Derek and Lee are the proud new owners of this lovely old 79 Kombi camper - it is their first foray into the VW scene. As a friend of a friend, I was lucky to be asked for some help and advice during their search for a bus, and although spending a little more on purchase price, it has been well worth it as this is a real solid old girl.

With the help of Lee's brother, they all did a great job of saving some pennies and stripped her down to bare bones apart from a few final bits and pieces (like the dash which came out tonight) and LPG box etc.

As per usual there will be lots of pics I am sure as it is a great way for the owners to keep track of progress, and also to ensure all my work is transparent (no hidden surprises or "out of sight out of mind" approaches taken).

As it arrived yesterday;

dump it and get the bugs in ya teeth happening.. cool, lookin fwd to see the result n progress..

Looks better than 90% of kombis you see driving around, I have a 75 camper that am pulling apart so if you need anything give me a yell.


Will be watching with interest, as always.

Peter

Cheers Peter - much appreciated! It certainly makes it easier (and cheaper in the long run for the owner) to have a solid base to start with....... More repairs required = more $ required. It is going to look great once done.

what happened to the split resto Alan?

Woo Hoo. Lookin forward to another Das Dubber resto epic on here to follow.

Dean the splitty is still waiting patiently - it seems a lot of people are waiting for me to start that one!

No money = no progress on my own cars

Never fear though, I've been formulating a plan of attack....

no money, rubbish you own your own mega-corp, you're rolling in the stuff ... everyone whos self employed is rolling in dosh. At this rate you'll slip in a Baja before the Splitter.

Very funny mate! If I was rolling in the stuff I'd have started the splitty long ago and I'd have the turbo and efi in the oval already........when you see either of the two following happen, you know the splitty resto is not far away;

1) I have a double carport/enclosed garage built out the front, or
2) I have an industrial unit

so basically need more space before I start the old girl (should have an IRS box done sooner or later.....corvair engine is still waiting in the wings [just want to be a little different - ie unless the turbo type IV from the oval ends up in the split when I build a proper engine for theoval].....have some repair panels already but need to collect more) - so the ball is rolling, but just very slowly!

Alan you are a fkn machine!

Have been doing a bit of disassembly work on the dash and lpg cylinder box etc plus a bit of poking around.

The hole for former vents in the driver side will be filled:


Along with hole for vents on sliding door:


LPG box hole will remain and is solid - obviously will get a good clean up:


A bit of evidence to show why a higher initial purchase price will get you a better base to start with!


Dash has been removed - how sweet are those front floors...


Seat runners were removed by Derek - original paint is pretty shmick and will make prep for the new colour much easier.

Front left corner under pop top a bit crusty:


Front right corner is actually pretty solid (despite appearances):


Right rear corner lots of surface rust but believe it or not, the pitting isn't as bad as the pic suggests:


Rear left corner is a bit worse for wear!

Under front screen found a few surprises:


A bit more vigorous poking around uncovered a few more thin spots:


Rear hatch:


Right rear window:


There are a couple other areas I couldn't get pics of tonight but will update as time permits.

Got started on prepping the pop top today after the notch guards were done. Resined up the holes which the rivets went through previously then gave it a sand with 240 dry to get the major stuff off, then 400 wet in readiness for primer maybe on the weekend.



Will get onto the actual top tomorrow.

Nothing too exciting today apart from prepping the top, buying the paint, primer etc, and patching (via resin and chop mat where required) for lots of old holes used on previous hinge "repairs" in the past).



All these holes on the hatch have been fixed ready for the new stainless steel hinges and aluminium spacers to make it all look as neat as possible.



Pretty boring stuff today.

3 days Alan since our last fix - come on Man you cant get people hooked and cut them off dry - good thing you arent a drug dealer (anymore )

and dont bother with the excuses- just post the damn pics man and get on with the story

Better not disappoint hey! Been tinkering away but nothing exciting hence no pics until today.

Part of the pop top is in colour - Derek and Lee chose a nice pearl white which turned out to be a three stage paint (three coats of white base, three coats of pearl, then clear). Bit more time and $ but it is a nice colour.




Hole in the hatch is there for a reason (hinge attachment):


Probably no more pics for a few days so hope you can hold out!

sorry to butt in what sort of primer did you use on the fibreglass? bout time i did mine

It was a brand called Duxone - I think they were formerly Prematek. It is a 2K high build primer/filler which allows a fair bit of material build up to fill small sanding scratches and imperfections. After primer had cured it was hit with 600 then 800 wet paper before the base coat was applied. I use Spies Hecker base/clear - all materials sourced from the same supplier (checked compatibility etc) - unfortunatley have to travel to brissy to get it.

Back into it today - after discussing the options with Derek and Lee regarding the dash it was decided to disassemble, and smooth it to get rid of the textured finish on there originally. I cut it back to etch primer (no real need to get it all to bare metal as the original etch has a very strong bond with the metal).


Plastic parts (glove box door, ashtray, instrument panel surround) were scuffed with abrasive pad, then grease/wax removed, followed by the application of a 1K transparent plastic primer which promotes adhesion of the actual primer. Don't want paint chipping/flaking any time soon!


2K primer was then applied over the adhesion promoter and later sanded with 600 then 800 wet paper in readiness for colour (tomorrow)


Prepped dash parts also received a few coats of high build primer:


Pedals, handbrake, gear lever and steering column tube will be the same colour as the dash (different to the body).


I wasn't happy with the pop top due to the porosity of the original fibreglass (pin holes throughout a lot of the top) thus spent another day with glaze putty, sanding, primer, sanding, spot putty, sanding, primer, and finally when happy wet sanded tonight with 600 then 800 wet paper (funny marks next to hatch opening is water that hadn't dried yet just in case you're wondering!).


Tomorrow will see the pearl white go onto the pop top, and colour onto the rest of the bits!

Dash components were painted today - a few dust nibs will be cleaned up with a clay bar shortly but otherwise gloss is good. Colour is the same as Ben's notch (had a few mL left over paint). Low res pic on old camera makes it look a little dull (trust me!)


My dog is always keeping a close eye on quality control - she is harsh but fair. She was happy with this piece.


Instrument cluster looks good in its dark grey metallic colour (same as rest of dash etc)


Pop top received its pearl white paint and clear today as well:




Top will be colour sanded on Saturday before being picked up by Derek and Lee on Sunday (will give me a bit of space back!)


QA inspector not as happy with a small blemish that will be fixed on saturday (not the hole, that is supposed to be there!):

great work thats just how my poptop is going to look...not

rocknrob - anything is possible (with time and money!). I'm sure your poptop will put a smile on your dial which is the main thing!

I colour sanded the dash today - the metallic is hard to photograph (as stated in Ben's notch thread) but it will look pretty shmick in place with the pearl white and other colour chosen for the lower half of the body.


You're probably getting sick of pics of this pop top already! But I've colour sanded it (need to finish it tomorrow morning) - looking pretty good.

Dash is starting to come back together - the speedo etc are all looking nice and tidy now:


The top came up really sweet after colour sanding - it was hit with 1500 wet paper, then 2000, then buffed with lambs wool pad and cutting compound, then swirls were removed with softer pad and lighter compound. After about a month it can be waxed (needs time for solvent evaporation before the surface is sealed).

Tackled some rust repair today....rear hatch rust was cleaned up (wire brush wheel and sanding flap wheel in die grinder)...


Cardboard template was used to determine shape and size of repair section:


Template was transferred onto new flat steel which was then cut to suit:


That was then used to mark section that needed to be cut out (using air powered cut off wheel and air hacksaw):


When you take the time to get the repair patch right, gaps should be minimal:


Mig is playing up a little (needs a service I think) but adequate penetration was still obtained even though it is not as nice as I normally like:


Ultimately though it still came up pretty good once the welds were ground down (angle grinder with grinding disc and air cut off tool with grinding (not cutting) disc, plus die grinder with sanding drum and finally angled air grinder with 60grit sanding disc)

Bloody hell Das you are good!

Is it as easy as you make it look or have you have so much practice it is just like second nature?

It's easy once you know how and have had practice.....but still takes a lot of time to get it right.

All these sections are starting to look the same on the photos so bear with me if any are repeated!

From this:


To this:


And finally this:


More under the front windscreen seal:


Not any more:

Another section under the front screen:


All patched up - will only need a light skim coat of filler:


Right rear window (a reminder pic from earlier):


Cut out:


Patched up and ground smooth:

More crustiness in right rear window:


All good now though:


Hopefully a little more progress tomorrow after work (and on the weekend).
Alan