... And so it begins.

[Ian 68]

Thats a lovely bit of kit there Marc, lucky man indeed.

Keep up the good work !

Ian

[Fathermarc]

140126_Resto

I have a new dead line... July 28th
That's right my tickets are booked Valla 2014 Part of me is really excited and part of me is worried about the ever growing list of jobs to complete in readiness for Valla Now I will have to write a schedule to make sure that what I plan is achievable and what if anything will have to wait until after Valla.... But I will be ready for Valla

30% chance of rain... So I was working under the carport.
I welded up the long side today and tidied up all the welding underneath too. Nothing much to photo as you've seen the long side before. I then had a look at the rusted section above the passengers door. Once cleaned up it's a section 830 x 50mm. I have a long side that I removed from my first attempt at welding. I cut this up as the profile is similar to the roof section. This is what I will be doing tomorrow. I'll take photos for you and post them tomorrow evening.



Happy Australia day to you all.

[Fathermarc]

Thats a lovely bit of kit there Marc, lucky man indeed.

Keep up the good work !

Ian

Cheers Ian. Thanks for the continuing support. It's really appreciated.

Regards,
Marc

[Fathermarc]

140127_Resto

I fixed up the rusted section above the passengers door. I had to make the section up. Tacked in the top first and then tapped it into shape. I still have the lip to cut and weld in but we can do that tomorrow as I have an extra day off. We can tackle the rear Near Side corner next and then I plan to gring all the welds off. I hope all the neighbors are working. It's gonna be a noisy one.

This is the first car I've restored and today was the day the welding really clicked for me. I realize now that I've been rushing and adding too much filla rod. This roof section was the best welding so far. I've also got to the point of where I feel I've gotten over the bump and that every job is one less off the list. It's a good feeling l

Below are a few images of the work today.

[scotty*85vw]

Killer man. Top notch. Keep at it.

HaHa. Ear plug and muffs then you'll still be humming with shakey hands at night.

[Fathermarc]

140128_Resto

Man I'm hot and dehydrated. My hands are buzzing. Right this minute (in between typing) I'm digging into a pot of frozen yogurt with extra blueberries.

Today I finished off the roof section and then ground all the welds off the entire bus and even gave it all a quick rough sanding just to see how my workmanship looks. Not bad for a first timer. There are a few dips and raised sections on the weld joints here and there. I'd like to think that even the most competent body shop would think that this was expected and that a few taps with the dolly and hammer will straighten these little imperfections out and the minutest pin holes will eventually be lost in the next phase.

Today was the day that I feel like I've crossed over from cut and shut, into body preparation. All that is left in the welding department is the drivers door and the L/H cargo door. With both of these I need replace the bottom section of outer skin and the inner frame on the cargo door. The rest of the welding such as the rear quarter will be picked up in the final snagging list. A few more weekends of little bits and pieces but nothing major. Then I will begin to panel beat and sand everything into shape.

C'MON VALLA!

No photos today sorry... I was too busy but really it looks the same just smoother.

P.S. Today I names the Kombi ... "Bulli"

[Fathermarc]

Killer man. Top notch. Keep at it.

HaHa. Ear plug and muffs then you'll still be humming with shakey hands at night.

Yeas Sir I'm a Buzzin... I always wear plugs when working. Helps me get into the zone.

[Fathermarc]

140201_Resto

Today I had to take all the seats apart as I'm having someone work on the upholstery. Stripped all the fabric off and gave it a good wash. The seat frame has a bit of rust but nothing the sand blaster can't bring back to life. I really get a nice feeling when I find a hand written tag from days gone by.
After stripping the seats I measured up all the door and body cards as I will need to buy suitable material to compliment the seat. Originally the roof section was done in formed panels faced in material. I'm not sure if I should replace the material of fit a wool head liner. I took measurements any way.

I cleaned out the back of Bulli and started looking at the interior and general arrangement. I moved the R 'N' R bed around and placed the fridge and cooker in the standard locations. I lay down and looked around. I really don't like laying with my head in the rear section. I never did. So I moved things around and took more measurements. I think I've found the perfect layout but you will just have to wait and see. If it works out it's going to be awesome to camp in. It should also give us space for everything tent poles, heater etc...

I am itching to get on with the interior but I also know there's a hell of a lot of exterior work to finish before we can begin with the interior.

OK here's some images from today.

Gong hey fat choi!

[bish]

You seem to be getting along fine ,like you said ,i also find jumping from one thing from another ,just refreshes the jobs your doing ? so jumping from one to another worked for me too ? at least its another job started ,and your moving in the same direction ,that's to finish her? great work just keep plugging away.

[Fathermarc]

140403 - Resto

I've been away in Russia for the past month and so haven't done anything on the body work for about 6 weeks. That's not to say that I didn't do anything Kombi related since leaving for mother Russia. Whilst there I planned the interior which included having new leather upholstery made and bought the material to make the curtains. We are both really pleased with how the leather upholstery turned out. I'll post images of the seats as soon as I fit the material.

Today I was out tapping the bodywork into shape. As this was the first time in a long time, it took me quite a while to get the hang of it. It all seems quite tiring at first but as soon as I'd worked up a head of steam I was away again. Now I'm looking forward to next Friday.

My mind is totally fixed on getting the Kombi Rego'd before Valla. So I have decided to concentrate solely on completing the body work only. The upgrades and modification may have to wait until after the festival. I have boxes of shiny bits and engineering components that I'm dying to fit but I'm scared that if I start it could take longer than planned or not work correctly which would set me back and inturn could lead to us missing Valla all together.

The safest option is to run the kombi totally stock to Valla reduction boxes and all.

On the 24th March it has been a year of ownership of the Kombi. I never thought it would take this long to prepare the body work.

[Fathermarc]

Resto_140421

OK well I'm still at it. Tapping away at the irregularities of the body work. Managed to get quite a lot done. It's not the most interesting work I've done to date but the efffects are fairly satisfying. I'm learnig as I go along and it's slowly startying to take shape. Also spot welding all the little pin holes as i go along and tidying up all the bits and pieces I vanished over from the initial panel replacement. So far have got the nose section looking fairly decent. I had to remove the the Headlamp buckets to get into the tight spots. Also got the windscreen blended in nicely and shaped the pencil round on the edge as per the original.

The Off side dog leg has been cleaned up and tapped into shape. The bastard file is my weapon of choice as well as the dolly and hammer of course.

Last week I bought a set of crow foot wheels and an engine compartment lid off a DSKer and stripped the aftermaket paint of the lid with Mr Muscle. The original Dove blue was restored and looks sweet hanging off the rear end, Still looking for the elusive third brake light for the lid *if you have one on a shelf somewhere). The wheels are earmarked for a sand blasting as soon as I can build a cabinet. Love the original wheels. Only got two orignial wheels with the Kombi when I bought her. The other two where off a later model. I think the original CF are better shaped for the domed hub caps. Nice rounded centre section which compliment the domes.

Also found an AT gear box in tip top condition for the IRS conversion, so I hope to begin the IRS conversion within the next few weeks.

Sorry no photos. It looks exactly the same just better. Will remeber to take snaps tomorrow of the work so far. The wife has volunteered to hold the dolly when I'm working the long side. Will definately be taking sanps of that day.

Valla and counting.
Peace!

[Fathermarc]

140424_Resto

Happy Anzac Day!

Has a good day tapping out the rear quarter and the long side with Nadya (my wife). Shed make a good panel beater as she picked up the techniques really quickly. I was on the inside holding the dolly and for seven hours we worked the body back into shape.

Im going to give the neighbors a rest today.

[spl65t]

RE ; Sandblasting rims - I found a place at Seven Hills who charge 25 a rim, blasted and Powdercoated.
Not worth effort of doing it myself for that price.
Linz

[Fathermarc]

WOW! That's a great price... Post their contact details on here. I'm sure a lot of NSW DSKers would be interested.

I've decided to paint the rims as apposed to powder coating due to the nature of PC being susceptible to being chipped and can not be re-coated or touched up successfully.

[kombi1976]

RE ; Sandblasting rims - I found a place at Seven Hills who charge 25 a rim, blasted and Powdercoated.
Not worth effort of doing it myself for that price.
Linz

That cheap, Linz?
I may do a set myself for that money.
Loving this build, btw.
Just sorry I won't be at Valla to see it.