Das Volks Vintage Volkswagen Gruppe

Big bucks, Glenn! Big bucks! How was CTS?

CTS was great Will. Sleeping in the Jetta wasn't the greatest but meeting up with everyone was great. I didn't mind not having my bus down there. The piece of mind,the speed and the MPG's out weighted the lack of a bus.

Today I installed my free roof rack and set up my awning. I like it better on the bus than in the box.

Updates for today: Went to Binghamton and picked up some shielding gas, 75% Argon, 25% CO2.
All I can say is Wow! What an improvement over flux core! The welds are cleaner and don't make me feel like I'm standing over a smoking fire.

I still need to slow down my welds, and I knew that while I was welding, but I just wanted to practice on scrap for the time being. Having the gas and the necessary equipment for finishing the bus made me feel so good and now I can say the end is (almost) in sight.

Some welding practice pic's.






It isn't perfect, but man, do I feel happy!

DVG represent!

(Don't worry, only useless flux core wire was used in the staging of this photo)

Some nice updates are going to be posted up in the near future, as for now I got's ta' practice. Until it's good enough for the bus, I'm in the barn pluggin' away.

Later!

Will,

Penetration is the key. make sure that you are getting penentration or the welds will not hold.

Experiment with the electric setting, wire speed and speed that you are moving. Remember practice makes perfect.

By the way, don't burn down the barn!

Good luck Will. Have Your garden hose or an extiguisher at the ready. Make sure your garden hose isn't frozen during the winter welding season just in case.

I left my camera in my Aunt's minivan, which she calls a bus to try and fool me into riding in it...

So... All I can bring you are cellphone shots.

Window number 1 almost finished. Just need to do a little more welding on the top and grind it down. The white paint is just on the bus to protect it until next week when I'll get back to working on it. Going to Rochester this weekend to meet up with Tim, so the bus will be neglected for a couple of days. If you were wondering I did remove the battery from the vehicle, if you were also wondering why I wrote that, I'll tell ya'. It'll fry the electrical system!



You can see the gap up top in this photo. I'm going to tape a copper pipe to the front and finish welding it up from the inside of the bus. I wish I had a more "finished" photo to show, but I couldn't find my ear plugs and I was sick of the sound of grinding. I decided my hearing wasn't a good trade off for some ground down welds.



In these photo's you can see the tiny bit of warping that occurred. It isn't too bad and it'll just give me a reason to buy a shrinking disk!





I didn't get any warping on my welds or the new panel, just the one empty window opening. So far I'm happy, and just remember. If Will ain't happy, nobody happy. Ya' hear!

Will you can build up alot of heat grinding as well. So take it slow doing that also. As Tim to show you the clamps for but welding. If you guys are that close to each other maybe you could borrow a few.

Yep, grind slow, all is good. I'll talk to Tim about the clamps, the magnets can be somewhat of a hassle to use.

Glenn A wrote:Will you can build up alot of heat grinding as well. So take it slow doing that also. As Tim to show you the clamps for but welding. If you guys are that close to each other maybe you could borrow a few.

He's in rochester isn' he? Not too close to Will!

? I wasn't talking about my clamps.

williamblanda wrote:

A thing of beauty!! Bet that could fetch a few bucks hanging on someone's wall!!

Glenn A wrote:? I wasn't talking about my clamps.

Glenn A meant "You" Tim. sorry for the confusion. I don't think he is close to TIm or you for that matter though!

Ken, I know something you don't know. I lived in Rochester until 2003. My dad still lives there and my mom has a second house that she stays at while she works. Right now I'm .86 miles away from Tim's house. How cool is that!

Also, do you guys and gals know if Tim originated from downstate? Things may go through a weird twist depending on the answer.

he's from Long Island...

dubstar wrote:he's from Long Island...

Holy cow... Could it be?

So I was having some flapjacks this morning and started laughing to myself. It confirmed to my wife that I'm nuts...I just said nevermind.

I thought Your logos looked familier!

Haha, you've discovered my inspiration!

Glenn A wrote:So I was having some flapjacks this morning and started laughing to myself. It confirmed to my wife that I'm nuts...I just said nevermind.

I thought Your logos looked familier!

Good eye, GA!



There's nothing better than an Eggo!

More welding.

Relief cuts and welds to shrink the metal.





The gaps were taken care of by means of a wooden screwdriver handle on the inside pushing out while I was welding.






Everything's pretty straight.






Amazing what some white paint and masking tape to keep the water out will do!


Hey, it looks like a panel.

Still have to finish it up, grind it down, fill it up and call it a day.

looking good!

I thought welding outside with gas was a no no ?

Tom wrote:I thought welding outside with gas was a no no ?

So is welding in a dried out wooden barn!!

William, what size tires are on your bus?

Nice job on keeping things straight so far Will. You may consider putting up a tarp or something to make sure the shield gas is not blowing away from the arch. the tiny holes in the center of those spots is sugesting that may be happening. also hit the trigger to allow some gas to reach the nozzle then snip the wire and weld right away. this will assure shielding gas is present the moment you spotweld. also turn the regulator up a bit to allow plenty of gas to flow if you are welding outside.

When Mom is holding the screwdriver for you inside the bus have her press it against a piece of copper and lay you spot across the copper. This will help against blow through.