TheSamba.com :: View topic

Mon Apr 17, 2006 1:05 pm

chesapeakeVW wrote: Does this count? Had a sweet ventalation system in the engine bay as well. Coil over shocks all around and two sway bars up front.

I have to hand it to the PO of that one atleast all the holes are even and neat.
Doesn't look like swiss cheese back there

Mon Apr 17, 2006 7:58 pm

My 59 standard's PO installed a groovy 70's steering wheel and if you look close he installed matching $1 store vanity hand mirrors with duct tape on each side. Also a beetle grab bar on the dash mounted on a slant. At least he didn't cut the radio hole.

More dangerous and dumb was the installation of blue shag carpet held down with 1-1/2" roofing nails on wheel wells, luggage deck and floor. He just missed the wiring harness and brake line. I spent 3 nights just welding about 50 nail holes and sanding smooth.

Tue Apr 18, 2006 8:36 am

What the heck is the kumfuzzy blob under the turn lever? Where are the mirrors: outside or inside? Pretty clean dash, though. Too bad about the slanted grab.

Tue Apr 18, 2006 2:17 pm

Barry Lynn wrote: What the heck is the kumfuzzy blob under the turn lever? Where are the mirrors: outside or inside? Pretty clean dash, though. Too bad about the slanted grab.

The blob was a skanky stretched out garder I think. The mirrors were taped to the stock exterior arms on the door hinges. Slanted grab holes are now welded and sanded smooth along with 10 sets of holes above the rain gutter from a previous awning that the PO dented in then filled with bondo. Luckily very little creative bondo was used and this originally California bus was solid and now rust free.

These pictures are from the day I brought it home about 4 years ago and cleaned it out the very next day. Found a couple of funky native style blankets that I washed several times before keeping, a brand new set of screwdrivers, set of metric Craftsman wrenches, a 2-ton floor jack, 12V fluorescent work light, 2 roaches and a handfull of seeds under the vinyl covering the parcel tray. It was a very cold day when I bought it and he took nothing out of it.

For those interested I have some metalwork photos in my gallery.
I am 3-4 weeks away from minor body work and paint and plan to have it on the road sometime in July.

Sorry for being so wordy, I am killing time at work before I go home.

Tue Apr 18, 2006 2:23 pm

Saw your gallery pics, you do nice work! :D

Tue Apr 18, 2006 6:08 pm

enkiel wrote: previous owner covered under the bus with tar.... 1/4-1/2 inch of it...

or just looking at my front floor is enough to scare anyone

Hey Jean-Francois (aka Enkiel),

I just joined the forum lately and noticed that you have been slamming the bus I sold you in late 2004 and my maintenance of it ever since you bought it. I admit that there are some shortcuts taken. I bought that 21 window in 1990 for $1500 US and kept it running and driving, summer and winter, for the next 15 years. This was a working vehicle, not a show truck. It hauled shingles, Christmas trees, lumber, kayaks, camping equipment, furniture, and alot of happy people.

Sorry that it was too much of a basket case for you to fix it up. I stated that it was a rolling rustbucket in my Samba ad. I think you hoped that you were getting a pristine 1967 21 window for $4000 US. It needed lots of work.

The "tar" you referred to in this post is 15 years of oil underspray, which is what you do to keep cars running through the salty winter. Being from Quebec, I assumed that you knew that. All the receipts that I gave you for undercoating would be a good clue as well. Fifteen years of oil and road dust add up to a 1/4 inch of guck. My mechanic used to throw away his overalls after working on it underneath. It is the only way to keep a vehicle from rusting completely, if you drive in an eastern Canadian winter.

I hope you are happy with your current bus: I am with mine. Happy spring.

Don

Wed Apr 19, 2006 12:41 am

Take that Enkiel.
What goes around, comes around.

Wed Apr 19, 2006 6:09 pm

Wasn't on the bus but on a T3. PO put in a dual circuit master. Good. But didn't bother replacing the resevoir with the correct two chamber one. He put a T fitting in the line, thus defeating the added safety of the dual master. :? He also didn't bother using the correct size hose clamp and used one WAY too big on one of the hoses. Came out the first morning I had it in my garage and a big puddle of brake fluid was on the ground and the resevoir was E.M.P.T.Y. :shock: At least I noticed it before I drove it.

Wed Apr 19, 2006 7:51 pm

I pulled the engine in my single cab for the first time tonight, and found that someone welded the bumper brackets to the frame...

Wed Apr 19, 2006 7:55 pm

Hey, maybe your PO owned my Bus, as mine are welded onto the frame too.

Is there an extra sweet and reinforcing piece of angle iron there too?

It's funny, because my brackets still line up with the holes, even though they're welded in place with angle iron. :wink:

Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:37 pm

Was there evidence of a trailer hitch attached to the bumper?
The only reason I can think of for someone to do that is to make the bumper stronger for the half-assed bumper-based trailer hitch abortion.

Thu Apr 20, 2006 6:58 am

j.pickens wrote: Was there evidence of a trailer hitch attached to the bumper?
The only reason I can think of for someone to do that is to make the bumper stronger for the half-assed bumper-based trailer hitch abortion.
Yes, I'm assuming that's why they did that.

I'm replacing the generator and the clutch, and I found they also welded the cooling flaps and doghouse bits to the fan shroud. This guy sure liked to weld!

Thu Apr 20, 2006 7:01 am

Bongo wrote: Take that Enkiel.
What goes around, comes around.

easy there

Don66bus wrote: The "tar" you referred to in this post is 15 years of oil underspray, which is what you do to keep cars running through the salty winter. Being from Quebec, I assumed that you knew that. All the receipts that I gave you for undercoating would be a good clue as well. Fifteen years of oil and road dust add up to a 1/4 inch of guck. My mechanic used to throw away his overalls after working on it underneath. It is the only way to keep a vehicle from rusting completely, if you drive in an eastern Canadian winter.

i guess cleaning before putting new one would been a good idea then, cause there was rust under that, and of course, it was so thick, it was flaking off. How good of a protection is that?

and to expect a rustfree 21 windows bus for 4000$? Of course not, but i wasnt expecting 1/2 inches of bondo over rust hole

Thu Apr 20, 2006 11:07 am

My gas tank was held in place with a few wood screws through it. The entire shifter rod coupling assembly was one square washer and yet some more wood screws. The vaccum ports on my carburetor were plugged with... you guessed it! Wood screws.

The oil from the transaxle was ninja-turtle green for some reason and chunks of metal all glopped out of the original motor with oil that was now a solid.

Thu Apr 20, 2006 11:42 am

eeeeeewwwwww..

Tue May 27, 2008 5:10 am

Major Woody wrote: I got one.

Previous/orig owner of my 67 SO-42 Westy decided that the Texas heat was just too much. Removed the left rearmost jalousie window and installed a residential air conditioner in the hole. To provide the 120 VAC to power it, he installed a gasoline powered generator in the left rear corner of the engine compartment with BIG BOLTS. A generator requires intake and exhaust air ports, so using what appears to have been a butter knife, he cut 6" diameter round holes above the left rear wheelwell and in the engine lid, to which he affixed little chrome air scoops. There must have been problems getting access to the generator when it was mounted, so then he cut another 10" diameter round hole in the left rear corner just above the tray and ahead of the seam AND he cut a huge "H" shaped area out of the left rear wheelwell that he later hammered back flat and fiberglassed over.

After a short time using this setup with the AC and generator running right next to his head and the AC pulling the fumes back into the bus all night, the PO decided that it was "like trying to sleep inside a turbine engine" and he removed all of it, filling all these big access holes with fiberglass covered with bondo and white house paint. Luckily he kept the westy window, but I'm still carefully trying to repair all these holes he cut in the bus.

Wow! :lol:

Any pics?

Tue May 27, 2008 6:56 am

j.pickens wrote: Was there evidence of a trailer hitch attached to the bumper?
The only reason I can think of for someone to do that is to make the bumper stronger for the half-assed bumper-based trailer hitch abortion. i guess i can bitch some here. i just spent half a day removing a large wooden bumper that was attched to the og press bumper mounts using a heavy i beam. the i beam was welded to the mounts using some extra concrete rebar for extra measure.

Tue May 27, 2008 1:27 pm

Merlin wrote: Major Woody wrote: I got one.

Previous/orig owner of my 67 SO-42 Westy decided that the Texas heat was just too much. Removed the left rearmost jalousie window and installed a residential air conditioner in the hole. To provide the 120 VAC to power it, he installed a gasoline powered generator in the left rear corner of the engine compartment with BIG BOLTS. A generator requires intake and exhaust air ports, so using what appears to have been a butter knife, he cut 6" diameter round holes above the left rear wheelwell and in the engine lid, to which he affixed little chrome air scoops. There must have been problems getting access to the generator when it was mounted, so then he cut another 10" diameter round hole in the left rear corner just above the tray and ahead of the seam AND he cut a huge "H" shaped area out of the left rear wheelwell that he later hammered back flat and fiberglassed over.

After a short time using this setup with the AC and generator running right next to his head and the AC pulling the fumes back into the bus all night, the PO decided that it was "like trying to sleep inside a turbine engine" and he removed all of it, filling all these big access holes with fiberglass covered with bondo and white house paint. Luckily he kept the westy window, but I'm still carefully trying to repair all these holes he cut in the bus.

Wow! :lol:

Any pics?

I don't know....he posted that three and a half years ago. Your reply might not be timely enough to expect pictures.

Tue May 27, 2008 1:43 pm

Andrew wrote: I don't know what it is that says to previous owners that if it doesn't work, then wire it differently...

No shit. I seems like every bus I've had has had to have some creative wiring issues removed. The wiper switch on my '65 21 window crapped out sometime back in the day. The swanky toggle switch that replaced it was drilled to the dash right next to the original.

Tue May 27, 2008 3:50 pm

KWZ wrote: Andrew wrote: I don't know what it is that says to previous owners that if it doesn't work, then wire it differently...

No shit. I seems like every bus I've had has had to have some creative wiring issues removed. The wiper switch on my '65 21 window crapped out sometime back in the day. The swanky toggle switch that replaced it was drilled to the dash right next to the original.

Here is a list of modifications the PO of my '64 kombi did to the electrical:
Replaced the turn signal switch with a three-way toggle held to the steering column with a large hose clamp.
Added a deep cycle marine battery too big to fit in the battery tray and the oil bath was ditched to make room for the battery.
Added electrical junction boxes in the parcel tray and the engine compartment.
Hacked additional trailer tail lights into the deck lid.