My Westy Resto Thread

Bus, Microbus, Transporter, Station Wagon, Vanagon, Camper, Pick-Up.

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LiveonJG
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Post by LiveonJG » Wed May 16, 2007 4:48 pm

I stand drop-jawed in awe of your capable talent. Great work! Thanks for keeping us updated. Keep the pics coming.
-John
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gmag69
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Post by gmag69 » Wed May 16, 2007 4:57 pm

Birdibus wrote:Geno, where did you get the sheet metal for the front? (I wonder why it has a rounded spot for the emblem.) Wow, I wish I could weld. Sure is looking good! About the cover for the sliding door rail... doesn't that just screw in?
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I got the nose from BusDepot but they get them from www.eisparts.com.
The nose has the rounded spot cause it is actually for the new Brazilian bus. It is a nice nose but you have to pull and stretch it to get it to fit. Mine had some dents from shipping but I took autobody class so I'm not worried about that. The part I need is where the cover clips into under the window. That part is gone.
Check out my Westy Resto thread. viewtopic.php?t=2063
bretski wrote:...oh, and we just bombed the moon.

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ruckman101
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Post by ruckman101 » Thu May 17, 2007 9:17 pm

Dang, I gotta learn dat dere welding bidness. Just tackling rust on my floor is daunting, and I have a roll cage to build in my future, and a battery tray, and, ...and....

Well, many of you know how it is.


neal
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gmag69
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Post by gmag69 » Fri May 18, 2007 2:49 pm

I started patching up my passenger side dogleg today. I didn't get to get it done but I did take a before pic and I'll take an after too. I am just fiberglassing it up to repair it. Before I get hate mail for this let me explain myself. I have brand new passenger and driver's side dogleg I bought for my blue bus that I will keeping for this one. The passenger side dogleg is still in decent shape so I'm just patching up the holes and letting it go till it rotts out completely then I'll weld on the new one. I figure I might as well get as much use out of the one on there as I can before I cut it off. :cyclopsani:

I hope to sand it down tomarrow and put some primer on it. I'll post pics once It's done.
I also was messing around back by the engine hatch and found mice had built a nest in behind the panel below the engine lid causing it to rust out. I was digging out some of the nest today and I'll show some pics of it when I'm done. Dang mice anyway. #-o

Geno :cheers:
Check out my Westy Resto thread. viewtopic.php?t=2063
bretski wrote:...oh, and we just bombed the moon.

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gmag69
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Post by gmag69 » Fri May 18, 2007 2:52 pm

ruckman101 wrote:Dang, I gotta learn dat dere welding bidness. Just tackling rust on my floor is daunting, and I have a roll cage to build in my future, and a battery tray, and, ...and....

Well, many of you know how it is.


neal
I will be replacing both battery trays on this bus along with the driver's dogleg and later down the line the passenger side dogleg. I also need to do the right lower rear corner and maybe the driver's side as well. we'll see when I get that far.

Geno :cheers:
Check out my Westy Resto thread. viewtopic.php?t=2063
bretski wrote:...oh, and we just bombed the moon.

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gmag69
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Post by gmag69 » Sun May 20, 2007 8:16 am

I started working on my passenger side dogleg the other day and cleaning up a little rust . Here are a couple pics.
Here is the hole in the dogleg. I'm just patching it up seeings how I have a brand new one to put on once this one rots off.
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Here is the right rear corner cleaned down ready for a temp. primer job.
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Here it is primed for right now. I have some work to do here so it'll be coming off again anyway.
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I'll post some pics of the dogleg once I get it all sanded down and primed again.
Check out my Westy Resto thread. viewtopic.php?t=2063
bretski wrote:...oh, and we just bombed the moon.

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tristessa
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Post by tristessa » Sun May 20, 2007 8:25 am

regalasr wrote:I wish I could do that :pale:
Ditto. But I'm also glad I don't *have* to do that.
Remember, only YOU can prevent narcissism!

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gmag69
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Post by gmag69 » Sun May 20, 2007 8:50 am

tristessa wrote:
regalasr wrote:I wish I could do that :pale:
Ditto. But I'm also glad I don't *have* to do that.
This bus is actually in awesome shape for a northeastern bus. I think VDubTech it is from Mass. I know he said it was from up in that region somewhere. Most of what you see is surface rust. There is hardly any rust through at all.Only in a few spots. I'm very happy with it. :king: I would love a rust free bus but you take what you can get . :flower:
Check out my Westy Resto thread. viewtopic.php?t=2063
bretski wrote:...oh, and we just bombed the moon.

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gmag69
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Post by gmag69 » Mon May 21, 2007 11:36 am

Well here is the latest update on the Westy. I finished sanding down the dogleg and put a coat of primer on it. Here are a few pics.
Here it is with the primer on it.
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close up of dogleg
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It could use a skim coat of light filler which I will do before I prime and paint the bus.

More to come.
Check out my Westy Resto thread. viewtopic.php?t=2063
bretski wrote:...oh, and we just bombed the moon.

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gmag69
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Post by gmag69 » Thu May 24, 2007 11:53 am

Here is another update on project Westy:
I was wire wheeling and priming today and got almost all of the passenger's side taken care of. Here are the pics.
Pass. side cleaned and primed:
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Back cleaned and primed:
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Here are some of the holes I found Most of the lower part of the bus is super solid and had only surface rust.

Front of Pass side rear quarter:
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Pass side rear corner. (I knew these were there)
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Driver's side rear corner:
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I figured I'd show what I'm using for primer right now.
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I spray on the zinc rich primer after I wire wheel a spot down then after it flashes off I spray on the sandable red oxide auto primer. I ran out of the red oxide primer and getting low on the zinc primer so I had to stop till I can get some more primer. More to come. Watch for updates.
Check out my Westy Resto thread. viewtopic.php?t=2063
bretski wrote:...oh, and we just bombed the moon.

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gmag69
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Post by gmag69 » Sat Jun 09, 2007 8:17 pm

Well I have been working on the g/f's car and finally got it done today and it's all ready for inspection so I decided to start on the driver's dogleg since It was nice out. Here are some pics.

Here's the new dogleg that'll be going in:
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Here's the old step that is all rotted out:
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Here is the dogleg mostly cut off. Note the hundred spotwelds that hold the top of the dogleg to the floor:
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Here are the only holes that are on this side that I've found so far. They'll be patched before the new dogleg goes on:
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Here you can see I still need to get the front of the step off and the rest of the back of the step where it connects to the floor needs to come off as well. Probably finish this up tomarrow:
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Here is what was left of the dogleg after cutting it out. It was pretty rusty underneath so I'm glad I'm replacing it. All the undercoating is going to be coming off and I think I'm going to use the bed liner stuff instead. This bus won't be driven in the winter anyway so the salt won't be a problem.
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Well keep an eye out there is alot more to come. I got a long way to go.
Check out my Westy Resto thread. viewtopic.php?t=2063
bretski wrote:...oh, and we just bombed the moon.

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gmag69
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Post by gmag69 » Mon Jun 11, 2007 8:16 pm

Ok here is another update with pics. Enjoy :compress:

Here is the rest of the step cut off. Have to do a little metal work here too before the dogleg goes back on. The floor needs some also which will be done too.
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Here I had to bend the floor back to get the grinder in there to get the welds ground down.
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After I test fit the dogleg I realized this bracket was in the way of it going the whole way on.
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Another pic of the bracket.
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Since the original dogleg didn't have this bracket I decided to just cut it off.
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Here is the dogleg test fit into place.
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Another pic of it in place. Note the floor work needing done.

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As you can see it is going to need some work to get it where it needs to be. you can kinda see the gap at the back in this pic.
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Another closeup pic of the front. Fit is pretty good here.
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More to come. Please check back. :cheers:
Check out my Westy Resto thread. viewtopic.php?t=2063
bretski wrote:...oh, and we just bombed the moon.

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gmag69
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Post by gmag69 » Thu Jun 14, 2007 8:00 am

Well I took a day off of the dogleg yesterday and started buffing the paint to see what it would look like. I finished up the buffing this morning. Here are the pics.

Here is a shot of the Pass side buffed out.
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Here is the back all buffed except the hatch. I'm going to put the one on it from the blue bus so I'm not buffing it.
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Here is the driver's side buffed out.
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Here is a pic of the Westy setting next to the blue bus:
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I didn't wax it cause I still have bodywork to do to it.I can't wait to get this thing done and painted. It is going to look so sweet. Going to start back on the dogleg soon stay tuned. :)
Check out my Westy Resto thread. viewtopic.php?t=2063
bretski wrote:...oh, and we just bombed the moon.

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Sylvester
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Post by Sylvester » Thu Jun 14, 2007 8:14 am

Boy that is nice going! I wish I had a yard to do ANYTHING in!
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue, I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace. Where never lark, or even eagle flew. And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod, The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

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gmag69
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Post by gmag69 » Thu Jun 14, 2007 6:41 pm

Sylvester wrote:Boy that is nice going! I wish I had a yard to do ANYTHING in!
I wish I had a garage to something in. 8-[ I rent a garage stall but my 69 GTO is occupying that space waiting for it's turn to get finished. Once I get the bus done and get rid of the blue one I'm going to cut the pine trees down around my house and hope to put a garage in front of it one day. Hopefully if all goes well that is. :compress:
Check out my Westy Resto thread. viewtopic.php?t=2063
bretski wrote:...oh, and we just bombed the moon.

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