Aircooled VW South Africa

Really nice work,

hou so aan

stew 89 wrote:Nice work Sean... Keep op the good work. what ever happened to your splitty with the bunny ears?

Its running well. Here's the link to the thread below.

http://aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopic.ph ... &start=135

Very cool Nice work.

This is the colour I want to go. I originally had my mind set on this bus's original white, but now i'm keen for a red one. They really look good in this colour.

Obviously, this will be completely red and not with a white roof. As far as I understand the commercial vehicles were all one colour.

Anyone perhaps have a picture of a red fleetline pickup?

Work hasn't stopped here, but here is a small update of some work done in the interim. Will take some pics this weekend of the body work update, progress is quite good.

Some before pictures of the lights/ lenses etc.






After they have been reworked. The difference is quite remarkable.


NOS Fleetline lenses thanks to Merlin.


Indicator lenses and bezels polished up quite nicely.


NOS Stirling mirrors.


Speedo and fuel guage I completely stripped to polish up and re-assemble, also quite happy with the results.

The engine is just about ready for when it must be installed, couple of finishing touches and its complete.



Rims after powder coating.


With tyres fitted. These were the last Pirelli's I could find in stock. Its seems these tyre sizes are being left up to this Chinese crap now days. Its not that the factories aren't producing, its just not being imported into South Africa. I spoke with the Michelin rep, and he claims the last few tyres in the 185R14's lay around for months before even one sold. Theres loads of cars on the road in South Africa with these size tyres, but it just shows that people these days only look at price and settle for this Chinese crap. I really HATE the Chinese!



I ordered a Solenoid from Diesel Electric this week to rebuild the starter for this bus after they didn't have stock for months in a Bosch. Finally I got a call and when quoted the price looked back at my previous invoices from last year only to notice that it was now nearly R200 cheaper, but they assured me it was the Bosch.

Well, it arrived in Bosch packaging, but alas, inside was a "made in China" part. Seems this crap is just filtering in everywhere...

More pics to follow on the weekend.

Just an update, I have been making progress. The outside is pretty much sorted and in primer. Once flatted, it will be ready to be sprayed. I will however leave it right until the end when everything is done to spray paint.





I have made a set of trolley wheels to keep the bus mobile while spray painting. At least now I can also start with the refurbishment of these components.




I managed to borrow the ash tray from inside the red Fleetline I pictured a little earlier in the thread to match the sample. It looks slightly different from outside the bus, actually a little bit of an orange red, but this is the colour it must be.
I have had it mixed in Spies Hecker Permacron paint range. Its SUPER expensive!, but with red you can’t afford to have cheap paint fading and I really want the finish on this bus to be top class.

I sprayed the inside of the load bed its final colour before fitting the floor in order to try get in all the hidden places. Although its now looking ok, I am not entirely happy with the finish, so I will be having to flat all this down again and spray more coats. It’s not easy to flat with all the sharp edges, corners and angles etc. Loads of sand paper is wasted.





Gearbox and suspension removed now for refurbishment. What can be powder coated will be and all the loose steel parts will be plated.



I have replaced all the hinge pins in the side and rear hatches. These hinges are all brass. Can anyone tell me if they were painted originally or left in brass from new?



I have also got the profile sorted for the wide load bed. My supplier will be able to manufacture it from 3m long sheets and use 2mm steel.When the bending is complete the whole will be laser cut in one sheet that it can fit in my new frame work. This will be MUCH stronger than originally.


Next major job is the start with the drop sides and wide load bed. All the drop sides I will be able to rebuild, but the remaining structure is rubbish. I am going to rebuild it completely and build it much stronger. Seriously, this must have been the most flimsy and weak design ever made in history. I honestly don't know what these moegoes were thinking when they made this...

Nice going there Sean, that colour will look excellent on that bus.

as you know by my Fastback, red is a good colour for VW's.

Herman

Great work, hats off to you.

Flip the red looks good!

Nice work, Sean.

Paint your hinges.

looks incredible Sean!

Merlin wrote:Nice work, Sean.

Paint your hinges.

Ok, thanks.

Great work Sean !
Need to come have a look and chat before I spray the oval.

Are those wheels the ones you got from me ??