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Fri Nov 21, 2008 8:41 am

A question that I think everybody deals with who is doing an original restauration:
What literature are you using to research what part is original to your bus and what is not, which mirror goes on the bus, what trim to use, what handle is correct for your year, standard or deluxe, etc.
As you know, the devil is in the detail.
I am relatively new to the bus restauration and own a 6/63 Samba and am trying to do a 100% original restauration.
I of course have the Bentley manual for all the generic stuff and bought the "original VW Bus" by Laurence Meredith. Here I get a lot of info but it is by far not detailed enough. So, my question would be: What else is out there to help me identifying the parts that went originally on the bus?
Your expert advise is much appreciated.

Fri Nov 21, 2008 9:06 am

This book was written for you

http://www.amazon.com/Original-Vw-Bus-Laurence-Meredith/dp/1870979842

No idea why the price go so high, I got mine for about $50.

Search around. :wink:

Fri Nov 21, 2008 5:38 pm

I got that already and am looking for more detailed literature.

Fri Nov 21, 2008 6:31 pm

One book I would certainly recommend is
"VW Transporter and Microbus, specification Guide 1950-1967"
By David Eccles.
It runs about $30. and well worth it.
Also for a pretty good list of type 2 books (at least to sort through)
go to the archives section on this site and check out the
type 2 list of books.

Mon Nov 24, 2008 3:19 pm

restoration.

Mon Nov 24, 2008 4:24 pm

I like the Parts List. A selection of different editions is nice. I recently have been perusing the supercessions pages...
Really, the Parts List is very nice. good reading. There are so many answers right in there. and the kind folks at OACDP host it for your use.
hm, maybe they don't anymore... bummer... link doesn't seem to work.
Also the workshop manuals. (Bentley)
Owners manuals are nice too... there is a large variety of manual on this site. Often they use pictures from earlier manual, so not everything is correct.
You should take what anyone says with a grain of salt. Just because a book is published doesn't mean the proofreading is prefect.

Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:23 pm

Clara wrote:
Really, the Parts List is very nice. good reading. There are so many answers right in there. and the kind folks at OACDP host it for your use.
hm, maybe they don't anymore... bummer... link doesn't seem to work.

I've noticed that this link doesn't work any more as well. Does anyone know what's up? Is there another place to access the parts list?

Mon Nov 24, 2008 8:49 pm

clausfb wrote: A question that I think everybody deals with who is doing an original restauration:
What literature are you using to research what part is original to your bus and what is not, which mirror goes on the bus, what trim to use, what handle is correct for your year, standard or deluxe, etc.
As you know, the devil is in the detail.
I am relatively new to the bus restauration and own a 6/63 Samba and am trying to do a 100% original restauration.
I of course have the Bentley manual for all the generic stuff and bought the "original VW Bus" by Laurence Meredith. Here I get a lot of info but it is by far not detailed enough. So, my question would be: What else is out there to help me identifying the parts that went originally on the bus?
Your expert advise is much appreciated.

I would suggest "VW Progressive Refinements" which shows you month/year changes, description and part numbers. I also second that David Eccles "Transporter Specification Guide" is a good book to have handy for various information.

Another valuable resource in my opinion is here on The Samba. Not only the technical and archive information which you can view diagrams, specs, and info but spending patient time searching the forums will produce quite a bit of hard to find information you won't find in books.

Thankfully in the forums, there are many enthusiasts who have shared and documented knowledge and research of period correct details.