'66 Deluxe

[Dual Port]

The glue is gone from inside the roof and the inner window openings are clean. It was not a big deal, easier than I thought it would be. The bitch was cleaning the floor- scraping all of the black tar-asphalt gunk that's glued in the luggage area, and wirewheeling the main floor area. That was a PITA! There was also a couple hours grinding welds on the left side floor that never got ground out.

The roof is ready for primer, I bought some regular Napa seam sealer and tested it, it sets up fairly quickly. It says over paint or bare metal, so I'll probably put it on the bare metal. As little moisture as this bus will see, it will be hard to do it wrong.

I'll seal the welds with FG gel on the left rocker seam and start looking at the front floors.

Once again, a shitload of time invested, a lot of progress made, but not that shows up in pictures. The clock is up to about 480 right now.......

[chuckspence]

So glad to not be there this week, Bruce's favorite tool: Heavy duty wire wheel in a pos Harbor Freight angle grinder, it's just horrible!

[toolbox]

The glue is gone from inside the roof and the inner window openings are clean. It was not a big deal, easier than I thought it would be. The bitch was cleaning the floor- scraping all of the black tar-asphalt gunk that's glued in the luggage area, and wirewheeling the main floor area. That was a PITA! There was also a couple hours grinding welds on the left side floor that never got ground out.

A good heat gun works wonders on the tar strips.

[rokemester]

That's a big 10-4 on your CB radio antenna opening

[Dual Port]

Another update: Once again, lots of hours but not a lot that shows up in pics. I wirewheeled the front floor/seat area to get ready for paint. I fixed a torn out popout window mount using a donor piece from a trashed door. Note it was brazed from the factory. I'm surprised how much braze I see all over this bus from Wolfsburg

It's the one just behind the driver that is backwards, giving the mount more tension. I wonder why some popout mounts are flush and adjustable, some are surface mount/spot welded, and some are brazed from the factory- does anyone know?

Anyway, here's the hole as I weld it up using a piece from behind.

Here's the mount finished. Not pretty, but strong. It gets covered up by headliner material anyway.

I sealed the left side seams with FG gel and put a coat of mud on them. More to come. The stars are bondo dust on the camera lens.

I straightened the area where I welded in a new radio mount and started some mud, it will look good when finished.

A big order of brake shit came from WW, the backing plates had already been cleaned and painted a couple of weeks ago. I'd like to get this thing on its wheels soon, having the brake guts installed will be one less thing to do twice. I'm already a pro at doing things twice, I don't need any extra help. (Right, 6 Volt? ) I disassembled 2 of the cyls, they looked fine inside. One had a burr on the piston and it wouldn't rotate freely, no big deal to fix. The cyls are the $60 set off of Ebay, apart from being Chinese they actually look and fit fine. I bead blasted all of the parts and lubed the adjusters and pivots with silicone caliper grease. All adjuster tabs are intact.

Here's the drums, cleaned up before I dropped them off to get cut. I miked them, they have never been cut before.

Here's the clutch shaft bushings I referred to in a previous post, you can just make out the PN if you are young and have good eyes.

The short ones are the old CCS, the longer one is the brake pedal pivot, which is the same ID/OD, but almost twice as long. I'm hoping Santa Claus brings me some new ones.

Here's the stuff I got from Kirk, where I robbed the bushing. I might end up putting it back in.

Here's the inboard side of an extra framerail where the CCS bushing mounts. If this one was trashed and mine is trashed, I bet most splitties are trashed.

The outboard side next to the horn mount.

Damn, another 25 hours puts me at 505 total. More work came in lately to eat up year end budget leftovers which means I'm busy. It will be a challenge to get color on it by the end of the year but I'll be trying.....

[toolbox]

A big order of brake shit came from WW, the backing plates had already been cleaned and painted a couple of weeks ago.

Why do you mail order when you could get parts local at Euclid? Or call Chuck's kid.

[WideFive]

...

[Dual Port]

Euclid is a long drive for me, well over an hour RT. I think Chuck's kid does mostly OEM part numbers that were discontinued from the OE. If he were a good source Chuck would have told me. WW has a lot of German parts at reasonable prices, the website works great 24/7 (and shows stock), nothing has been backordered yet, prices are competitive, shipping is cheap, and I don't have to drive anywhere. What's wrong with that?

[Mike Kever Kombi]

A big order of brake shit came from WW, the backing plates had already been cleaned and painted a couple of weeks ago.

Why do you mail order when you could get parts local at Euclid? Or call Chuck's kid.

I am all for supporting local businesses, and buying things from people I know rather than TS or the like (even if it costs a little extra), but EFA has jerked me around on several occasions and I will no longer go there, unless I absolutely have to. Others experiences may have been different, and that's all good.

[/rant]
sorry to hijack thread Bruce.

The bus is really starting to look good. I bet you are really starting to get anxious.
its as much about the journey as the destination, don't do things just to get them done, that you know will irritate you later. I assume you plan on having the van for a looooooong time?

[Dual Port]

you could get parts local

PS I did try at least 3 local parts stores and completely struck out. No listings for Bus brake parts, wheel bearings, etc at all (even though front whl brns are common PNs!).

Car Parts Warehouse, who "used" to specialize in foreign cars, and where I spent a shitload when I had the shop, did not even call me back after I gave them the list. And I knew going in that their website showed no stock on everything I wanted. These guys have a long history of foreign parts and I talked to the store manager I've dealt with for decades.

I remember the 80's when they only had 1-2 locations (Grt Northern, w130? Tony was the owner) and the HOT teen girl parts drivers doing deliveries wearing shorts and tight t-shirts. Anyone else remember those days? Wow! There's not much of the 80's I remember but I do remember that.......

There's no pricing, but you can check stock across all of their stores here:

http://www.carpartswarehouse.net/pages/ ... _page_id=1

Talk about hijacking.......