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Old 05-21-2016, 09:36 AM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scootie View Post
Do you tow your bugs dingy style behind the bus?
I've been doing some light research on finding a cheap tow car to have behind us on long trips, and the Bug just dawned on me! Like, light blub above the head!

I was looking at the smart cars, because prices on those have dropped like crazy. there are several in my town for sale for 4k ish.

But, the vintage Bug! what an idea
They tow pretty well.
The Smart cars are a nightmare. I tried to like them but they just aren't very good. A used Geo Metro is a better car and gets better mpg's. Early 90's economy cars are the best, imo.
I once scored a new looking 79 rabbit euro base model from a Canadian couple that towed it behind their rv. That was an amazing little car. Mpg's in the 50's all day with the little 1.5 diesel and a four speed.

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Old 05-21-2016, 09:52 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
They tow pretty well.
The Smart cars are a nightmare. I tried to like them but they just aren't very good. A used Geo Metro is a better car and gets better mpg's. Early 90's economy cars are the best, imo.
I once scored a new looking 79 rabbit euro base model from a Canadian couple that towed it behind their rv. That was an amazing little car. Mpg's in the 50's all day with the little 1.5 diesel and a four speed.
WOW! that rabbit sounds awesome! got any pictures of that beauty?
I'm trying to like the smart cars now. I would totally go for geo metro too!
those were terrible/awesome
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Old 05-21-2016, 10:12 AM   #23
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floors welded up. each and every hole.



then ground flush and on goes the rust inhibitor/sealer



this go around, I did not paint the wheel wells,knowing I would box them in later, but went back and sealed them too.

you can see above that I removed the Hcap lift, and that was pretty straight forward. I also welded up the holes for the through bolts on the outside of the bus at this point.

here is a shot of the bus from underneath after all the welding.
I wire brushed the welds from the bottom and sprayed rubberized under coat just were the welds are, and will be going back to do the whole underside before installing grey water tanks, propane.
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Old 05-21-2016, 10:16 AM   #24
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thats the underneath shot.

thats the shape of the whole underside. almost no rust.
PS: I bought this bus from a school fleet mechanic who jumped on it when it went out of service, He was really excited the lack of rust.
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Old 05-21-2016, 10:19 AM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
They tow pretty well.
The Smart cars are a nightmare. I tried to like them but they just aren't very good. A used Geo Metro is a better car and gets better mpg's. Early 90's economy cars are the best, imo.
I once scored a new looking 79 rabbit euro base model from a Canadian couple that towed it behind their rv. That was an amazing little car. Mpg's in the 50's all day with the little 1.5 diesel and a four speed.

rabbit diesels were the TOPS! I had a close sister to it in a pegueot 505. that Bosch system was so easy to work on!!

-Christopher
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Old 05-21-2016, 10:28 AM   #26
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I've got a pic or two of the Rabbit somewhere, but they're from the mid 90's.
This model and color-
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Old 05-21-2016, 10:34 AM   #27
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once sealed up well, I put down sub floors, exterior 5/8 ply was more expensive than I budgeted for, lots of heavy duty construction adhesive. and the addition of finding the right screws for attaching.

let me pause there,
I never realized how many types of construction adhesive there are until this point. prices vary like caulk, from 2.50 a tube, to about 4.50 a tube. and seeing how you will used several cases of the stuff throughout the build, I recommend you make a line item in your budget just for this. I went with the exterior heavy duty stuff, like I said, it's 4.50 a tube and typically thicker, sticker, and more of a pain in the ass to use. however, for my climate, It's best for me. really hot and humid in the summer, and down right cold in the winter.



screws:
I found that these are best.
Teks #10 1-7/16 in. Phillips Flat-Head Self-Drilling Screws (100-Pack)-21380 - The Home Depot

But I believe that if you special order from grainger, you may save a few bucks. I just kept picking up the above mentioned boxes of 100 every day and kept needing more and more. so I don't want to know how much $$ I spent on them in the end.
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Old 05-21-2016, 01:26 PM   #28
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Nice job on the floor.

I'm looking for a VW Caddy to pull behind the bus.
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Old 05-21-2016, 01:30 PM   #29
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oh, here is a photo of welds once ground down.. If you are wondering if it's worth the effort,...

If you look closely you can see the circle where there used to be a hole. That is why I chose to go this route. However, this photo is taken of one of the walls where the Hcap door is. I thought I was going to keep it, but I am not.

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Old 05-21-2016, 01:47 PM   #30
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sub floors at back door. knotched out to fit the door bumper.


before I put down flooring, I put a good bead of flex caulk along all edges, ect.

glue going down on subfloors... looking good if I do say so myself....



Typically in any home building situation, you would do floors dead last. But I opted to do it backwards and this is why,
1.if myself or anyone desires to remodel, floors will not need to be removed.
2. finish flooring under cabinets, under sinks, under storage areas ect.
water proofing from above. mud, ect.

3. I had enough material. It's just a better answer in my opinion.

Here is the floor going down.
4" x 36" aged and textured woodgrain VCT

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Old 05-21-2016, 01:59 PM   #31
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You can see here, that some of the og walls are still up and you may find some of that inconsistancy throughout as I have a tendency to get to dead ends, where I need to do one thing, before I do the next, so I found myself jumping around a little.
If I ever do another bus, I'm sure I can streamline it white a bit.
I still have not moved that dang. heater. The long hoses are just thrown around the drivers seat....
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Old 05-21-2016, 02:03 PM   #32
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that VW Caddy is pretty crazy looking. Like a mini Transit. what makes you want one of those to tow? are they manual transmission?
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Old 05-21-2016, 03:23 PM   #33
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What people are doing with the Caddy is taking out the old rabbit engine and replacing it with a current VW engine. Touted at an easy 45 mpg. It's pretty small for anyone 6' or better, but I know people here over 6' that swear by them. I think they're about $5k with a good body and an engine swap. The newer engines have considerably more power. It's just that a truck is needed sometimes, and this almost qualifies. It's a rabbit with a bed on the back.
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Old 05-21-2016, 03:25 PM   #34
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Yes they are lightweight. You can get them fixed up with whatever you want in them depending on your engine/transmission replacement package. I don't know if VW still does a lot of sticks or not. I think most of the more modern VWs are probably automatic. Next best thing to a go cart, but legal on the road.
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Old 05-21-2016, 05:50 PM   #35
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oh, you are talking about the VW rabbit truck when you say "caddy"
I never heard it called that, so I googled it, and there are alot of new vans called the caddy not in the us.

Yes. I would love a rabbit truck. there are a few good ones in ATL for sale right now. check it out.

80"S VW RABBIT DIESEL PICKUPS
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Old 05-21-2016, 08:46 PM   #36
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Nice. That's a better price than this area. Yeah, that's the right truck, and it's so lightweight you probably wouldn't know you're towing it.

There really isn't much information on these. I have to assume those are the original engines and they usually have really high miles. Still needs a transplant. Drop a 2.2, I think, in there and I hear they're kind of squirly.
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Old 05-23-2016, 08:11 AM   #37
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I'm sure it's way cheaper than Oregon. I lived in Portland for a number of years, and upon leaving I bought a s10 and drove to GA where I now live. Quickly found out Supply and demand in a real life way.

I've since thought it would be a great way to travel and make money. ie, buy a car thats cheap in one area, and drive it to an area that has a high demand for it and slap it on CL for a profit...

for instance, my opinion is those trucks probably have lower mileage, thats a farm town, and he is obvious a collector. If someone could snag one for say 3200 and drive it to SO CAL, I'm sure it would retail for 6-7-8k
Buy a beater VW bus say out there, and drive it back, and it's worth a fortune here, b/c the only ones here are really crappy. Even the bad ones in So Cal are Awesome out here.

Incase any of you guys are creative and have more time than me.
If you really know cars, and have some buy in cash, I think it would be fun.
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Old 05-23-2016, 08:25 AM   #38
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VW buses used to be fun. You could score a runner for $500.
I don't see the appeal these days though. Sure, they're funky and cool. But not at all worth the prices I've been seeing locally.
I remember when my complete, running 67 westy was hard to get rid of at an asking price of $800 due to some rust. I didn't wanna get rid of it, but you know how parents are when you're in high school and accumulating old cars.
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Old 05-23-2016, 08:49 AM   #39
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roof rack deck

ok, so next comes the roof rack/deck
I really wanted a couple of things and was not able to find much advice for the type of rack that I wanted.

-I know that Kayaks will be up there,
-I know that I wanted it to be streamline and kind of fit that profile of the safari racks of the VW Bus.
-as strong as I could build it
- no side mount through the ribs. (That is the type in which you bolt through the side of the bus with verticals then build across), I felt this would add to road noise and although tough looking, I wanted something sleek, where I think the side mount bars look more like the zombie apocalypse refuge vehicle, Or Mad Max style build.
-finally I did have fuel mileage somewhere in the back of my mind. So I wanted it close to the roof as I could.

Here is the framing start.


if it's not clear, What I did here is (once the interior ceiling was removed), I put the largest structural L brackets I could find on each of the ribs and through bolted them.
*structural brackets not standard, galvanized
I think they were 3/8" thick by 6" or 8" and about 10-12$ ea. (outch)
I thin I used 10 or 12 total.
then you can see, I've got my 2x10 on each side with the brackets inside them.

through bolt the 2x10 with 3/8 galvanized blots, nuts washers.

Then tie them together with 2x4's and wood glue. At this point it's important to remember what holds what together, ond once you think about that you should agree that it's worth the $$ to pre drill pilot holes, and buy "timber lock" 10" lag bolts and tie the rafters together that way. again with wood glue.

also you will see the strongtie brand joist hangers. those are always good, but in this case I used them to enable me to run screws through towards the outside wrap sucking everything together tight and square. b/c I was building this by myself.
Although, I had my dad come by and help me tighten the bolts through the ribs first. this requires two people. It's the first time I've had any help with my bus!!





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Old 05-23-2016, 09:32 AM   #40
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Thumbs up

Looks great
Love the idea of a roof rack, I just dread doing it myself, as i'm not sure i'll be able to seal it properly :/
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