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Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:12 pm

First, let me give you a bit of background. Back in the mid 80’s I had a 70 Westy with which I had a love/hate relationship. I drove that baby from San Diego to Crescent City, CA and many points in between. The problem started when I fell asleep at the wheel and ended up putting her on both the passenger and the driver’s side (without going over the top), grinding both sides down pretty good. I still drove her for another six months or so before she over heated and seized. It just didn’t seem worth it to fix her so I let her go.

Now, 20 years later, my wife mentioned that it would be neat to have another Westy to take camping. We decided to get one as a project and the search was on. I was getting nowhere until I found this site and posted a WTB. The next day I got a call from JC at Bug Brothers who had two. I went, looked, and found one that fit my criteria (solid body and top under $1000). I made a deal and waited for a week for JC to put a tie rod on it so it would steer, and to give him time to go though checking for treasures. He went the extra mile for me and went ahead and pulled a door handle to make a key so I could unlock the steering. This was the longest week I have had in a while. I may be 53, but I have been like a kid waiting for CHRISTmas.

Well, I brought her home today and took a few pictures so that I would remember where this project started from. She is a 69 that has spent the last 20 years or so sitting in the mountains near Mineral King, CA. You would think that this environment would have left her rotted to the ground but with the exception of the battery tray (big surprise there), there seems to be nothing but some surface rust. Here are some pictures of my new baby.

I think the green paint is JASCO rust inhibitor. There is some on the front floors too.

The underside is pretty clean. It will need to be done with some POR 15, but there is no rot.

The interior cabinetry is in fair shape.

However, as you can see the upholstery is toast. The canvas is also gone.

In addition, She is full of rat nests and rat droppings.

The dash has a few cracks but is complete.

Now to the body…She is very much rust free but she is a bit banged up. The left rear corner is the worst.

With a little in the front right too. As well as the nose (you can see that in the second picture).

If you know anything about Mineral King, you know that it is famous for auto eating Marmots. I have no doubt that the one who made the engine compartment home for all those years ate most of the insulation off the wiring too.

I find it amazing that a bus can sit for 22 years…

Yet still be this wet under the engine.
[img http://inlinethumb52.webshots.com/21619/2108590250095288944S600x600Q85.jpg[/img]
The bus was very complete. It had both the cots and the worthless stock jack. The only things missing seem to be the turn signal switch, side mirrors, and the carb. We also discovered that the engine does turn over (though having it in gear did make it hard to push). :oops:
Well that’s it for now.

Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:28 pm

Mountain Minstrel wrote: I may be 53, but I have been like a kid waiting for CHRISTmas.
Dude, ask jeebus if he will help you save that bus from eternal damnation....that pic of the engine clearly shows that SATAN has been there... :shock:

Glad to see you saved an old bay!

the baby jeebus weeps when an old bay dies...;)

Have fun making her run again...and the memories...priceless!

Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:29 pm

Congrats on the new bus. If you want to see what mice and rats do under a headliner check out my thread http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=375088 Wear a respirator when cleaning up... rodent urine can contain infectious organisms - hantavirus being the more infamous.

Look forward to seeing your progress.[/url]

Sat Sep 12, 2009 11:37 pm

patayres wrote: Congrats on the new bus. If you want to see what mice and rats do under a headliner check out my thread http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=375088 Wear a respirator when cleaning up... rodent urine can contain infectious organisms - hantavirus being the more infamous.

Look forward to seeing your progress.[/url]

I am sure that I will get the chance to see this first hand in the near future. My wife and I cleaned out most of the ummm stuff today. Lots of nests made with fiberglass insulation so I am sure that it will be bad behind all the panels. And yes, we both wore respirators, for exactly the reason you stated.

Sun Sep 13, 2009 12:29 am

Dude, in Cali can you save that black plate?

it clearly states; YQG which = Why Question God? and 811 which =
one number shy off 911...

It's a SIGN! :shock:

Sun Sep 13, 2009 1:19 am

Glad to see another one "saved". Looks like a nice score concerning the body and undercarriage, but WOW :shock: The interior and engine bay would of scared most (i.e. those with less ambition) people away.

Watching your project progress will be interesting. Bet you'll have it in decent shape in no time.

I hear Patayres has some spare dogfood he could give ya :D

Congrats on the bus!

Sun Sep 13, 2009 7:58 am

:lol: :lol:
Yeah a good pound or more.

Sun Sep 13, 2009 9:25 am

patayres wrote: Congrats on the new bus. If you want to see what mice and rats do under a headliner check out my thread http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=375088 Wear a respirator when cleaning up... rodent urine can contain infectious organisms - hantavirus being the more infamous.

Look forward to seeing your progress.[/url]

+1

Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:20 pm

oooh...anyone spoken for the silverware? :P

You are starting out with a solid bus. Keep us updated on the progress!

Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:43 pm

Bradgt74 wrote: oooh...anyone spoken for the silverware? :P

You are starting out with a solid bus. Keep us updated on the progress!

For some strange reason my wife didn't want to keep the silverware :lol: It, and about 10 more place settings went into the trash.

I have everything but the paneling out of it now but have been too busy to get much else done. I will post pics when I have it all cleaned out.

Fri Oct 02, 2009 7:21 pm

Nice find! Get some masks and haul it to the car wash. Use their vaccums to suck up the turds instead of having it around your house.

Take lots of pics and keep us posted.

Sat Oct 03, 2009 7:54 am

Nice score. Funny, I just got done cleanin all the caca from my 72 bay that was sittin for 8 years before I got it. I was amazes at how much crap was in there!! You have a solid start. Good Luck!

Sat Oct 03, 2009 9:09 am

If some of you didn't know this, as we do in Northern NM, mix up a spray bottle with half water and half white vinegar and spray the shite out of the shite... :lol: It neutralizes the hantavirus. I do it on every VW I have ever gotten here, and I wear a aspirator, not just a paper mask, gloves, long sleeve shirt taped at the wrist, goggles, and tape my paints at the waist. Yeah it can get hot, but it is better then dying from hantavirus. And then lastly take a long hot shower when I am done.

I have to say also, that engine compartment is the worst I have ever seen......my skin is crawling. :shock: :lol:

Lastly, glad to hear you getting after it........kudos!

Sat Oct 03, 2009 12:46 pm

peaceful warrior wrote:
I have to say also, that engine compartment is the worst I have ever seen......my skin is crawling. :shock: :lol:

Lastly, glad to hear you getting after it........kudos!

Actually the engine compartment was not as bad as it looks. It was all sticks and leaves. That was where the marmots built a nest and marmots keep a pretty clean house.

Sat Oct 10, 2009 6:24 pm

I finally got a chance to finish stripping the interior of the bus today. I had already pulled all the cabinets and sears so all I had to do today was to pull the paneling off and get it all vacuumed out. Now I know how much rust I really have to deal with.
I noticed that there was some previously repaired damage to the passenger door. It looks as though it was a well done repair.

The passenger side floor.

The seat stands have almost no rust—this is all dirt.

The driver’s side floor.

Main floor.

Close-ups of main floor.

Spare tire hole—the drain may be clogged on this.

Here is the only place that is actually rusted through.

I will need to pull that panel off the driver’s rear anyway to deal with the rust in the air intake. Does anyone make a replacement panel for that spot?

Overall, not too bad—the only place that needs to be replaced is pop-riveted on. I am a happy camper.
While I had the shop-vac out I decided to vacuum out the Marmot nest above the driver’s side axle. An hour and a half later I have cleared out a 16 gallon shop-vac’s worth of twigs and leaves that covered the entire top of the transaxle.

The next job will be to blow out the heating ducts and then wash the inside. After that, I should finally be able to work on her without the respirator.

Sat Oct 17, 2009 3:48 pm

Ok, I just spent another day cleaning the bus. She is looking much better, but still smells bad. What can I do to get rid of the stink :-& :-k ](*,)

Sat Oct 17, 2009 4:02 pm

Chlorine scrub down, with a simple green (un diluted) follow up! I just used straight simple green and a brush in mine most of the smell is gone, smells like a forest though .

Sat Oct 17, 2009 5:15 pm

I left mine out to air out for 3 days soap water scrub and another day to air out and it smells good now.

Sun Oct 18, 2009 9:04 pm

Hey Man, My hat is off to your fortitude. I don`t think you are ever gonna get the stink off of the wood pieces. I have tried in the past. Iff you dont like the results I have some Westy furniture That my be better off than that shitty stuff. I am just up the hill in SLO. PM me if you get interested.
Good luck with the mouse house.

Mon Oct 19, 2009 6:31 am

Thanks Ned, but the furniture cleaned up very well. That is probably because I am not going to use it. I am going with a custom interior because the Westy interior never worked well for me. Now the paneling is a different story. This seems to be where the vile critters preferred to be (particularly the headliner). I have got them clean enough to use a templates for the new, but again, I was going to replace them all anyways.
I think I have figured out that the continuing odor is coming from the stuff still under the luggage rack, and the air vents. Those will be coming off and out this week so that maybe this weekend I can get this thing cleaned up. So far my neighbors have been good about it, but I do not want to see how long they will remain that way.