Dusting off the BD project

With the Zwitter gone to a new home overseas, it's time to prepare the winter and probably dust off the BD panel project standing in the barn.... always funny to fiddle around with wheel set-ups :)

Springtime

Snow is melting away and we hope for an early summer this year. The zwitter fired right up, and I took it for a spin yesterday. Life is good :)

Swedish Barndoor back on the road

Mathias from sweden has restored this Swedish BD and put it back on the road this summer. One of the coolest BD's I have seen in a long time. Just check that patinated roof!! This BD is a very good contribution to the rather small BD community in Scandinavia. Hope to see it in the flesh sometime soon =)

Vintage Barn of the week #16

Well for the observant; it's the same as #14. But this Japanese BD is so clean and so cool, I had to throw in a picture from behind as well. I have no idea if it is the real thing, or a late BD made to look early. But knowing a little about what these Japanese guys are up to, I would not be surprised if it is real. It doesen't get much better than this =)

Tireporn

It's friday, and we can all do with a little tireporn =) These are some NOS Bridgestone bias ply I picked up a while ago. They should be from 1965(ish) and are still in the original wrapping. The rubber is quite soft, given the age. They had me drooling instantly =)

Barnfind

What do you do when the perfect barnfind never comes your way? Well, you create one =) The barndoor I collected earlier this year has spent some 50 years in the forest. Now it's resting inside a dry barn and almost looks like the perfect barnfind. I have spent some time stripping it down and getting to know it better. Falling more and more in love with this van, the more time we spend together. The picture speaks for it self =)

Vintage Barn of the week #15

Trying to get this "weekly" session back on track... A cool primered BD this time, cool stance, looks mean =)

Vintage Barn of the week #14

Time to see some cool BD's again. This time a Japaneese BD in primer finish. It has a cool stance, and it's no drawback that it has pianohinged vent windows either. Cool ride for sure...

Workshop in the making

Not so much going on with my VW projects lately, but there is a reason for everything. Just enjoyed my zwitter this summer with no modifications at all. No wrenching, just driving. As you can see in the bacground there is something going on that will please me and my VW's in a while. Hope to be settled in my self built workshop later this autumn. Looking foreward to that to say the least....

This is how far I got with the construction work before SCC....

Wheel porn?

Kinda cool? I like theese, massive rims...

Vintage Barn of the week #13

At last we have a candidate for posting on the blog. Nice OG color-combo and cool choice to use the sidetrim. To many BD's are restored to plain factory specs, as we know many of them were "jazzed" up before they hit the road.

Timetravel

Found these cool gas station photos on the net. Somewhere around Gothenburg Sweden. A lot of things were better in the past =)

And for the BD in the picture; It has to be a primer bus, looking at the color of the engine lid?

BD DD RH - Viking style

Whats all the cryptic letters? Barndoor Double Door Rear Hatch... A VERY rare car in the world of barndoors. This example surfaced in Norway a while ago, found as a shed in the forest. A young enthusiast has become the owner of this project, and has already started planning further progress. The fact that he is so young he even don't have a licence yet, make this quite remarkable. "No guts - No story"? Well he certainly have some guts this kid =) I wish the best of luck, as there is quite a few milestones to cross on this Barndoor. Welcome to the world of Barndoors Christer =)

Time for yet a resurrection - Australia

I just love these hopeless reconstructions =) This time, one of the worse ever.... Does there exist a limit for what's savable? We have a young guy here in Norway getting a lot of feedback on purchasing a rather rusted out, but oh-so-rare double door rear hatch panel BD. Some say it will never roll again. I bet this guy down in Australia have heard the same quite a few times. It really just comes down to having the guts.... I'm looking foreward to follow this project further. Greenstuff magic!! Here's some useful links:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/limeybish/
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=410901&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Mantorp swap

As no trip was planned to Germany this summer, the possibility to score some BD parts seemed quite limited. But Bug Run in Sweden has always had a good swap meet for VW parts, so a visit there were planned. With no big expectations, there were actually some BD parts lying around suitable for my project. Some "leftovers" of tail lights, nobs and bits were some of the things I brought home. This will be enough to recreate some nice PATINATED taillights, perfect for a patinated car. I also scored a set of NOS roof supports for split bus, helpful to get the roof back to shape. You can have different oppinions on how the watercooled cars have taken over Bug Run, but the swap market is still aircooled territory, and the most attractive of it's kind in Scandinavia. My zwitter was filled with parts, and headed back after a great weekend on Mantorp raceway. Met a lot of the Barndoor guys from sweden, and it was cool to hear about their projects. Many of their projects has already been covered on my blog =)

Double Dee

Dragging home a (size) 54 DD on a early sunday morning, isn't something you would normally be very proud of. For most people it would be more than a "handful". But this sunday I had no shame what so ever, driving home with a nearly sixty year old in the back. Of course we are talking Barndoor, and Double Dee is the term for the double door model, with loading access on both sides. It has lived a rugged life as a lumberjacks shed in the forest, and some chainsaw parts and tools could be found in the van when cleaning it out. And I must admit the exitement of examining a new "object", is some of the funniest thing I do as a VW nut. What's there, and what's missing? Is this uasable, or is it lost to mother nature. I have not had the oportunity of going through the whole car yet, so I have an unopened gift waiting for me. The BD is a december 54 double door panel van (21E), with "accessory" rear corner windows, supposedly a norwegian car, used by a local butcher in the countryside. It's put to rest on the shelf for now =)

"Rollin" BD shell

A winters work on my BD has now ended. The van is almost completely disassembled, and the shell is rollin on some new axles. The summer has set in and it's zwitter time. The schedule for this summer is tight, so the BD will have a rest until the snow is falling again. At lest the shell, there are plenty of pieces to cuddle in the summer nights. Hopefully next winter the project will hit a whole different paste =)

Swedish barndoor magic

Found this cool thread on a swedish forum. How often have you not heard the complaining over the rusted out Barndoors, often missing the entire chassie. Here is a classic example, missing everything between the axles. Making a new chassie up front, and weld it in with both axles remaining in the car. And wholla, you have a solid roller. Maybe not THAT simple, but sure a clever way of solving the problem. One stop to wonder if this would be the easiest on my project as well. Just have to decide it first... Follow the project here: http://www.meanbugs.com/punbb/upload/viewtopic.php?id=14211

Barndoor - Tearing it down

I have continued some on tearing the BD down. It's a painstaking process, as everything is rusted beyond salvage. And removing the front beam proved to be no exception. Everything looked quite solid on the outside, but the inside was even worse than rusted. The metal has almost turned to coal. Not everything could be saved, but serious surgery is needed for the frame anyway. This car is by far the worse I have ever laid hands on. But we like a little challenge =)

German resurrection

In Barndoor terms there is nothing like a missing rear window. If you look at this 51 you understand why. I have followed this project on thesamba through the winter, and rumors has it that it will appear on the 2010 Volksworld show at the end of march. This BD has also had some serious work done to save it from the grave. A true living dead!! Updated picture..... WOW, this is mean lookin' =)

Project thread - 51 kombi

Swedish resurrection - Dahlströms Grävmaskiner 54 BD

I have followed this thread for a while, and I'm stunned by the progression on this Barndoor. When I first saw this BD I thought it would have some decent parts to give up for some other project. But it didn't take long for the swedish owner to tear it down and start "restoring" it. Rebuilding is closer to the truth I thnik. Take a look at this thread on thesamba forum: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=383778. Just starting to fiddle with my own BD project, I know a little about the hours and effort put into this project. Can't wait to see this one in the flesh... Wish the owner the best of luck on the progression =)

Vintage Barn of the week #12

You don't get them much lower than this? This one was saved from mother nature by one of norways best rescuers. Morten "Crazy" saw the potential and did something about it... Respect!

VW racing mid 60ies

The first shot showing two beetles battling at Marlboro Speedway in the 1965 12 hour race. The colored pictures show the same race in 1966. I (of course) fell in love with the split window in the b/w photo. In my head it also have wider rims in the rear than at the front. Both cars have wider than stock rims it seems? As cool as it gets... (pictures from http://www.thevintageracer.com/)

Waiting for some summer luvin'

This morning the thermometer was almost down to - 20 deg Celsius again. I'm so glad my dear VW's are inside and tucked away until the summer return. I received these cool photos in my mailbox when I got to work today, and they made me dream of summer straight away. My friend Morten Lund shot these from his car driving along the autobahn in Germany this summer. They capture very well the feeling of driving an old VW on one of europes busiest highways, crowded... With only a 36 Hp engine and stock transmission we cruised along at a plesant 90 km/h, with wind in our hair and no worries =)

From green to grey

I read somewhere that the "green stuff" on the Klassicfab pieces where no good. But I tried both mechanical removing and to remove it with thinner. I think the quality of the green primer seems more than good enough. I cleaned off everything and gave it a second coating of grey 2k primer. It's easier now, rather than paint it after it's welded in place.

Vintage Barn of the week #11

The older the better right? Well i found this picture on the net, but has a feeling it went through some digital customworks. Would be cool to have a 49 (not sure about "slammed on earlies").

Musclebus delivery

I got huge package the other day containing some green stuff from South-America. I made a deal with Chris at Musclebus a while ago, and got great service from him. Now I can start to fabricate more of my own pieces, using some of the new metal as mallets. The BD is parked in a cold storage for the time beeing, so working indoors with preparations is prefered =) There is still a long way to go...

Bad ass split

This must be some of the coolest to come out in a long time. I simply love the look and stance of this split window bug, especially the small details that make it "pop". Please take me to Bonneville =) The picture is borrowed from the march 2010 edition of Volksworld magazine