1970 VW Bus - Westfalia Resto
- Thread starter adventurco
- Start date
Finished cleaning up the donor nose, blasted it, epoxy primer and a couple coats o white.
Tacked it in, test fit the doors. Looked good. Finished up the welds and we have a front end again.
Don't be fooled it was 5 years from when I cut the nose off until this point...the magic of the internet.
Tacked it in, test fit the doors. Looked good. Finished up the welds and we have a front end again.
Don't be fooled it was 5 years from when I cut the nose off until this point...the magic of the internet.
Around March 2023, I had started digging around the driver's side dogleg and decided to pitch the klokker panels I had bought and spend some coin on the KF full dogleg. The bottom of the seat pedestal was pretty shot as well, but more on that later.
Out it came after I drilled out 900 spot welds.
Some repairs needed to be done up top, so naturally I grabbed a bead roller to match the profile of this panel. I'd need the bead roller for a handful more parts so it was a worthwhile investment.
With that done, I let in the panels and test fit the door to make sure everything looked pretty good before final welds. The doors both need repair so I'll adjust the door gaps when I tackle that.
Out it came after I drilled out 900 spot welds.
Some repairs needed to be done up top, so naturally I grabbed a bead roller to match the profile of this panel. I'd need the bead roller for a handful more parts so it was a worthwhile investment.
With that done, I let in the panels and test fit the door to make sure everything looked pretty good before final welds. The doors both need repair so I'll adjust the door gaps when I tackle that.
That's the plan. All the rust that I can see will/has been repaired and I'll do everything I can to prevent any further. If I wasn't planning on keeping it around it probably would've gotten scrapped
January 2025. Passenger side. I bought the Klokkerholm garbage years ago and dreaded installing these. Wanted to buy better parts, but decided I'd try to make it work. What a pain in the ass.
First I cut apart the outer piece because the lap joint just looks awful, and butt welded it back together.
I had to cut out more metal than the replacement piece had so that would take some finagling. Once I got the inner piece let in, I made a quick and dirty gusset/bumper mount thing and welded that in place after a quick test fit of the bumper.
Patched in a bit of the seat pedestal, bead roller coming in handy again.
Patched in the short spots. All said and done it looks ok, but would've been less work to replace the entire dogleg than make this junk fit.
First I cut apart the outer piece because the lap joint just looks awful, and butt welded it back together.
I had to cut out more metal than the replacement piece had so that would take some finagling. Once I got the inner piece let in, I made a quick and dirty gusset/bumper mount thing and welded that in place after a quick test fit of the bumper.
Patched in a bit of the seat pedestal, bead roller coming in handy again.
Patched in the short spots. All said and done it looks ok, but would've been less work to replace the entire dogleg than make this junk fit.
So anyways, I started blasting. Got sick of looking at the rust and crusty paint. Did the seat pedestals and those PITA voids near the walkthrough.
Needed to strip the rest of the rusty stuff to clean up the crossmembers
Some rust behind the slider opening rocker. Not bad though.
Left side rocker is shot, as expected.
Tried out the English wheel and made a patch for the heater tube
Needed to strip the rest of the rusty stuff to clean up the crossmembers
Some rust behind the slider opening rocker. Not bad though.
Left side rocker is shot, as expected.
Tried out the English wheel and made a patch for the heater tube
Back on its side and I keep digging away…
Pulled the box that surrounds the middle heat vent. Would not recommend doing this.
And pulled the vent out.
It’s pretty crusty, I’m gonna blast it and see what’s left, may need to rebuild and or fabricate something. I thought about deleting this altogether, but since I don’t have the rear vents that’s my only heat for the cargo area.
Part of the wheel wells had to come out due to all the junk that sat inside the cargo area. Working on fabbing those pieces with the English wheel. Found some rust on the front most top hat.
I wanted to get this all exposed as I knew there was rust under there that needed to be dealt with. I decided to have the rest of the bus and doors sandblasted by a mobile blaster local to me. I wish I’d have found him sooner.
I spent the next week or so prepping and spraying epoxy primer.
Tried my hand at leading in some pitting on the roof. Happy with the outcome. Then slapped some epoxy on the roof as well.
Seam sealed the dogleg repairs, battery trays i did years ago, etc and got the undercarriage done as well.
Didn’t get a pic but the doors are primed too. Feels good to have everything clean and in one color. Now we rebuild.
Pulled the box that surrounds the middle heat vent. Would not recommend doing this.
And pulled the vent out.
It’s pretty crusty, I’m gonna blast it and see what’s left, may need to rebuild and or fabricate something. I thought about deleting this altogether, but since I don’t have the rear vents that’s my only heat for the cargo area.
Part of the wheel wells had to come out due to all the junk that sat inside the cargo area. Working on fabbing those pieces with the English wheel. Found some rust on the front most top hat.
I wanted to get this all exposed as I knew there was rust under there that needed to be dealt with. I decided to have the rest of the bus and doors sandblasted by a mobile blaster local to me. I wish I’d have found him sooner.
I spent the next week or so prepping and spraying epoxy primer.
Tried my hand at leading in some pitting on the roof. Happy with the outcome. Then slapped some epoxy on the roof as well.
Seam sealed the dogleg repairs, battery trays i did years ago, etc and got the undercarriage done as well.
Didn’t get a pic but the doors are primed too. Feels good to have everything clean and in one color. Now we rebuild.
Last Chance
Been Around the Block
Wow what a transformation. Great work!
Thanks fellas. It’s finally starting to feel like I’m moving forward instead of backwards.
Yep, it really makes a big difference. I was cleaning up one area at a time but the big blaster really punches through the thin spots, which I’d rather know now while I’m this deep.
Yep, it really makes a big difference. I was cleaning up one area at a time but the big blaster really punches through the thin spots, which I’d rather know now while I’m this deep.
Last edited:
I think I’m actually up to date at this point. Last week I started repairing some of the cross members that were damaged or rusted when I took out the cargo floor and drivers side wheel well tub.
And repaired the inner structure of the decklid. This is a replacement decklid I got a few years back from the classifieds that must have been leaning up on its side for many years.
And repaired the inner structure of the decklid. This is a replacement decklid I got a few years back from the classifieds that must have been leaning up on its side for many years.
This week I addressed the drivers side mid rocker. I cut out the rusty section and ground the spot welds off with the band file to avoid damaging the metal underneath and flange on the big panel. Had some other holes to address and the inner rocker panel was a bit pitted. Probably would’ve been fine to leave it, but “while I was in there…”
Made a patch for this area at the front.
Patched the pitted areas of the inner with 18ga after cleaning the inside, a bit of ospho and rust prevent painting painting it.
Fit up the rocker and welded it in.
Got to do a bit of adjustment and finish up welds on the inside and add some more spot welds, then it’ll get some seam sealer and epoxy primer.
Made a patch for this area at the front.
Patched the pitted areas of the inner with 18ga after cleaning the inside, a bit of ospho and rust prevent painting painting it.
Fit up the rocker and welded it in.
Got to do a bit of adjustment and finish up welds on the inside and add some more spot welds, then it’ll get some seam sealer and epoxy primer.
Last Chance
Been Around the Block
Wow, you do great work!
Nick, it had been a while so I went back to the beginning of this thread... damn dude! Seeing this brings back memories, in the summer of '72, I think it was, my folks and I took ours from Pennsylvania to Alaska and back. What a trip! The Al-Can is a challenge anyway but back then a bunch less of it was paved than it is now.
I put lots of miles on that old bus around home, too, before my folks traded it for something larger. I vividly remember one thing about driving that old beast; the shifter felt like it was connected to the transmission w/ long rubber bands. Have the aftermarket folks come up w/ some kind of shift linkage that's a bit more solid?
While stationed in Germany I also put many miles on the water cooled ones we had in the motor pool. On trips to the Frankfurt airport we'd get onto a nearby Autobahn ramp and put the gas pedal flat to the floor... and hold it there until we go to the exit for the airport.
I put lots of miles on that old bus around home, too, before my folks traded it for something larger. I vividly remember one thing about driving that old beast; the shifter felt like it was connected to the transmission w/ long rubber bands. Have the aftermarket folks come up w/ some kind of shift linkage that's a bit more solid?
While stationed in Germany I also put many miles on the water cooled ones we had in the motor pool. On trips to the Frankfurt airport we'd get onto a nearby Autobahn ramp and put the gas pedal flat to the floor... and hold it there until we go to the exit for the airport.
Thanks fellas. As for the shift linkage, there are a few plastic bushings that often wear out and when replaced make a big difference. I haven’t driven this or any bus yet so I can’t speak to how it will feel, but I will be putting it back together with all new parts so hopefully it won’t be too loosey goosey. The beetle shifts fairly well after we did the shift bushings, those were inside the tunnel and was a doodoo job.
Sent from my iPhone using DO THE TON
Sent from my iPhone using DO THE TON
Beetles and Ghias shift relatively nice. Between that and the easy clutch they were always a great vehicle for starting somebody out on a standard shift. All the buses I ever drove, even the water cooled ones, the shift lever was like stirring a paddle in a cauldron. BUT like anything else, you get a feel for it and adapt.
