One-Eyed Duck

Got the one-eyed duck installed with new wiper arms and blades with the new safari wiper shaft disconnectors so that I can open the windows.

VW Bus Dining Table

The dining table came with the bus, but I needed to c lean it up, restore the hardware, and figure out how to mount it to the wall. The hinges were the easy part, and with the help of Mr. King and his new saw, we ripped a nice piece of poplar for the mounting flange, gave it some round-over/router work, sanded it and then a couple coats of poly. I spent most of today fabricating a little bracket our of some scrap metal to clip the table to the wall when it is folded down.

Jalousie Windows

The side jalousie windows needed some attention, and a few replacement pieces of glass. Unfortunately, the glass is a special order item, and not easily obtained. My local glass guy screwed up the order twice, and I am still waiting on the last 4 pieces for the final window. As for the rest of the materials, I followed some good instructions on this YouTube video here

and then bought the weather-stripping from Vintage Trailer Gaskets. I realized after I received the box that I over-ordered ( I bought FEET when I need Inches), but they graciously let me return what I didn't need.

I also couldn't find the original screens, so I built my own with Home Depot parts.

Bus Front Seats

I special ordered the new foam and front seat covers from Sewfine a few moths ago, because they needed to source the Westy blue plaid material from Germany and then make the covers for the '67 buckets. I also asked for the side to be done in blue instead of the stock avocado-green.

The seats were stripped down and frames cleaned up, and I even needed to rebuild a spring on the driver's side. A quick coat of black paint and new burlap wrap under the new foam, and then I pulled the new covers on to the seats (my hands are still sore a week later).

Bus Rear Seats

The rear seats were already covered in the nice blue/green Westy plaid, but I needed to pull the old Formica panels off that were chipping and looks pretty crappy. The heat gun made the removal of the Formica a lot easier. I then sourced a Mohawk Sawyer Blonde vinyl floor material that I special ordered Home Depot to recover the seat bases, but first I needed to fill the hole from the electric box in the jump seat. I feel the floor matches pretty well. The wood on the back and bottom side got 3 coats of poly, and the hardware and badge got a cleanup and reinstalled as well.

Bus Flooring and Paneling

I decided that he floor was going to be a vinyl plank floor for comfort and easy cleanup. I also elected to replace all the wall paneling, because some of it was really beat up. After using the old pieces for templates, I cut all new wood and gave it 3 coats of satin poly to protect it. I didn't clean up the old screws, as I thought they added character too.

The doors were especially fun to make with their nice bend, which I was able to do with a hot, wet towel and some pressure, and then screwed it to the bus.

Sound Deadening & Insulation

 The new panels needed to be quiet and insulated, so I used some butyl-based foil matt and insulation to quiet everything. I can barely hear it running now from the inside!

Bus Nose

 I didn't realize how much of the bus nose was rusted until I started poking around, and so I cut off most of the lower nose and support area, and got to work.

I even welded up the holes from the old spare tire carrier that was removed a long time ago, but tried not to take away the dents, dings and small imperfections that the nose had which I feel give it such character.