Have now started with the rear end of the bus, hope to soon have it rolling on wheels again, after 6 months in the air. Dismantled the rear IRS trailingarms, removed all old bearings and seals, cleaned it up and sandblasted everything. Then all parts was coated in zinc primer and the Deep black satin finish paint. All new wheelsbearings and seals pressed in, new bushings everywhere and also nuts/bolts. All new brakeparts and brakedrums too. One step closer…
We went to a place called Gammelvala here in Sweden on their carshow. It was alot of visiters and over 500 classiccars attending. We made the local newspaper and won the Peoples choice award and even got some price money too.
Frans driving his minibus 🙂 More pics at Instagram: @campersontour
Bennys VW T3 bus finally finished. Here is some BEFORE and AFTER pics. 🙂
Today the bus was dropped of at the glasshop for new front windscreen and installing all windows with new rubber seals. The last final parts (bumpers) are getting painted tomorow or on Thursday. They were handpainted with brush, twisted, rusty and lots of small dents. After sandblasting they got welded, straightned and all dents hammered out. Then a light coat of bodyfiller to make them straight again, then Zinc rustprimer and after this surfacer/ground primer to get them smooth again after the sandblasted surface. Next up is some more sanding and then Deepblack paint. New covers and bolts are waiting from Just Kampers! The bus should be ready for the road in the end of the week! More pics to come…
Wheels have been fitted, needed 5mm spacers all around and longer wheelstuds (56mm) in the rear and new bolts. Wheels are 17″ inch with 225/45 tires, offset 35. Need to make a custom centercap for the speedometer tho. Lots of new parts have been installed from Just Kampers, like new taillights, fuelfiller neck, footsteps, roof ventilation, mirrors, windowfelt trim in front doors etc. Waiting on tailgate seal and new clips for the freshly painted front grills. Bumpers have been blasted and are now getting welded, straightned up and removing big dents before paint in Deep Black. Next big step is taking it to the glass shop and get all windows installed with new rubber seals! Then its ready for the road…
After alot of bodywork and sanding it was time for topcoat paint in VW Marsala Red H3D. Looks nice in red! Also got new Deepblack paint on the sun grey faded trim and parts like the front grills, handles, air intakes, wipers etc. I think all the black parts will match the black wheels perfect when its all together. The wheels from Germany will arrive this week and the other new VW parts from Just Kampers will be here tomorrow!
Time to sand the primer and fix small dents and scratches, and its alot of them both. When this is done a new coat of grey primer/filler is needed to get a good even base that needs a light sanding with 800 grit by hand before paint! Alot of work for sure!
All the places that have been sanded and sandblasted down to the bare metal have been painted with yellow 2k epoxy rust primer for protection. After this, all the small dents, scratches and imperfections in surface/metal after sandblasting etc have been filled up and sanded smooth and all the seams have been sealed up with new seamsealer. Then it was covered in yellow epoxyprimer again. When it was all dryed it just needed a light sanding before 3 coats of grey surfaceprimer was added. Now it has to dry a couple of days before it can be sanded down again, but this time more carefully and must be perfect! When this is done its ready for topcoat paint in VW Marsala Red H3H3.
Bumpers and some smaller parts is at the sandblasters at this moment and more new parts from Just Kampers in UK is on its way right now. Time to choose some cool wheels also, stay tuned for more pics and updates!
Maybe these 17″ wheels? 🙂
Some more progress made on the Highroof bus. More parts have been sandblasted and painted during the week. The chassi is finally painted too, after months of hard work. 2k polyurethane paint with elastic attribute. Good if you dont want to have stonechips in the paint later on. Cant wait to start bolting on all the new parts on the shiney chassi, no more dirty work! Also got a NOS 1960-70s roofrack that will get modified to fit on the highroof, perfect for the future solarpanels etc. Got a spare BA6 Eberspacher burner too, will be good to take parts from when I start the restoration of the original one. Here is the pics…
Sandblasted and painted silver metallic. RAL9006.
BEFORE.
DURING. Straightned out and sandblasted baremetal
AFTER. Painted, also made a custom mesh in stainless for it but forgot to take photo.
Marinoyellow VW L20A period correct.
Get the latest updates from us on your smartphone/Instagram: maindrivegarage
More videos, pics and storys from our roadtrips visit: www.camperontour.com
Replacing all rust with new metal on Benny’s bus, the VW transporter from 1983. Hope to finish the rest tonight and then it’s ready for sanding/bodywork/paint. New rubberseals for the all 6 windows, new bushings for frontend and new mirrors from Just Kampers.
Got loads of brand new parts from Justkampers today. Wow what a quick delivery! Basicly a new bus chassi in parts. Removed front beam, torsionarms and brakes. I think every nut and bolt had to be cut, they were froozen stuck! But it dosen’t matter everything going to be replaced with new parts anyway. Need to remove all chassi parts for sandblasting and painting!
#maindrivegarage on Insta
… by Steve Rooker. Get yourself a copy at: www.vwcampercookbook.com
The old VW Beetle 1963 type 1 ratlooker project (see build up pic in RIDES&PROJECTS). Sold last year! 🙁
Maindrive headquarters
