72 westy all terrain..

[roland]

So, after I sold my 70 deluxe last year to get the Velvet 68 kombi this summer, I wanted to find a rust free westy for family trips. Few days after I started looking without really thinking of buying, I find this on the samba:

Bit dirty but looks dry.

Looks like it has a few bumps but the interior looks decent and complete, the body looks rust free and it comes without an engine, which is perfect for me since I already have a 1915 with dual 40idf's to put in a westy.

I collected some parts to fit to this bay while I was waiting for it, and also I found some stuff in my garage that I could use. Kind of forgot I had most of this stuff.. :lol:

Pair of westy stools

NOS front emblem


Set of bumper overriders

New overrider rubbers I bought on here.


Tap for the sink I bought on here too..

091 gearbox. Might be too tall with the tires I plan on using though..

Under dash parcel trays, not common.

Engine support bar to put a type1 in a 72-> bay

Front light grilles

M501 conversion thing. Only got that part so need to fab the bottom bars

Locking hatch mechanism

I had it shipped and finally had the time to pick it up last week and started the work.

 

[roland]

A few clean-up tests first.

Lokking good! The paint is really faded and almost dull yellow/white at some places where it should all be sierra yellow. But with some love, it's back to being awesome!

The battery tray is shot, but I also found a nasty repair there

Looks like the corner had a hit and was changed, really state of the art stuff. Bondo, pop rivets, etc. :roll: won't be changing the corner though, don't plan on putting new paint on this bus for now. And it looks decent from outside.

Big rat's nest over the driver's head, between the insolation and the wood panel. Good thing I removed the panel then.

I'm removing the interior to see if there's any rust under the wood floor and also to change it, it's a bit nasty.

This is the plan for the back tire size, 235/75/15. Right now they are fitted on mercedes 7X15 ET25 wheels and these wheels have too much offset

I found some syncro wheels, 6X15 ET30, might be better to fit the tire under the arches without cutting them like I had to do on my ex 72. There's plenty of room on the inside for the tire.

That's it for now! Taking everything out and labeling every part & screw to know where they go back in a few weeks takes ages!

 

[aogrady]

Hi!,

Nice bus, i do like that colour. You say "all terrain", you gonna do a raise and some off road tyres? Whats you plans for it?

Cheers,

Alistair

 

[Trikky2]

Interesting. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

[gninnam]

Looks like a good project and sounds interesting with the future high stance :mrgreen:

 

[r73]

very interested in your 'all terrain' plans

 

[roland]

Thanks guys!

aogrady, yes, "offroad" plans. I want to use the 235/75/15 on the pics at the back of the van, and 215/75/15 at the front. I'm not sure if I'm going to modify the suspensions. I did it on my previous 72 offroader and it was pretty uncomfortable. I might need to get a pair of raised spindles but they are not cheap. And at the back, the problem I had with the previous one was that I kept breaking CV joints.. So I still have to figure that out. :lol:

 

[squareweave]

Will 930 CV's work? The buggy guys must have a solution. Cool project by the way!!

 

[61 stu]

8)

 

[Heebee_GB]

Can't wait to see this. Great project and an excellent coloured van.

 

[roland]

Will 930 CV's work? The buggy guys must have a solution. Cool project by the way!!

Well they would work but they are quite expensive soooo... :? I'll look into it though...

Quand j'ai vu le capot sur la photo, j'ai tout de suite su que c'était le bon.. :lol:

So I finished removing the interior. No major bad surprises. Couple of small holes here and there, no major rust under the windshield though!

The spare wheel area had been half hacked off to fit a gas heater so I finished the work properly. I'll fill that up with a flat panel. More sleeping space and also the new wheels won't fit there..

Duck tape interior panel? Mmmokay... :bash:

Finished the night by cleaning the front. I like how it came out! :mrgreen:

 

[Airtime]

Nice Roland! Congrats and keep up the good work. I will follow this thread for shure! 8)

 

[easy]

Ace work, cant beat a good buff 8)

 

[roland]

Well that thing fell off..

Slamming maybe... no.

found a buddy. Maybe someone has a goth friend that wants a new keychain?

Cleaning up nicely..

 

[roland]

Let's work on rust.

After I wire brushed the floor some holes appeared..

once it was welded, some rust converted on the rest of the surface rust..

Took the tank out while there's no engine. Always a fun task. Some cleaning required now.

Then I looked closely at the grey corner and it's not beer repaired with bondo, it's been build out of bondo on the bottom part.. so, some more welding required..

 

[roland]

Got some a big bunch of parts that I'll need to put the westy back on the road.

So I did more welding. Small hole in the windscreen area

Passenger side of the front floor.

Next day, I removed the rear brakes and all the suspension parts. There was tons of dust, spider webs and crud in the drums...

First I test-fitted the horseshoe plates I got from loweredlight...

Can't wait for that thing to be on it's wheels. :mrgreen:

 

[dubscum]

First I test-fitted the horseshoe plates I got from loweredlight...

Can't wait for that thing to be on it's wheels. :mrgreen:

 

[sparkywig]

8)

 

[61 stu]

awesome

 

[roland]

One day of work yesterday on the battery tray and corner. Didn't look pretty.. :lol:

So, cut, grind, cleanup, paint, ..

Made a small repair piece to fix that hole (no pic..)

Then for the part under the light. The new panel has a shape that has nothing in common with the original shape of the car, could you believe it.. :x :lol: especially because this is a crossover and the part is for late bays. So i tired to take the smallest piece possible for the repair.

After a rough cut, I place the new metal on the old one and cut both at the same time, holding them together with vise grips and these little welding things.

Then cleanup of the piece and presenting it where it belongs.

And then some magic. (aka welding.)

New battery tray was installed before, plug welded from the inside and outside.

Only left to grind and paint!