My Westy Resto

gmag69 · Post by **gmag69** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:36 pm

It is snowing a little here but I'm getting so sick of winter that I went out and started working on the Westy. Yesterday I went out and shoveled the 3 feet of snow away from the back of it and started taking out the passenger's side battery tray or what was left of it. I said heck with it and decided to stop. Well today I figured I'll take the corners off along with the trays and the panel below the engine lid since I'm going to be replacing all of it anyways. Here are some pics. I'll take some better ones once it gets above freezing and I start putting the new stuff on.

When I pulled the piece below the engine lid off it was half full of mouse nests and acorns and rust. I'll deff have some rebuilding to do before the new stuff goes on.

The last 2 pics are after I cleaned everything out and sprayed it with some white Krylon paint I had laying around. I figured It would go well with the snow moteef that I have going on around here. I hope it leaves real soon.

More to come.

gmag69 · Post by **gmag69** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:37 pm

Ok I got my Bus Depot delivery and took some pics when I got home. Here they are.

What I came home to. =D>

Muffler strap

Clutch cable and tail pipe install kit

Rubber brake lines

Pop top canvas.I couldn't believe that big thing fit in that little box.

shifter coupling kit

steering column coupler

Muffler and cat converter.I forgot the muffler install kit. #-o

Rear corners

Blower hoses

Brake line kit.Replaces every metal line on your bus

Tailpipe

side/rear and pop top seals. I couldn't figure out what the heck the pop top seals where at first. I thought I got the wrong seals

Fuel tank rubber elbow,windshield wiper nut cap(missing one),push rod tube seals,brake line grommets

Battery trays and panel below the engine hatch

Well that's it for now. I have a few more things being drop shipped to me so I'll add those as I get them.

More to come.

gmag69 · Post by **gmag69** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:39 pm

Well I had my son out playing in the yard yesterday so I figured I'd paint my Muffler and Cat while he was having fun.

Here they are painted:

The Cat is still wet in the pic. Once it dries It'll look like the muffler. They need another coat but it started to rain so I put them in the bus till a nicer day.

This is what I'm using. I hope it'll hold up ok. It should it is for grills and woodstoves.

More to come

gmag69 · Post by **gmag69** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:41 pm

I did this today so this topic is now up to date.

Well I thought I'd start welding in my battery trays and rear corners today but that didn't happen. I dug into driver's side pillar beside the engine hatch and found alot more rust the I expected thanks to the mice that built nests in there. I had to stop for the day till I can rip the blue bus's rear apart and see if I can salvage some metal from it to weld into the Westy. Here are some pics.

Rear pillar mostly cut out.

Another shot of the pillar.

I didn't miss the grinder I tell ya what. I burnt my arms and had a red hot piece of metal fly in my right ear and burn my ear drum. Gotta love that.

It'll be worth it in the end I hope.

gmag69 · Post by **gmag69** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:42 pm

Here are pics fo the trays.

Right trays tag.

left trays tag

Note the detail in the right tray

Not as detailed on the left side

Passenger's side does have the battery hold down but the driver's side doesn't. I'd be nice if we could both in Genuine VW parts. The VW one is really nice.

gmag69 · Post by **gmag69** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:44 pm

I've been debating what to do with the rear of the Westy and I have devised a plan.

I'm going to get the bumper off the blue bus tomorrow and cut the back open and see how it is. If it is in alot better shape then what I have I plan to cut the ends of the rear frame rails along with the pillars on both sides of the hatch and drop the whole rear section then weld it onto the Westy. The inner apron on the Westy is really bad along the bottom. Over half of it is rusted off so I'd have to replace it anyways. This will make it alot easier for me in the long run. I really wish the later buses had the removable apron like the early ones did that would make my job alot easier. I'll post some pics tomorrow of what I do.

gmag69 · Post by **gmag69** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 7:58 pm

I did a little work on the blue bus and started painting my top on the Westy. It looks pretty good for flat paint. It isn't going to win any trophies but it will be nice enough for me. Here are a few pics.
Before pic:

After

Here's a before pic:

After:

Here's a shot of the blue bus. I might get it done tomorrow after I go and get a new couch.

gmag69 · Post by **gmag69** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 11:44 pm

I cut the apron and rear frame sections off the blue bus the other night. I have some more metal to replace on it then I thought but it isn't to bad so it'll be going on the Westy. I can't wait to pull the motor out of the blue bus. I shouldn't even need to jack it up now.

Here are a few pics.

Pic of the apron cut off the blue bus:

Pic of the engine with the Apron off:

Another engine pic.

More to come.

MNAirHead · Post by **MNAirHead** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 3:53 am

Did you use a torch on the restoration bus.

gmag69 · Post by **gmag69** » Tue Apr 29, 2008 12:50 am

MNAirHead wrote:Did you use a torch on the restoration bus.

Do you mean the Westy? No I used a grinder to cut out the bad metal. The blue bus I used a sawsall to cut the back section off.

MNAirHead · Post by **MNAirHead** » Tue Apr 29, 2008 3:35 pm

Looked in the pix as if the steel had distorted.