73' Baywindow build..

[A1steaksauce]

But,but... the microcaddy banter is the best! Take more meds and start a'postin!
Get better soon....the bus is coming along tits.

thanks man!

i'm just passing my time parts shopping/hunting. limited to how much time i can spend on the internets however, head starts hurting after a bit.

[wannabaja]

[A1steaksauce]

haha, guess who's back in business bishes....

[LooseNuts]

haha, guess who's back in business bishes....

MicroCADDY????

[A1steaksauce]

MicroCADDY????

me.




i've now reached split window bus levels of low.

updates to follow.

[wannabaja]

MicroCADDY????

Oh he went there!!! LOL.

[LooseNuts]

Oh he went there!!! LOL.

and thats sick low for a ghey winder saucy,

[A1steaksauce]

and thats sick low for a ghey winder on 17's saucy,

i'm stepping my game up something fierce.




for those who know what this is and with it what it makes possible, you'll understand what i'm up to

[JDII]

me.




i've now reached split window bus levels of low.

updates to follow.

How in the hail did you get the rain gutter 9 and 1/4 inches off the ground?? that chit is slammed steak!!

[wannabaja]

i'm stepping my game up something fierce.




for those who know what this is and with it what it makes possible, you'll understand what i'm up to

Clearly this is a sponge bob square pants edition shroud and your are planning to use it to entice little children into the bus with free candy.

[wannabaja]

Nice measurement dude. You are 3.5+ lower than das bull was before I tore it apart again. *Golf Clap*

[A1steaksauce]

Clearly this is a sponge bob square pants edition shroud and your are planning to use it to entice little children into the bus with free candy.

honestly the "now hiring" McD's sign works way better.

Nice measurement dude. You are 3.5+ lower than das bull was before I tore it apart again. *Golf Clap*

actually it's 4 inches lower than the bull. and i'm tucking my rims.

and if i swapped over to 15's with low profile tires, i would not only be much lower but given how much easier the 15's tuck i could take her down further.

i've got just barely an inch of travel before i hit my front tub, and that tub is 4 inches taller than the oem one. i'm pretty much maxed out on how low i can go with the 17's. but that being said my ride height is hardly something to sneeze at. there aren't many splits in my area, and only one bay, that will be rocking my amount of low....and not a one of them are rocking 17's.

my mission is complete. now i just need to button it up and get her rocking

but first some pics

new ride height:


and i'm right at 6ft tall and i was slouching in this pic...but it gives a good perspective on just how low the bus is. i can literally look over the top of the roof.

[A1steaksauce]

side note



this bad boy is a "puma" fan shroud. they were being repop'ed for a time and likewise oem units from brazil found their way up here. the unit pictured is an oem brazil unit with heater delete from the factory. i had originally found a repop'ed unit with heat and went ahead and grabbed it. so now i have both versions.

the benefit to this shroud is how much shorter than a stock shroud it is. the height is 2 inches shorter. it's the shortest fan shroud available. likewise it's been proven to decrease CHT's.

a stock shroud would allow me a 2 inch motor/trans raise in my bus, this bad boy would allow me a 4 inch motor/trans raise. now i'm not sure if i'll need to go that high, but if i wanted to this would totally allow me to do it.

[kcowboy421]

Just read through the whole thread and all i can say is you have some mad fab skills, I have always liked the vw buses lowered but now i see how much work truly goes into making one low.

[A1steaksauce]

Just read through the whole thread and all i can say is you have some mad fab skills, I have always liked the vw buses lowered but now i see how much work truly goes into making one low.

thanks man!


nothing much to report. just buttoning up the front end and getting to work on the rear tubs...yeah it's not gonna be too pretty back there. many a thing will have to be moved

anybody got a line on some 5x112 spacers? it looks like i'm going to need a set for the rear of this girl.

[A1steaksauce]

peek-a-boo...



there's gonna have to be even more trimming to get rid of the rubbing



then the fun begins with the gas tank routing


i'm about to open a serious can of worms back there, but it's gonna keep in interesting for sure.

more cutting this thursday then i'm going to decide to either start mocking up the motor/trans or begin on the rear tubs....in either case it's gonna be a whole lotta fun

[mk3junk]

this is just awesome man its been motivating me to get my bay at least driving so i can start lowering her.

[IronTrap]

Cutting out for the tires is a great feeling! Did that a little while back on my hotrod and man is it a good feeling

Keep it up mang!

[A1steaksauce]

this is just awesome man its been motivating me to get my bay at least driving so i can start lowering her.

thanks! sadly the more i modify the further away i am from driving this beast

Cutting out for the tires is a great feeling! Did that a little while back on my hotrod and man is it a good feeling

Keep it up mang!

yeah tell me about it...i've been building the bus for the tires the minute i test fit the brm's on here

and i'm taking a half day today and giving myself all tomorrow to work on this thing. sadly i'm still not well enough after the accident to be able to put in 8 hours at work then get to working on this beast...i have to cut off work early to give any time to her

[JDII]

sadly I'm still not well enough after the accident to be able to put in 8 hours at work then get to working on this beast...i have to cut off work early to give any time to her

Dang Steak, you must be getting old like me. I been fighting this freaking pneumonia for going on three weeks and still coughing. I did manage to put V in the old man last night. We have headlights, dash lights, and he turned over a few times. No semaphores, taillights, wipers, or horn. I got to clean up connections and grounds and try again. I hope to feel well enough this weekend to get at it. October will be here sooner than I want it.

good work with the bus bro. take it easy and don't over do it mang. healing is rough, but re-healing sucks

[A1steaksauce]

Dang Steak, you must be getting old like me. I been fighting this freaking pneumonia for going on three weeks and still coughing. I did manage to put V in the old man last night. We have headlights, dash lights, and he turned over a few times. No semaphores, taillights, wipers, or horn. I got to clean up connections and grounds and try again. I hope to feel well enough this weekend to get at it. October will be here sooner than I want it.

good work with the bus bro. take it easy and don't over do it mang. healing is rough, but re-healing sucks

i hear that the best cure for pneumonia is selling the split window...and i'm such a friend that i'll gladly take that non-running vw off your hands

semaphores don't like to work after sitting for awhile. they might need to be pulled then cleaned and lubed. taillights might be as simple as a ground. wiper motors don't like to sit either. easy to pull apart and clean. and we've found our older horns to stick. if it's a true vw horn there's an adjustment screw on them if pulling them apart and cleaning doesn't fix anything



sad slammed bus is sad...


i'm short cutting the rear tubs and sadness is running amuck.

i took some extra material i had leftover from my front tubs and got to work on the rear. i decided to make them out of 3 pieces instead of doing a single piece tub setup like i did the front. shortcut? yup. not as professional as the front? yup. this gets the job done but i'm not happy that i'm shortcutting this to get the rest of the bus done in time for a show

here's a shot of the new upper section in place. in the lefthand side of the pic you can see where the original tub section ran. i'm roughly 3 inches higher than the original tub.


a shot from inside the engine compartment.


i decided to try to clean up the interior just a bit and reinstalled the section i cut out. didn't bother cutting it to fit, just went and welded it back on. like i said i'm just very "meh" on these rear tubs and it's showing. only good thing is you'll never ever see any of this when it's all together. one retribution i guess in all this...




hoping to get the sides cut out during the week and welded in place. then the passenger's side will be complete. then it will be on to the driver's side. once rear tubs are done it's time to start in with motor/trans mock up....that's when the real fun begins. going to have to do massive cuts for that operation. and honestly i'm looking forward to jumping into that next phase of my build because once that's complete she'll be very close to once again being able to move under her own power

[JDII]

Steak, you got to leave that front bumper man, at least for a bit. Your short cut work looks alot better than my complete lack of. I had yardwork and honey do list this past weekend. I will retun to the split this afternoon. Thanks for the tips!

i hear that the best cure for pneumonia is selling the split window...and i'm such a friend that i'll gladly take that non-running vw off your hands

I guess i'll be sick the rest of my life.

[A1steaksauce]

Steak, you got to leave that front bumper man, at least for a bit.

that's the plan. i have a replacement piece i hacked off another bay but i'm going to let the next owner decide whether or not to fix it or leave it.


side track project is done side tracking.



i'm back on the bus as of tomorrow. rear tubs then it's on to the motor/trans fitment...i see mucho cutting in my near future

[A1steaksauce]

passenger's side tub is now complete.

i'm not enjoying spending my time crammed up in the wheel well fabbing these suckers up let me tell you.

pics with wet paint:


different angle:

the pics do a lousy job of showing how tall these tubs are. they are 3 inches taller than the stock tubs.

this cleaned up better than expected. i'm actually somewhat pleased with it given how i just threw it together on the quick.




it's all a lot of work for something most people will never see. however the end result is very much worth it.




driver's tub is tomorrow....


stay tuned

[mk3junk]

im going to put my jealousy aside of how awesome this is coming out.

good job man. i get pumped when i see updates on this.

[A1steaksauce]

im going to put my jealousy aside of how awesome this is coming out.

good job man. i get pumped when i see updates on this.

thanks!

my countdown is on for me to get this ready for a show so they'll be updates often.

and speaking of updates...

started in on the driver's rear tub. i got the top piece cut out and welded in:


another shot:



and i had to throw her back together and make her mobile...she was blocking some stuff on a shelf that was needed....so she peeked outside


soon girl, very soon...



then another possible issue presented itself. i was hopping up and down on the front end for giggles when i heard something interesting hit...looked below and i spotted this:

note to self, watch for bumps when going to change gears the clutch arm will be somewhat close to the ground when i go to shift. not a big deal just have to be mindful of it.


other pics for grins...and because i had the good camera and she's in a different spot for the first time in months.







brake parts are all on order and i'm going to finish up the rear tubs and get going on the motor/trans raise and install in the meantime. tick tock

[JDII]

Woooo Hoooo , this thread is alive again.

[LooseNuts]

looking sweet brutha.

[A1steaksauce]

Woooo Hoooo , this thread is alive again.

looking sweet brutha.

thanks guys!

i managed to get one more piece of the tubs welded in this evening before heading home. only a couple more pieces to go and the driver's side will be finished.

going to pull a later night tomorrow and try to make more progress. i'd love to have the driver's side tub in paint by wednesday.

pics when pretty

[A1steaksauce]

more steps taken this evening on rear tub completion.

driver's side:



both inside sections done:



up in the wheel well progress shot:



you can see the section i welded in:



two more pieces to make tomorrow then the driver's tub will be finished, can't wait! some of my brake stuffs show up tomorrow as well so i'm looking forward to get started on that soon. i just scored an important piece of the puzzle this evening and can't wait to start in on that next. details of that will be forthcoming soon

[A1steaksauce]

i picked this gem up last night:



i have a couple of 3.88 trans laying around but they are in need of a rebuild. i needed something of the 4.12 variety to propel the bus on and off the trailer easily...well that and the only motor i could scrounge up was a 40hp and i don't see the little 40 pushing that bus with a taller trans around without a bunch of difficulty.

so a big thank you to Dan over at C's Autohaus for the hook up on this item.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifie...php?id=1204205

also going to work with him on getting some other needed parts for this little project of mine


wanted to also thank O'reilly Auto parts.



i know what you're thinking, "wtf??? Oreilly? Really sauce?" yes. i did a few budget build rabbits using their stuff with great success. i sourced them for most of the brake components for the bus. it's all oem parts that have been reman'ed here in the states. i'd rather use good quality oem parts that have been reman'ed than buy new chinese parts. plus you can't beat the price and availability.

i managed to get the driver's tub completely knocked out. would have liked to finish the day off by reinstalling the camper interior, but i can't complain, i'll get that installed this evening. these tubs came out looking really good for just throwing it all together on the quick.








painted with sound deadening rubberized coating:




then i had what seemed like a good idea at the time....

i pulled all the curtains. they were old, moldy, and smelled like stupid hippy. decided to take them home and throw them in my washer on a disinfect cycle to get them nice and clean and wash the jerry garcia off them. that was a bad idea as it turns out. the material was in worse shape then i realized and pretty much destroyed them all. oh well. gonna make a new set as these aren't too hard to make. 2 managed to somewhat survive so i have what i need for a pattern.

[JDII]

i pulled all the curtains. they were old, moldy, and smelled like stupid hippy. decided to take them home and throw them in my washer on a disinfect cycle to get them nice and clean and wash the jerry garcia off them. that was a bad idea as it turns out. the material was in worse shape then i realized and pretty much destroyed them all. oh well. gonna make a new set as these aren't too hard to make. 2 managed to somewhat survive so i have what i need for a pattern.

Dang Steak, You can weld but cant do Freakin Laundry??? You should have run the curtains on a gentle steam cycle, or maybe hand wash with a little lavander and lemon grass for a nice clean sent.

save the disinfect cylce for you sweaty man garments.

chit looks goo bro.

[A1steaksauce]

Dang Steak, You can weld but cant do Freakin Laundry??? You should have run the curtains on a gentle steam cycle, or maybe hand wash with a little lavander and lemon grass for a nice clean sent.

save the disinfect cylce for you sweaty man garments.

chit looks goo bro.

you're not fully aware the stench of hippy that was embedded in them. i had thoughts of stopping by a laundromat and using one of their machines for fear my washing machine at home wouldn't be strong enough to remove the stink.



i got the camper interior all back in this evening. no camera, no pics...but i'll get some later. nothing too interesting however. i only needed to slightly modify one seat bracket on the folding seat section for everything to go back in. no cutting of anything interior was required...sadly a little disappointed at that fact


taking friday and saturday off to help a friend with his project so i'll be back on this puppy come sunday. gonna start in on the motor/trans placement. more cutting is very near in my future so it'll stay interesting i promise

till next time

[DurtyDaily]

Awesome build! Pure inspiration!

[IronTrap]

stupid hippies wreck everything!