THE KOMBI KONNECTION

Diddlie · Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 8:11 am Post subject:

great photos Robert, very exciting. can't believe this is the first time you have done this.
_________________
Di
Kombi Karma - you know it makes sense
www.klaus1.bigblog.com.au
76 8 seater poptop, resto'd in a fashion

Mustard Man · Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 9:20 am Post subject:

The Sound Deadener, does that do exactly as it says on the tin? (like Ronseal)

Or is it for something else?
_________________
Cheers
Mustard Man
Rich

'1972 Microbus'
'Its not the destination, but the journey that counts'

OberonViking · Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 9:50 am Post subject:

Mustard Man, I hope the Sound Deadener lessens the noise, it took ages to put 2L down, and it is EVERYWHERE. It was all through my hair and clothes - and if you want something rather unpleasant to do, try getting a face-cloth all soapy and then shove it as far up your nose as you can and spin. That's something I've never done before too, Diddly, but it was necessary. It was also through my eyebrows and eye lashes - it looked like I was wearing mascarra Shocked

No photos of that one!

I was hoping to be spraying on the Spray Putty, I had the heater going in the garage for 3 hours this morning. But when I went in I saw that I needed to clean instead, so today is lost for spraying, and that was a waste of 3 h of gas Sad

I am now spending the day using PrepWash to get rid of the overspray. I have the Prep Wash in a spray bottle and this is an excellent way to use it. You have to wipe it off before it dries. I have to be careful though because it is dissolving the Sound Deadener Sad

Maybe spraying tomorrow, or the day after. This whole process is taking a lot longer than I thought Sad

_________________
Robert and Emma (and 4 kids so far)
1979 Bay Window Microbus (Restoration for daily driver due Xmas 2008 - well, some time in '09
1976 DC (daily driver - when it is running...)

OberonViking · Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 5:17 pm Post subject:

This is the overspray I was talking about, the grimey brown above the line.

Then with one spray of Prep Wash, then another two sprays (from a hand spray bottle), and finally wiped clean with one wipe. It's great stuff, thinking of using it in the bathroom. Smile

Tomorrow I am doing those putty jobs I probably should have done whilst they were bare metal. I might grind them back and do it - they've only been etch primed and surface primed so far... I sleep on it. Once that is done, a little shot of primer and then I will shoot some more Spray Putty and have a yellow and black bus Smile

(for the moment).
_________________
Robert and Emma (and 4 kids so far)
1979 Bay Window Microbus (Restoration for daily driver due Xmas 2008 - well, some time in '09
1976 DC (daily driver - when it is running...)

OberonViking · Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 3:09 pm Post subject:

Next up I fixed some dings with body filler. They were not deep enough to necessitate a hammering, and inaccessible from behind anyway.
The photos don't show the dings very well, but have a look anyway.
I try to post a Before, During and After in each post, but some are only During and After.

I generally built up each hole with 3 layers of putty, giving it a bit of sanding between each layer. I don't want to put any layer on too thick because it runs. And if the dent was deeper than 5 or 6 mm than putty probably isn't the best option - you should the metal out a bit first.

The problem with putty is that it shrinks a bit as it dries, so you end up with a rippled surface. You can counter that by leaving the last layer raised above the level of the surrounding metal, let it dry, then sand it down. Or use some Spray Putty. I've done the whole bus in Spray Putty, but along the way I couldn't help but aim for the perfect finish to the putty.

No Before photo on this one, but check out the damage to the metal that holds the door rubber in for some idea...

_________________
Robert and Emma (and 4 kids so far)
1979 Bay Window Microbus (Restoration for daily driver due Xmas 2008 - well, some time in '09
1976 DC (daily driver - when it is running...)

Brookie · Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 3:15 pm Post subject:

Keep them coming Rob- I am sure you making people decide to try and do their own where they can. Smile

--------------------------------
_________________
Kombis Keep you Younger

73 Sopru Poptop-under resto

OberonViking · Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 3:16 pm Post subject:

Here you're looking at a crease from the slider to the wheel arch, and a dent on the wheel arch.

The crease is still still a bit flat, where the original body panel curved. Oh well, it is no where near as obvious as it used to be.
And the one on the wheel arch doesn't quite follow the line of the arch perfectly, but you've gotta look pretty hard to see it. I decided that it wasn't worth an extra hour of work to make 1mm of difference.

You gotta draw the line somewhere.
_________________
Robert and Emma (and 4 kids so far)
1979 Bay Window Microbus (Restoration for daily driver due Xmas 2008 - well, some time in '09
1976 DC (daily driver - when it is running...)

OberonViking · Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 3:17 pm Post subject:

OberonViking · Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 3:29 pm Post subject:

These are both on the driver's side - the rear wheel arch again, and the very front of the bus. Both have been repaired previously with putty, and the paint repair was a different kind of paint.

The putty on the wheel arch I discovered the hard way, by grinding about 4mm into it on a 50mm section. When I saw what I thought was signs of putty I used up on the grinder...

This final photo is a little hard to decipher. It is the front windscreen (up close). There was rust pitting all the way along this, with a few holes. The holes we welded closed - they weren't very big, you couldn't have forced a 10c coin through any of them, and most would have only just taken a match head. I forced putty into the pitting, then skimmed off as much as possible with a straight-edge. After a little sanding you could see pink circles (putty filling the pitting) between bits of metal. It is covered with Spray Putty now to make sure it is smooth.

_________________
Robert and Emma (and 4 kids so far)
1979 Bay Window Microbus (Restoration for daily driver due Xmas 2008 - well, some time in '09
1976 DC (daily driver - when it is running...)

OberonViking · Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 3:33 pm Post subject:

These next few photos show how I masked the inside of the bus with cardboard that we bought from IKEA (it came with a free bunk bed!). And then you see her covered in Spray Putty.

Here you can see that I put these rubbers back in to help with masking. I didn't want the coarse Spray Putty to get in there, and I covered the engine with a blanket, just to be sure.

_________________
Robert and Emma (and 4 kids so far)
1979 Bay Window Microbus (Restoration for daily driver due Xmas 2008 - well, some time in '09
1976 DC (daily driver - when it is running...)