Aircooled VW South Africa

is that under cover welding ??

looks like someone from Saudi Arabia welding for you ??
looking great !!

While Sean carried on stripping his own single cab for sandblasting, I started cutting out the rusted and vrot areas that need replacement panels. Thankfully this is all confined to the front / cab area ........ at this stage I need to replace the lower nose section, both sides of the cab floor, and both doglegs. Jacques had sent most of the replacement sections already, the last dogleg will come down with him on Sunday when he attends Bugjam

Sean had hired a trailer and the plan was for me to take his bus for sandblasting the following morning, there were one or two days of good weather predicted, so we loaded his pick-up that night and I towed it home with me, so that we would be first in the queue the next morning

splitbusahollic wrote:is that under cover welding ??

looks like someone from Saudi Arabia welding for you ??
looking great !!

Bastard! That rag on my head is imported from China.

No, seriously, I was sick of being burnt.

sean wrote:

splitbusahollic wrote:is that under cover welding ??

looks like someone from Saudi Arabia welding for you ??
looking great !!

Bastard! That rag on my head is imported from China.

No, seriously, I was sick of being burnt.

ja the smell of burning hair and flesh on his pip was'nt too lekker

Hey Guys great job, good to see Sean is spot on and on tack , Paul, unusually putting a damper on things. If we knew it was going to be a late nighter with an Arabian Knight (Sean) we could have gotten a crowd around and welded up some wors and made your life a misery
Great to see the progress. Now to help me with mine.

awesum............

jolas wrote:Were the widebed pick-ups ever painted red, I've seen all the other colours, but not red ?

Yes, they were available in red.

I don't have a photo on hand, but they were produced in red.

Wow! Well done guys!

Some progress ....... while Sean sprayed his bus in primer the night it came back from the sandblasters, I removed the remaining rusted sections of my bus. I think we were done by midnight when we loaded my pick-up onto the trailer, to be taken for sandblasting early the next morning.





And off to that bleak sandblasting location near Joostenburg Vlakte with "Farouk" on the trailer - the weather forecast was'nt good, rain was predicted - did'nt want to be there too long



This place is not too lekker - no shade, no water, not a good place



Pulled the ramps out a tad, rested them on 2 palm tree stumps, pushed the bus forward, covered the trailer and tow vehicle up - and so began the day again - crazy stuff

Was a frustrating day, the compressor ran out of diesel twice and they took forever to drive off to the filling station to replenish their 20l container, the hoses kept on getting blocked, the cold front was pulling in fast - by the time the dude started on the loose stuff, doors, bumpers, etc, etc, the wind was pumping and it was after 4pm, the last thing I needed or wanted was rain. There were also other clients in the queue who were'nt too impressed with me. Just before 5pm the dude was finished. Loading up and strapping the bus back onto the trailer without help took time, panic stations as the wind started blowing sand all over the place

Drove back to Sean's place, cursing the rush hour traffic, checking out the clouds, checking the time, (the trailer was also due back at 5:45 - curses) what is this madness of a hobby, bliksem !!!
Anyway, dropped off the pick-up, then dropped off the trailer, then back to Sean's place, had a good laugh, checked out Sean's progress etc, etc and as I started blowing/vacuming all the sand off the pick-up, the heavens opened and it poured down - relieved that the single cab was under a roof



Sand blasting has no mercy whatsoever, quite a few new areas were "opened up" - but I think I got off a bit better than Sean.

For the record pics - hopefully Merlin or Fig can shed some light here

Initials (?) on the ceilings of both single cabs, looks like the same person - was he the line supervisor signing off the semi-completed busses ? Is it someone's initials or does it mean something else ? Anyways, we thought it was best to save these details before sandblasting and repainting ....





brass hinges on the treasure chest and engine hatches ....



Rear dropgate with embossed VW emblem (missing the "Fleetline" logo)





Recording the location of the "VW1600" badge before sandblasting (although the pin holes would have recorded this anyway)


There is also evidence of "factory" lead work and brazing on the cabs of both vehicles which is interesting, haven't seen this on the German counterparts ....


(lead work is on the suage line in the small space between the cab and load bin)

Great Pics

I will upload some Pics of my Wide bead SC`s in the week
I bought Louis on the forums bus and a month later I got another one from a Scrap yard so 2 are saved

lekker news Pierre - I thought that Louis was very quiet lately !

It would be interesting to see what lies under the ceiling panels of both busses you have bought. You have stripped and restored plenty of these things, have you seen evidence of factory brazing and lead work ?

jolas wrote: lekker news Pierre - I thought that Louis was very quiet lately !

It would be interesting to see what lies under the ceiling panels of both busses you have bought. You have stripped and restored plenty of these things, have you seen evidence of factory brazing and lead work ?

Actually not did not remove the hoodlinning Louis old bus
Might remove the one in the last accuired one

Hell, that sandblaster has a maplotter setup......