'71 ex Firebus resto

[adey71]

Hi all,

I am fairly new to earlybay but a seasoned user of VZi.

This is our '71 bay, imported in 2004, we put a camping interior in, took it around Europe and used it for many years as a weekend bus and day surf bus. The old 1600 died a death so I built a 1955cc for it (Build thread here on VZi http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread.php?t=494122" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false

The last few years has taken its toll on the bodywork so we have decided it is time to sort it. The plan is to bare metal the bus and respray (in red of course) after returning the bus to as original condition as possible. Show standard??? Maybe.... we shall see.

So... The issues (from initial observations):

Several outriggers are rotton along with part of the cargo floor and at least one top hat.

A previous owners attempt are repairing the fron arch has left the passenger door our of alignment

The sliding door has also had a poor repair from a previous owner

Cab Floor has been repaired with lots of plating

Seat belt mounts are rotton

Rear engine hatch is rotton

Paint is flaking all over the place from a poor quality "blow over" from a previous owner, the seams between panels are cracking all over the place

So on saturday I picked up this courtesy of musclebus

These also arrived courtesy of Aurocraft

The van goes into the Barn on Wednesday when I'll strip him down and start the work. The downside is that I only have the barn until November then the cows need it back so I need to get it ready for the paint shop by then!! Better get a shift on.

Updates to follow.

Adey

 

[Olskoolchris]

Good look with the resto.. nice bus.

 

[mister]

I love firebuses and this is the first EB one I have seen for ages. Good look with the resto!

 

[Danbury Doug]

Lovely firebus!
I used to own a late bay twinslider firebus.

 

[adey71]

Thanks for the comments

Today I managed to get the interior stripped out and all my gear in ready to head to the barn,

New home for the next few months

More investigation with the screwdriver and I think I will need the inner panel replacing as well.

Can't believe all this rot around the drivers seatbelt mount was covered with seam sealer !!

Also started taking the paint off around the edges of the cab floor ready to drill out the spot welds.

More updates on Friday when I get back in there.

Adey

 

[Gwar72]

Kool bus, love the colour..!! 8) Look forward to following this thread, keep them pic's coming.!!

 

[68_early_bay]

Nice bus 8)

 

[adey71]

Only got a few hours on the bus this afternoon but decided to investigate the rather interesting seam lines between the panels. I was reading a resto thread on a classic car forum about a bus that had literally inches of filler on it and had the seams carved out of filler to look semi original.

That couldn't possibly happen on my bus could it........

Oh yes! Not quite inches but enough filler to cover up some rough repairs in the past.

Nearside B pillar

Offside B Pillar

Seam near the rear Arch nearside

The filler was hiding some seriously shoddy repair sections on the nearside, new B pillar bottom section is definitely needed along with lower section of the side panel all the way to the rear arch.

Should be able to get most of the filler off tomorrow when I have more time.

Adey.

 

[adey71]

So after spending the morning helping a friend with his T4, I managed to get down to the barn for the afternoon.

It is safe to say the filler is driving me mad. Sanding it off creates way too much dust so I have resorted to chipping it off with a chisel and mallet - Slow work !!!

I stripped both front arches and was surprised to find them intact and solid. The nearside is a little dented but nothing some lead loading can't sort out. The offside looks original which is odd as the offside door is the one that doesn't sit square on the bus despite all manner of adjustment.

I cut the nearside B pillar outer off, it is pretty shot inside so a new lower B pillar is first on the list. Then I started taking off the poor previous repair panel on the side.

Going to order some bits from AH and Autocraft ready for a welding session sometime next week.

Order list so far:-

New lower front inner panel
New lower front outer repair

Nearside Sill inner
12" nearside repair panel
Pair of Autocraft rear outer arches
Both rear corner lower sections

Adey

 

[adey71]

Chopped out the dodgy repairs to reveal the state of the sill. Just ordering new sills and panels.

After a little research, this has proved to be the best method to remove the filler.

Resulting in this

and this

Making progress, if a little slowly

Adey

 

[68_early_bay]

Crickey that's some filler there :shock: nice to see your getting rid


Bet the busses top speed will have gone up now too, with that lot gone :msn4: :lol:

 

[adey71]

All that filler just because the previous owner couldn't be bothered to weld the repair panels properly. Thankfully the body panels are rot free and super straight above the repairs.

I am banking on that top speed increasing !!
Adey

 

[adey71]

A quick couple of hours this afternoon.

Ready to weld in some new metal now.

Adey

 

[adey71]

Loads of metal arrived today.

Lots of welding to do tomorrow, will update asap.

Adey

 

[Lee C]

Good luck with the resto!!!

Keep the pics comin!!!

 

[adey71]

Got the rest of the old pseudo sill off the bus along with cutting back the top hats and removing the old outriggers. I have to say Autocraft really do make some nice parts. The outriggers and inner sill fitted like a glove. Just tacked in at the moment until I get back down there to check a few things.

No photos as I dropped my iPhone (bust the screen) and then the battery went flat.

Bugger.

Adey

 

[flynster]

top work adey gonna be much better in the end

 

[adey71]

Had a break for a week as work got in the way of the bus. I spent Sunday on it.

I cut out the old back outrigger and found I needed to make a patch for the chassis rail.

New outrigger and inner sill fitted.

Middle strengthener fitted and spot welded in place.

Next job is middle panel a b pillar repair.


Hopefully next weekend.

Adey.

 

[adey71]

Sorry for the lack of updates, work has got in the way and added to that the cows need the barn back. So, tomorrows job was going to be to take out the cargo floor, cut out all the top hats and finish off the outriggers and fit new tophats. Unfortunately it is now clearing my single garage out and getting the van back over to my place on a trailer.

The extra space was fun while it lasted

Managed to find some space to store all the stuff in the garage and the neighbour is kindly looking after my motorbike in his.

On the plus side another big box of panels arrived from AH Schofiled this week

Adey.

 

[adey71]

Time for a long needed update.

Work got in the way last part of 2012 and I had to move out the barn so got everything back to my garage (after distributing the contents of my garage amongst many friends).

Took up the cargo floor and go to work on the tophats and non existant I beams. Some parts had been previously botched, some were homemade, all had holes and rot.

No inner sill on the sliding door side, just some homemade both of a track, no wonder it never shut properly, look at the gap between the old sill and new I beams