TheSamba.com :: View topic

Mon Mar 17, 2008 4:22 pm

My wife and I bought this bus for $400 off a hippie up in Plantersville, TX (home of the houston ren faire). She was a gypsy type who i guess lived in the bus for a while and owned a pet monkey. at whatever point she decided to abandon it, it had no engine in it and was parked on a dirt road with the slider door open. there was an inch of dust on everything and a layer of grime under that, broken peanut shells and roach turds everywhere, wasp nests in the pop top... she was a mess.

its been about 2 years now? i got a used engine off ebay and installed it. hunted down various missing and broken parts, thanks to bustedbus and busdepot, and most recently german supply. gutted the interior and scrubbed everything down. did my best with the laminate, its still not great but it'll do. installed a new poptop canvas. got the engine running and am doing what i can to dial it in and chase away exhaust leaks. bus leaks no oil so thats good. new windshield, brand new hankook RA08's. im doing most of the work myself, just by reading stuff on thesamba mostly. i have all the manuals and all that. it's been in the shop one time, for a broken exhaust stud. i fixed a second broken exhaust stud myself this weekend, so now im all jazzed she's at least running right now =)

i would really love to get it long trip worthy, do a week or two camping trip across america =D hit some music festivals, stay at state parks or whatever. We drove to Cape Cod last year, without the bus, and by god i need a do-over.

anyway, enjoy the pics! i know she aint pretty but im rollin her anyway. =P this bus is a really rare sight in houston, tx =D

Mon Mar 17, 2008 5:18 pm

Looks like you need a blue air lever :)

But what you really need to fix is that hot air leak at your alternator. Besides the impossible-to-find oval cover, you really need the ring that seals the big round hole the alt occupies.

Tue Mar 18, 2008 7:24 am

Thanks Karl, inquiring about the parts now... =)

Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:24 am

Looks good, looks like my 76! That paint will clean up with some meguiar's paint cleaner, just takes a little time to go over everything.

Interesting tip about the alt tin, I'll have to check when I get home.

-Chris

Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:31 am

What did it say on the slider? "My...."

p.s. the mudflaps are super cool

Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:46 am

Good work!

Which version or model is your new canvas top? Mine is in good shaper but the PO installed it a bit tight and screwed through the canvas rather than the vinyl rail.

Tue Mar 18, 2008 2:38 pm

Malokin Martin wrote: What did it say on the slider? "My...."

p.s. the mudflaps are super cool
Mind my noobiness, but weren't those stock? My bus still has its set and so does my friend. (Both of us have 77 westies)

Wed Mar 26, 2008 7:42 am

thanks all for the kind words =D yeah, i dont think it looks all that bad. Considering painting the rims white, but i dont want to make a clean spot if you know what i mean. =D interior is in good shape anyway.

i think the canvas top we got new from busdepot, tho now i cant remember which one it is. knowing us, its probably the cheapest one =P i installed it by myself in about 3 hours, didnt remove the fiberglass top. just a few hours and a staplegun. altho i also installed it a bit tight and screwed through the canvas rather than the vinyl strip- it would have been too loose otherwise i think. we'll see how long it lasts.

the paint on the side of the bus said 'Mud Fairies Only'- the girl i bought from... well.. here; http://www.mudfaerywood.com/

getting ready for its first camping trip this weekend! pics soon to follow...

Wed Mar 26, 2008 7:55 am

Karl wrote: Looks like you need a blue air lever :)

But what you really need to fix is that hot air leak at your alternator. Besides the impossible-to-find oval cover, you really need the ring that seals the big round hole the alt occupies.

impossible to find oval cover? are they really that hard to find? i see them frequently at shows for cheap.

Wed Mar 26, 2008 8:50 am

I'll be the first to say, your bus doesn't look too crusty at all. Would be a nice driver up this way.

crxgames wrote: but weren't those stock?

stock as in a genuine VW product? Yes.

stock as in came standard on every bus? No.

hazetguy wrote: impossible to find oval cover? are they really that hard to find? i see them frequently at shows for cheap.

I can never find them either. And when I do, the mounting tabs or little handle are missing or are otherwise chewed up from falling into the belt/fan or something.

Wed Mar 26, 2008 9:51 am

you think your '76 was crusty. That paint should clean up real well. I would say the previous owner was the crusty one. Take a look at the pics of our bus when we picked it up in Gilroy, California. I was nuts to drive from Oklahom to California for that heep of junk. Take a look at my gallery to see how far it has come. Keep the '76 westys alive!

Funny thing is that this bus didn't have an engine in it either, it took me about 2 years to get it running. Thanks to all the suppliers you mentioned above, but mostly some help for a few samba members in OKC.

Wed Mar 26, 2008 11:14 am

Shoot, looks pretty good at this point.

Lose the white carpet, it will be stained and dirty in no time. Replace with the high-end green plastic astro turf type green fake grass carpet at Home Depot. It is cheap, hides dirt real well and when the kids drop a can of coke you can sop it up and use harsh cleaners on it when necessary.

Find a Vanagon at the local Pick A Part and remove the aluminum sliding door sill. Cut it down to fit and you have a real nice cover to hide the edge of the carpet at the sliding door.

Wed Mar 26, 2008 11:24 am

Good find. Although I don't think that bus looks too bad. :) 8)

Thu Mar 27, 2008 12:54 pm

Wow! From the sounds of it, I hope you wore dust masks as you were cleaning it out. Did you find any thing else interesting while cleaning?

Fri Mar 28, 2008 12:36 am

I like the wood handles on the cabinets... :wink:
You're right regalasr, the white carpet could be stained and dirty in no time but on the other hand, they give a comfy and period hippy look to that bus which can be appreciated. I sort of like it, even though I wouldn't put it in my bus : we got redland here...

Pierre

Fri Mar 28, 2008 7:03 am

yeah, the white carpet is totally disposable, i knew that when i put it in. it was the best remnant i could find at the time. i woulda gone with something short pile and green... when this one is ready to come out, thats what i'll do. and yeah i need to put a threshold in.

yesterday i installed the stereo, finally... what a new experience having tunes in that thing! there were speakers built in to the overhead compartment in the back, and i must say they are pretty darn good sounding speakers. i had to replace the dash speaker, it was like ash when i pulled it out cause it wasnt working- just completely fell apart at the slightest touch.

also went to put propane in the tank- the guy hit a vent button and sprayed some propane out! i had no idea there was anything in there. he tried to fill up but it only took a gallon lol- he didnt bother to charge me anything. =D

jmstu76- our busses look like twins lol- that reminds me so much of when we got ours, we used a 2 wheel tow dolly, put the best wheels on the back so we could roll it home. im surprised we made it, looking back, the tires on the bus were rotted pretty bad. course i didnt have nearly as far to go as you! and yeah, took me a long time too to finally get it running. all that work with no play can sometimes make it discouraging.

leaving to go camping today after work!! first bus trip ever. pics to come!

Fri Mar 28, 2008 12:20 pm

1976, a variation apon a theme... :wink:

Fri Mar 28, 2008 3:32 pm

Wow, this one is beautiful, makes me want to paint my '78 yellow !! =D>

Fri Apr 04, 2008 7:37 pm

welp, we made it camping. finally! been a long time coming. the bus ran pretty good- and actually seems to be running even better after the trip. that was its longest journey so far- 100mi each way. how brave of my wife to suggest such a trip- i would have been happy with the closest state park, which is only about 15 mi from here... =)

we had one little snag midway through- on saturday, i decided to make a run for ice and smokes- the nearest store was about 7 miles away. made it to the store ok, and on the way back, right as i pulled back into the state park, it sounded like i was dragging a bunch of tin cans behind me. i was like, what the hell is that noise? i pulled over and opened the engine compartment, and saw the fan belt wobbling like crazy, as if the fan were bent or something. definite scraping noise every revolution. i limped back to our campsite and told my wife we might be leaving soon via tow truck, but to give me a minute to see if i could figure it out. i took the mesh screen off and rotated the engine using the center nut, noticed the fan definitely was scraping. then i noticed some metal shavings around the center nut. THEN i noticed that there was a lot of play in the three fan bolts! they were very loose, thats one area i have never touched. i tightened em down, rotated a few times just to see if it was all good again, which it was... fired her up and the problem was gone. time to celebrate with a beer and another night camping!

this was my first time bus camping- it can be a little cramped with 2 adults and 2 kids. i'd imagine its a dream with just one or two people. propane worked great, sink worked great. fridge was not quite ready yet. weather was perfect, just started to drizzle as we were leaving.

yeah, we are a mess. not pretty, im sorry. =D the campsite was one of the kinds with a sectioned off driveway, which kindof blocked the flow of entry to the bus. i didnt bother to put up my awning, no room, no point, as we would rather sit by the fire than in the driveway by the bus. we were lucky, however, most of the other campsites had driveways at a pretty steep angle, which would have made sleeping in the bus impossible. at least ours was level.

the girls got the downstairs bunk, they loved it;

and this was a handy addition for camping in houston;

Fri Apr 04, 2008 9:18 pm

Great pics. You make me jealous, I can't wait to go camping.