Club Kombi (part 3)
 
     
  Club Kombi - Installment 3 (2002-3)

At the start of 2003, things looked good. We set ourselves a target of getting to the Festival in paint. We worked hard on Wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons, fitting in as many sessions as our other commitments would allow.

The core group of workers had whittled back to Rob, Dave, Ken & Peter; with the occasional visit from a few others. John would drop in after his Wed evening classes to help out and offer advice. Richard continued to drop in to check on progress and disappear with a list of parts to source; Paul would drop in when he could to help with bogging.

One of the most useful things for us as a work crew were the lessons we learnt from each other and from our occasional helpers. Paul Roberts is truly a master of the rebuild and his skills with bog, a scraper and cheese grater were truly admirable. Ken would hang on to his every word and watch his every stroke in the hope that some of the skills would rub off.

We were all envious of Dave Furlong's ability to make holes in panels disappear. His patience and care meant that even the largest section would line up correctly. The care taken when grafting in the section above the LHS doors was evidenced in how well it fitted and how little bog it took to get the roof flush again.

 

Through the year the Club Kombi was joined by a couple more splits. Dave had brought in his to make room at home for his Bay window bus and Rob had picked up another resto candidate from Tailem Bend for a price which was almost too low to believe - the factory safaris alone would be worth several times what he paid for the whole thing.

The driver and passenger doors were taken by a volunteer (who???) who brought them back in primer, having removed all the dents. Every bit of work completed off site meant one less task to complete in our sessions.

Winter came and went. The only change to our routine was the need to wear more clothes - including a beanie to keep the head warm and the occasional stout for the nights it was to cold to drink our regular ales. One thing you really notice is the change in setting behaviour of the bog. In the warm weather we would be backing off on the hardener to stop it setting up while we wiped it on; in winter we would be waiting patiently for it to set so we could hit it with the Surform files.

As the Festival drew nearer we knew that Kombi in Dove Blue was out of the question - but at least we would be able to take it there in a single colour (even if that colour was primer). The front and rear doors were fitted up but all other parts were left off so they could be painted separately. Rob's powder coating racks seemed to quickly fill up with various Kombi parts as they were cleaned up, washed down and hung ready for paint. Then it was over to Rob to blow on the primer again.

 

Again one of the surprises was how many miscellaneous bits of Kombi disappeared and then reappeared having been sand blasted and then either powder coated or primed and finished in gloss black. I don't think any of us appreciated how many hours Rob was actually spending on these invisible parts. Whenever anyone looks under the Kombi or even in the cab they can credit Rob for all the "shiny bits" that would otherwise have been forgotten.

Festival morning the bus was loaded up behind Rob's LandCruiser and delivered to the Bay. We unloaded it as close to the Club Tents as possible to make sure it received plenty of attention. It sure was a pleasure to sit in the traffic behind the trailer: the Kombi had been backed on so when behind it you were face to face with what is arguably one of the best automotive noses ever built!

Our pride on getting it to the Festival in the new colour was tempered somewhat by how much all of the small flaws and bumps showed up in the sun - but that only served to motivate us for 2004....

 

 
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