69 Baywindow Resurrection- The time has come!

[Cbus]

Then I had a play with the A Pillar.

Looks like a fair chunk of work to do once the windscreen is out.

I didn't get the contact saved from the old forum for replacement A Pillars. Anyone haven email or phone number for him?
The whole Pillar will need some love...

 Something that Keith Poole explained to me makes sense. Our Busses weren't designed to have people sleeping in them. The condensation from when we do runs down the insides of the pillars. That's the biggest reason why they rust in the pillars....

---

Then the day got real...
Taking paint off is scary....
Cutting your bus is way worse...

Some inner panel work to patch.

And a small hole in the inner guard.

Have some bits cut already. Hopefully make a start during the week before I go chasing lambs again next Sunday.

The inside always looks worse than the outside...

---

So I cleaned it all up as best as I could and gave it a good dose of rust converter...

What weld through primers do you recommend. Do I go copper or galv? I want to give it all a good coating before I fire up the TIG.

You will need to increase size of cuts until you have full thickness original metal. Otherwise job will be temporary.
Besides needing to remove rust to assist longevity, welding to anything that has rust is a bitch.

If rust treating clean metal ensure it has enough time to give a phosphated surface.
Usually an hr. If it has dried, apply more acid to reactivate the dried acid then immediately rinse well and dry quickly with compressed air or metho.

For a better hit, wet with rustex? wet on wet then allow to completely dry.
Remove the resulting crusty layer and prime or penetrol and follow up protection.

For heavier rust I prefer tannin acid rust convertor.
Fertan or similar.
It can be left as the black surface. Wipe over and prime with an epoxy or enamel primer.
If enamel I spray liberal with penetrol and allow to dry 24 hrs first. Gets into seams.
Aussie version of POR15 also a good / better option.

I prefer the copper weld through spray.
Only for actual welding areas.

Internaly, after welding follow up with tectyl 506.

---

You will need to increase size of cuts until you have full thickness original metal. Otherwise job will be temporary.
Besides needing to remove rust to assist longevity, welding to anything that has rust is a bitch.

If rust treating clean metal ensure it has enough time to give a phosphated surface.
Usually an hr. If it has dried, apply more acid to reactivate the dried acid then immediately rinse well and dry quickly with compressed air or metho.

For a better hit, wet with rustex? wet on wet then allow to completely dry.
Remove the resulting crusty layer and prime or penetrol and follow up protection.

For heavier rust I prefer tannin acid rust convertor.
Fertan or similar.
It can be left as the black surface. Wipe over and prime with an epoxy or enamel primer.
If enamel I spray liberal with penetrol and allow to dry 24 hrs first. Gets into seams.
Aussie version of POR15 also a good / better option.

I prefer the copper weld through spray.
Only for actual welding areas.

Internaly, after welding follow up with tectyl 506.

The sandblaster would be really handy on this job.
Hydrochloric acid removes rust quicker but also eats metal.
If using it, rinse well and immediately follow up with phosphoric acid.

[Wombatventures]

Thanks Col.
I've cut back to full metal,  had to do a couple of peels to get full access to the inner structures. Gave them a good hit with rust converter. I won't be able to do any welding for a week or so as I'm away marking lambs and also have to wait on getting primer and weld through primer. Problem with being away from useful auto shops.
Tried Sprint Auto Parts in Clare a couple of weekends ago. Got a blank look when I asked about weld through primer. Got some coming in the mail now.
Glad you agree with the Copper weld through, that's what I used 20 years ago when I last did any panel repairs. I'm going to penetrol all of the insides of panels and frames as I go. Have been firing the compressor up inside frame rails and blowing dust out wherever I can get too.
I'm hoping to wire wheel the underside of the bus, rust convert it, prime and stoneguard it. Should I Penetrol before priming?

[DavidH]

"I didn't get the contact saved from the old forum for replacement A Pillars. Anyone haven email or phone number for him?

The whole Pillar will need some love..."

Hi Terry,

Was Volksdays Gary on the old forum 0402 003708.

Just the outer but are a good repro.

Watching your reno with interest.
Cheers

[Cbus]

Thanks Col.
I've cut back to full metal,  had to do a couple of peels to get full access to the inner structures. Gave them a good hit with rust converter. I won't be able to do any welding for a week or so as I'm away marking lambs and also have to wait on getting primer and weld through primer. Problem with being away from useful auto shops.
Tried Sprint Auto Parts in Clare a couple of weekends ago. Got a blank look when I asked about weld through primer. Got some coming in the mail now.
Glad you agree with the Copper weld through, that's what I used 20 years ago when I last did any panel repairs. I'm going to penetrol all of the insides of panels and frames as I go. Have been firing the compressor up inside frame rails and blowing dust out wherever I can get too.
I'm hoping to wire wheel the underside of the bus, rust convert it, prime and stoneguard it. Should I Penetrol before priming?

If you can't get any weld through primer just prime the parts with an epoxy or alkyd primer before fitting and grind the spots to be welded.
After welding spray a bit of penetrol on the welded spots and inside so it gets into the seam.
Over internal penetroled areas you will need some tectyl 506 as the penetrol is so thin that it doesn't cover sharp edges of metal or rust.

But be careful doing this then welding.
The tectyl will run with heat and the vapours catch fire easily.
Can be fun

For the underside I would definitely use penetrol to get into the seams and base rust. ( unless you prefer POR 15 . But I don't think it will stuck well to a wire brushed surface. It need a bit of rough surface for adhesion.)
You don't need to prime over the penetrol before applying the stone guard.
Just observe recontamination times. Think 24 hrs.@25C.
The penetrol acts as a good adhesion promoter.
The water based stone guard is no prob and from memory the other one is turps based so also ok.
Anything with GP thinners will fry penetrol.
You can isolate it with a tie coat if necessary.

Have fun with lambing.

[Wombatventures]

If you can't get any weld through primer just prime the parts with an epoxy or alkyd primer before fitting and grind the spots to be welded.
After welding spray a bit of penetrol on the welded spots and inside so it gets into the seam.
Over internal penetroled areas you will need some tectyl 506 as the penetrol is so thin that it doesn't cover sharp edges of metal or rust.


But be careful doing this then welding.
The tectyl will run with heat and the vapours catch fire easily.
Can be fun

For the underside I would definitely use penetrol to get into the seams and base rust. ( unless you prefer POR 15 . But I don't think it will stuck well to a wire brushed surface. It need a bit of rough surface for adhesion.)
You don't need to prime over the penetrol before applying the stone guard.
Just observe recontamination times. Think 24 hrs.@25C.
The penetrol acts as a good adhesion promoter.
The water based stone guard is no prob and from memory the other one is turps based so also ok.
Anything with GP thinners will fry penetrol.
You can isolate it with a tie coat if necessary.

Have fun with lambing.

Thanks Col.
There is a gap down from inside the bus to the inside of the sill. I'll prime it, weld it then squirt in penetrol and then some tectyl.  
I like the idea of penetrolingvthe whole underside then stone guarding. Got to go to the big smoke in a couple of weeks so will do a stock up of products I can't get here.

---

"I didn't get the contact saved from the old forum for replacement A Pillars. Anyone haven email or phone number for him?

The whole Pillar will need some love..."

Hi Terry,

Was Volksdays Gary on the old forum 0402 003708.

Just the outer but are a good repro.

Watching your reno with interest.
Cheers

Thanks David.
I'll give him a call. Those pillars look good and I'd rather do the lot while the windscreen is out.
Cheers
Terry

[Wombatventures]

Had a couple of hours free on Saturday so decided to start on a rim.
   
   
   
Hour with a wire wheel on the grinder and other than the bit I couldn't get in to.
   



 Got a tool for that on back order.

[Wombatventures]

I also attacked one of the front bumper ends...
   
Looks like this will need some metal replaced, other than where a P.O. has done some weird cut-out.
   
   
   
   

[KIWI]

Things like wheels I send to the local sandblaster.
IMHO $25 a wheel blasted and primed gives me more time to work on other things.
<edit>
Rust-oleum heirloom white is pretty close to the original VW colour.
https://www.rustoleum.com.au/product-cat...om%20White
PR

[Wombatventures]

Things like wheels I send to the local sandblaster.
IMHO $25 a wheel blasted and primed gives me more time to work on other things.
<edit>
Rust-oleum heirloom white is pretty close to the original VW colour.
https://www.rustoleum.com.au/product-cat...om%20White
PR

I'd love to be able to do that KIWI.
Closest sandblaster to us is an hour and a half drive and he'd charge $50 + for a rim. It would also take him a month to get around to it. That's the Joys of living in a small country town. I'm hoping to get my own sandblaster eventually but I'm pretty sure this Kombi will be on the road again before that happens. 
I like the idea of the Rustoleum Ultra White  I use Rustoleum pains a fair bit and our local hardware carries it.

[Wombatventures]

Shopping day in the city!
Penetrol
Tectyl
Etch primer
A finger sander
And a heap of other products I can't get at home. 
Missed out on weld through primer  but have ordered some. Seems auto stores and hardware don't carry it.