windshield lip repairs

whc03grady · Post by **whc03grady** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 8:54 pm

Please bring your tools to Maupin and park next to me, along the North fence by the power. I'll bring my lip replacement pieces (bought from BD a long time ago) and some beer.

Post by **Amskeptic** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 9:19 pm

whc03grady wrote:Please bring your tools to Maupin and park next to me, along the North fence by the power. I'll bring my lip replacement pieces (bought from BD a long time ago) and some beer.

Bring a lawn chair. So I can sit and watch.
Colin

(dammit, wrong forum for chitchat, let's see if the moderator catches it)

Bleyseng · Post by **Bleyseng** » Mon Feb 22, 2010 11:06 pm

Darn, I won't be at Maupin this year as I'll be working in South America thru the summer.

It isn't that hard to do as its simple bodywork. The welding is a little tricky as the panels are so thin but if you go slow it welds up easy. The key is to fit the new metal very carefully and cut as close as you can because a big gap is hard to weld and fill.

Sylvester · Post by **Sylvester** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 7:40 am

Bleyseng wrote:Darn, I won't be at Maupin this year as I'll be working in South America thru the summer.

It isn't that hard to do as its simple bodywork. The welding is a little tricky as the panels are so thin but if you go slow it welds up easy. The key is to fit the new metal very carefully and cut as close as you can because a big gap is hard to weld and fill.

Oh spiritual welding guru, this humble student asks what happens to the metal underneath? You treat and paint the lip on the outside, what happens to the metal on the bottom, facing between the bulkhead?

Bleyseng · Post by **Bleyseng** » Tue Feb 23, 2010 8:23 am

Before welding all exposed metal was treated with Ospho a rust inhibitor/convertor.
When the lip is off you can look inside and see there not much paint on any of it as its inside a cavity. Lots of those places on a bus but shouldn't be a problem as water can't get in there once the repair is done.
I suppose you could spray everything with a weld thru primer but I haven't had the greatest luck with that product before. I get crappy welds using it so I skipped using it.
Using a Epoxy primer to waterproof the raw metal is a must. It seals it so it can't rust.. Then you coat it with a sanding primer which you can sand smooth and skim bondo to smooth out any rough spots. Then you coat it again with primer, sand and then shoot finish paint.

There is a old saying that Porsche delivered every new car with a healthy dose of rust. Porsche didn't dip the bodies like VW started to do in the late 60's. They just hand painted the exterior surfaces so if you were in a wet climate they rusted from the inside out!
This is true of buses to some extend so garaging a bus is important if you live where its raining all the time.

Bleyseng · Post by **Bleyseng** » Thu Feb 25, 2010 7:40 am

Got more primer on and I picked up the VW emblem from Dturmbo yesterday!

Slow going but its coming along nicely!

Bleyseng · Post by **Bleyseng** » Sat Feb 27, 2010 10:53 pm

Got the nose painted today, finally. Looks pretty darn good and nice and smooth.

Next time to put it back together!

Post by **Amskeptic** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 3:20 pm

Bleyseng wrote:Got the nose painted today, finally. Looks pretty darn good and nice and smooth.
Next time to put it back together!

Was it specifically color-matched, or off the code only?
Looks good . . . from here.
Colin

Bleyseng · Post by **Bleyseng** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 6:05 pm

It is the PPG color code for Sage Green in Concept, I got the color code from Scott for it. I had a pt left over to do this so it matches exactly to the rest of the Westy as its the same paint! I just used a hardener for cooler weather.
I cleaned up everything and installed a bunch of parts back on including the new VW emblem. Looks good but no glass installed yet, just not enough time to get to that.
Gosh I so much prefer the stock look of the nose w/VW emblem vs that damn tire rack..

Now I feel like I have a "real" bus finally.

Ritter · Post by **Ritter** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 8:05 pm

Hey, ah, Geoff. I've got a cold sixer in the fridge if you wanna come give me a nose job! That looks fantastic!

Bleyseng · Post by **Bleyseng** » Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:22 pm

Sonoma County, I would expect wine instead of beer!
A pic of what I got done in an hour today.

I need to put the dash back together and then on to the windshield install.

dtrumbo · Post by **dtrumbo** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:40 am

That emblem looks much better on the nose of your bus than hanging, with no meaningful purpose in life, on a nail in my shop!

Nice job!

Bleyseng · Post by **Bleyseng** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 7:30 am

Thanks again for the emblem, Dick. What are you doing up at 3:40AM posting?

dtrumbo · Post by **dtrumbo** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:06 am

Bleyseng wrote:Thanks again for the emblem, Dick. What are you doing up at 3:40AM posting?

Might want to check your clock settings. It was 5:40am. Perhaps you're migrating to Suriname time?

Bleyseng · Post by **Bleyseng** » Sat Mar 06, 2010 7:38 pm

Wow, finally I got some time with my son this afternoon and we installed the NOS PPG tinted glass in. Yep, it was fairly hard with lots of swear words flying around but it went in nice. No breakage! I don't see why you would break the glass unless you were in a real hurry. You really have to take your time.
I use a piece of 16g wire for my pull string.
Lots of dishsoap!
Start at the bottom and pull alittle one way then the other til you get to the corners and slowly work your way up to the top corners.
Hmm, looks like this will never fit but slowly work the lower rubber into full position rubbing it with the handle of a medium screwdriver.
Now go pulling the wire to get the top in also using the flat screwdriver to get the rubber inside over the lip.
All in but not quite fitting means more rubbing of the outside rubbers to get it to seat all the way...checking the inside as you go. Pull the outside edge so it seats right and force the lower rubber down into its seat again. Then the top and BAM its in! =D>

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Itinerant Air-Cooled

windshield lip repairs