Have nice weekend!
Have started the bodywork on the Highroof bus, preparing for primer and paint. Lots of sanding to do, when that is done it’s time for a coat of epoxyprimer again, to protect bare metal, then a quick sanding before a coat of surfacerprimer is layer down. Then it needs to be sanded down all over again. Then probably another coat of surffacerprimer again and then maybe it’s time for topcoat paint in VW L20a Marino yellow. A lot of people think it’s just mix paint and spray, but it’s not like that…only in fantasy!
Test fitted the Fiamma Turbo Vent 28×28 on the bus, better before than after paint! It has a built in fan on 12v that can blow out or in fresh air. Will be nice on warm summer days and night I think.
Built this VW Beetle from a empty shell, back in 2010. Custom frontbeam, 3 splines in the rear, new industrial engine and dropped on polished Torque wheels.
VW steering wheel lock (option) for early Beetle. Check out 4sale section for more info…
See anything you like? Let me know and I can help out. info@maindrive.org
After a weekend of work on the bus roof its now in primer! Finally. It needed a ton of work, was alot of gelcoat cracks that needed to be sorted. And the left rear corner of the roof had been hit earlier in the bus life and needed to be fixed up nicer. Will test fit a new Fiamma rooflight/ventilation and then I can continue with the bodywork on rest of the bus. Looking forward to paint! But still a long way and lots of hours left…
Some of the boards in the garage office. Neptune deck is signed by Jason Jessee, the framed original Santa Cruz poster is signed by artist Jim Philips, Jimbo Philips and Johnny Mojo (who designed/painted the Neptune board). A piece of skateboarding history right there!
Here is some news on the build. Got the fuel tank installed today. With new fuelfiller neck, feeder hose, sender unit, tap and filter. Also replaced all rubber hose connections for the tank ventilation. Next time I will start bodywork on the huge roof…lots of fun…
The Ghia body is now inside the garage, after been standing outside the last couple of years. Hopefully I can start little with this project in 2017! Have a lot of Porsche parts waiting for it 🙂
In the early 1980s when the first Bugrun meeting was held here in Sweden, it was just 1 Ghia there. It was this one!
The engine bay is now ready for the fueltank and later on the 1800cc+ type 4 engine (need to be rebuilt first) to be installed. Today the whole front cab of the bus got sanded down (mostly by hand), front doors removed, masked, seamsealed, prepared for primer and then topcoat in Off White color in 2 layers. Most of this wont be showing when all sounddeadning materials and carpets are in place later but good to have a clean surface for glue and its also nice to know its clean and protected under the carpets.
Next up is; top section of dashboard needs to be removed to paint it in semi-gloss Deepblack (easier to do when windscreen is already out). After this I can start with the outside body of the bus and make it ready for paint. Here is some new pics…
Cleaned and sandblasted then painted cylinder for a vintage moped SACHS.
Yeah! The bus is now rolling on its own wheels again, after been standing like a empty shell in the air for 7 months. Still need to route new brakelines and brakehoses, and bleed the whole system. Must also restore the factory installed Eberspracher BA6 heater that are going to be installed under the center floor. But now its time to start with paint and body. The engine compartment and front cab need to get painted in VW L20A Marino yellow first, then I can start working on the outside. Lots of work still left to do, but much have been done on places you normally dont see…
Made a clip from this weekend, Chevrolet 3600 pickup from 1949.
Visited the now world famous junkyard with hundreds of old cars here in Sweden. A magic place to walk around and LOOK at, not cut everything up. Really sad to see alot of cars that have been losing their frontclips, rearwindows and roofs. It was so much nicer here 15 years ago before it got famous on internet and everyone started to bring their hacksaws. Soon nothing left to see…
Some of my old sketches and drawings. Just for fun…
Have been working on the transmission and driveshafts lately. Had a pile of new parts from Just Kampers waiting for it. The tranny was in very good shape and have been restored by VW (exchange parts) in the 1980s. But it still needed alot of work to look good again. Highpressure washed the case 3 times, to remove dirt and old oil. Drained the oil and it still looked nice (good sign)! Then 3 coats of paintremover was added so the black paint could be peeled off the case. Degreased it one more time, wirebrushed and sanded it making it ready for paint. A coat of primer for aluminium/etch was layed down and then 3 coats of 2K silvermetallic paint on top.
A new mainshaft oil seal was added, and both driveflange/shaft seals too. The nosecone got a new reamed bronze bushing and oilseal for the shiftleveler. Also the small plastic balljoint in the end of the shiftlever (the one that pushes gears) was replaced to a new made of steel, and will last a life time instead of a brittle plastic part that was before. The shiftrod feels very accurate and precise now, no more sloppy gearshifter! This is also a popular upgrade on VW race transmissions. Driveshafts and hubs was sandblasted and painted. New groundcable to chassi. New clutchwire. New gaskets, rubberboots and CV joints installed. New startermotor + bushing mounted too. New trans mounts upper and lower. And then the transmission was filled up with new fresh mineral API-5 grade transmission oil that VW recommended on these 002 cases. This oil is extra good to the special metalparts like syncro rings etc. Not aggressive like other grades can be to these old transmissions. Here is the pics…
Chevrolet Impala HT 1963 lowrider
Some pics from this summer.
The Coke machine is filled up with new bottles, come and grab one!
Got some new VW parts today from JustKampers, super fast delivery as always!
Started to get the other side done, blasted, painted and new bearings and seals. Waiting on some new parts from JustKampers and hopefully I can put the bus back on its own wheels this weekend for first time in 6 months. Also fixed the rusted and dented up front floor cover, blasted and painted ready to be installed when all wires and brakes are fixed.
Made a video with some clips from the summer with the VW bus, check out Camper On Tour channel on YouTube, more videos to come in near future!
We won a photo challenge in the local newspaper! So now we can add a new GoPro hero 4 to our camera collection. Check out our VW bus/travel Instagram: @campersontour 