we've been waiting for another to be built and resent so the bus will hopefully go to Leon's Motors in the next couple of weeks (pending exhaust!).
Andrew and Leon will be welding in injector and sensor bungs, then fitting fuel rails and doing final wiring to engine.
Hoses etc will be replaced before final fitment - after run in, engine tin wear will be painted and other bits polished etc.
Cheers
Al
Golde60 ·
looking good al
pity abut the exhaust, but hope it works out
you are setting a new standard in finish and quality, not to mention a S/C solution that will get a lot of people talking to boot.
well done mate.
big_ash ·
Yeah I live in rockhampton and he is a great bloke! Loves mopars and vw's.
Dasdubber wrote:Forgot to say a massive thanks to Geoff from Stickmans Classic Transport who transported Armando's bus to the show last weekend and back to my workshop at Burleigh Heads. Geoff came all the way down from Rockhampton for the show, and also has done quite a few transports for us to and from Sydney.
If anyone needs interstate VW (or other) tranporting, Geoff takes great care and pride in his service. Plug over 🙂
Geoff - 0419 723 815
Dasdubber ·
The light is finally at the end of the tunnel - the bus is back from the upholsterer after receiving many metres of leather and quite a few dollars.
We have intentionally kept the interior stitching and side panel designs very simple to keep everything clean and neat as per the rest of the bus. The trimmer just has the front seats and front door panels to finish off.
Armando intends to use the bus as often as possible and hence wanted the carpet functional and easy to keep clean (hence black)
The roof lining has turned out very nicely - obviously have to fit off the lights and subs in the back. The front roof sections will be left out until we know everything works the way it should!
As per all the speakers, the trim covers help to keep the appearance neat and tidy without seeing the ugly black speakers everywhere
Again the rear bed 'cushion' was kept very simple. There was a lot of leather that went into this bus
Front kick panel will look great once the speakers go in
After a bit of final work underneath (brakes etc), the bus is off to the engine builders so they can get the engine running.....then back to us for final paint detailing etc (on tinwear etc) and time to iron the bugs out.
Al
vassy66T1 ·
Excellent Al.
What is the "controller" that is on the kick panel of the rock'n'roll bed?
Down the side of the seat there are also four individual light switches for the downlights and a momentary switch to operate the solenoid that pops open the draw.
Lots of wiring everywhere in this bus!!
PASHN8 ·
Breathtaking build! Well done Al!
vassy66T1 ·
It looked real nice in the flesh at Dyno day Al.
Where is it's home when finished? Down south or QLD?
Dasdubber ·
Hey Marcus....the bus will live in Sydney once finished. Hopefully not too far from firing up as Andrew and Leon work their magic on the engine.
Al
Golde60 ·
I assume that means that the exhaust has finally arrived.
got any pics of the exhaust - would be good to see how it all fitted in
Bizarre ·
Whoo Hoo.......................lives in Sydney
Might get to see it cruising 👍👍
This is just brilliant
Subtle is the new bling 👍
Dasdubber ·
Golde60 wrote:I assume that means that the exhaust has finally arrived.
got any pics of the exhaust - would be good to see how it all fitted in
Well yes and no. The header did but mufflers still weren't available until my recent trip back over to the US so we ended up custom building a muffler to suit and modified the A1 header to clear the valance (Tiger assures me this has been rectified with the most recent design). I don't think I got any pics but will do so when back at our workshop - entire system will be HPC'ed.
Cheers
Al
TICK ·
did the drive shafts work al
Dasdubber ·
Thanks heaps for your help whilst I was away Luke - much appreciated mate (PM me what I owe you by the way and I'll fix you up).
Steve got the axles and CV's sorted in the end - no circlip but Dave Butler said the CVs could be counterbored to get them to fit so we may look at that when it comes back from Leon's Motors.
Cheers again for going out of your way to assist.
Al
Dasdubber ·
A few pics of the bus from Dynomania 2011. Not quite ready to run yet but hopefully not far away.
Al
SebastienPeek ·
Al,
This bus has to be the best bus I have ever seen.
The amount of time and effort that has gone into this can definitely be seen through the outcome.
It's absolutely amazing!
I have to admit though, that engine doesn't have much room there! :P
Scratch ·
Whoa... Awesome
toonyboy ·
I love these rescue missions - cheers
Dasdubber ·
Andrew and Leon (from Leon's Motors) has been working on the bus for the last few weeks including wiring the EFI, welding in the sensor bungs in the intake plus injector bosses etc etc. Obviously jobs like this take a lot longer when aesthetics is just as important as functionality.
We zipped up today to do a slight clutch adjustment and check it had all gears now Andrew had the motor running on a start up/idle map. From here the bus can be strapped down and the EFI remapped accounting for the boost (~7psi to 10psi max dictated by supercharger pulley size).
I only had my crappy 2MP old work camera with me so the video and sound is very average - but this was just a taste of whats to come. Belt needs slight adjustment (hence slight slip on start up).
Cheers
Al
Paulc1964au ·
that is just awe inspiring one of the best kombi restores I have ever seen. I would hate to put a price on it but i am sure we are talking 6 figures?
JVLRacing ·
for shit sake!! out of popcorn🤪
This kombi is outside the square lots of heart😎
vassy66T1 ·
Starting to look quite complete.
Nice one. 👍
LIFE IN THE LOW LANE ·
Paulc1964au wrote:that is just awe inspiring one of the best kombi restores I have ever seen. I would hate to put a price on it but i am sure we are talking 6 figures?
Yeah and some!! Considering Al did tell me it took him nearly 4 weeks to get the dash glove box right and working you know it is well over the 6 figure bracket.
I am in awe of this car and it isnt till you see it in the flesh that all the little things blend in so well you dont know they are there!! If it weren't for reading this build thread you would miss the infinite details of this amazing bus!!
Any word on Dyno figures Al? Everything going to plan?
seagull ·
Is the super charger a direct drive unit ? or does it have a clutch pack fitted ?
I say this asI have a good mate over here in Perth that has snapped three shafts due to * wind up * affect. The shaft when removed is like a piece of liquorish.
Dasdubber ·
Hey Brenndan, engine made 110hp at the rear wheels on only 4psi of boost at 4500rpm so it is a real stump puller which is what it was designed to be. We have to add another idler pulley to get some more belt wrap around the crank pulley to stop a bit of belt slip and make a few more tweaks....it will then be retuned with more boost (smaller supercharger pulley) and should make 120-130hp. Absolute value of HP is not a primary concern as each dyno is different - for example some of our previous customer's engines have made 80-85hp and all have been 2054 to 2160cc on that dyno. My stock 1600 twin port in the ghia made 39hp 🙂
Now time to start sorting out the teething problems that come with such a custom build...but here is proof that it actually runs finally!!
I bet it felt great to finally drive it sounds tough Al. Good work.
Flintstones ·
sweet!!👍👍
sounds real nice too
cheers
D
Turbo54 ·
Al, remember when you were looking at the chargers at the very start and i posted you about pulley slip. I couldn't get rid of it on my hypo v6 commodore engine with my vortech blower.
Ended up tightening it so much that we snapped the bolt off the tounge, I went to a gilmer belt drive and it was much better. Hardly any tension needed with a tooth drive. Anyhow, you should look into it especially for a flat motor.
Heath
Dasdubber ·
Cheers Heath - we had to play around with belt orientation and pulley positions to eliminate the belt slip and this was achieved today by having the dynamic tensioner on the "slack side" close to the crank pulley and also changing the idler pulley postions.
Still on a 'safe tune' the engine is sounding good and has more torque and responsiveness than I expected. Looking forward to having it retuned/mapped with some more boost once we get the rest of the bus/engine ancillaries sorted.
Cheers
Al
Flintstones ·
That's supercharger's got a nice sound to it Al,
I'm interested in what the dyno figures say once she'd tuned.
Cheers
D
LIFE IN THE LOW LANE ·
Sounds nice and responsive!! Good one mate!! Plenty of torque without a lot of revs... beautiful!!
Dasdubber ·
Well all the tedious but enjoyable jobs continue on Armando's bus including detailing (paint/polishing) all engine components and ancillaries.
The final variation of the face plate was laser cut and test fitted today before being removed and painted (about 10 mins ago)....tomorrow it will be buffed and reassembled. Pushing to get it all back together for the Jamboree show (four cylinders/rotaries) at Willowbank on sunday if weather is kind.
Cheers
Al
Dasdubber ·
Getting close to completion now...a few more interior photos:
Now there's one VW fanbelt you can't change in 5 seconds with a screwdriver.
I'd be too scared to sit in something with an interior that nice.
Bizarre ·
Wonder if he owns a dog and goes camping??
LIFE IN THE LOW LANE ·
Breath taking Al!! Absolutely superb!!
Anthiron ·
This van is amazing. Seems i missed out on this thread for quite a while so it was nice to be spared the suspense that im sure a lot of you felt.
I agree though. I wouldnt know what to do with a car that perfect!
Dasdubber ·
More pics and progress....
Exhaust was ceramic coated but in black instead of the usual silver for a more 'factory' look
Modified A1 header from Tiger at A1 Exhausts in the US (not the cheap copy)....we custom made the muffler setup
Bumper and engine lid/valance back on finally
Now its getting a little better dialled in we can start to push it a little harder to more effectively evaluate the Red9 Design double wishbone front end
Shut down time for the day....
Another youtube clip of another test run out the front of our workshop:
Cheers
Al
PS will have the bus up at the VWDC show at wynnum on Sunday for anyone keen to have a look.
reub ·
👍
t_tuffnut ·
That's got some zip to it! Should scare a few people on the road!
Awesome job. Just amazing!
Flintstones ·
Beautiful detailing work on the motor Al👍👍
Cheers
D
johndoe980 ·
This was at the vw meet at manly on sunday? or was it a twin? looks great.
Golde60 ·
respect
Dasdubber ·
johndoe980 wrote:This was at the vw meet at manly on sunday? or was it a twin? looks great.
Yep it was at the show, cheers mate.
Al
5lam ·
I'm stoked I got to see this in person at the Action Day.
Its a work of art!!
SebastienPeek ·
Hang on, I'm confused.
Al, I'm assuming it's an EFI conversion? I can't see the carby anywhere...
wobblyboot ·
I also had the pleasure of viewing this bus at Action Day. It is absolutely beautiful and a credit to those building it.
Dasdubber ·
Thanks again everyone for the kind words.
Sebastien, you are right it has EFI - the single Holden throttle body is attached to the supercharger via custom billet adaptor and the injectors are housed under the plenums (you can just see the end cap of one fuel rail on the supercharger side down close to the head).
SebastienPeek ·
Aha!
Yeah, I figured that is what I could see, was just a tad confused but I'm now all good. It's great to see such a beautiful looking kombi Al, I congratulate you and everyone else that has had a part in this build. It is definitely something I look up to and will continue to look at when it comes to doing my own restoration on a kombi some time next year!
Thanks again Al!
JER-FAB ·
Alan! Insane Build!! Excellent Job! Maybe one day ill get to see it in person..
Jer
psimitar ·
Excellent work mate 🙂
That Rotex is interesting too. Might pop one on an EJ22 🙂
Dasdubber ·
JER-FAB wrote:Alan! Insane Build!! Excellent Job! Maybe one day ill get to see it in person..
Jer
Cheers Jer, funnily enough I'm wearing one of your shirts as a type! I'll be back over to the US next year for the Classic etc so will have to catch up again (will bring some more shirts over for ya).
Bus is all certified and now blue slipped....just green slip.....and finally registration!
Quick cruising vid....not the greatest quality but still looks the goods....
Cheers
Al
Flintstones ·
That looks so nice on the road👍👍
It's great to see another high quality build on the street.
Cheers
D
5PL1TDCS10N ·
You HAVE to take this to Summernats Al...
W🙂
Dasdubber ·
Since we are still running Armando's bus around sorting out any niggles and tuning tweaks (and also finally finished the audio now Pioneer's new headunit became available after a 3 month delay)....I decided to take it to the KMT Autorama (custom/classic car show here on the Gold Coast). Weather held off today with only intermittent showers so fortunately there was still a pretty good showing of cars, here is only a small selection:
Some 'completed' shots of Armando's bus:
Forgot to put the screws back in this morning since we've been playing around with the head unit wiring....has gps with live traffic updates, auto reverse camera, plus the usual audio antics you'd expect of any head unit nowadays.
Some other shots you've probably already seen sorry
Dasdubber ·
Picked up car of the show (I'm sure a few of the mega dollar muscle car boys would have been a little disgruntled!) and best interior, pretty stoked given the high calibre of cars around.
Hopefully next year will see better weather and even better attendance figures.
Al
Bizarre ·
Well done and well deserved 👍
Those sides are mirror perfect 😵
vassy66T1 ·
That is great Al!!!
Congratulations 👍
Governor ·
I dont think uou should have put mega dollar muscle cars ? How much did this cost?
Very nice but i bet a job like this is out of the reach of most people
tar76 ·
Thats the go AL about time old skool VW's start getting reconised
Dasdubber ·
Black64 wrote:I dont think uou should have put mega dollar muscle cars ? How much did this cost?
Very nice but i bet a job like this is out of the reach of most people
It's not my place to say how much. You are right this bus has had a big budget (despite hearing rumours of some grossly inaccurate figures), but knowing the dollars spent on some of the American cars (yes I know for a fact and not just from rumour), this has had far less spent.
The debate was never about whether this resto is within the reach of most people, it was more a note that the bus can hold its own against non-vw's with budgets even bigger. And budgets aside altogether, I just thought some might appreciate seeing a vw get some accolades outside our scene.
Cheers for the other comments.
Al
Clovus ·
Wow!........ Just wow!!!!
Cheers
Clive
annosL ·
Great to see what can be done at the top of the heap, something we at the bottom can admire and aspire to! Well done and great photo's, can never see enough of this bus👍
wolfgang54 ·
its not original! its Awesome. well done, very jealous