Project DC - 4 door dual cab with a couple extra cylinders

[Dasdubber]

Hi….thought I'd share one of our current restorations with you.

I run DAS Resto Haus - a VW restoration shop on the Gold Coast in Australia….this 71 Dual Cab project was the idea of an owner who wanted an old styled 'ute' (what we call a pickup) but with all the mod cons and handling/performance of a new car. Full gallery is on my site for anyone interested (http://www.dasrestohaus.com.au" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false

Without rambling on much more here is what we started with:

Cheers. Al

 

[gninnam]

Nice Doka 8)

Looking forward to seeing what you end up with :mrgreen:

 

[Dasdubber]

This thing was destined to be torn down to its bare bones given the brief of the project and the importance to get the panels super straight. So off with the nose:

As usual rotten a-pillars and inner valance:

The D-pillar (passenger side) had received a big whack at some stage and rather than fixing it properly, someone decided just to plate over it with a second skin

Both doglegs were to come off and be replaced with Klassic Fab units:

Lower a-pillars needed replacing as well

 

[Dasdubber]

Rear tubs were knackered so the call was made to remove and replace them as well

The deeper we dig, the more work we find (like all resto's!)

New Klassic Fab cab floor to come

Rear pillars were knackered as well

Off to blasting

 

[Dasdubber]

Post blasting things always look a little better (but certainly reveals exactly how much work is ahead)

Time to start cutting:

To make way for this:

After lots of research and talking to our gearbox builder, it was decided an 091 bus box would be mated to the 3.2L Porsche engine….it will have full Albins (weddle) internals and super diff. Whilst it will not withstand 3rd gear burnouts or drag race starts, the owner was happy to compromise some sensible driving to save a load of funds on buying/rebuilding/installing a G50 or 915 box.

 

[Resto-raider]

Nice resto. I clicked on the link to your website but it doesn't work.

 

[neilswheels]

Very cool, looking forward to this. You mentioned 4 door, are you adding a crewcab door on t'other side?

 

[68_early_bay]

Loving the engine 8) looking forward to following this 8)

 

[Dasdubber]

Nice resto. I clicked on the link to your website but it doesn't work.

Sorry mate, not sure what is happening there?
Try this one:
http://dasrestohaus.com.au/gallery2/main.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

neilswheels, you are right, an additional cargo door and aperture has been added on the right side of the DC behind the drivers door. Funny enough, the LHD cargo door was originally on a LHD scrapped DC here in Australia which was then shipped to the UK, and then I bought the door from the UK and had it shipped back to Australia! Not sure where it came from originally

More pics to come of that modification which was very time consuming!

 

[Dasdubber]

When mocking up the Porsche engine mated to the 2L bus box using a late bay gearbox top mount, two issues arose - one was the firewall/tranny hump was in the way, and two, engine to ground clearance was very limited if the box was mounted in the factory position.

As a result, a 2 inch tranny raise was implemented - front torsion housing mount was left in situ and the actual bolt on mount modded?the rear tranny hanger was then set 2 inches higher up on the chassis

 

[Dasdubber]

Lots of small rust repairs to go along with the major panel replacements

The left side D-pillar had received a big whack at some stage and needed replacement. Since no repro panels were available Barry (my head fabricator) had to rebuild it from scratch. Of course its Murphy's law that two weeks after we finished the repair, a NOS left side early bay D-pillar came up for sale in Australia! Grrr! If only it was listed a couple months earlier!

 

[sparkywig]

8)

 

[Haveacamper]

G'day Al, It PorscheKombi here from Aussievedubbers/kombi forum. Glad you made it over to this forum. You will get a lot of support and advice on this forum.

I'm liking the look of the project!

Out of interest, having carried out the whole porsche transplant myself, and gone down the 091 g/box route. I am surprised that the owner didnt want to go for the 5-speed option that is a G50/915 box. If I were to do it again, I think I would definitely opt for a 5 speed - mind you I only had my 3rd and 4th gear made taller. As a result, my 1st gear is pretty much non existant! Also, it looks like you have already had to raise the g/box for ground clearance. How much extras work would it have been to fit the 5 speed? as for cost, a ful rebuild on a 091 wouldnt be that cheap and the high resale value of the 091 could be used to offset against the cost of a G50/915 box.

I think that this may still be an option for me, but much further down the line.

Only my two cent worth...I look forward to seeing progress!

NaFe

 

[Alex VW Heritage]

Awesome project and some great metal work,

be cool if he does run it down a track when it's done:

http://www.ultimatestreetbays.co.uk/rules.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Open to anyone worldwide that can run a sub 18 Second 1/4 mile

 

[hogseye]

just been through all the pics on your link to your site the work is superb. I am starting my crewcab resto this year after spending last year sourcing lots of panels, this is costly before you even start the work as i have got as many nos ones as i can. Seeing what is behind the other skin on those pickup only areas is good and gives me an idea of what to expect. keep up the good work and keep updating the pics 8)

 

[aspro]

Hi Al welcome aboard and thanks for the pics.

I'm stunned how Oz's best and busiest restorer has time for yet another forum. :lol: Loving the work as always. 8)

 

[Dasdubber]

Thanks guys, much appreciated. NaFe, we did consider the G50 quite carefully, but the tranny raise was achieved just with mods on the front mount (and we had to graft in the bay window rear mount hanger anyway so adjusting the height of that was easy. No mods to the actual torsion housing which saved a lot of time. Time will tell if the custom gear set will suffice!

Our customer actually lives in the UK, but resides in Oz for a couple months each year, and like many others from ole blighty, intends to move over here more permanently in due course!

Given the custom theme of the DC, Baz fabricated a new firewall and tranny hump from scratch and bead rolled some swages for strength and function (air flow - more info shortly)

Air ducts will be fed via sub cargo floor scoops

Part of the original tranny hump was retained and mated to the new section

New tubs…

 

[gninnam]

Loving Baz' fabrication work 8)

 

[Caltrigger]

I'll be watching this one... Looks like amazing work ahead!

 

[Dasdubber]

Cargo floor was in fairly good shape apart from some rust under tank area so some new sections were welded in with the centre being left open for shift rod raise.

Splitty tank separation strips were modified and used to retain stock tank separation panels

Shift rod cover under raised tank

The thin flimsy Brazilian noses have the raised centre section for the emblem which we wanted to delete….and of course are for later high light bays so this needed modification too

Mockup on the DC - a lowlight lower nose had to be fitted as well but the repro items don't come with the indicator housings

One original was good, the other knackered….so only the brackets were salvageable and the housing had to be fab'ed from scratch

During butt welding