Hi….thought I'd share one of our current restorations with you.

I run DAS Resto Haus - a VW restoration shop on the Gold Coast in Australia….this 71 Dual Cab project was the idea of an owner who wanted an old styled 'ute' (what we call a pickup) but with all the mod cons and handling/performance of a new car.

Without rambling on much more here is what we started with:





More pics to come, cheers. Al

This thing was destined to be torn down to its bare bones given the brief of the project and the importance to get the panels super straight. So off with the nose:



As usual rotten a-pillars and inner valance:


The D-pillar (passenger side) had received a big whack at some stage and rather than fixing it properly, someone decided just to plate over it with a second skin



Both doglegs were to come off and be replaced with Klassic Fab units:


Lower a-pillars needed replacing as well

Das, you're in resto heaven.....you must love rust challenges !!

what happened to the poor two tone splitty in the background of the 3rd pic ?

Awww nothing a little bog and a good sanding block can't fix

Seriously though, looks like you have your work cut out for you, there are a few (no names mentioned) places around that do sub standard work so I look forward to seeing how this one turns out done properly.

Will watch with interest.

Craig, it is an original 23 window - lost a back brake drum doing 90km/h and hit the wall hard a few times. Unfortunately was an insurance write off but the good news is the bus is being rebuilt currently on the sunshine coast by bob and ash. So it will see the road again some day which is great.

Al,

A 3.2 quad cam scooby motor planned?

They are a big heavy lump with loads of torque so the gearbox will need to be strong - whats planned there?

Will make a great DOKA though.

Scott, aircooled for this one - owner wasn't keen on suby power

Wow,

Even more power.

I know of a T25 owner with a 3.6 Porsche lump and it does 60km/hr in first, 105km/hr in 2nd, 160km/hr in 3rd, 210 in 4th, and 250+ in 5th. He has a Porsche gearbox of course.

Whats this one going to run?

Cheers,

Scott

Scott, we discussed options with Dave Butler (vw transaxle guru here on the gold coast) and whilst we considered a G50, we opted for a well built 2L 091 box. It will have full Albins internals and super diff etc which we acknowledge will not withstand to a lot of abuse from the torque the Porker motor will put out, but there was a trade off for a bit of sensible driving (this DC is going to be more a family car than drag race vehicle) vs cost of fabrication/installation and rebuild of a G50 or 915 etc.

After our final mockups we'll get the box to Dave so he can start ordering all the goodies whilst we continue with body work and other mods.

Of all the cars to showcase did you have to do a lowlite dc resto - Finally all of my imaginary friends had come to an agreement that we would offload my lowlite dc but now those inner voices are saying - wait we can do this..

Now I am having to sit through the build process on the forum..any chance this can be done as quick as overhauling - sure would be less painful

Damn you Al...

Haha, no quick bondo overhaulin resto's here sorry mate

I will probably have around 200+ hours just in planning and research by the time this one is done, never mind actual hands on work that Baz (my head fabricator) has done to date, and both of us will do to get it completed!

Rear tubs were knackered so the call was made to remove and replace them as well


The deeper we dig, the more work we find (like all resto's!)


New Klassic Fab cab floor to come


Rear pillars were knackered as well


Off to blasting

Great to see a lowlight getting some love

Wow, I hope my Baja DC doesn't need that much work....
Look forward to seeing the progress

Post blasting things always look a little better (but certainly reveals exactly how much work is ahead)






Time to start cutting:


To make way for this:


After lots of research and talking to our gearbox builder, it was decided an 091 bus box would be mated to the 3.2L Porsche engine….it will have full Albins (weddle) internals and super diff. Whilst it will not withstand 3rd gear burnouts or drag race starts, the owner was happy to compromise some sensible driving to save a load of funds on buying/rebuilding/installing a G50 or 915 box.


Cheers
Al

Cheers guys.

When mocking up the Porsche engine mated to the 2L bus box using a late bay gearbox top mount, two issues arose - one was the firewall/tranny hump was in the way, and two, engine to ground clearance was very limited if the box was mounted in the factory position.



As a result, a 2 inch tranny raise was implemented - front torsion housing mount was left in situ and the actual bolt on mount modded?the rear tranny hanger was then set 2 inches higher up on the chassis

nice work Al.... another thread I will be glued to

Gotta love a VW resto, I'm sure there are some who, after digging and finding this level of rust and damage, would conclude that its not worth doing. Thank god there are those that persist, and those that have the skills to make it happen.

No full custom builds are ever cheap, but we are thankful that there are customers out there prepared to spend a few bucks on Volkswagens.

Lots of small rust repairs to go along with the major panel replacements




The left side D-pillar had received a big whack at some stage and needed replacement. Since no repro panels were available Barry (my head fabricator) had to rebuild it from scratch. Of course its Murphy's law that two weeks after we finished the repair, a NOS left side early bay D-pillar came up for sale in Australia! Grrr! If only it was listed a couple months earlier!

I still think you would find that you would need to do a heap of work to the repro piece anyway and still not be as satisfied with the steel gauge used and other issues of repro panels as compared to the Barry made item.

Looks great all rust free and in primer - even if it is a bit lighter than when it came from the factory.

Given the custom theme of the DC, Baz fabricated a new firewall and tranny hump from scratch and bead rolled some swages for strength and function (air flow - more info shortly)




Air ducts will be fed via sub cargo floor scoops



Part of the original tranny hump was retained and mated to the new section


New tubs…

love stuff like this

Cargo floor was in fairly good shape apart from some rust under tank area so some new sections were welded in with the centre being left open for shift rod raise.



Splitty tank separation strips were modified and used to retain stock tank separation panels


Shift rod cover under raised tank


The thin flimsy Brazilian noses have the raised centre section for the emblem which we wanted to delete….and of course are for later high light bays so this needed modification too



Mockup on the DC - a lowlight lower nose had to be fitted as well but the repro items don't come with the indicator housings


One original was good, the other knackered….so only the brackets were salvageable and the housing had to be fab'ed from scratch


During butt welding

The DC got held up for a bit whilst we wrapped this up (only finishing touches to go)

Ok, back to the DC….and back to the rhinoplasty….



Late bay indicator holes gone and new vent trim mocked up to ensure aperture was the right size/shape


Belly pans (sides only) will help to provide some more torsional rigidity for the DC


Initially we were going to run with splitty rear corners and modify them to fit since no bay DC panels were available repro….but in the end found a pair of NOS rear corners in the UK that we had shipped over instead


Similarly, no complete side panels are available so we used an early bay section and then tabbed the rest to suit….also decided to delete the side vents for a cleaner side (air will be ducted from underneath, more about that later)


New rear tubs


A lot of subtle mods on this DC that will mostly go missed (which is alway the aim) include things like reversing and deleting a lot external seams to keep the sides super smooth

amazing

Love your work Al...

That 23 window samba is very tasty too.

Holidaying in Adelaide any time soon….

Love your work Al and team.

You still have your 54? Need some parts made and hoping you could use yours as a base for me.
Heath

Hey Heath, no trips to adelaide planned at the moment sorry mate

Sold the oval to a customer in Sydney (turned out to be a 55 according to chassis number), but still have the body as we are doing paint and panel and new owner will do assembly. Let me know if I can help in any way I can.

Cheers
Al

Can you take rough templates for the inner door skins and rear quarter inner for it and where the factory handles and chrome trim would go? I am thinking or pressing mine our of ally with all the details them wrapping in 3d Carbon wrap.
Thoughts?
Heath