TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sat Feb 27, 2010 1:44 pm

Hi all,

I've been referencing samba a lot for the past couple of months while working on my bus, so I figured I would join and create a simple project page, posting pics and troubleshooting my problems here. I bought her for $700 from a guy off of craigslist in November. She's a 72 westy with a hard top (thanks caleb)

this is the only pic of the bus so far, which was the day after I bought it (this was right after I washed it, it was completely covered in tree pines and black crap. after I finish this post, I'm going to go take some better quality pics :lol:

the bus had been sitting for about three or four years before I picked it up, and has only been owned by 2 people: mike and his dad.

what i've done to the bus so far:cleaned the carburetor and fuel tank, changed the fuel filter and oil; ripped out the nasty carpet and rotted sub-floor; plexi-glassed over the rusted front panel; took out the wood panels(not bad too of shape but could be better) except for the ceiling; sanded, rust treated, undented, bondo'd a couple spots and primered.

i'm a 20 year old with a little mechanical experience, so there's going to be lots of troubleshooting: after I had all of my mechanics in order, I threw a battery in there and tried to start her up. mike said he had re-wired a new ignition switch because the old one broke. I turned it on, threw it into gear, and drove a little bit before one of the wires completely melted onto the others. I stopped, jumped out, and disconnected the battery immediately after, but there's quite a bit of damage to the surrounding wires. I looked at my fuses and noticed that mike had bypassed some of the fuses with aluminum foil. so the wiring needs some work and unfortunately i've never learned much about the subject.. i guess it's time to learn though. i will post some pictures if anyone could help me.

I'm considering contacting the local high school art club to see if they want to do a painting project on my bus and hippy it up. has anyone done something like that with success?'

i'm also interested in doing some offroading mods once i get her in basic functioning condition. my two best friends have a jeep and a bronco, so i'm going to try and impress them with some german engineering.
has anyone ever seen a winch on one of these?

-chris

Sat Feb 27, 2010 2:00 pm

looks like a great bus, can't wait to see more pics.

Sat Feb 27, 2010 2:27 pm

Westfalia made a hard top version for those who didn't want the pop top, that is probably what yours is.

Can't wait to see the progress!

Sat Feb 27, 2010 4:02 pm

The only bad thing about letting kids paint your bus is someday you will regret it.

Now the guy that did the chalkboard paint and lets people draw on his bus, well thats pretty cool..

Sweet ride man... Impress your friends, carry the beer and the chicks... Kinda like the ol' chuck wagons.. You can go anywhere, just takes a lot longer :)

Sun Feb 28, 2010 6:03 am

Vis wrote:

I'm considering contacting the local high school art club to see if they want to do a painting project on my bus and hippy it up. has anyone done something like that with success?'

Go for it - but you won't get much support here; Samba folk don't seem to like hippie themed Buses. Go figure. Hippies built the Bus culture up to what it is today...

Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:35 am

Thats true, some of them thought I was crazy

Inside:

and out:

(thats my splitty too... wrong colors everyone laughed at her....0

Sun Feb 28, 2010 8:39 am

Hey Chris,

I saw you commented on my Bus thread so you probably know I'm 20 as well and my bus is currently sporting the hippie paint job. Most people here do disapprove and sometimes I do too. It can just get old. That being said, my Bus didn't have factory paint or anything so I didn't feel bad about painting it. It is temporary, I don't think I would paint a Bus all hippied up if I were going to keep it that way because like I said, it just gets old. It's your Bus and I think you should do what you want with it, if you don't have the cash/time to do a good paint job then doing a hippie job is a good cheap fun temporary alternative IMHO. Good luck with the Bus, they're a lot of fun.

Sun Feb 28, 2010 10:19 am

Oh my God, melted wires! :cry: :bay_red: