Replacement parts have arrived!

Prepping the outer 11″ of cargo floor for replacement. Welded the gutter section and started patching holes around the ‘Samba’ windows. (lots of fine-tuning left with these welds)

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Getting ready for a front valance…

…that’s on a slow truck from Vancouver, BC. Also scratch-built a replacement gutter over the passenger side door and welded up the replacement cargo rocker

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Something on the bus…

…in the left picture does not belong. 10 points if you guessed an axle from an ’01 Jetta TDI. The cheap chinese re-manufactured shaft that I had installed in Rochester finially let go on the way to lunch. Luckily I coasted to a stop directly in front of the local NAPA store/distribution center.(What are the odds?!) I walked across the street, got a new axle, called the tow truck, got towed home, replaced the axle, and was back at my desk programming by 3:30. All in a day’s work.

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Interesting occurance at lunch recently:

A guy came into our parking lot at work looking for a (now abandoned) flooring company. His ’72 Beetle then refused to start and a coworker alerted me to the stranded VW. We worked it out (flooded) and he let me take a picture (left) of his MATCHING dealer sticker for reference. The bus’s sticker (right) is barely legible. What are the odds?

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‘Outrigger’ and inner rocker panel welded in…

…(with a scratch-built ‘tophat’ panel). The floor no longer sinks down when stepping into the back, das ist gut!

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A quick catalog of artifacts found so far.

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Cleared out old metal…

…and test-fit the ‘outrigger’; the rest of the floor is in surprisingly good condition.

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Some improvement to the seat pedestal repair

Also, loose metal has been removed from the cargo rocker panel area.

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New front floor is in…

…and first ‘from scratch’ replacement piece made (will need some fine-tuning)

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An artifact…

…from the VW plant in Hannover, Germany. SB = See Blau = Lake Blue (or as US VW dealers translated it…Sea Blue

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