1962 Kombi Van, Part I
Purchased in January 2003, this is the biggest VW project we have undertaken to date. For the princely sum of $450 a '62 and a '61 Kombi were purchased, one for restoring, and one to supply panels and parts.
The Kombi to undergo restoration had all the usual bits of rust and needed new sills, new out riggers, a new floor, a new front, and a new driver's side rear quarter. A decision was made early on to lower the bus by removing the rear axle reduction gearboxes (replacing the whole gearbox and axles with a 1500 beetle box) and putting dropped spindles up front.
Work proceeded slowly at first, the donor '61 Kombi was stripped and dismantled for parts and panels -- see http://littleb.co.nz/projects.php?p_id=29 for pictures. The first job of any consequence was the refurbishment of the cab door and pop-out window frames. I managed to scrounge together a half decent set of rubbers, glass and catches, and with a healthy dose of rust converter and the handy can of black spray paint they transformed themselves into serviceable items.
Next on the list was the task of lowering the Kombi. A suitable 1500 beetle was purchased for $150 dollars. The car was stripped and various bits sold off, we ended up with a solid 1600cc motor, the needed gearbox and swing axles, a cell phone, chunky silver ring, and $20 profit to boot (even after paying for the wreck to be hauled away). The additional swing axles needed for the conversion were gained from a knackered oval window beetle for the hefty price of towing the vehicle away from its current resting position. Best value two Beetles we ever came across...
The swing axle tubes were modified by my father in-law while on a trip to New Plymouth, and on our return the gearbox was installed along with a pair of drop spindles from the metric nut http://themetricnut.co.nz/.
With the arrival of a range of Kombi repair panels at the metric nut it was time to rip into the panel work -- a bit of a daunting prospect considering I had never done any welding before. The first thing that had to go was the rotten floor panels, so it was out with the pry bar, cold chisel and my biggest hammer. Bit of a mission that to say the least. Once the floor was off we could assess the damage in the rest of the chassis area, and off came the (now) useless out riggers, and most of the ends of the cross members. The front came off as well as the inner and outer sills.
After much trial fitting and fabrication of miscellaneous panel sections, welding began in earnest -- the power bill sky rocketed and the neighbours had to endure hours of angle grinding...
And the work went on...
Finally things were starting to look like they were coming together, and it was time to tackle the front and the floor. Once again the metric nut came to the rescue with some excellent floor panels, which went in followed by the refitment of the front clip donated from the '61 kombi.
Last to get the taste of the welder was the rear quarters and battery trays. That driver's side rear quarter is still NOT my best panel work...
Check out Part II http://littleb.co.nz/projects.php?p_id=3 for the conclusion (well almost) of this project.