'70 Westfalia Project

[AlanH]

What day job?....

Anyway, on with the rebuild.
Today I managed to clean out the driver side heater cable tube. What a hassle. First managed to pull out the inner then unraveled the outer which luckily came out except for a bit of plastic sleeving. This I managed to get out this morning.
The passenger side is a completely different story. Could not move the cable at all and then resorted to cutting out the tube in pieces. Evntually found a section of about 10 cm was solid. So now I am either looking for a replacement tube used or new or I will attempt to clean and weld back together.

Also started cleaning off the old rubberizing, another real pain in the....
When tired of the one job I alternate to the next which is removing the battery tray on the left side so I can panel beat the corner.
I think I might not even use my new panels I imported. These will become obsolete and sold once I am done.

[AlanH]

So sent some time doing other jobs, but at least got to clean the front axle a bit. It has 50 years worth of grease baked on it and on top of that also some rubberizing.
I also cut out the old left battery tray, which was bent from a previous accident and rusted. This was never fixed properly and the cause of very thick body putty on the bottom corner.
Well with the tray out I could get in there with some panel beating hammers and am quite chuffed with the result. I now have a near perfect body again with holes which will be welded up and the bottom corner as good as new.

LeftBottomCorner.jpg

LeftBottomCorner2.jpg

In the bottom picture one can see all the holes drilled for the body putty to grip. This has already been cleaned and look even better an smooth now.
As I said before I imported two bottom corners which I will probably not even use.

[AlanH]

OK, I have been busy. Not easy doing some of this stuff single handed.
So I managed to get my tube bent, and today I cut and welded the rings together for my rotisserie.
Next step is to make the attachments for the mounts.

MyRotisserie1.jpg

I also painted my Dash, hopefully the last coat. Everytime I was not happy and did it again. This time I think I will get it sorted.

DashFinalCoat.jpg

At the same time I also gave the Engine lid a first coat of paint on the inside.

EnginelidInside coat.jpg

And then I spent some time cutting with the angle grinder to get rid of some rust and prepare to fit fresh metal.

LeftDoorBPillar1.jpg

LeftDoorBPillar3.jpg

Tomorrow I will continue to shape and make new parts to repair this mess.
I also started taking measurements and I will attempt to make my own platform tray.

[Terry Phillips]

Nice work Alan what type of paint you using on the parts you painted.2K

[AlanH]

Thanks Terry,
2K yes.

[Terry Phillips]

Not easy to get it right but once you can master it then it gives of a nice shine. good job.

[Eugene]

Wow.....not your "run of the mill" backyard mechanic I see

Looking good sir

[fig]

Awesome work Alan!

[AlanH]

Thanks, Eugene,
I'll take that as a compliment.

[AlanH]

Thanks, Christiaan
At this pace hope to have it ready for the next KKK get together.

[AlanH]

So yesterday and today been fabing and trying to fab.
Platform tray not yet successful but at least I got the B pillar ready for welding after I sandblast the rust.

BPillarFab1.jpg

BPillarFab2.jpg

BPillarFab3.jpg

BPillarFab4.jpg

There is another small piece I did not take a photo of but it sits behind all of the above.

[AlanH]

Today was a little resting day, doing what I would love to be doing to the whole Westy already.....assembling.
So, I like to see some progress and shelve the finished parts.
Today I assembled the dash and I'm happy. It looks very cool and can't wait to see it in the Westy.

DashComplete.jpg

from this when I got the Westy.

DashOriginal.jpg

I also painted the Engine lid. but did not take ant photos. Will check tomorrow when the paint is dry. If all is good I can polish it and fit the lock and shelve that also.

[Donovan D]

Any more updates ??
Loving the work being done. What is the thickness of the steel you use to make the panels ?

[AlanH]

Progress is slow, got busy with another project for a "client".
I have however this last weekend welded in the Roof mounts and fixed the left rear corner panel that was all scew. It still requires some beating to get the roundness right.
To make the bits and bobs I am using the sheet I cut out from a crached car bonnet. It's about .8mm. Just strip all the paint and you have a nice piect of metal to work with at no/minimal cost. I wanted to buy some sheeting but they only sell sheets of 1.2 x2.4m and I don't need tht much plus how do you transport that.

[73type2]

but they only sell sheets of 1.2 x2.4m and I don't need tht much plus how do you transport that.

You can roll it up and bind it with wire.