1960 Split Window Kombi – "Walter"

[VRSenator065Participant Adelaide SAVR Senator LSx454 1960 Kombi (project) 1921 Nash Hot Rod (future project) View build HERE Member since: February 17, 2015 Posts: 5 777]

Hi mate, actually been away os for 4 weeks, and my daughter gets married this week end, so the Kombi is on the back burner.  Actually since I have to pay when i pick it up from the blasters i decided to not contact them before I went away so I didn’t have to cough up the cash

[NickParticipant Adelaide, SASeries 1 VX Commodore Wagon View build HERE Member since: April 23, 2015 Posts: 75]

Smart man! I hope you had a good holiday too.

I should probably create my new build thread now I actually have the car.. 

[VRSenator065Participant Adelaide SAVR Senator LSx454 1960 Kombi (project) 1921 Nash Hot Rod (future project) View build HERE Member since: February 17, 2015 Posts: 5 777]

Yea mate, throw up the thread    Awesome Holiday, any car heads out there, Cuba is the place to go

[VRSenator065Participant Adelaide SAVR Senator LSx454 1960 Kombi (project) 1921 Nash Hot Rod (future project) View build HERE Member since: February 17, 2015 Posts: 5 777]

Well since the Senator is causing me grief, i had one bright spark of light today.  Walter is actually (and finally) getting sand blasted as we speak, so all things being equal this week end I get to go down and pick it up, so at least I will have one of the toys back in the shed to play with

[VRSenator065Participant Adelaide SAVR Senator LSx454 1960 Kombi (project) 1921 Nash Hot Rod (future project) View build HERE Member since: February 17, 2015 Posts: 5 777]

Super excited to bring him home from the sand blasters today. Also delighted he is in a lot more sound condition than I was expecting. The roof is great, whats there is very sound. Now the fun begins

• This reply was modified 6 years, 11 months ago by  VRSenator065.

[OZ38Participant Jurien Bay W.A.VS & VY Sedan & Ute. Ecotec powered Hilux 4WD. View build HERE Member since: April 24, 2016 Posts: 59]

Just what you need….more work.

[VRSenator065Participant Adelaide SAVR Senator LSx454 1960 Kombi (project) 1921 Nash Hot Rod (future project) View build HERE Member since: February 17, 2015 Posts: 5 777]

Well hopefully its work on the splitty, then take the Senator for a blast to have some fun 😀.  Seriously really looking forward to getting stuck into this.  Going to be a challenge but thats half the fun.

[VRSenator065Participant Adelaide SAVR Senator LSx454 1960 Kombi (project) 1921 Nash Hot Rod (future project) View build HERE Member since: February 17, 2015 Posts: 5 777]

Had a fun day today, my Dad and uncle have played around with car restos in a low key way, mainly with old stuff and my Dad at one stage picked himself up a CIG spot welder at a swap meet. He hasn’t used it much but has leant it to me so I thought I would have a play. So a half a dozen YouTube videos later I seem to have got the basic hang of it. Should make some of the stuff a little easier than plug welding everything.

[NickVRParticipant AdelaideVR V8 Exec, VR SS, VF Redline Reserve View build HERE Member since: March 2, 2015 Posts: 264]

Next thing on the list to learn is welding. Don’t have much welding to do but it can come in handy. Would love to learn TIG welding. Did a bit of MIG, Braze and Fusion in high school (over 17 years ago now) and that was fun but haven’t done any since.

[VRSenator065Participant Adelaide SAVR Senator LSx454 1960 Kombi (project) 1921 Nash Hot Rod (future project) View build HERE Member since: February 17, 2015 Posts: 5 777]

Tig welding is seriously the coolest skill.  Most enjoyable part of the senator build for me was learning to tig and building my own exhaust.

[ImmortalityParticipant 97 HSV Senator 185i 02 VX L67 Calais View build HERE Member since: August 31, 2015 Posts: 535]

Geez, I haven’t seen one of those since my high school days….

Welding is definitely a good skill to have.  I’m good with a stick welder and ok with Mig but I never learnt Tig although it’s definitely on my list of things to acquire.  I recently added a 20ton workshop press and just picked up a 10ton hydraulic puller kit

[VRSenator065Participant Adelaide SAVR Senator LSx454 1960 Kombi (project) 1921 Nash Hot Rod (future project) View build HERE Member since: February 17, 2015 Posts: 5 777]

^toys toys toys!!  I first learnt to weld from my Granddad when I was a kid using oxy.  Tig is pretty much oxy welding with an electric torch.  It just makes such beautiful welds in thin material, super relaxing and peaceful when you are on a roll.  Mine doesn’t do aluminium and I don’t know how to walk the cup or anything like that so I am very much a novice.  But it with a good mig lets you do most things.  Next thing on my list is an aluminium spool gun for my mig…

• This reply was modified 6 years, 11 months ago by  VRSenator065.

[VRSenator065Participant Adelaide SAVR Senator LSx454 1960 Kombi (project) 1921 Nash Hot Rod (future project) View build HERE Member since: February 17, 2015 Posts: 5 777]

Well that’s a fun but quite challenging couple of days  :D   Had a crack at starting on the chassis repair.  Bit of back and forth to locate some mild steel sheet the correct thickness but got it in the end.  The thinner inside boxing is 1.2, looks to me like the main chassis thickness is 2mm.

Tackled the worse one first, the passenger side inner.  Learnt quite a bit along the way, made a bit of a rookie error I think in assuming how far the rust had gone and made the patch first.  Should I think have cut it out first to see the extent of the tin worm then  would have known how big it needed to be.  So ended up having to extend the repair section by about another 30mm, when I could have done it in a single piece, but live and learn.

Made a cardboard template of the repair section, once I was happy I transferred that to steel.  I couldn’t get my spot welder into the seam as its on the dolley so i used plug welds.  Yesterday was literally the first day i have ever tackled anything like this, one thing I am sure of is I didn’t have the mig settings right.  Today i took my time and also made up some test pieces and played around with the mig settings, the difference was like night and day.  Looked and sounded so much better.

The drivers side wasn’t in anywhere near as bad condition, and that one came up really good (for me anyway)  So now next job will be to do the outer main chassis rail sections.  I wanted to do the inners first so there was strength there when I cut out the main chassis in case the car folded in half.

I think that’s the first time in 56 years years its ever had anything nice done to it.  Feeling happy I have made a start anyway.  I am a rank novice but already like the learning process.  Few pics for posterity.

[Judge1 FrazerParticipant new zealand1983 VB LSA MG9 6060 6 speed View build HERE Member since: February 5, 2016 Posts: 775]

Nice Gary it’s a funny thing when you think you can not do something then do it

[VRSenator065Participant Adelaide SAVR Senator LSx454 1960 Kombi (project) 1921 Nash Hot Rod (future project) View build HERE Member since: February 17, 2015 Posts: 5 777]

Yea agree, its the unknown.  Have already worked out some better ways go do things.  Its working with thin material thats the challenge.  It burns through so easily.

[Anonymous View build HERE Member since: January 1, 1970 Posts: 0]

Do you have a flange and punch tool Gary?

 

[VRSenator065Participant Adelaide SAVR Senator LSx454 1960 Kombi (project) 1921 Nash Hot Rod (future project) View build HERE Member since: February 17, 2015 Posts: 5 777]

Anonymous wrote:

Do you have a flange and punch tool Gary?

Humm, well now that you mention it…  Yes I do have one I bought ages ago back at Bendigo swap meet.  I had forgotten I had it.  Just went looking and found it in the shed and had a play, thats going to make it 10x easier!!  Thanks for the tip/reminder.

[OZ38Participant Jurien Bay W.A.VS & VY Sedan & Ute. Ecotec powered Hilux 4WD. View build HERE Member since: April 24, 2016 Posts: 59]

Interesting work there, I have never seen or heard of that Flange & Punch Tool before.

[Anonymous View build HERE Member since: January 1, 1970 Posts: 0]

They’re awesome for this type of work, I do this all the time… think “if I had this I could do that a bit easier…. hang on I DO have one of those” then dig it out 

[cava454Moderator 93 VR BT1 View build HERE Member since: February 20, 2015 Posts: 2 390]

Sounds like a sex toy 

seriosuly. What’s it do. Lol

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