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  1. #1
    Non-member bood's Avatar
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    Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    hi dunno if any one would be interested but here is my other toy

    we have owned this for about a year now and bought it after it had been given up on and sat on Worthing sea front for 7 years

    This is our first project of this size and has certainly double in size since starting.

    i will let some of the pics get the story up to date but it was a bare rolling shell when we collected it, i am making good headway into the welding but there is still loads more to go.



    stripped her right down


    the chassis rot was so bad it was best just to roll it






    managed to get a whole donor o/s/r chassis leg






    everyone chipped it on the work



    stripped underseal and sand blasted as much as i could


    all the floor supports were rotten as well so felt it was best to remove the floor (this is where the work got a lot more than i ever thought)



    This spot welder was a great purchase


    new floor supports, outriggers jacking points, inner sills


    back up the right way


    on to the engine bay
    new corners, inner valance, outter valance, side panels all need here


    repair for the n/s/r chassis leg


    Thats about as far as the body work has got, its now wrapped up for winter so started to look at the rebuild or engine options



    while the winter has stopped play on the body i can do a few panels in the workshop (just a big shed really :lol

    my engine lid had a rusty skin but i picked the white one up off ebay for £2 and just grafting in the missing part using the blue one as a donor








    the engine lid is pretty much there few cosmetic touches required


    i then moved on to this donor arch i bought, the chap said it had been cut from his van which clearly had not made it back to the road an to be honest if it had it would have been a funny shape as this was not put together nicely. I have picked it a part and it has been trial fitted on mine so the outer arch and the B pillar line up nicely

    before


    had to have a brew


    after, ready for new door to be hung and to be tacked in place


    well today i went out to tidy the shed but really i had an ulterior motive, i have been reading up on narrow beams lately (or should i say been on the reciving end of how to sent by msh) and yes i could buy one but i do want to be able to say i have done everything on this project so......

    started with a ruff but solid beam, stripped it down to find two snapped layers on my torsion bar


    and split it down into individual parts,


    now i need to get some plate for the new ends, some adjusters, do a lot of prep on the tubes and serveral measurments before cutting

  2. #2
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    Ashy's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    Awesome project mate, lots work gone into that!

    Have you done it all outside?

    I'm currently looking for a spot welder, was yours off ebay?

  3. #3
    Non-member Jonny5's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    Wow!
    Brilliant work there

  4. #4
    Non-member bood's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    Quote Originally Posted by Ashy View Post
    Awesome project mate, lots work gone into that!

    Have you done it all outside?

    I'm currently looking for a spot welder, was yours off ebay?

    lots gone in and lots more still to go

    yep all out side, i have a workshop at the bottom of my garden big enough for the van but i live in a terrace so no access

    its one of my best tools through out this, yeah i think it was off ebay second hand.

    Quote Originally Posted by Jonny5 View Post
    Wow!
    Brilliant work there
    cheers mate its certainly trying at times

  5. #5
    Non-member Markey Mark (BD)'s Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    Loving this project mate!

    I'll be starting my beetle soon once my broken arm is sorted, ordered a lot of bits this week to get the project going

  6. #6
    Non-member bood's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    Quote Originally Posted by Markey Mark (BD) View Post
    Loving this project mate!

    I'll be starting my beetle soon once my broken arm is sorted, ordered a lot of bits this week to get the project going
    Cheers mate.

    Nice have you any pics?

    This is my mates 59 beetle

  7. #7
    Committee Member Sparkie's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy


  8. #8
    Non-member bood's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    Thanks for the link, always handy to have options

  9. #9
    Committee Member Sparkie's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    its basically GSF Carparts, just running an older VW focussed website.

  10. #10
    Non-member Goobie's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    What you really need is a V12 engine!

    http://www.build-threads.com/build-t...d-vw-fridolin/

    Some really good detail'd builds on that site.

  11. #11
    Non-member bood's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    wow that is crazy but what a nice finish


    been a bit slow as i have been waiting for some end plates to be made

    i have cut the beam and removed the center torsion bar support so i can cut the 4 inches out. i have a fair bit of fabrication to do as i am aim to build my own narrow air ride beam.

    here are the end plates i have had laser cut. i have had a few sets made now and have the ability and contact to run more off if others are interested as if your like me and want a go yourself it quite hard to find any where that sells them. i will also be doing my own rear drop plates .



    i am really pleased with these


  12. #12
    Non-member Wallace's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    take my hat of to you

    All that body work, and doing it on your drive.........got to be honest, I'd personally give in if there was that much rotten........fair play

    Seems top work so far, keep us posted

  13. #13
    Non-member bood's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    yeah its not ideal on the drive but only option i have sadly, its come close twice now to being sold but the worst is over, the day we rolled it on to its side and really started to dig around was heart breaking with the amount of rot it had.

    trial fitted new end plates, fitted like a dream so Air Ride here we come!!!!!

    also going to tub the front arches so she can roll low as well


  14. #14
    Committee, NW Regional Rep Alex's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    This is great, I'd absolutely love an old bus like this. I just can't beleive the prices of them though!

  15. #15
    Non-member bood's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    cheers, they are going for crazy money really and even still they have rot in unless tour going big bucks, i couldnt afford to buy one done so thought i will go this route (although i doubt the decision sometimes ) i know then all the rust is out, i have found plenty of bodges and cover ups in this bus as i am working through it.

    i have done a little more on the beam, and its been a while since i done any arc welding but its been enjoyable




    i carried on with work at the rear mainly on the engine lid panels




    and made a repair panel for the bottom corner of the rear door


    i had lots of problems with the bottom edge of the front arch so i have bought a new step, i cut the original panel and tacked in place for now, still plenty to do here

  16. #16
    Non-member Gtturbo's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    Excellent work mate, makes restoring a GT look easy

  17. #17
    Non-member bood's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    cheers mate

    yeah this is more involved than i ever expected, remove a rusty bit find 2 more i think is the motto of this project

  18. #18
    Non-member bood's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    got on it early today and it was finally nice to feel like a bit of progress

    went to clean up the bottom of the rear arch and ended up in a ploom of white dust as the previous owner had decide not to just skim the panel with filler but make the whole dam thing out of filler it seemed :lol:



    i cracked on with the engine lid hinge panel, the outer valance and the corner today
    it was the first time i used these little clamps and the are brilliant



    was even happier when the engine lid fitted a treat with all nice panel gaps (excuse the horrific paint job on the engine lid)



    and to finish off i carried on with the front arch, it now lines up a lot better but i did have to cut the whole step off which considering the price of these repair panels is not on really


  19. #19
    Non-member bood's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    a little more progress on the rear door, its not bad at all but had 2 areas that were showing and would not have lasted to much longer

    cut out


    repaired, i was quite pleased as i manged to form the outer skin round the repaired inner skin so it all still looks the same when the door is open


  20. #20
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    New poster! (less than 10 posts)

    That is nice, being sat near the sea has done no favours though. Be lovely when finished. You going with the Porsche turbo engine?? You know it makes sense.

  21. #21
    Non-member markey b's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    Awesome! My bro is doing exactly the same on his, 3 years so far but had it blasted and replaced most panels now. His has a subaru engine going in though ;-)

  22. #22
    Non-member bood's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    It's more full on than I imagined.

    I hope to have it solid by end of this year and then going to soda blast it before starting prep as I have found filler here and there and at least 2 paint jobs.

    I am gonna go with a 1776 twin carb motor now for a clean look as I was going to turbo the 1600.

  23. #23
    Non-member scratcher's Avatar
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    Re: Dorothy the 73 bay westy

    I don't know how I missed this
    Amazing build skills there! I love T2's. I have a bright orange one to detail next month.

    Do you go to any of the air cooled shows? We go to Bug Jam every year, it's brilliant!

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