I've had this old girl for a couple of years, patiently waiting. Now that the 67 Beetle is at the trimmers and close to getting on the road, it's time to get started.

The bus was a dry-cleaners van and looked in reasonable shape. As always when you get started poking and proding, you learn a bit about what you are getting into. Unfortunately, the rust and damage is quite extensive.

Never mind, we have stripped her out and will pressure wash today. Then cut all the visible rust areas away in preparation for a complete media blast.. Lots of shiny new metal will be needed..

Here are some early shots.. More to come

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ouch.

your keen!!! wish i had your perseverance.

Can't ever stop.. Bloody driven!
This old girl has dual side doors and is well worth the time and effort..

do you own the single/dual cab aswell? (aviator)

Used to.. It was a 71 Dual Cab that was the 1st vehicle I had in my Transport Fleet.. Should never have sold it on.. Ran an 1835 with twin webers and was a brilliant ride!

nice to see another in sunny sydney ive got one too now with similar issues ,Rob where did the bufori end up is it being restored or anyone here got it?
http://www.lowlight.com.au 

Mate. Sad news about the Bufori..
The new owner let his 18YO drive it and he smashed it.. No idea what is happening now but I'll find out

wonder how many 4 kilo tins of bog they used on the poor old girl,but she will be in fine health soon keep up the good work Rob

Yeah keep up the good work Rob, seeing things like that keep me inspired to get in the shed instead of going for a ride on my hog. Just realised both my toys are aircooled....cool

man thats terrible news , well if the body is damaged it is still worth salvaging and put a linkpin front clip "now would be a good time" if the front is smashed up, please let me know, Cheers Brendon

Some shots of the strip down..
Areas that have major rust are shown.. The old metal has been cut away to allow the media blasting to get right into the rust areas..
We have ordered or will fabricate the lower 12 inches of the body all the way around.. Plus two new door skins.. The cargo doors, rear door and engine lid are all repairable..
Interior is very clean and really the whole body is quite straight.. This will be a fabulous resto and well worth the effort.. Next step is to get the whole body blasted and the fit the new metal.. This will take all the way through to Christmas.. Time and $$ have to be budgeted wisely!!

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I wonder about the original colour of the body..
I first thought it was birch green (inside the headlight buckets)
But then on the nose we have a yellow/orange and a forest green as well as the birch green..

The yellow/orange is the RAAF colour used (I think) so this may have been an airfield vehicle 1st!!

The ID/VIN is 2112120008
2| - Type 2
21| - Type 2 Panel van
211| - Type 2 Panel van with production date of 1971
211|2|120008 - The last 7 digits being the chassis number (I thought it was only 6 so the 1st "2" might be for RH Drive or or Right and Left Hand doors)

Can anyone shed light on the above? I'd love to find out..

Rob check this http://lowlight.com.au/.//YaBB.pl?num=1223251134 

I take my hat off to you there Stenguns, that's a lot of work. My 69 walk through panel has been painted inside and the outside is getting done this weekend - Birch Green funnily enough on the outside, but all over - there is a pic of such a panel in an Aussie brochure of the time.

Glad to hear your cargo doors are repairable, they are a nightmare to source, good'uns anyway

When mine's done I'll put some pics up.

I love the twin door kombi's

Good luck with the project.

Can't wait to see this one back on the road...

Waiting for replacement metal to arrive before we do much more.. basically new metal all the way around the bottom 10 inches..
Then a sandblast to cut the metal back to useable.. I'm figuring paint about april/may

gee that's not as bad as it could be...I think.

sten, hats off to you mate, don't know how you do it or how the bank continues to honour the cheques but keep it up mate.

Update

New metal has arrived
Waiting now for sanding blasting in the New Year
Expecting around June 09 completion (said that before!)

Nice work mate, good to see it being done properly unlike the previous "repairs". Unfortunately I see those all too often.

I'm sure you can appreciate with your last resto how hard it is to quote on this sort of work once you start digging and finding nastiness like you uncovered! All the best, its just metal after all (well the non-oxidised stuff anyway)
AL

it looks about 20 kgs lighter now all the bog is gone

i know how you where feelin when you where finding all the rust after thinking it was all good

How's it going?

Rob,

I remember seeing your threads back in 2008, but didn't realise that it was yours as I only met you since the beetle was in the spot light.

I gather you also have big plans for this one or ???

Good luck and look forward to updated photos as I know what extent you go to on a resto

Kev

wow i havent been on here since then and its starting now good timing for me...

I've had other priorities and now really just want to get this Van done.. There won't be the years and $$ thrown in though like I did with the bug.
I've got a hell of a lot of new metal to graft on.. Lucky I have a decent paint and body guy thats not going to want my house for the work..

My plans include:
Drop spindles, lowered a few inches, but not in the weeds..
1915 mild performance (110 Cam, twin Webers, nice crank etc) married to a re-built 2 L box..
Basic interior with a few customising surprises.. These vans are such a blank canvas!
Two tone paint (like the selecta shot at the start of the thread)
A kick arse sound system (I'm talking pull over and start an outdoor party!)
A nice set of fuch's or something like that (not 100% yet)

This will be a coast cruiser.. Surfboards a must!..

I'll post the build progress as we go.. The paint and body is getting done out of town so I don't have ready access to these shots (but I'll try my best)..

Very cool

Looking forward to seeing the progress pics.

DECENT PAINT AND BODY GUY??? What was wrong with the bug?