My 84 rusty project

[eiret25]

Excellent thread accompanied by the same level of workmanship. Its a credit to you.

[boatbuilder]

Thanks for the comments!
Too late for the Eireball Run this year but there's always next year!

I can now confirm that the doors are finally blue! 30 percent white spirits makes it spray really nicely with a 1.4 tip hvlp gun. Tried 20 and 25 percent but it sprays a bit orange peely. It probably would level itself out but with 30 percent it just lays down a lot flatter and smoother straight out of the gun. Much nicer to spray than any paint or primer I've ever used.

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[boatbuilder]

Turned out nice...












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[hilift]

What a fantastic thread , just skimmed thru the pics and not read all the text yet . very inspirational as am about to embark on restoring my ,80 Aircooled .
you must be very proud of your efforts . great pictures good stuff .

[boatbuilder]

Thanks Hilift, still some way to go yet - a bit of a blank canvas inside!

So I've fitted all of the doors and windows. A future job will be refurbishing all of the handles and locks.
I glued on the door seals with Wurth rubber profile adhesive. Great stuff and it doesn't dissolve the Rustoleum.

Had to make some parts for one of the cab window regulators out of a plastic chopping board...





Now that shes watertight, I took her outside for her first wash in probably 10 years!









Bad news on the engine front. The "slight film" of oil in the coolant has suddenly turned into a massive quantity! Bearing in mind that the van has only been driven for about 3 miles on fresh coolant, I'm putting my money on the oil cooler having let go internally. I checked it using a head gasket test kit and it did come up positive for combustion gases, but I'm thinking that there is such a vast quantity of oil in the coolant that it would come up with that result anyway even if the head gasket isn't blown.

[boatbuilder]

Looks like there's a leak in the oil cooler. Blew some air through it under water and bubbles appear.


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[what2do]

Turned out nice...












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What pressure did you have at the feed? Could you please also remind me what high build primer you used and was it thinned? Ta.

[boatbuilder]

About 40ish at the gun regulator.
Biggest factor was making sure the paint was thinned enough. The pressure makes less of a difference.
For high build primer I used Tetrosyl EP21, thinned 50/50 with cellulose thinners and multiple coats applied at 15 minute intervals.

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[what2do]

About 40ish at the gun regulator.
Biggest factor was making sure the paint was thinned enough. The pressure makes let of a difference.
For high build primer I used Tetrosyl EP21, thinned 50/50 with cellulose thinners and multiple coats applied at 15 minute intervals.

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Thanks so far, did you have to wait long before being able to flat the primer? what brand of gun do you have?

[boatbuilder]

I waited about a day but you could do it within an hour or two. Apparently the primer can sink as it dries so it would be better to leave it a couple of days.
I have a cheap Auarita hvlp off ebay.

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[what2do]

I waited about a day but you could do it within an hour or two. Apparently the primer can sink as it dries so it would be better to leave it a couple of days.
I have a cheap Auarita hvlp off ebay.

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Thanks again, I need to get cracking before the weather becomes too cold in the workshop. There are heaters but they'll only cause the dust to fly!

[hilift]

fantastic paint finish !!! good even reflective properties , you are a dab hand with the filler . presumably to take out the panel warp from welding !!
this is a problem im having at the mo ony my passenger door . bugger ! just a little too much heat build up .

[Smcknighty]

I have two spare oil coolers now - you want one? I will post, if it works make me an offer?


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[boatbuilder]

Thanks for the offer.... I already have a new one fitted and have flushed out the system and so far so good, looks like the oil in the coolant has gone.

I tested it again with the head gasket test kit and it comes up fine. So it looks like it's possible to get combustion gases in the coolant through the holey oil cooler.



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[boatbuilder]

So I have been doing some more work on the van and it's a nice change to be getting on with some interior work.
First some sound deadening. I had some dynamat extreme that I had bought years ago for a Karmann Freeloading halfwit. So I used that on what I thought were the biggest most resonant panels like the roof and the cab doors and above the rear arches.







After that I switched to flashing tape and found that it took about three layers of flashing tape to create the same effect as the dynamat extreme. You can get flashing tape in different widths. I found the six inch stuff to be the most suitable.
A heat gun was handy to make sure that there was a good bond to the panels and I used one of those little seam rollers that you can buy in a hardware shop to flatten it down.











I bought some self adhesive 8mm foam and bubble foil insulation from eBay in a 15 metre roll. I'm going to stick that over entire panels on top of the flashing and dynamat. It's pretty sticky but I'm not sure if I'd trust it on a ceiling so I'm using some trimfix high temp glue as well.



Time to start on the ceiling.... cab area first.



I bought a perforated vinyl headliner as that was the original fitment. Witches hats in position to hold the rods....



There are two possible holes for the rearmost witches hats so I offered up the headliner and used the holes that best matched to location of the folds in the headliner.



Here is the headliner as I bought it with the folds already sewn in position for the metal rods.... both rods are identical so it doesn't matter which one you use front or back.



And a closeup of the cardboard reinforcement that is sewn onto the rear edge.



And these are the metal tabs at the rear where you push in the cardboard reinforcement.



So starting at the rear you push the cardboard reinforcement under the lip and it looks like this...



Insert the two rods and then you have to cut a little nick in the headliner to let the rods out in the right place. Mine was about 3 and a half inches in from the edge.





Then you spring the ends of the rods into the witches hats and clip the headliner to the lip at the windscreen and it looks like so...
At this stage I tapped down the tabs at the rear to hold the headliner more securely at the back. Use an offcut of carpet to cushion your hammer or it will rip the headlining.



The next bit involved a bit of headscratching until I figured it out.
You really need a heat gun to gently warm the headliner so that it will stretch nicely without ripping. If you try to pull it when it's cold it will rip easily. Then you need some spray glue. I used trimfix high temp glue.
Above the doors you need to prise open the metal tabs about 4 mm or so to make it easier to tuck the headliner in. I trial fitted mine without glue first to check that things were going to work.

Then put some masking tape on your paintwork to protect it from the glue overspray and spray some in up under the tabs and also on the back side of the liner at that bottom edge. A little bit of glue gets on the round edge of the tabs which comes in handy for the next step. While warming gently with the heat gun, starting at the back, pull the liner tight and stick it to the bottom edge of the metal tab. It should stay where you put it if your glue is any good. Don't try to fold it under the tab yet. Do this maybe half way along the top of the door. Then get a one sided razor blade and trim the excess liner about 10 or 12mm below the metal tabs. Then with a credit card push the liner up under the tab where it will stick to the glue you sprayed up there earlier. The liner will try to stick to the masking tape as well but you can free it by sliding your credit card under it and pushing it up under the tabs.





When you get to the front you have to fold the liner over to make a nice edge as it will be visible.



At this stage take a breather and prepare yourself for the last bit which is pulling it tight and gluing it along the front windscreen lip.



Again it's a matter of heating it with the heat gun and gently pulling it tight and gluing it to the lip.
Then go along from the outside with your razor blade and trim off the excess.



Don't pull it too tight as it will distort the shape of the metal rods. The final job is to gently tap down the tabs above both doors, again using a bit of carpet as a cushion for your hammer.







Next job is to replace the hissing brake booster servo. I read on the samba forum that you can use a BMW E30 brake booster as an upgrade as it is a slightly larger unit and gives a lighter brake pedal. As long as the BMW part number starts with 34.33-1157 it should fit. I got this one for 49 pounds delivered.





I've ordered new brake and clutch master cylinders too so it looks like the dash will be coming out again to do that job!