'66 Deluxe

Dual Port · Post by **Dual Port** » Sat Sep 28, 2013 2:59 pm

I had to work the last two weeks so not much got done.

I stretched the door frame a bit to help get the "new" door gaps better...

And it's good but not perfect, the rear edge gap is not even from top to bottom.

I removed the Bondo from the dent in the middle and worked it out from the inside, it came out quite well and will only need a skim coat instead of the 3/4" it had. I stripped the paint to find many coats, this was a '67 Deluxe door- it looks like the original bus was yellow bottom, white top, and repainted blue, but there's no factory yellow color in splitties, so I guess it changed color at least twice in its life. There might be 7 layers if you count primer- 2 blues, yellow, and white.

Man, did that SOB have a lot of paint on it. It also had "west coast" mirrors on it so I'll weld up the holes.

In town the next few weeks so a lot "should" get done, I think I'm about 375 hours right now.

heyed67 · Post by **heyed67** » Sat Sep 28, 2013 10:09 pm

dang man lookin nice bruce..making good progress.remember I owe you one when ever your in need of some help...

rokemester · Post by **rokemester** » Sat Oct 05, 2013 2:27 pm

Checking in on your progress Bruce. The bus is looking great! I've been traveling and haven't been able to check in as often. Talk to you soon, and remember what's waiting for you at the end of the rainbow. Keep truckin!

October 3, 2013

Dual Port · Post by **Dual Port** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 9:29 am

It's kind of tough to show what's been done, but here's an update: Still slinging mud, grinding off almost as much as goes on, things are better but still nowhere near ready for color. Some areas are in primer but probably not ready for blocking yet, just started the long left rocker which will prove to be a challenge.

Chug on, currently at about 410 hours with Chuck's time.

Mike Kever Kombi · Post by **Mike Kever Kombi** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 10:09 am

Dual Port wrote: here's an update:

currently at about 410 hours with Chuck's time.

Are you keeping the time Chuck works separate from the time he drinks your beer, for your tally?

tferr · Post by **tferr** » Sun Oct 13, 2013 9:25 am

Hey Bruce
It was good seeing you again. .
It was great to see this bus in person and to see all your hard work first hand.
Thanks again for the frame section I am going tomorrow to see if I can get the remaining piece I neeed from another bus.
Tom

Dual Port · Post by **Dual Port** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 6:51 pm

Wow, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I have made so much progress in the last two weeks it's unreal, and things are finally starting to fall where they should. I've finally got my skills to a level where things actually turn out like they are supposed to. The bondo is smooth, the primer is smooth, there's no waves or ripples anywhere that I can see or feel. When the primer is wet the reflection is super nice so I'm thinking the final product will be very good or excellent. The left rocker went really quickly and turned out great. I have shot 1.5 gallons of high build primer and run 180 in the air file over it numerous times which heals up pimples and imperfections.

Probably about 435 on the hours and should have color on around 500-550, my original estimate of 600 hours might not be too far off. I will be talking to Bill shortly about scheduling upholstery and headliner after color is on. Still need to prep and paint the interior before the exterior gets color. Getting psyched that this will actually happen in my lifetime!

A lot of credit goes to Chuck, who led the way and helped me hone my skills, it would have been much harder without his help.

Mike Kever Kombi · Post by **Mike Kever Kombi** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 7:14 pm

Dual Port wrote:I took the plunge and bought this bus today:

Congrats Bruce, you've come a long way. Keep cracking on and you will be driving this in the spring.

rokemester · Post by **rokemester** » Thu Oct 17, 2013 7:24 pm

Looking great Bruce!

Dual Port · Post by **Dual Port** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 10:02 am

Still making a lot of progress but the bodywork doesn't show as it's still in primer, but the panels are flatter.

I put the seats in as a last test fit before committing to having them recovered, they fit fine, and Sean was generous enough to set me up with a better Bay middle seat than I had.

Boy, do those seats look like hell.

I cleaned the mice nests out and pulled all of the covers off, what a shit job that is. I'll save what padding can be reused but most of it will get canned. (Is that right, Bill?)

Then I cleaned, ground, sanded, and sandblasted the yech off the frames and shot them in black.

I contacted TMI about covers and they are sending me a vinyl sample out in the mail. The problem is the original style covers are butt-ugly so I may not stick with "correct". Also, their website is kind of difficult to navigate and understand. If anyone has a suggestion for a better looking cost effective cover, I'm all ears.

I took a second mortgage on my house and bought the final paint, PPG DelFleet one stage urethane, a gallon of white and a gallon of red. What's funny is the chip charts had at least a dozen formulas that were close enough to virtually interchange, but the prices across those dozen (almost identical) colors varied by $130/gallon. WTF?

Does anyone know what this is for? It's a (OEM?) clip that was on one of the rear seat legs.

The bus doesn't look any different than before despite the work, so I'll recycle an old pic:

Probably about 460 hours right now.