The Bus can haz a bumper and some cat eyes.

LOL cats are funny. I don't care who you are.
I decided to paint the bumpers and throw on some driving lights.
I picked them up on clearance. Remember- clearance is your friend.
I think the price was right.

These are almost too Fast and Furious to use.
Evidently they are supposed to glow blue when not in use. I bought these a while ago. I thought I would throw them on the bumper.
They look weird. But, for 10 bucks- I'll keep them for a while.








I was thinking of leaving the black stripe
in the bumper. I decided against it.
I think color coded bumpers are the way to go.
All red.
I may put a chrome bumper impact strip in the middle
where the black in this picture is. Chrome is good.



The black would
be too much for the white in the roof.







I apologize for the poor quality
Picture. The flash from my Canon is lighting up the "glow Blue," feature of the driving lights.
I like the all red bumper. I think the chrome headlight rings, along with the chrome VW symbol will be enough to offset the all red bumper. The chrome bumper impact strip may tie it all in nicely.







The lights are going to have to grow on me.
If the lenses were clear, I'd have no problem
with them. I may have to modify them later.







The bus is coming along.
The leaves are starting to fall and winter
is nearly here.
I'm running out of time. I need to paint the interior and get the bus sealed up.

The Bus gets a nice "new" middle bench seat..

One of the things that is hard to come by, is a middle bench seat.
I had a 1967 Split Window Deluxe Bus- the middle seat was impossible to find for under 500.00 bucks. A couple of weeks ago I went over to Eladio's house to pick up some parts and watch him and Corey dis assemble a VW bus that had seen it's better days.
Corey needed a windshield and I needed a middle seat. He said he had one.

2 weeks later he called- and me and Johnny B. went and picked it up.
That turned into an adventure all into it's own.
The seat needs to be cleaned and re stuffed and possibly upholstery.
We'll see. Here's some pix of VW treasure, a 1977 VW middle bench seat.
It's not a 3/4 seat. Which is fine, my bus came with the 1/2 seat.
Johnny B. has a truck, his truck has carried VW doors, tires, rims, bumpers, a rear hatch
and now a middle seat. Thanks Johnny B.

After we got the seat over to the bus, I had to remove all the stuff in it.
I wanted to make sure the bench seat lined up
with the floor track. The 77 bus has three tracks that the bench's legs will line up on.







I threw in a couple of wood panels to get an idea how to place the seat. The seat will be flush against the panels. Normal VW panels are about half as thick as the 1/4" panels we made in North Carolina.








The seat will lock into the floor.
The seat belts will lock into the bench seat.
The seat will sit on top of my hardwood floor.
I'm going to paint the interior white and install some insulation. I'm going to lay the hardwood floor on top of a insulated sub floor.
The entire floor will be removable.
The bus seats, when mounted- will hold down the floor, to keep the floor from shifting.






The seat it self will be cleaned and the metal hardware will be sanded and painted gloss black.
I'll probably cheat and throw the seat in the rear of a truck and hit the car wash. I'll use the car wash as a pressure washer and power wash off all the accumulated crud. I'll skip the wax cycle though. The seat almost looks too low in this shot. I think the large panel (which hasn't been trimmed to fit) is making the seat
look very low. The flooring will raise the seat at least an inch.
The floor has grooves in it and the seat is resting in the groves.
I don't think the height will be an issue when it's all done and said.

I'm excited about the seat. I was thinking I would never find one.
I was going to use a Vanagon seat in it. Those are easier to come by.
Next, I'll paint the inside.
That will be exciting.

The Bus gets some new doors, used and Yellow.

So, after installing some snazzy tires and rims, it was time to hang some doors.
My Bro Scott is a professional. So he was a door-hanger professional.
Swapping out doors is not as bad as you would think.
The main concern it not dropping the door on your foot or head.
Also make sure the doors are of the same year, preferably.
It's also helpful to mark hinge location- the next door may not line
up as easily. Over all not bad, an easy project.
Unbolt some bolts, remember where the stuff goes, tighten and adjust.
No Problem
I took some pictures. Here you go.

Start by removing the old door locks, handles, door glass
whatever you want to keep or install on the new doors.
















The door hardware is easy to remove.
It's easy to drop stuff in the dirt.










After removing the old stuff, transfer it to the new door. It's good to keep the old door intact. It makes for easy reference.











It's good to have a partner to hold the door.
Lining up the hinges can be a pain.














Scott's holding the door, while I fiddle with my camera.
The more I fiddle, the heavier the door gets, the more frustrated Scott gets.














Door is installed.
Color is a little off.
Over all, the doors are straight and not
rusty or dented. The gaskets are in good shape.



No job is complete without a vigorous Thumbs-up!
Good job, Hanger of the Doors.

BUS- The Blue Goose gets a pair of gently used shoes!

I used the Samba classifieds to pick up some rims and tires from
a cool cat named Eladio in Hampton, Va.
5 rims and tires, hubcaps and beauty rings off another 77 bus.
Also picked up two new doors and bumpers.
Here's some pictures.
















The tread is good.
My old tires were dry rotted and I
needed to get some good tires. I'll get new ones
later. Budget constraints....









The hubcaps are in good condition.
Here's a tip-
To shine hubcaps- use toothpaste with a bunch of
paper towels.
Apply just like metal polish- rub in small tight circles.
Let the toothpaste dry. Rinse, repeat.
Final buff with a soft terry cloth towel.



If you have cheap chrome hubcaps-
apply car wax for protection - or -
You can buy Clear non yellowing marine spray paint.
Goes on clear, like water. Dries and provides a protective clear coat.

I used toothpaste and clear paint on
both the hubcaps and beauty rings.
The beauty rings aren't perfect, but they
add to the character of a 30 year old bus.
Shiny chrome is good chrome...







I sanded and painted the rims.
I used the Hyster low gloss paint as primer.
I followed up with Rustoleum some gloss black.
I applied the Gloss black when the Hyster was still tacky. I let the paint dry and then applied
a second coat of gloss paint.
They look snazzy.






Here's a before and after of the rims.
A big difference- I was going to go silver on the rims.
I went with black and I think it was a good choice.















Out with old and in with the "new."













Very nice. Chrome and Black
Good combo.










Here's a new tire and rim versus and old tire and rim.











The bus is starting to look better.
There's something in this picture
that the bus hasn't seen in a long time- a shiny reflection.
White and red look good so far.
I think when I install the bumpers, I'll go red.
The white bumpers will be too much.

So far so good as the bus is concerned.
I'll be doing more coats of paint on the outside and
painting the inside soon.
I'll also be installing the doors.
I'll also be doing a ton of other stuff.
More to come.

BUS- The Blue Goose ain't Blue! Part 3

So after fixing some spots, I needed to paint the roof.
The roof looked much worse than it actually was.
Sand till smooth and then paint.
That was the plan.
Before I actually painted the roof,

I repainted the red.

The sanding didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would.

I used my handy Makita Sander and after I rolled the paint,
I added one more coat and I let it set.
Two coats of fine quality Rustoleum Gloss White- thinned by acetone at 20%.
I bought some spare parts that need to be installed.
They'll make the bus look much better.

BUS- The Blue Goose ain't Blue! Part 2

After painting the bus red. It became apparent that there are
some spots and dings that require attention. I'm not going for perfection.
I don't know enough about body work for that. I went back over the bus- sort of a find and fix mission. Here's
some pictures....







After the first 2 coats were applied
it was time to sand and fix the bad
areas. New paint will show your poor body workmanship.













I mixed up some bondo
to take care of the areas that need it.
I mixed it too hot he first time.
You should add as much hardener (red stuff) as you need.
The bondo when mixed, should look like light pink bubblegum. The redder it is- the hotter the chemical reaction becomes, and the faster your bondo dries. You need working time. Mix accordingly.




Once mixed the bondo starts to harden. Mix thoroughly and quickly.
The mix should be smooth and apply smooth. If it's lumpy- it's too hot.
Smooth, adheres better. Makes application and sanding easier.











After sanding and smoothing out the troublesome areas, I made my mix and picked an area to work on.














Apply your bondo.
The goal is to get it where it's needed.
Don't go too thick- you'll be sanding it down after. Use only as much as you need.














When it comes time to sand your bondo.
Protect yourself.
Bondo dust is nasty.
Sand your newly patched areas smooth.
It needs to be flush with the body and feather into the surrounding paint.














I haven't listed different grits of sand paper and the steps involved to do the bodywork to a professional level. The Internet's has plenty of auto body information. Check the Samba.com for some really good information.
I have more posts to make. More soon.

BUS- The Blue Goose ain't Blue!

This weekend was full of progress.
It was time to do some serious sanding.
My Pop hooked me up with a very nice Makita Sander.
Variable speed, catch bag, 6 1/2 inch sanding pad. Works very well.
I also had some help. I worked my daughter's this weekend. They'll
be sore on Monday. They really helped me out.
We went to Harbor Freight tools and picked up some sand paper and a
High velocity Low Pressure Turbine paint sprayer. On Sale for 34.00 bucks.
If your wondering- it works pretty good. I decide to NOT use air and a professional rig.
I decided to NOT use automotive paint. I decide to NOT have it professionally painted.
Money being the main reason behind the choices to NOT do the above. The $50.00 dollar
paint job website, was a big influence behind using the HVLP Sprayer.
The website shows how a dude painted his Corvair with a roller and Rustoleum Oil Based paint.
The Corvair looked good and the idea has promise. I modified the idea to include the sprayer, and so far I've spent about $80.00 so far.
After sanding and body work- I gave the sprayer a try.
Over all not bad. The pictures are of ONE coat of paint.
As more coats are applied, I'll post pictures. So far so Good!
I'm excited.
Here's some Pictures.


Britt's working hard.

















Lot's of Bus to Sand.





















Kait and Coralyn sanding and working hard.

























After the sanding was done.
Me and Scott speculated on the best way to mix the paint. Scott's mixing the paint. Thank's Scott.












We went with a 33% reduction using acetone. Acetone will thin the Rustoleum. It will allow the paint to dry and harden faster.











Good ole' Dollar store measuring cup.
Lowes paint stick. Big fan of Lowes.
















Here's the paint by the way-
Safety Red Gloss.
Very Red.



















RED....IS...Good.

















Once the spraying started there was little turning back.
The spray pattern is adjustable along with the volume. The paint mix was 33% thinned and was fine with the paint.
The paint spray was pretty bad, or so I thought.
It looked like orange peel. It started to lay smooth and I was relieved.
Once the pattern was adjusted- the paint was smooth and laid very nicely.






I needed to lay a thick coat to start.
I was about 8 inches away. Very little over spray. I'll do about 7 coats total.
I'll do these over about a week.












Paint.

















I thought I had to work fast.
As the top will be white, and needs to be sanded, I decided not to tape up the top. I found that I could take my time.













The painting process got better.
This side will look better than the other. This is only the first coat.













The bad thing about my choice of paint- It shows the all the dings and dents that you miss. These will be fixed. The orange in the picture is the Sun's reflection.












I worked my way around the Bus.
I used one pint of paint. I think two more will suffice. The red should tone down some. Today was a perfect day for painting.










I was able to go around and cover some thin spots.
The HVLP spray rig from Harbor Freight, it neat. It has a long hose for reach and a shoulder strap. You walk around with the turbine sounding like a vacuum cleaner. The blower unit heats up a little. The air going through the gun gets slightly warm.
I added slightly more acetone to compensate. From my pictures
here I need to keep the gun more level. I'll do that next time.


















SO far I'm impressed.
I like the sprayer. I like the paint.
I like the idea of having a new coat of protective paint. I like the red.
One coat of paint and the bus doesn't look bad. It will be very good when I'm finished with the extra coats and wet sanding. Over all the paint job will be decent but not excellent.
I'll post more pictures during the process. So far I'm happy...
Can't wait to get this bus on the road.