The rear end of May....

The gearbox is now in the bus and looking good thanks to the new part from the US - wagen west "lollipop" mount.

 

  






Most of the small parts have been blasted now and peka has sprayed them in either sealing wax red or chestnut brown, all are looking lovely and shiny.
Below are the rear ribbed bumper mounts from Auto craft, before and after paint.

 

 After finding the bearings for the new hubs (in the boxes) I had to get on with installing the front hubs and disc brakes on to the new flipped spindles, so I set about it one morning before work, I took my time, greasing the bearings and cleaning up all the parts as I went.

Of course it didn't take too long to find some problems, this time its the lack of clearance between the discs and the dropped spindles, looks as though there is about 3mm that needs to to ground away from the flipped spindles, it looks as though where the meat (metal) has been added too the spindle to make it strong, in this area it now fouls the disc ? after measuring it looks as though I need to remove 3mm plus clearance room..... after market parts !

 

  

Also at this point realized I still needed to get some wheel bolts, these I came to get hold of at the local tyre fitting place, also where Henning a fellow vw nut works, so I managed to trade a book for some new wheel nuts ; )

 Back at home parts table is looking nice, and a new bay has joined us, Tomas needed a place to store his bus from the vandals, so now its at ours .

And tonight I'm busy building up my rear brakes, the backing plates etc, ready to go to peka´s in the morning and install them with the rear bearings, seals, caps and drums etc.

On Tuesday I found out that I had no rear wheel bearings : (
 I couldn't even be bothered to bother t2d about yet another missing part from my list that I orderrd months ago, I also knew I wouldn't get them here before Friday when I need them, so I saved the hassle and rand rainier to see if he had some at his work shop, he looked but didn't have any, he recommended VW up north here in Sweden, I called them directly and luckily they had some, they sent them straight away and were in my mail box when I got home from work the very next day!
Amazingly good service ! 

As soon as they came I rushed to see that all was good with everything I had, so I checked them in the bearing caps that I got from T2D and of course found that I had two different size caps! I was a bit pissed off about this and immediately called T2D to find out what the f"&K had happened?
The guy I spoke to put me straight through to Paul who apologized? and asked me to send some pics over and that he couldn't understand what had happened but would fix me another asap and get it sent.........So im waiting for that to show up now.

here is the picture of the caps from t2d

Anyway enough of that, get on with what I can do, which is build up the brakes as much as I can to save some time in the morning, If the parts from T2D dont show up then I will have to wheel the back end of the bus around on the pallet for a another couple of days.
I came across this useful page here which is helping this evenings fun and games ie VW´s very own version of buckaroo!

headliner how too´s and nuts for csp disc brakes with standard wheels

late spring early summer - grass cutting a race track into the grass for the boys m/cycles

Today I headed to peka´s garage with a few parts to sand blast ready for a coat of fresh paint, also straightened the rear hatch lock.

steering box

 

 


 

I was also looking into fitting the csp hubs, but I realized I need hub nuts to fit the wheels to the csp bolts..... after a bit of searching around it seems I need 10x radius wheel nuts which should be m14 x 1.5
some links to suppliers

csp wheel nuts and bolts

vw heritage

blurred go pro

 Whilst checking out the paint I noticed a run that needs fixing as well as a couple of other areas.

 Generally though its a real nice paint job, I´m looking forward to seeing the brown laid on.

 Next up is to fit the front steering arm, link up the steering rods and fit the front hubs and wheels.
also we need to fit the rear pop outs.

 Still thinking of headlining and here is what I have been reading.

Some useful info:

links to info for DIY headlining 

1. A 21 window headliner installation from a us magazine article here

2. From threads found on thesamba.com here

3. Headliner replacement by Dyer Lytle on the type2.com here


Links to two of my favorite early samba builds.

1.Awesome build of Irv´s September 1955 samba (which I looked at when it came up for sale in 2010 ish?) and is very likely to be the same samba that was parked next to ours for many years near fälköping before they got found and snapped up together by Peter and Dick, check out the build here

2.Smiths vw Cornwall 1956 - thread I think can be found on the ssvc but also some pictures on there home page here

Really like the interior design here, its similar to what we are thinking of, ie table above rear hatch, face to face seating that can turn into bed, some storage - note the headlining and sunroof, lovely.

Wagen west parcel

Found this In the mail Box when I came home late last night - the front Gear box mount ! Just took a week since ordering.

Sealing wax red paint !

Friday is a red day !

Sunroof and Headlining

Soon the paint stage will be over, then it is the home coming.
 
Im really looking forward to that day, Cant wait to get it back in the garage at home. 

I'm planning on putting the bus back on the tip girl so I can mount the hard brake lines with it tipped over, and of course the forward controls and everything else under the bus including, master cylinder, servo, routing a new customized loom (yet to be ordered).

after that it will be time to refit the running gear again and sit it down on its wheels - another mile stone to look forward too.

As I prepare in my mind what I need to order for the next stage there is the stage after that....

Headlining and sunroof - what to do? if you search the internet all you get is go to a pro, its too hard.

If I was back home in the UK I don't think it woudl be much of a problem to find an experienced fitter of samba head linings, I had thought about possibly Holland? I could ask the Kieft en klok guys and Marcel miller for advice, but realistically they are to far away, so who is near that could do it? I´m going to ask around the places I have seen on the net here in the Stockholm area and see what I find. In the back of my mind I m preparing for the worst case which is DIY.

The sunroof is less daunting then a full headliner, especially when this place has made life much easier for rag top renovations!   vw sunroofs.com

After that I will work my way around slowly replacing the parts I have and sourcing those parts I still need to finish the bus, handles, locks, lights, seals etc.

this is my current wanted parts list:

wiring and all electrics
brake pipes
Front door handles (ice pick)
Semaphores
re chrome or buy new inner handles, same with sunroof.
louvre trims
soundproofing/insulation
door cards.
headlining
sunroof parts, some hard and soft inner and outer.
seat covers front
carpets, mats
interior to build

oh and an engine.

Some uplifting pics.

Bumpers are ready for deluxe moldings to be bolted up.... hope I can achieve a good fit here, we will see soon enough.

Love a bit of sealing wax red and chestnut brown

early n smooth

Tomorrow is Friday, I am working the dinner shift which means a chance to get to peka´s in the morning before work and after Travis has been for a check up at the dentist´s.
 I´m taking over the pop outs from autocraft to see how they offer up. and the rh side rear bumper bracket.