Wow.. A long time - Bus Update

It has been a long time since I posted on this blog. I had a baby about 1.5 years ago and it totally changed my timing. I've been in love with my daughter.. She makes me so happy, but as you can see, she required, or demanded I should say attention.

But, I have been building my bus and I am also trying to build a business at the same time.. So, it's been very slow.  I recently got some nice Deluxe Horn buttons in. They are a pretty good reproduction of the original (Batwing and 3-Spoke VW steering wheels only) considering, who wants to pay $500 for a NOS button that will crack at some point from the sun?  For only $130, you can have the next best thing.

This comes in two colors, black and Ivory. You can check it out on my site:


To Purchase

Anyways, enough of that.  Let me explain what has been done. My Bus nose is still cut off. I'm in the process of building a Bus tipper to deal with underneath.  I've also started straightening out my deck lid and rear bumpers.  I've been using a shrinking disc for the deck lid. You can follow this series on youtube for the update.

Deck Lid Repair

This is my pressed bumper repair. I have a small collection of this process in video as well. This was very tedious and it is still not completed yet. The object is to restore without using Bondo.

The first video, I'm sort of brainstorming how to tackle the problem, but it comes to me atlas.

Pressed Bumper Repair


Related Videos:

Inner Structure - various updates

This distorted photo above shows the space that between the lower nose cut and the picture that follows.  Getting the inner structured install is going to be a challenge.

Sizing up the new inner structure.  While it is not that same as the original in shape, it will serve the purpose. I will document my steps once I have both pieces installed.

Inner Structure from the inside

 Here is a view from the inside.

Inner structure from the side view

Repairing mount for Inner Structure

I cut out the lip where the inner structure is mounted.  I used my plasma cutter as I was majorly frustrated from removing the spot welds to the valance in the front.  So, I welded in and filed down the new replacement piece.

Here is why I used my plasma cutter to originally remove my inner support panel. As you can see, the section was really rusted up due to the prior crash.

Rust and damage

FRONT INNER NOSE STRUCTURE

Just purchased my new inner nose structure (headlight support bracket) from Wolfsburg West. I should have by the end of the first week of the new year. After this, I will have all the parts to completely build the front section back to good.

Happy New Year All!

Nose and Valance Removal - updated

In this photo, 8" inches of the noes has been removed to fix a few crushes  along the driver's headlight and the point in the center was banged in pretty badly. A former own drilled a lot of small slide-hammer holes to try to pull the tip out.

 I removed most of the outer front nose panel skin from the heavily rusted and bent out of shape inner valance.  The target is to remove the inner valance and headlight support bracket.

Exposed is the headlight support bracket on the top and the inner valance at the lower half. This is before the removal.

Side view of most of the inner valance removed. The hard part is removing the part in which it is connected to the frame. I'm am going to finish removing the headlight support bracket so that getting to the top of the beam would be simpler.

Front view of the removal.  I mostly used a plasma cutter to remove most of the metal and a cutoff wheel when control was required.

Here is all the scrap removed.  Stay tuned.











Getting the bottom valance off the bumper support beams is not an easy task.  After another 2 hours, i'm basically still in the same situation.  In this photo below, I removed 80% of the metal off the bumper support beam and I have the headlight support bracket detached from the passenger's side. I've decided to remove it to have access to straighten it out. It had been impacted by the minor accident.

Nose reconstruction project.

I just purchased a new inner valance for my bus project.  I have been reading up on how to install it. It seems pretty straightforward and scary. Hehehe.. I've also, purchase lower A-pillar post to assist in alignment of the whole setup. Stay tune for that process which will begin shortly.  I am not going to add the fenders until I have had a chance to work both sides of the door post (A-Pillar on the passenger's side).




Here is a photo of my current front under the nose clip. Doesn't look good. the previous owner had damage and popped holes into the front. The holes allowed moisture to get in causing this amount of rust.  This will all be replaced and made to look new. The mini project will be called the VW Bus Nose Surgery project (Front Inner Valance).

Rusty front

Closing Crap up! - Updated

I had to go a little medieval to get the side rocker panel in place, bending the B-pillar closeout plate with my Ford's scissor jack . It worked perfectly. The top lip of the outer rockers had about 1/8 of space that needed to be balanced out.   See the next photo and you'll understand that it was indeed successful.

As you can see, the panel lined up beautifully.  I've added the tack welds to hold the panel in place and I also added a few spot welds to the bottom to keep it in.  I ran out of gas today for my MIG welder.  Picking some up tomorrow and finishing the closing.

Here is the side bead welded across and down. The warpage was minor for such a long piece of metal. I had to jump around the line so that one part of the metal did not become too hot at anytime.  Just need to grind down the slug and prep area for priming.

Major Progress

 It's been a long time. A lot of my slow speed comes from mistakes and the lack of confidence.  I believe, once I finish this area, things will speed up, as I am already feeling my confidence building up nicely. The way in which I tackle each problem is only creating a stronger Marquis at the end of each session.

I finally got the B-Pillar closed up and sealed perfectly.  I ended up switching from the AutoCraft parts to a Funky Green panel pillar.  This pillar reaches farther up and it also closes the gap perfectly.

Once the  B-Pillar closed up,  I spot welded  the inner rockers to the cross connects (top and bottom hats). In some cases, I had to use a MIG welder to spot weld behind the middle pillars. For the ones that were reachable, this spot welder was the fastest and cleanest method possible.

This is a photo that shows how I tried to access in the middle of the beam with the spot welder.  In most cases, I didn't work well.  I was tired of holding the welder since it is very heavy.

The inner rocker and the pillar and the pillar closeout plate looks solid. I've added some weldable primer to resist against rust that could form when closing the gap and from the welding process overall.

The outer rocker is finally sized up for the final time to make sure it lines up for welding. I need to purchase a few more magnets to make sure all areas along the panel mates the original across the van in a leveled way.

I will post pictures when I am finished with the welding of the side.

Funky Green Panel sizing - B Pillar

This is a video moment of the installing the Funky Green Panel - B Pillar.  I promise this will end soon. :-)

The Funny Green Panel vs AutoCraft

I am setting up the Funky Green Panel - B pillar, as the one from AutoCraft had a lot to be desired. It did not close properly and it also did not come with a block-off plate. Here I am sizing up my cuts before I begin to weld this piece in.  I will also check the block-off and make sure the outer rocker panel will close properly. The block-off plate that I tried to fabricate did not allow the outer rocker to close as it did not have the right curve in the right area. My piece was pretty good, but for $40 for both parts, why do this? With the AutoCraft piece, you have no options, as the part showed in this photo comes alone.

I have a weird cut, as I want the piece to lock vertically and horizontally.  More importantly, it has the standout tab to mount the  block-off plate to it at the top, which I am heavily modifying to fit with my Dremel.  The next photo will show the 1/4 of an inch that I'll have to raise it to. The bottom piece must completely clear the bottom lip of the inner rocker so that the outer rocker could sufficiently close.  Please see my next photo.

As you can see, the clearance is not quite there.  I will be back in the shop this weekend to complete this fitting session.  Before then, I'll complete the inner rocker welds.  This is all taking a long time as I am learning and I am learning that not all replacement parts are created equal. The outer rocker was purchased from AutoCraft and I must say, that it is awesome. So, this discussion is not to say AutoCraft is inferior, but we have to use the best part for each application.














Funky Green Panel vs My Fabricated versions.  I was pretty good.. :-)  The only real problem was the B-Pillar didn't allow the outer rocker to close. This could be because of the accident.  The Green one just fits much better.

The Front Nose - Damage

(p1)

(p2)

 I purchased a new 8 inch nose replacement panel to repair the center nose that normally gets smashed in at some point by some driver poor at parking. This is the Green Stuff.  It comes with a weld-thru green primer to prevent corrosion.

This is a very used front nose panel that I purchased online (p2). The unit was advertised to be used as wall-art, Go figure!  Who in the hell would use a split bus nose as wall-art?

Anyway, I had other intentions for it. I needed the section to the left of the light bucket and to the right of the bucket (p5).  The area to the right of the bucket, on my current nose was damaged (as seen in p1). The complexity of the curve didn't allow for me to straighten it out by a stud hammer. So, rather than using filler like how it was originally setup, I'll cut it out and replace it with the downer.

(p3)

I had to remove the rusty bottom, it bothered me greatly, even though, it was not my area of interest. By blocking out the areas that I want to protect with a marker, I let the cutting begin. Please see my cutting videos at the end of of this section.

(p5)

(p4)

Photos p4 and p5 shows the downer areas sized up to the location in which they will be graphed. I will attempt to repair the left-side of the light bucket with a hammer and dolly before cutting it and replacing the sheet metal.

Please see videos on the next page ->

Nose Clip Repair Plan

I have it traced out where I am going to remove the damaged area.  Before, this was filled in with filler and I tried pulling it out with a stud hammer. Because the area has a rather complex cure, the metal is not very malleable. None of the stud hammering pulled any part of it out. I will cut this part out and patch in a replacement.

I found this rather crude organ downer online. It was cheap, because it is pretty rusty, but the part I need is OK. I wish under the eye wasn't so jacked up as I would have liked to pull the who area, but once I have the cut open, I'll be able to work on the other part with a hammer and dolly.  I'll also have to pull out a small 5"x5" patch on the passenger's side.  It is not shown in the above picture, but there is a small rust hole there.

 I've also found online a nose clip that I can replace the smashed up nose area of the bus. This will handle the bang in the front.  This project will begin when I close up the side. I'll start cleaning up the downer part when I have a moment before, As I want to reduce the big elements in my garage. So I am going to do most of the cutting this weekend.

The inner rockers are permanently welded in. I had to remove them and straighten back out the metal, as I welded it too forward the first time. I was going to order a new one, but I thought it would be a better exercise if I fixed what I destroyed to help keep my cost down and save time waiting for the new part to come in.  Also, I've welded in the b-pillar post cover that I also had to re-work.  Hey!  I'm learning the hard way, but it is learning indeed.   I still have a question posted on a forum on how to handle the tab down on the bottom left.I believe it has to be bent over and weld closed. If I don't get a response, I'll take a look at the other side

Here is the outer rocker mating up to the B-pillar post that I fabricated. I'll have to grind down some of the arch, as it doesn't allow for my tack-weld holes to line up.  These wholes were made with a flange tool. The reverse side allows you to punch holes into sheet metal like paper. It works with a compressor. Please see the photo at the very end.

Along the top side panel, I'll have to grind down some of the ridges that doesn't allow the outer rocker to mate evenly to the bottom. This doesn't allow the weld holes punched in the bottom to mate to the inner rocker.  This will be fixed on my next visit to the garage.

Here is how the side rocker panel looks when mated up. As you can see, this will look pretty good once welded in. This will start next weekend.  I got an immunization shot on Saturday that made me feel pretty sick, so I had to stop.

Fixing the front B pillar post

 After trying to weld the beotch to non-weldable primer, I finally got it straightened out. This piece was fabricated in-house, as no suppler carries the B pillar cover.

 Not the best looking welds in the world but they are holding after I removed the primer and tack welded the plate in.  I've wire brushed the welds and the next photo will show it in primer.

Next I'll just have to grind down the welds so that I can close up the side rocker panel. I primed it up so it doesn't rust over the week, until my next time in the show next weekend. This is weldable primer, so that any touch ups can just be cleaned and welded.

Before and after

This picture, I was finished trying to repair the inner rocker. As you can see, after trying to weld in some metal over rusted parts, I cutaway a piece because I realized it should be completely replaced.

Here is the inner rocker being size up for welding. The small weld holes have been drilled in (not in this picture) and ready for welding in.  I just need to make sure the side by the dog leg can be closed up right.