1965 VW 13W Deluxe

dukebradbury · Joined: 13 Oct 2009 Posts: 185 Location: Spokane 5-mile

Just wanted to start a thread on the progress of my bus. Any comments or suggestions are greatly appreciated, as this is my first attempt at body work.

Here it is right after yarding it out of the field.

At home

After a little cleaning!!!It sure needed it after sitting in a field for 10 years!!

Left rear corner repair. This is my very 1st attempt at body work, and welding sheet metal! After turning off the "autoset" feature on my Millermatic 180 and dialing in the welder manually I was able to get the hang of it.

Mounting hole repair. Does anyone know what these were for?
There were four each side.

Patch repair method. Tried this after my 1st "fill in" attempt that didnt go so well.

Fill in method. Second attempt after getting the hang of welding sheet metal.
This is the end result Smile

Had some rust right above the drivers window. Some creature had made it his home.

Now for the nose....
Here is the before pics.

ONEBADBUG · Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Posts: 440 Location: Spokane

Have you tried using .024 wire?

Troy Hobbs · Joined: 05 Aug 2003 Posts: 766

Looking good. I would strip back the paint a little further in spots, you don't want the filler over the paint, just prepped bare metal or prepped epoxy

motofly196 · Joined: 23 Jun 2008 Posts: 442 Location: Medical Lake

Duke...the repairs look great so far! Keep it up! I'm with ONEBADBUG though...get yourself some .024 wire, you're grinder wheel bill with thank you! Laughing

You managed to do a pretty good job on grinding it out though, doesn't look warped from heat in the pics. My friends were using .024 EZ grind wire in Hawaii, but I can't seem to find it here yet. The guy at Norco looked at me like I was speaking a different language. I might try to look on-line for my next project....it melts away like butter, and doesn't get too hot to warp panels. Looks good!

Scott

Doodoob · Joined: 06 Jul 2011 Posts: 98 Location: Spokane, WA

I feel your pain..........I have the same Miller 180. Trying to weld on 40 YO sheetmetal is not fun. I had to do a bit of it on my 67. However I didnt do the filler and stuff.........I took it to a shop. My mistake, wont do that again. Definately need to get the 24 wire and have the metal clean as possible. It is looking great, so keep it up.

dukebradbury · Joined: 13 Oct 2009 Posts: 185 Location: Spokane 5-mile

hubcapt · Joined: 25 Sep 2009 Posts: 666

I have better luck actually running .30 and running the highest temp on my little lincoln, makes such a nice capillary action that there isn't much grinding to be done.

Also grinding discs stink for grinding spot welds, a 60 grit flap disc works a lot faster, got to watch for the heat being generated but same with a grinding disc

My .02

dukebradbury · Joined: 13 Oct 2009 Posts: 185 Location: Spokane 5-mile

dukebradbury · Joined: 13 Oct 2009 Posts: 185 Location: Spokane 5-mile

A little more progress on the from nose.

Did some more work with the stud welder and slide hammer. It looks pretty good. The dent on the right side of the lower nose wont come out any better. It's not too bad and it actually looks worse in the picture. Better than when I started.

Tried pulling out the dents and straightening the lower front nose skin (part behind the bumper). Wasnt happening! Sad

Decided to replace it. Removed only what I thought I needed to.

dukebradbury · Joined: 13 Oct 2009 Posts: 185 Location: Spokane 5-mile

Little more work done last night.

motofly196 · Joined: 23 Jun 2008 Posts: 442 Location: Medical Lake

Lookin' Great Duke! You gonna get this thing out while the weather is still good? You're doing winter time work now!!! Save that chit' for the winter, drive it now!! Laughing

Scott

dukebradbury · Joined: 13 Oct 2009 Posts: 185 Location: Spokane 5-mile

Scott, that's the truth!!!!

Every time I turn around I find something else and think "might as well fix it while I'm there.."! Confused

I also pulled out all my side pop-outs to blast them and paint them. In my opinion, only 2 are salvageable. Now my bus is window-less.

dukebradbury · Joined: 13 Oct 2009 Posts: 185 Location: Spokane 5-mile

Been too long!!!

Here is a couple update shots.

Removed the front floor. I had some rust up front and a couple holes. I was going to patch them with repair panels, but the holes were in the middle. Got a complete floor from Gerson.

It is currently on the rotisserie. Man it makes it easy to sandblast the bottom!! If it didnt take forever, and wasn't dirty as hell, and hot as hell, and a pain in the ass, sandblasting wouldn't be that bad Laughing

Almost done blasting the bottom. Had to remove the heater tube. Probably going to replace it with exhaust tubing. After I get it all done, gonna POR15 the bottom.

Doodoob · Joined: 06 Jul 2011 Posts: 98 Location: Spokane, WA

Looking awesome! Check out this stuff........ http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=396637
http://www.masterseriesct.com/
I used it on my bug and really liked it. Seemed to be a little cheaper than Por15 and works great. I simply brushed/rolled/and sponged it on.

dukebradbury · Joined: 13 Oct 2009 Posts: 185 Location: Spokane 5-mile

Thanks !

I already have some POR15, so I'm going to give it a try. I did look into the Masterseries and wondered how it would work. Sounds like you like it. There was a considerable savings on the Masterseries. Will have to order some up next time.