Hello - New project 69 Westfalia

[AD4M]

I have heard a lot of rumors about welding the beam adjusters in a different position if fitting dropped spindles but without been able to find any suggested measurements I decided to sick with the normal position.

There is just abit of tidying up to do before painting the beam. Has anyone on here painted there beam anything other than black? I have been toying with the idea of painting it a colour but undecided at the moment.

 

[AD4M]

At long last I have repaired the rear suspension on the van.

I'm still unsure of how you rip off the top of the suspension turret and punch a hole in the wheel well. I can only assume the shocker had failed and the PO had carried on driving.

Before


I managed to get a cut from another early bay at long last. All prepped and painted in weld through primer.



The old turret cut away and and the hole in the wheel arch repaired. my brother managed to pull all the old steel back into place and seam weld it back together.



And at long last the new turret back in place. All that is left to do now is to tidy it all up and give it a lick of paint

 

[leon]

Wow, well done. Only took 4 years

 

[AD4M]

Next job..... Fit the adjustable spring plates.

I started to attempt this last night but didn't get very far. Does anyone have any tips of how to change them?

My only worry is the amount of tension on them. I don't fancy loosing a limb if I get it wrong.

 

[AD4M]

I'm making good progress now leon! Do you have any spring plate advise?

 

[leon]

you'll be fine, just prize it off. It'll spring down a bit, but not enough to remove a limb.

 

[kevinhall]

Or put a jack up under the hub end before prizing off, then release the jack once the springplate is clear of the lip. They don't seem to be under massive pressure though as said.

 

[AD4M]

Thanks guys. I didn't get that far last night as this happened as I was tring to undo the hub nut.

 

[kevinhall]

yup, been there! went with machine mart electric impact wrench in the end

 

[AD4M]

There off!!!!

 

[AD4M]

Getting back to spring plates!

I have a set of spring plates that didn't come with rubber bushes. I know there are four bushes, two inner and two outer but are these the same size as the originals?

Cheers guys

 

[AD4M]

I have a set of bushes!!! I ended up getting them from creative engineering. I can't say my customer experience wasn't such a good one! I have also found out that my spring plates are made by slamwerks. T2detectives did still supply bushes but for £45 + delivery. Which is daylight robbery if you ask me! Creative engineering bushes came in at just over £20 including delivery.

So I have made a start on fitting the plates. I didn't get to far before reassessing where I need to mark the old standard plates before removing them.



Everything takes twice as long working in such a messy garage. I really need a shed to make some room.

 

[AD4M]

So I now have one spring plate fitted and have prepped the brakes ready to paint them up.

Thought I would trial fit the teledials to see if I am going to run into any issues long the way.



They fit perfectly but I am a little worried that the 205 60 15s might be an issue on the back.


I also attempted to clean up the front beam ready for a lick of paint. The oven cleaner didn't do a bad job!

 

[Aircooler]

So I now have one spring plate fitted and have prepped the brakes ready to paint them up.

Thought I would trial fit the teledials to see if I am going to run into any issues long the way.



They fit perfectly but I am a little worried that the 205 60 15s might be an issue on the back.


I also attempted to clean up the front beam ready for a lick of paint. The oven cleaner didn't do a bad job!

Really good idea!

 

[AD4M]

I thought so too! It has done a good job. Just deciding what to paint it in now.

 

[leon]

Are you going to beat Alex to who gets van on the road the quickest?

 

[AD4M]

A few more pictures of the rear brakes.


One side all built up.


Time to start all over again


Easiest job of the day. Chopping bump stops down

I also made a start on stripping the 944 calipers. One of the dust covers is knackered and is going to need replacing.



Anyone replaced 944 seals before?

 

[AD4M]

You never know! Al isn't far of he just has loads of painting to do.

I think it's achiable to have it on the road this year if all goes to plan!

 

[joneastwood]

Your bus looks pretty much the same as mine just a year later!

whats also funny is I am having to do pretty much the same repair jobs as you, mine needs a rear corner sorting, pop top replacement and windscreen repairs

did you use our complete Klassic Fab window repair panel for the front windscreen?

I am also doing the same brakes as you :lol:

What did you do for the front to mount the calipers, what kit did you use?

Also what have you done for the rears as far as adjusters and have you had any issue with the depth of the hub sticking out causing issues with center caps as many peeps i see on here you run Porsche wheels have issues with that?

 

[AD4M]

Hi Jon

I don't know what your talking about, my rear corner is sorted. :lol:

It was a thousand times worse before Leon and my brother did some panel beating. The rear corner is at the bottom of my very long list! After all I think it gives the van a bit of character.

I only replaced about 4 small sections under the windscreen as I wanted to keep as much of the original metal as possible. Although better than other panels the classic fab panel still didn't line up 100% perfect.

I have some mounts bought off a guy that makes kits on ebay. I wish I had made them to be honest as there is nothing to them! I've just found that the bellows on my callipers are shot, which is going to slow things down.

I've got 25mm PCD adapters on the back which means I dont have the issue of centre caps not fitting but I might have a problem with tyres rubbing on inside of the rear quarter panel. I was planning on running 205 60 15s but am now looking at 175 or 185s