There is hope..

What is it about auto-painters? After thinking for three months Gullers paint guy finally took the first step and stripped it to bare metal. I guess we´ll might be flying to Hannover in this baby after all?

Salvation 2

I got all the dirt and sadness out of "Der schweizerische Agent". I lowered her a bit and added some nice parts. 1968 personal steering wheel, NOS rear light clusters, Genuine red US lenses (different from the repro ones), some good bumpers, Porsche 914 Pedrini wheels, new fuel system and more. She is already an "L" model which means right side mirror, pop-outs, red interior, two back up lights. She will be for sale soon.

Next victim!

Michaels Swiss Cheese is blasted. I have promised him to weld in some new panels during the winter. I actually look forward to get some welding burns in my shorts again..

What the fuck?

Beutler type 2 - I want it!

Salvation

I got a new little project. I bought this squareback from my old friend Frank. It sat unloved beside his house and had lost its former glory. The car itself is extremely solid, but at some time the engine was removed and some steering parts, lights and so on. It also got some patina, that I personally don´t care for. It will be up for sale sooner or later so if you wan´t the patina let me know before I have it repainted. The car is originally from Switzerland and has never seen salt. Those are original Revieras, but sadly they weré promised to someone else.They would suit this car perfectly.

I´m back!

Been a long time since I posted. I decided it was time to gather some exiting pictures and words again. The outside structure of the shop is almost done ready for winter and i´ve returned from Spa. Tell me if you´ll still be looking our if you´ve given up on life-and-cars-of-gustavt.blogspot.com?

Michaels swiss cheese

Michael can´t find any more detailing to do on the pan of his 57 oval. He has done a really great job and now its time to tackle the body. As you can see we have some work to do. But I can´t believe that this car was discarded as scrap after being used as a donorcar. We found all the correct parts again and bought a few panels.

I think this car will rock!

Danish Busmeet #3

I finally took part in the annual danish busmeet. With 36 hardcore busfans you don´t need a lot of gimmicks to have a good time. From Tonny´s old barndoor to a T3/T25 van all years of aircooled busses was present. I joined 4 other busses for the long drive. All except mine were 67´s. I fell in love with the Velvet green "Freedom Camper" of Søren and Susanne.

Pentecust fun

Pentecust was blessed with the best weather ever. We finally got Gullers Bus ready for paint. Gullers good friend Michael helped him align the doors and generally do the final finishing. On friday we loaded the bus onto the trailer and headed for the painter. Just before the paintshop we ran into our good freind Finn who has this cool two tone bus. He turned around and followed us to check Gullers bus out in detail.
On sunday we got the second wall of the shop covered with wood. I hope to be finished for the return of Gullers bus. Nothing like assembling a clean car in a clean workshop.

Amusement park-ing

A business trip to Copenhagen delivered a nice surprise: About 100 Porsches in the world known Tivoli amusement park. Jesper Danborn and his friend Peter was the hosts of this event and took great care of us. Oh how I would have loved to leave in that topless one..

Chain of events...

My friend Norbert send me this picture he found somewhere on the internet. What is really interesting is who´s in the background. In the first car its me and Guller, next car is Henrik (that we brought for the first time last year) and a couple of guys he brought along in his 1960 ghia. The third car is Jan and Michael that we invited this year. If you want the scene to evolve you should bring in new blood every year. Don´t be afraid to talk to people that may need a little help. Next year they will be cruisin to Hannover with you having endless amounts of fun.

I quit...

You may have noticed my absence from the forums, the blog, and the vw meetings in general. I´ve lost interest and decided to pursue a parttime career as a showdancer. I´ve decided to keep the red car as it will still look good on me. The others I no longer care for and they are for sale. I might be back here once in a while with dancing tips and fabolous fashion statements. Stay tuned.

The dream is alive!

Sadly it is in another mans garage!
http://thebusbarn.skynetblogs.be

Winters gone..

Winter is over!The days are longer and your insurance is on again! So a few rainy days and the salt is gone from the roads. Before you know it you are cruising to a friends house to see if he is in front of the garage washing his ride. The summer is magic..

New workshop • Walls 3

A bit longer in the wall process now. Snow has made me stop working, so maybe there is a few days before the next update. Next week i think I´ll go get my fastback from Johns new storage unit. Again thanks a lot John. I owe you one..

Garage journal

I am looking through the web for cool garages. This link popped up.. www.garagejournal.com/ man- those americans build big!

My name is Gustav and I am addicted to yellow...

I have a weird attraction to yellow lights. I love watching old french movies, where all the european cars are fitted with yellow lights. Today I fitted 3 yellow bulbs on my panelvan. Its really hard to get on film but in real life these are really yellow. I would really like a set of h4 lights for my fastback with yellow glass in them. Or the special lenses you put in front of the light fixtures. I´m also still searching for the last 4" lucas yellow fog lamp for the ghia..

New workshop • Walls 2

I took a couple of days in the bitter cold with the help of the usual suspects. I think it is starting to take shape. Looking forward to write about cars once again.

Now there is a "big window" I want!

Recently this car surfaced on the samba. Oh - another battered big window car.. Look closer. Everything is wrong with this car. The squared-off edges of the decklid and bonnet, the brake light and license plate pressings, the weld seams at the doors. Leaf springs? Front engine? This is believed to be a pre KDF car. Named the vw38 or vw 39. It was found in Lithuania sitting on a front engined Volga Chassis with a front screen of a russian Zaz car cut into it. To put the model into a historic view, the vw38 model is the car Hitler drove to the laying of the cornerstone of Volkswagenwerk. That means it was probably build in mr. Porsches garage in Stuttgart.

New workshop • Walls 1

Ive started building the walls, making holes for windows and such. Its a long way round, but as you stand, working in the dark, you imagine how comfortable the garage meetings of next winter will be. Slowly you start thinking about where to hang what and so on.

New workshop • The roof 2

This weekend was spent laying out the steel profiles on the roof. I borrowed a "Hilti-Gun" which is kind of a scary, yet very effective tool. It is just like a regular gun - you put explosives in a champer, a projectile at the end of the barrel, pull the trigger an BAM! you shot an extremely hardened nail right through the I-beam. On one picture you can see the new windows and all the gear I used when climbing the roof.

Hello fasty..

Just before new year I had to move the fasty from one storage building to another. She fired right up and looked as good as ever. Thank you so much John for letting me use your premises another winter.

New workshop • The roof 1

Today the roofprofiles arrived. 12.250 meters of strength. 865 kilos of shelter from the rain. The guy with the crane had a really hard job getting the supersize truck close enough to lift the package. When we finally got the job done I invited him in for a cup of coffee. As we waited for the coffee to steam off he told me that he had a 25 hp motor standing in his garage. It was pulled from his parents barndoor bus in 1963. He said that he would love to part with it if it went to a good home. I told him "Thats exactly what i an building".

The coolest project I ever saw!

Every summer I go to the local weekly vintage car meet and an old IFA is one of the regulars. What´s a IFA I hear you say. You know Audi? - before it was called audi it was called Auto union. The four rings symbolize four different brands getting merged: Horch, Audi, DKW and Wanderer. The DKW was, as many other western cars of the period, copied on the other side of the Iron curtain. In DDR the car was called IFA. I just stumbled upon this project on a blog. This car will be awesome! Take your time and try to envision what this guy is doing. A distant cousin placed on a type 1 pan. Porsche headlights are a straight swap, wide-5 wheels will look right. I will follow this project closely.

derluftboxers.skynetblogs.be

Contractors van

Today my friend Guller and I got the iron crosses welded in the steel structure and got the special concrete at the bottom of the pillars layed. Roof will be delivered from France next week. I tried to get a good shot of our work but the contractors van kept getting in the way.

Ready for paint

Having a spanner in your hand is a great thing. The sense of accomplishment - the feeling of being able to help your self. But have you ever taken time to appreciate the "mates", "buddies" you share your shop with? Or the effect they have on your progress? My friend Lars have been kind enough to lend part of his workshop to long time compadre and beetleowner Ole who in return has rubbed some of his enthusiasm on to Lars. The result is that Lars has got the 356 ready for paint and is currently looking at swatches and websites for inspiration. And how about those wheels? A few months back Lars has lost his fire. I now the feeling and if you ever wonder where i get my energy from it is indeed from friends with similar interests. Maybe they need a helping hand or your oppinion and suddenly you feel the urge to fix up a car again. Keep your friends happy.

Wanted...

I am looking for one of these batches.