... And so it begins.

[Ged]

Great to see the progress and BTW happy birthday. Good to know you shout yourself a few drinks when not working
Bus is looking sweet

[Fathermarc]

Great to see you got the bus on the road in time for Valla. I read your thread and was impressed at how quickly you got everything done. Congrats.

The bug looks like it needs a lot of love and attention nice little project. If you needs any bits and pieces drop me a line i have a beetle project too and some spares. Has it been lowered or is it in need of new shocks?

[067DUB]

The bug is very good, just some rust in the heater channels.. Easy fix. It's been dropped two splines on the rear and has an Empi beam in the front , will be raising it an inch for road dutys. I'll never take on a Resto like that it such a short amount of time again, 120 hours over 11 weeks kills family time ! Haha,

[Fathermarc]

Great to see the progress and BTW happy birthday. Good to know you shout yourself a few drinks when not working
Bus is looking sweet

Thank you so much...

[kombi niko]

140714-Resto
Tonight I replaced the heater control cables. I took some doing. Had to bore out the end as it was full of old crud. Used a twisted wire and grease to free up the inside of the guide tubes where they terminate near the engine. Also measured up for new brake cables 300mm shorter than a standard 68 bays cables. Measured up for new tie rods, 500mm fixed rods & 445mm adj. rod length.

Did you cut the bay ones down or buy another shorter set?

[Fathermarc]

140714-Resto
Tonight I replaced the heater control cables. I took some doing. Had to bore out the end as it was full of old crud. Used a twisted wire and grease to free up the inside of the guide tubes where they terminate near the engine. Also measured up for new brake cables 300mm shorter than a standard 68 bays cables. Measured up for new tie rods, 500mm fixed rods & 445mm adj. rod length.

Did you cut the bay ones down or buy another shorter set?

Im having a set of bay handbrake cables cut down to length.

[kombi niko]

gotcha

[Fathermarc]

140715-Resto

Last night fed a few more cables and fitted the new CB Performance Gearbox brace.The front brace will not fit so it'll go on items for sale.

Pic.

[Fathermarc]

140719 - Resto

Well it's getting closer to the move and I've been trying to get as much of the engine bay area completed before the big move.

Brakes:
So I fitted the new dual circuit master cylinder in preparation for the disc brakes. This was purchased from CSP and what a fantastic bit of kit it is as well. Nicely machined with a dual reservoir for the brake fluids also a pressure switch on the reservoir cap for the brake like sensor. So new lines where routed to each of the individual rear drums which is a nice little touch. Designed for the rear disc (future proofing). I bled the system and had the brakes working good. So that's one major item ticked off the essential list.

Next up...

Wiring:
Most of the wires that connect up the rear end had suffered a burn out some time in the past. They had been crudely twisted, soldered and bandaged up with electrical tape. I took all the tape off to inspect the condition of the wires. there was some exposed copper on the main positive cable and the additional cables twisted on where all the wrong colours which could make re connection a little confusing so I decided to replace them all with correct colour combinations. The original cables before the bur was in good condition so it was just a case of matching and reconnecting. I sleeved the cables in groups. One for the rear lighting, one for the engine compartment & one for the starter motor. Looks nice and neat and will simplify connection later on. I never like untidy wiring in a VW engine bay. All cables where left long for the time being.

Front Controls:

All the pedals had been painted a few months back but the new connectors, linkages and cables where all replaced. Looks nice, works nice and is ready for the move. I even popped on the restored steering wheel and placed the seat springs in location. I had a little pretend drive to bolster the feeling of satisfaction. I'm toying with the idea of painting the steering column and hand brake Dove blue in the near future.

Engine:

I was going to insert the engine but two things stopped me in my tracks. Firstly my wife suggested that all the rusty tin ware needed a bit of TLC and secondly I was going around replacing all the screws and bolts when I over tightened a manifold nut and snapped the manifold. Perhaps the metal ring gasket was not lined up properly underneath and I snapped a wing off. Well that was that. So I placed an order for a new manifold with Eurocarb in the UK because I've dealt with them on a few occasions and the items are here in Aus. within a few days. I stripped all the tin ware off and tonight I'm going to sandblast them back ready for a painting sometime this week. Hopefully by weekend the engine will be sitting pretty in it's rightful spot in the back of the kombi.


Images... Only a few.

[spl65t]

What happened with this one ?
On the home stretch, then stopped
Linz

[johnharte]

Yeah - was going great guns!

[MID WEST DUBBER]

Anyone know where this bus is at? Was a great build

[Fathermarc]

Four years since we moved and since My last post.
The bus went under wraps and life got in the way. We bought a water front which lead to buying a few boats that became the next new projects. I then set up a business and channelled most of my energies between boats and the business. Then I landed a series one landrover and restore her. Then as recently as last week, something happened! The high winds blew the cover off the old girl and it stirred something in me. I suddenly realized that I needed to finish her.
So I’m back! I’m going to finish her off!

[morts]

Bless you Father for you have seen the light....

[Fathermarc]

Ahmen to that!