mychatype3
Well-known member
Looking good, going to be a cool deluxe
71 Sierra Yellow, OG paint refresh
- Thread starter squareweave
- Start date
Help Support Early Bay Forum:
squareweave
Well-known member
I took the chance with the good weather and masked off the bus and sprayed in some of the re-repaired area. Paint color isn't to bad of a match.
A quick wetsand and polish.
First coat of primer on the repaired front floors. They weren't that bad but had a few pin holes from sitting with water under the rubber mat. I have a parts bus that is rusty but had good front floors so I cut out the pieces I needed and welded them in for the factory look. I'm just going to block sand out the primer and paint them pastel white
A quick wetsand and polish.
First coat of primer on the repaired front floors. They weren't that bad but had a few pin holes from sitting with water under the rubber mat. I have a parts bus that is rusty but had good front floors so I cut out the pieces I needed and welded them in for the factory look. I'm just going to block sand out the primer and paint them pastel white
Very nice, I need one of those heavy duty polishing machines! 
squareweave
Well-known member
Floors are painted and I have also blown in some Sierra yellow to the spots on the nose. I tried to match the patina on the beltline as much as possible. and painted yellow and then white over top of it below the windsheild.
The floors were decent to start with. I only pained the repaired areas and blended it into the original paint. I will still give them a wet sand and polish to blend them in .
After repairing the spot under the full width seat mount I decided to paint the top of the sill. I just painted the sill as the cargo floors are still og paint and decent. It had a coat of brushed on house paint before so I think this is better.
....and a bit of patina for character
This is the nose in transition, I still hadn't touched up the old rock chip repairs yet.
and then on with the white
This is the og patina on the beltline on the passengers side.
and this is my patina below the windsheild
Those that know me, know that I really love OG busses. So even though I am a trimmer I have decided to run a real nice all OG interior in the bus. The original headliner is all intact in the van and doesn't have a single tear. I will fix a couple of the dried up lower pieces below the side windows with some original material I have but all the rest of the interior for the most part will be original.
Here is what started it all, I saw this add on the samba for a middle seat that was basically NOS. It was taken out of a 71 bus when new and stored in a basement of a house. So my wife and I went for the 2 hour drive to go and fetch it. It wasn't cheap but when I got there it still had the kick panel on it
Just home from getting the middle seat.
In the house for now.
Then I though I already have nice front seats and I started looking for a good rear seat and found one locally and bought that. The seats that came in this bus were in good shape but the covers were dried up from the heat and very brittle. So now I have a complete set of nice original black seats. Sorry forgot to take pics
The OG door panels in my bus weren't to bad but the front doors had 6x9 speaker holes cut in so I posted an wanted add locally and got a call from a guy that was parting out a bus with complete black interior. I went yesterday to look and the door panels were real nice so I carefully removed them. So between the two sets I think I can make a mint set of panels. I will have to flatten them before they go in but all and all OG interior is coming together nicely
To me, building these things is all about the little find that make them come together. As much as I love driving them when its nice out I get so stoked after finding that little piece or part that completes the look I'm after.
The floors were decent to start with. I only pained the repaired areas and blended it into the original paint. I will still give them a wet sand and polish to blend them in .
After repairing the spot under the full width seat mount I decided to paint the top of the sill. I just painted the sill as the cargo floors are still og paint and decent. It had a coat of brushed on house paint before so I think this is better.
....and a bit of patina for character
This is the nose in transition, I still hadn't touched up the old rock chip repairs yet.
and then on with the white
This is the og patina on the beltline on the passengers side.
and this is my patina below the windsheild
Those that know me, know that I really love OG busses. So even though I am a trimmer I have decided to run a real nice all OG interior in the bus. The original headliner is all intact in the van and doesn't have a single tear. I will fix a couple of the dried up lower pieces below the side windows with some original material I have but all the rest of the interior for the most part will be original.
Here is what started it all, I saw this add on the samba for a middle seat that was basically NOS. It was taken out of a 71 bus when new and stored in a basement of a house. So my wife and I went for the 2 hour drive to go and fetch it. It wasn't cheap but when I got there it still had the kick panel on it
Just home from getting the middle seat.
In the house for now.
Then I though I already have nice front seats and I started looking for a good rear seat and found one locally and bought that. The seats that came in this bus were in good shape but the covers were dried up from the heat and very brittle. So now I have a complete set of nice original black seats. Sorry forgot to take pics
The OG door panels in my bus weren't to bad but the front doors had 6x9 speaker holes cut in so I posted an wanted add locally and got a call from a guy that was parting out a bus with complete black interior. I went yesterday to look and the door panels were real nice so I carefully removed them. So between the two sets I think I can make a mint set of panels. I will have to flatten them before they go in but all and all OG interior is coming together nicely
To me, building these things is all about the little find that make them come together. As much as I love driving them when its nice out I get so stoked after finding that little piece or part that completes the look I'm after.
Lee C
Well-known member
Your "patina" looks better than mine, I don't think I should have flatted the yellow down first!?!
Bus is looking 8) mind!!!
Bus is looking 8) mind!!!
squareweave
Well-known member
So, I've been busy with various other things lately but have got some work done on the bus. Normally I would finish up the interior last but it been in my way for the last bit so I thought I would finish up the inside before the outside with this one.
The original headliner has been tidied up. I had sourced some nice original patina'd hooks and hinge covers that are not as brittle as the ones that came in the van as they turned to powder when you touched them.
Then I went and took my freshly pressed OG panels and cleaned them up and installed the too. I used NOS Z-Bed plugs for the rear panels as you cannot run rear armrest with a Z-Bed. Panels still need to be re moisturized but I will do that once the interior is complete.
My wife came out to help me install a couple of windows too. I went with a 67 rear glass because its cleaner looking as it doesn't have the heated lines. All new rubber and window chrome. Also installed OG jail bars.
I sourced some original style and color grey carpet for the rear and put that in with the rear panels too. spare tire strap is there too
The front door window scrapers and felts were done so installed new orig VW scrapers and new felts to keep the water out of the doors. Lastly the front door panels were warped and broken up beyond use but the black original vinyl was in good shape, so I made new panels and reinstalled the black vinyl onto the new boards. I'm quite happy with the end result. I also found some original chrome trim for the door pulls, winders and levers surrounds. The door air ducts were all broken up from the heat so I found a really nice OG pair and installed them. My mailman has been busy delivering parcels to our house lately
Out sitting in the driveway the other evening.
The original headliner has been tidied up. I had sourced some nice original patina'd hooks and hinge covers that are not as brittle as the ones that came in the van as they turned to powder when you touched them.
Then I went and took my freshly pressed OG panels and cleaned them up and installed the too. I used NOS Z-Bed plugs for the rear panels as you cannot run rear armrest with a Z-Bed. Panels still need to be re moisturized but I will do that once the interior is complete.
My wife came out to help me install a couple of windows too. I went with a 67 rear glass because its cleaner looking as it doesn't have the heated lines. All new rubber and window chrome. Also installed OG jail bars.
I sourced some original style and color grey carpet for the rear and put that in with the rear panels too. spare tire strap is there too
The front door window scrapers and felts were done so installed new orig VW scrapers and new felts to keep the water out of the doors. Lastly the front door panels were warped and broken up beyond use but the black original vinyl was in good shape, so I made new panels and reinstalled the black vinyl onto the new boards. I'm quite happy with the end result. I also found some original chrome trim for the door pulls, winders and levers surrounds. The door air ducts were all broken up from the heat so I found a really nice OG pair and installed them. My mailman has been busy delivering parcels to our house lately
Out sitting in the driveway the other evening.
mattyd72
Well-known member
Wow thats really coming up nice, can't beat a microbus and the middle seat is in such good condition
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
Heebee_GB
Well-known member
Absolutely love this! Great work. 8) 8)
Fortunate Son
Well-known member
Really, really nice and very tastefully done! Totally agree with you about tracking down those parts as you go being part of the fun.
Lee C
Well-known member
Looks brilliant in there now!!
Liking the fact it's staying as a microbus rather than a camper too!!!
Liking the fact it's staying as a microbus rather than a camper too!!!
rallye dale
Well-known member
Great work and some nice og finds 8)
squareweave
Well-known member
Lee C said:
mattyd72 said:Wow thats really coming up nice, can't beat a microbus and the middle seat is in such good condition
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk
Thanks to everybody for all of your kind words. We have a local show here in August that I'm aiming to have it done for but you know how it goes. I bought this to be my swap meet hauler so I will have the best of both worlds a Microbus but witha vintage Z-products "Z-bed" that I can crash on while going on road trips.
For those that are not familiar with what I'm talking about here are a few pics from the internet of what I'm talking about.
By using these:
Your factory rear seat can fold out to a bed like this in seconds:
squareweave
Well-known member
A bit more done to the old girl, All of the windows are in aside from the windsheild. That will be very last. I took a bunch of the rear vent windows apart that I had and made a real nice set for the bus. They all are matching glass and all the locks etc are in beauty shape now. I also refitted the bumpers one last time (now in bare metal) to make sure the fit is good before they get painted. The paint is looking horrible because I always seem to take a bit of polish and test out a spot or two before heading into the house. It will polish up nice though.
Front door glass as mentioned before received new scrapers etc
When I got the van the signal switch was missing and the column itself was apart and ugly looking. So I went through it all to make sure that it was in good working order. I installed a new steering coupler (ragjoint) and sourced out a nice original signal switch and beautifully patina'd steering wheel. The steering wheel in the bus was chipped, cracked and ugly looking.
I also went through one of the clocks I had here at home, got it working and installed it. That and the AM/FM radio are now in the dash, so the dash is coming together.
Front door glass as mentioned before received new scrapers etc
When I got the van the signal switch was missing and the column itself was apart and ugly looking. So I went through it all to make sure that it was in good working order. I installed a new steering coupler (ragjoint) and sourced out a nice original signal switch and beautifully patina'd steering wheel. The steering wheel in the bus was chipped, cracked and ugly looking.
I also went through one of the clocks I had here at home, got it working and installed it. That and the AM/FM radio are now in the dash, so the dash is coming together.
Lee C
Well-known member
This gonna be one NICE bus 8)
squareweave
Well-known member
Lee C said:
Thx bud, whats it like to have yours up and running now?
Lee C
Well-known member
squareweave said:
A relief!! :lol:
