Does anyone else have a VW that they would never sell? Well my keeper is a 1970 dual cab kombi that has taken myself and family everywhere comfortably and reliably. It regrettably has been off the road for 9 years and needs a lot of TLC to bring her back to life. We used to drive her on many '4wd only' tracks and always loved the challenge. But as many of you know, 'life' gets in the way of many a great project but I think I'm ready to kick this build off! The inspiration came from a work trip out to the birdsville region where I spent a month getting a taste of the awesome outback. I've always wanted to build the first 2wd kombi to cross every desert in australia and although it might take me a few years I've gotta start the thing eventually !! So is anyone interested in watching a semi custom build? I'm starting with a custom tray floor and long range fuel tank . Pre build pics soon

I always enjoy a good build thread. Bring it on!

Have you checked out BJ's offroad Dual Cab Kombi in Gatton - on here as Caroneten - hate to say it in public, but is pretty good.

Am keen to see some photos as well.. get a move on.

Yea, I've seen BJ's beast and it is impressive the amount of work that has gone into it, but I'm going more for a 'factory' type build, keeping things as simple as possible and only modifying if necessary. The one thing that simpson desert recovery plus a few locals told me is to spend money on tyres and suspension. I'm only going for a 3inch lift but I am sourcing heavy duty 4x4 shockers and completely rebuild front and rear ends with new parts. I will be running the same tyres as the 2 most popular vehicles out there (hilux and landcruiser ute) 205r16 on the front and 235/85r16 light trucks on the rear. I wont be driving Hilda like a dakar touareg so I will be relying on the kombis inherent strength and not overloading Her. Most breakages come from overloading and driving recklessly, so travelling light but comfortable will be the go.

Rear diff locks from a T3 would be an advantage.

Be careful about too much lift as you may have CV problems.

Bilstein shocks!

Does anyone know of a price to fit a syncro style diff lock to a 1600 kombi gearbox?

I don't know if they fit the 1600 box.

How about a Lockrite (Check spelling)

Here's a 1600 Kombi box modified to fit a locker with a cable actuator

As far as being the first 2wd kombi to cross all the deserts I think it might already have been done by a mate of mine. He has crossed australia from east to west(qld to wa) has done cape York,tassie wilderness and outback NSW through SA into WA as well. Bay window bus that was lifted by my uncle a long time ago.215/75/15 BFG mud terrains on the front and 10r 15 on the rear with LSD. He got far more places than 90% of the 4wd he was with!!

I've finally got some pre build pics............10 years out in the weather has taken its toll.

sorry gotta resize pics, may take a while

I've got soooooooooooo much work to do. How much work can you get done in 4 days?

Made some mad progress yesterday, we cut out whole tray floor and bulkhead and removed all horzontal tray supports that are spot welded to main frame rails. We made up some perimeter capping with a neat folded edge and this will be welded into place. This may upset the purists but I'm making the tray floor out of aluminium checkerplate because it needs to be light and relatively maintenance free. The whole floor will be removeable for easy access to custom tank and top of motor. Isn't it funny how you start removing rusty metal and then you find more holes that you weren't expecting?( its not really funny). So now floor under fuel tank and back seat needs replacing too, but I'm only using flat sheet because you wont see any of it unless your lying under the car. I also might need to change my name from grinderman to plasmaman because I got to use a hand held plasma cutter and those things are the bomb.(the advantages to dragging HILDA to brisbane to work in my mates sheet metal shop) Anyways it was a sunny day today so we lost focus and went for a 10 hour ride on the motorbikes down to northern NSW. Damn. Back into it for next 2 days flat out. Pics ASAP

I'd be re-doing the front lift area, thats some dodgy looking welding, and an excess on metal where its not needed.

Here's a gallery of Baja Kombi's for inspiration.....

http://www.manxgallery.org/gallery/BajaKombis 

cut cut and more cut

It really helps to do this sort of thing in a well equipped workshop

I'm just a painter so I leave the tiggin and fabbin to laurie

oh well keep going now

The factory didnt want the floor to fall off in a hurry, it took a fight not to damage the hats

Because I'm more of a body and paint man , this 57 is what I'm working on in exchange for the metal surgery on HILDA. So its actually been a day of rust removal AND fine finishing,sanding and priming. Best christmas holidays ever..................

I knew the old girl had some rust but the more you peel the more you see. Downside- more time and I've only got 5 months. Upside- I know that HILDA will be rust free and last another 40 years. I've got to thank Laurie for being so fussy with the metal work because I might have looked at it and ran for the fibreglass!!!!! I know some people wont like the finished product because I'm changing a few things that might not look a 100% original but I dont care, it's all for a purpose and the canning stock route is calling............

Got to agree with you Graeme that front end lift looks dodgy and RTA would pick it a mile off even with some shiny paint on it. I would be cutting it all out and doing it properly while your replacing half the car!! Another bit won't hurt!!

HaHa I knew those drop plates would get some raised eyebrows Dont worry things will be changed down the front end, a bird flew under the car and shat all over my plates but trust me it will look a bit prettier (and stronger) when i finally get down that end.......

FINALLY found a couple of spare days to work on Hilda and the rust has not magically disapeared after so long out in the weather (including half submerged during this years floods). One look at all the inner sills and crossmembers meant patching wasnt an option so the grinder came out early. We decided that because of the future use of this dual cab, heavy duty was the order of the day so instead of folding up some sheetmetal for the inner sills we just went for some 75mm rhs. The steel will be great as a full length jacking point and i will be able to attach some rock sliders/steps etc.

Hooray for another baja bus!!

only want to do this shit once

repaired supports

before and after dog leg/jacking point, now 4x2 rhs