I worked on the 67′ MicroBus this morning. One problem that I’ve had was closing the door and it latching correctly. After a few efforts with increasing force it would eventually latch and stay shut.

While my wifey was cleaning up the center section of “Buster” I started installing the lower front kick panels and the drivers side panel.

The rear end of Buster had dualling symmetrical leaks.

When I removed the gear shifter and components I noticed the underside belly pan that covers the pedal was severely rusted and had a lot of road tar from over years of service. I checked online at a couple of VW vintage parts resellers and a reproduction pan was around the range of $150. That’s not bad but I thought I’d give it a whirl trying to remove the rust and road tar before making a purchase.

Both sides had rust but the inner skin had rust only since it wasn’t exposed to the road tar conditions. You can see the section where there is a leak in the brake circuit.

After spending a few minutes with a wired wheel and angled grinder I knew it was going to only take some elbow grease to get this panel back in shape.

After half an hour of clean up work I was able to get down to the bare metal. The belly pan is in great shape. I’ll do the other side and really clean up the remaining tar spots.  Once it’s all prepped I’ll shoot it with a coat of paint to protect it further from the road elements.

I forgot to take a photo of the finished gloss black rattle can finish but it looked really good. The belly pan has been installed and secured with more screws then I found it.

As of today we are owners of a 1967 VW Transporter Standard. This is a totally different ride then either of us have owned. It has its own type of culture that we are not familiar with. Sure looks like a fun bus to go riding around in.

I prepared the single side garage to accommodate the changes of having a bus in the stable. We are expecting having to store additional parts and needed to make room for it. The current owner sent me a photo the bus already loaded up and ready to go.

I took off after work to check out a VW Bus I saw listed on CL.