Melburg Luft

You're right Nug, it's been too long once again to update this thread. First up congrats to Maya Kent who won the golden ticket to the USA VW Tour 2014. Itinerary has changed with the Classic moving two weeks back but we rolled with it and decided to head over early for the Sacramento Bugorama (and some time in San Fran), then off to Sin City for some R&R before back to LA for Pomona, VW shops galore, then some open houses, OCTO and another vw show on the final sunday that has replaced the Classic….unfortunately can't hang around another two weeks for that too.

So anyway, fast forward a few months of solid work and the samba is pretty much done finally.

Ok, back to the DC….and back to the rhinoplasty….



Late bay indicator holes gone and new vent trim mocked up to ensure aperture was the right size/shape


Belly pans (sides only) will help to provide some more torsional rigidity for the DC


Initially we were going to run with splitty rear corners and modify them to fit since no bay DC panels were available repro….but in the end found a pair of NOS rear corners in the UK that we had shipped over instead


Similarly, no complete side panels are available so we used an early bay section and then tabbed the rest to suit….also decided to delete the side vents for a cleaner side (luft will be ducted from underneath, more about that later)


New rear tubs


A lot of subtle mods on this DC that will mostly go missed (which is alway the aim) include things like reversing and deleting a lot external seams to keep the sides super smooth

That samba come up a treat

As usual..

Very tidy work Al...

Thanks again for the shop tour of current builds Al appreciate mate

Always good to have visitors Mozzie! Welcome any time

Long time since last update, but here are some more pics:

Klassic Fab early bay front floor going in...


NOS rear corners from the UK:


More side panel fabrication:



Rear tubs:



Bay window engine access hatch opening (will have drain holes for wasser ingress in the seal aperture):

Tray will be moulded around the opening to look factory

New jacking points and outriggers


Belly pans for both sides will help to stiffen the chassis to a degree given the torque this engine will put out and how hard the owner will want to push it into corners!



Donor chassis front section had to be sourced to replace the poorly repaired and rusty original section




Red9Design front end and brakes will provide the front suspension and braking duties



Hydraulic clutch conversion



Ride height will change a little but this gives you a rough idea


New rear pillars


Tight squeeze but we managed to slip it in


Will be retaining factory heater system, luft box, luft con etc etc to make life easier with the Porsche engine - learning from experience, the more modifications you make, the more teething problems you have!


17in Fuchs with no dish just didn't look right on the rear

Our customer requested an electric sliding sunroof, Webasto was the largest available so in one went!



Factory style porsche mounts will help support the motor onto the boxed chassis rails

Right side scalloped for engine clearance


Rear valance required some obvious trimming!






Rear tub closing plates


Fast forward a little bit and this is a sneak peek at the wheels the DC will be running. You may love them or hate them, but gotta go out on a limb every now and then to be different. Polished/detailed Fuchs are always a good combo, but they are like belly buttons nowadays

Love it Al!

Looking good Al,

Too late to narrow and tub the rear for more wheel clearance..?

Love your work Al

Tonz Magonz wrote:Looking good Al,

Too late to narrow and tub the rear for more wheel clearance..?

Cheers guys, sorry tonz, the time for tubbing and narrowing on this one has well and truly passed

Few more pics and details….

Since we deleted the vents from the sides, obviously there had to be an alternative way of venting luft into the engine bay…..hence the floor vents (scoops will be fabricated to help duct luft into the cavity…..and the engine lid will be dimple died behind the number plate for more luft flow with the Porsche fan sitting right behind it)..



The floor section (which had some rust in it previously) was replaced first


Then the surround was fabricated to tidy up the edges of the cavity



New tubs were blasted and epoxy primed


To keep the sides straight and maintain the front to back alignment of panels, the tubs had to be modified so the sides didn't get pulled in

Was nice to see the end of this bus last week after a very long resto

Wow, better than new. Perfection. Excellent job, would love to be the lucky owner of that.

That Samba is amazing! I'd expect nothing less from your crew Al

It's scary clean. "Don't touch it!!" "You're too close, step back 2 steps."
Great work!

All it needs now is stone chips (road trophies)

lovely work Al, as always, hope the owner drives the shit outta it...

Cheers guys re. the samba….glad to get that one done.

Back onto the DC - been a lot of bodywork going on over recent months….now down to fine tuning stage before paint but before that happens its time to basically mock up everything on the bus to make sure any holes that need to be drilled are drilled, and any welding/brackets that may be required are sorted before the engine and gearbox are sent off for rebuild.

Got some second hand tyres to recheck wheel clearance and finalise ride height


Subtle details like deleting the seams from the front bumper (originally three pieces), as well as the rear bumper bolts will help to maintain the smooth overall look of the DC




Rear seat base was rusty so needed some repair…non factory spec of the profile wasn't a concern giving the custom treatment the rest of the car is getting!




On we go...

Amazeballs!! This thing gets me all so excited....

Rad as usual Albert!