Vannin' Community and Forums Forums Imports How to. School project VW in Alaska, gull wing help needed

Got this email yesterday:

So my students and I ran across your webpage when we were looking for ideas for our shop project. We are rebuilding a 1971 VW van, but making it very custom. We are currently working on the side sliding door which we intend to open up like the Stardreamer, but we are having trouble clearing the rain gutter. In your pictures it looks like the door hinges below the rain gutter. Could you offer some advice about our project and maybe some closer pics of your hinge system. Thank you much for your time. Check out the blog if you like: http://www.alaskabug.blogspot.com

Drew
Bristol Bay Borough School District Naknek, AK

Please help Drew out if you can. I asked him to signup on the forum here. In the meantime i will forward any replies. The work the high schools are doing is amazing. One school came close to getting into the top 8 Ridler contenders in Detroit with an amazing chopped 50's car. There is a school in Ohio building a radical van too. Hope to have some pictures of that soon.

Doesn't everyone want their van to be like StarDreamer? Good job D!

That is so cool. Teaching kids how to work & figure out how things work & doing it on a van. Once they finish with the VW for practice maybe they will move on to a Chevy

Doug, he may have the parts availible already..he could use the rear door hinges like Monte did with Heartbreaker???

Does Drew know about West Coast Metric or Wolfsburg West? These places has oodles of replacement parts for bugs and buses.

www.westcoastmetric.com

www.wolfsburgwest.com

So who said kids where just interested in tuners and big wheels.......

Very cool project.....

........Wookee

Kids like to stretch out at the Drive ins, hard to do in tuners

I guess we should advise them that the Gull on Stardreamer is FG and hinged from the top. Maybe Dave can shoot some close ups and forward them on





This is all I have

I don't have any pics of the van you mentioned but this style of hinge would do the trick



These are off a Bedford van, probably prove difficult to get over there, but the same style of hinge is used on alot of comercial trucks so hit up the truck wreakers

Cheers Reece

Just turn piano hinge inside out .

Those are very close to the correct hinges...

I woner if you could use the hinge off of a late 60s VW van engine cover. Those opened up on the back.

If it were me, I would swap out the drivetrain. Get a 78-79 bus axle and swap in a TDI diesel motor out of a mid 90s Jetta. The TDI bolts up and would give you around 30 MPG in that bus, but getting the parts in AK would be a pain. I grew up in Anchorage so I am aware that there probably aren't many Jettas in boneyards up there.

Alternatively you could drop in a diesel from another VW 80s product and install a turbo. Cheaper, easier, and there are places that sell kits.

Good luck!

The factory back hatch opens just like you want (clears drip rail and all) I'd get another set just like that. Although you'd need some assistance struts, and a good welder....

Will be a KOOL Bus, there is a Chopped Mid engine smallblock powered Bus, not far from here.
Google, 1962 Drag Style bus.

Hmm. I wonder which school?

What happend to the Radical?

I did a gullwing slider on the VW limo van, regular piano hinge from Lowe's. The good thing about the VW slider is that it's extremely light compared to other van slider doors. You would never believe that the piano hinge would hold up a steel door, but does very well. You can see in this pic that the door is being held up with only one strut, but I'd recommend using 2. The piano hinge needs to be tack welded under the rain gutter. I filled each screw hole with weld and smoothed it off afterward.

What ever happened with that van Boot?

Good question!