'66 Deluxe

[Dual Port]

That looks good and period correct, but the feature I look for most in a radio is a USB port. I keep music on my phone but prefer to use thumb drives to keep different varieties of music. Over the last several (late model) cars I've had the USB gets the most use, outside of the radio.

Merry Christmas!

[SlashKirk]

Bruce has done such a top notch job on this bus that I have decided that I'll stop work on my buses and hitch a ride with him to all events in 2015.

Super job!

I hope you like my musical selections.....

[Ken]

The pictures and documentation are also top notch.

[Dual Port]

Time for another update.

I put the rest of the popout inner gaskets on, a trick is to take paint stir sticks, glue/staple them to 22 3/4", round the tips, and use them to prop the rubbers in place. Put a bit of glue in the corners as they tend to pull out.


I buffed the popout latches and installed them. They work great- the tip is to use baby powder to lube the seals. (Thanks, Lurch!)

I bought aftermarket rear bumper trims, polished them, and installed them.

The quality and fit was just about perfect, much better than I anticipated. I took a circular saw and cut the trim rubber grooves deeper to make them more pliable for installation, just like the fronts.

They came out great.

I polished and installed all of the jailbar stuff, luckily the tubing I had worked out fine, two of the pieces were too long and had to be shortened. Much thanks to Bill for putting dots where the bracket holes were, this made installation a thousand percent easier. They came out great.

I think this tube doesn't get an end cap but I found some that fit.

I saw a filthy, messed up steering wheel at Ypsi last year and picked it up, figuring I could use that on the bus while I restored mine. After I wiped it off with lacquer thinner I found it was in better shape than the one I had! I figured I'd do a hillbilly restoration.

First, take a Dremel and grind out the cracks.

Fill them in with epoxy gel.

Sand out, mud, sand out, primer....

Two coats of color, 4 coats of clear, wet sand, buff....


Put the cancel ring back on. Sure am glad I bought that steering wheel puller....


And install it. It actually came out quite nice.



Now the headlight buckets, which I just "threw" the rusty ones back on for the summer.

Disassemble, bead blast, prime, paint with a mix of black and white to get a light gray. I know they're supposed to be beige but this ain't going to Pebble Beach.


Get gaskets and stuff from WW, they phucked up and didn't send the grommet kits I ordered.


Prep the adjustment screws making sure the threads are good, clean, lubed, and free. Mine only needed a drop of oil and run back and forth with a power screwdriver.

Buff the glass, put the gasket on the lens with the ribs facing in. The gasket is that flat thing, you stretch it over the glass lens.

Put the lens in the bezel.

Use the short clips for retaining the bucket to the lens.

Beadblast the parking light and install it.


Put the grommets to retain the bucket to the housing.

Use the long clips to retain the bulb.

Put new seals on between the assemblies and the body.

think they're right.

Bill's probably going to yell at me for using up so much bandwidth on this build, but I have good news- The restoration is now complete. Any work from here will be considered repair/upgrade and not be part of the restoration. I added about 28 hours for a total of 1008 to completion. Yahoo!

I'm not done by a long shot. I still have a 1600 SP to complete and install, and a Rancho trans that they have taken more than twice as much time as they quoted.

"sigh"
Ta Da! Nice headlight buckets. I did a ballpark adjustment but I usually just "drive it and turn the screws" until I

[Mike Kever Kombi]

Congrats. Looks fantastic.

[SlashKirk]

You're definitely a details kinda guy Bruce.
I could never take any of my stuff to that level.
Fantastic job!

[heyed67]

Dang Bruce you're putting me to shame here.that bus really looks great can't wait to see in person..awesome documentation on all aspects of restoration,time,energy spent..I think you hit the nail right on the head for a tutorial for some one to attempt what you have accomplished... thank you for taking the time to share with us all..

[NIKLES1974]

WOW - - - YOUR HARD WORK AND COMPLETION OF THE 66 DELUXE HAS BEEN AN INSPIRATION TO ALL OF US, AND IF I MAY, ON BEHALF OF BUS LOVERS EVERYWHERE, DECLARE YOU - "SUMMA CUM LAUDE" (FINISHING WITH HIGHEST HONORS).
REALLY SUPERB ACHIEVEMENT BRUCE.

[Ken]

You have set the standard for all future restorations . The best thing is I know you are going to drive and enjoy it.

[Marla]

Congrats Bruce... Job well done! All of that hard work paid off.