Aircooled VW South Africa

That body cleaned up very nice.

Even being in Pretoria, I would still get a epoxy primer on there as quick as possible to stop the flash rust.

otherwise you may have to have it blasted again.

That would buckle the panels for sure.

Even with the primer on, you can still weld and cut and grind with out any problems.

When I did MeFusco, I did the primer at the sand blaster as we are on the coast and things rust as you look at them.

Great work keep it up

Herman

Thanks Herman,
Yes that is the plan. Only problem today it was raining and probably tomorrow as well. But at least I got to vacuum a lot today.
Tested on a small panel on Thursday with the Epoxy Primer I am using and I am really chuffed with how it applies .
It is Jotun's Jotamastic 90 and is colour matched, well close enough to my final paint.

So yesterday I managed to get the outside and inside primed with Epoxy primer. Starting to look like a Kombi again. This now has to cure for 7 days before completely hard, then I will fit the rotisserie again and do the underside. Today I will go look if there is a matched leather for my upholstery at Leatherite.

Hi Alan. Did you sand blast the entire bus is over?

yes, inside and out. Came out really good. So now it has the epoxy primer/undercoat on it that can be sanded flat before spraying original colour.

So today I am hoping I completed about 98% of the epoxy primer coating on the complete Westy.
I say 98% because there are always some areas that require some touch up probably with a brush.
Before starting with the underside I also welded in the platform tray on the left and managed to fix the battery tray to last at least a few years.

Once this has all cured I can start with the final dent removal and filling of holes that I could not reach or manage to panelbeat out.

Well done!! A lot of hard work and dedication.

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Progress seems slow but a lot of work has gone into it. I'm sure I must have spent 3 solid days just vacuuming the blasting grit that keeps coming out of the cavities.
Also the chassis keeps on giving road dirt ie. sand and fine compacted dust that is slowly coming loose with repeated blasts of compressed air.
To add to that I keep on finding spots to be touched up with epoxy primer that the spray gun could not reach and I have to use a brush and mirror to see what I am doing.
But at least the nose is now welded in and unfortunately there does seem to be a slight difference between Early and Late Bays. The two pieces did not fit as well as I hoped but that will have to be sorted with some body filler. The original nose had lead filling on it as well.
So before I can give the underbody a coat of 2K paint it has to cure for 7 days, but everytime I find something to touch up that date is postponed, so I started sanding the inside and applied seam sealer. That is a shiteload of work as well. All this is only done by myself without and labourers so it takes even longer. Until next time have a relaxed extended lock down.

These after market panels are very close to the OEM parts, but not exact.

Thats why I love using donor parts of approx. the same year or close.

Good work so far, keep going, you will soon be driving it with a big smile on your face.

Herman

Very nice boet!
Haans

So, it's time for another update.
I have been busy but all little things like cleaning locks and small pieces.
Also eventually got a heater pipe to complete heater before putting the wheels back on. BTW. I used a 75mm PVC pipe for the heater pipe, just hope it can withstand the heater air temps. And I also used a PVC electrical conduit pipe for the wiring harness. It has the same ID as the original rusted pipe but is a little bigger on the OD. Hope this will work out as well once I pull the new harness through.
It doesn't look like much has happened but anyway it's coming along and I am slowly starting to assemble again.
I also have an order coming from Germany with new rubbers for the pedal shafts, accelerator cable, heater cables selector shaft... and a accelerateo pedal repair kit that includes the floor mount spring and pin. I have also done quite some work on the rear quarter panels to get them smooth and rounded as well as the sides that required some work.

Very nice work

So my Westy is back on it's wheels after painting the under body with 2k paint over the epoxy primer.
The brake lines were cleaned up and flexible hoses replaced. I also rerouted some lines that were all curled up because a brake booster was fitted.
I also received my parcel from Germany with my used original seat covers as well as a pile of rubbers for gear linkage to pedal seals to engine lid hinge seals.
I need to get the body smooth before applying paint but it's a lot of work. Will post some pics later, haven't taken any lately.

Unfortunate;y not much has happened but at least I got the used seat covers from Germany from another T2 owner on a German forum. I at the same time ordered a few new rubbers for my Westy which also arrived. Now I need to clean the heater, clutch and accelerator cable tubes before fitting the rubbers and cables.
I had the drivers seat repaired with the backrest material which was then replaced with a very close match vinyl obtained locally. Today I assembled the lot but the drivers seat bottom need some extra padding. The 2/3 bench came out very good, the drivers seat back needs a bit more thought. I think I'm missing something at the bottom.

So, it is not as if there is no work being done but rather that it is a load of work. But every little bit brings the completion date a bit closer.
For now my fingertips are raw and the weather is cold so I will give it a rest for some days.
But here some pics to satisfy those still looking in from time to time. Till next time and hopefully at a paint ready stage.