Aircooled VW South Africa

sean wrote:

Riaan.N wrote: Mon Mar 04, 2019 10:25 am Hi Sean, the engine looks great!

Who do you use for all your plating requirements?

I have used several over the years. If I want the gold colour, I use Metallica. If the silver colour, I use strand plating. Many places can help with electroplating.

Thanks[emoji3]

Ok, time for an update.

The spray painter really needed a kick in rear to get this done before the end of the year, but nevertheless, 6 months later, it was eventually completed.

Bus already painted in its High Solid primer and first coat of interior colour applied.




Final dry flatting of the doors before top coat.




First areas for the external brown colour (Autum Rust)


Then doors fitted to do final mask up for final bottom colour.

Bus finally back at the factory.


Now this really is the best part.


I'm trying very hard to get as much done as possible before the end of the year. I've had to struggle with powder coaters and electro platers and other suppliers closing up for holiday and crap like that.

And you made me believe you did all your busses in a weekend

Looking good sir....who did the paintwork?

Good progress. Looking nice. Headlights look better than new. Out of curiosity, i just read this thread from the beginning again to refresh my mind...

Personally not a fan of the brown color.
But
This looks amazing! Well done!

Not too much of a bus fan.....but this one,...... is starting to look like something !!
Colour combo is nice
Regards Haans

sean wrote: Wed Dec 25, 2019 9:48 pm

Sweat...
looks like a Champagne Edition II (US special model) color combi? (Not available in Germany)

This is a Uitenhage South African bus.

The bottem colour in SA is called Autumn Rust and the top colour Clifton White.

Update time is a little bit in arrears here, but here goes.

After getting the bus back from the panel beater at the end of 2019, I decided that because George 2020 car show was around the corner, that must be the goal to get the bus finished.

December time was the usual disaster to try and get things done with stupid public holidays and workshops closing. Cleary these okes make too much money and simply close their doors and do no business.

None the less, I just had to do more myself.

First jobs in the mechanical rebuild side.

Front suspension strip.



First issue, wile removing the arms, pieces of the blades came out with it. So I stripped them all out and found broken blades in both top and bottom stacks.



So I had to strip a second beam for parts. It was a beam hacked by a man with a angle grinder, so was luckily good for spares.


Then onto brakes. Again, everyone was closed so I machined them myself. These were all parts I had to source from other donor spare parts as even the disks and drums were worn way over maximum life. Everything off this Executive was really wasted. It must have lived a hard life.




Even look at this gear selector rod. Its completely worn away on the one side. I have never seen such bad wear before.



Some of the parts that arrived just in time from the electro-platers all nicely cleaned up for rebuild time.

Rebuilding original side mirrors. Replacing glass.




All nicely polished up. I love re-using original parts that can be restored to new condition. These mirrors are made from stainless steel so I simply polished them up on my buffing machine to shine for the next 45 years.



Sliding step restoration. I had the base powder coated, the aluminium trim was in bad shape, but also being aluminium I could sand it first and take it through the buffing stages to work out the blemishes to shiny finish and finally finished with the correct rubber mat.


Motor being installed;


Insulating engine bay material being recovered in plastic as it was originally.


Wiring loom and interior parts being installed.


And then onto the trim pieces. These were a tough job but I was able to re-store them to very presentable finish compared to what they were.

And the final pictures one day before the George annual car show. It was push, but I got it done with 1 day to spare. I took it home and it drove lovely. So with 40km on the clock we hit the road for George.











Interior. Again, I try and use as much original parts as possible. I had a new roof lining installed, but the rest is original. Just gave it all a good clean up.











Final touches.


I was very happy to find these reflectors. They were from a fellow advertising on facebook. Nice to know these are now available.

And some pics on route back from George. The bus went well. I had one issue which popped up a few times and that was the bus not starting. I had to short the starter motor direct to start when it was hot. I figured out this was a weak ignition. I have resolved this by installing a relay.

Other than that, the bus went lovely. I love just hitting the road with a untested vehicle.

Wow, that bus looks like the day it left the factory, if not better. Job well done.

Good job, can imagine how you felt driving a new old bus.