Big Sky Euro

Thanks guys Yes, we need to do a GTG, maybe we can organize one at the city brew here in Laurel?

Got the hubcaps shined up and put on. They look better in the pictures, but they turned out decent.

looks good mike!

In the past few weeks I've been able to get a few things worked on. First thing I wanted to do was get the interior of the front doors installed and sealed up. Over the summer I pulled the locks and door assemblies out and "hot tanked" them in an old crock pot with some detergent to degrease and clean them up. Worked great, and I can lock and unlock the doors with ease

So the first step was to install new vapor barrier. Following Amskeptic's Samba thread I made my own.

I picked this up at my local Lowes:



Used my existing door panel and traced out a panel, then cut a piece and made the little inside flap.





After I masked off the door, I used some regular spray adhesive I picked up (don't remember where, I've had it for a while) and used it to spray the door and get tacky:





I cut slits for the door handle and the deluxe vent, then I was able to put the panel back on:



And the drivers side:





One day I'll replace the fiber board with ABS panels, but for now I kind of like the "rustic" look Thank you Amskeptic (Colin) for making the instructions easy to follow along with.

Next was to replace the nylon slider on the side door - pretty straight forward, pull the side cover, unbolt the old one, bolt the new one on. Comparing new to old:



Next...my shifting was kind of sloppy and it was hard to tell when I was in gear or in N. So some parts were ordered - New bushings and a shift coupler:



Under the bus I found the original coupler and front shift linkage:





I pulled the shifter out, along with the linkage and cleaned them up, replaced the front bushing.





But I hit a stopping point when I got to the front and rear bushings on the rear linkage. The rear can only be accessed with the transmission out, and the front could not be slid far enough forward to access and replace it. One unique thing on the '72 is that there is an extra linkage on the rear half the linkage. I maybe could have removed it, then slid it forward to access the front bushing, but I thought about that after I got it back together. So, maybe another time...I need new linkage boots anyhow.

Next thing was to get may brakes working 100%. From what I have deducted, my master cylinder is bad, so I ordered a new one.



So, I pulled the old one and removed the reservoir and brake switches, cleaned them up and installed them on the new master.

Old and dirty:



Clean and new:



I have it bolted up and everything connected, I just need to go out and get fluid in and bleed them. Hopefully it will stop on a dime.

Nice work! That thing is starting to look great!

Well in no time it will be ready for a gtg.

^^ Yes, Wade I think we should have a GTG in Laurel at the City Brew, or if you guys are up for a little more of a drive, you are welcome to meet up at our new (to us) house about 5 miles west of Laurel. We close on Friday, and will be moving in all weekend, so maybe in a couple of weeks we can GTG?

A little more work this weekend. Brakes bled...but pedal still went to the floor and I had to pump the pedal to get it to stop. so I figured I still had air in the lines, and the rears needed adjusted.

I tried adjusting the stars, but they were stuck, bad. so I pulled the drums and after a mixture of PB blaster, heat, and careful use of vice grips I got them all out, anti-seize'd and greased up everything with a good synthetic grease - what a pain.

After adjusting the rears and bleeding the front again from the top bleeders, I got all the air out. Took it for a spin and the brakes stop great now.

Next up was the seat belts. Holla to my boy Jurgen for giving me the buckle end of the seat belts I got from Aeron a while back.

I wanted to use the originals, but couldn't bring myself to trust 38 year old webbing, so I picked up a newer retractable set from Aeron's '87 GTI part out car. Probably not much better than the originals, but they are over the shoulder and will be a decent safety upgrade.

Both drivers side (easy) and passengers side, which had me scratching my head, since my bus is a non-walkthrough. I ended up staggering the buckle end so the drivers buckle sits on top of the passengers. And the passengers side will only have one seat belt - no need for a middle belt, I have plenty of room in the back



Next up, I need to figure out my alternator, because it is not charging the battery. And then I am going to order TMI seat covers and padding, seat stand covers, and new ABS kick panels.

Love seeing the progress mike!
I can't wait to find me a Beetle project!

Congrats on the new house Mike! Hope it's got a nice garage.

Thanks guys, it's almost there - I have to have it ready for the weekend move. The new house has a two car garage and enough land to build a decent shop one day.

Sounds swell Mike! Congrats! I can't wait to see the bus up and running too!