TheSamba.com :: View topic - Turning a '67 rust bucket 21 windows into something nice

Thu Nov 25, 2004 10:09 am

well, following marklaken, i decided to keep a journal of all the work done on my bus, just to see what happened with her on the long run. By the way, my first language isnt english , so don't mind my typo and all the mistake i can make

I bought a '67 21 windows from a guy in Ottawa who was using it as a daily drivers, which is really scary and you'll see why.

The bus originally was $4000 CDN on thesamba, but due to high demand, he decided to raise it to $4000 USD after i sent the first check. Allright, i can deal with that, i really loved the sunroof, and the little windows on top. So i paid $4800 CDN for my bus. I picked it up on november 11th, with a U-Haul Truck and a trailer ; didnt want to take any chance while on my way home. The whole transportation from Ottawa to Quebec City was $650 CDN, which i believe is a fairly good price, but spent a whole day driving, which wasn't all that fun.

When i picked up the Bus, i saw all the work ahead of me...

First, front floors were poorly replaced by someone without any skill, or money, or both

Second, the interior was completely stripped (except some very ugly fabric). The back floor was also poorly replaced, someone just tacked a new floor on the old one, so i can't really tell what is under that new floor. Another thing you cant see on the pictures is a hole about the size of a fist on the thing above the driver's side wheel, where the .

Third, a "little" problem with the choke

The rest was pretty nice, the paint isnt too bad. Of course there's rust everywhere (this bus has been in the east coast for at least 14 years). All the rubber will need to be replaced, and most likely some metal work will have to be done around the windows. All the deluxe trims are there (who knows for how long, i dont like that), the jail bar are there also (no clue if some are missing tho). Considering this is my first bus, i think i did good, especially considering i was about to buy a fat chick

Of course, the dash has been cut, and some very odd electrical work has been done such as a "turn on/turn off" switch for the radio.

Did i mention someone put too much tar under that bus? when we arrived to Quebec City, i forgot the bumper was attached to the trailer, and here is what i found....

Since its almost winter here (below 0 celcius during the day), the bus will be stored in a week or 2, until april. So i expect to be able to run it by next august if everything goes allright.

Thu Nov 25, 2004 10:19 am

last updated : 25/11/2004

Code:
Spent so far (in CND):

Bus $4800
Transportation $650
Books $125
New Sunroof cover $135
Car Cover $215
Floor (MetalWiz) $205
Random Part (WBW) $225
Sheet Metal (WBW) $260
Registration (8/12/2004) $215
Inspection (7/12/2004) $75
Storage (12/12/2004) $75

------------------------------
Total $6980

Thu Nov 25, 2004 9:26 pm

enkiel wrote: last updated : 25/11/2004

Code:
Spent so far (in CND):

Bus $4800
Transportation $650
Books $125
New Sunroof cover $135
Car Cover $215

------------------------------
Total $5925

Damn you got that bus cheap.

Fri Nov 26, 2004 6:25 am

Skim wrote: enkiel wrote: last updated : 25/11/2004

Code:
Spent so far (in CND):

Bus $4800
Transportation $650
Books $125
New Sunroof cover $135
Car Cover $215

------------------------------
Total $5925

Damn you got that bus cheap.

that's the thing.. when you look at it, it look cheap, but if the frame is as rotten as i believe it is, it's a fair price

Sun Nov 28, 2004 2:53 pm

I love the leather belt door pulls. I used to have that going on. :D

Sun Nov 28, 2004 10:52 pm

removing the tar undercoating is a PITA...but the pic you show is probably more engine oil crud and transmission oil....if it is driveable, spray the hell out of the oily tarry looking areas around the lower side of the engine with "engine brite"....let is soak real good (over some cardboard....spray it some more and then go to your local carwash and use their pressure washer to blast that crap off...your cleanig job will look much easier after that...might need to do it a couple times...

also if it were me, i'd roll with the delux trim...that is the way it was meant to be and it looks like all your trim is there and in decent shape....plus if you remove it, there will be lots of little holes that will need to be filled and touched up...an uneccesary PITA....

Tue Nov 30, 2004 7:42 pm

sweet first bus! not many get their ideal bus first time out, and for a reasonable price too.

that is fucked he raised the price after you made a deal and sent $ though.

Tue Nov 30, 2004 8:00 pm

if your frame is not rusted you made out pretty good! that is ten times better off then mine!

Tue Nov 30, 2004 8:09 pm

$6K so far, Stop while you can :wink: Below is the end result of 8 years on my 57. I kept track of everything I bought, 98% NOS parts. The end count was "interesting". Don't ask, I won't tell :roll: In the end though, I have my dream car. It's not for sale, It's not trailered, and I even drove it on a 2 hour cruise in the rain to win "best of show".
Enkiel, Have fun but most of all Drive it and let the world enjoy it with you 8)

Wed Dec 01, 2004 7:40 am

obus wrote: if your frame is not rusted you made out pretty good! that is ten times better off then mine!

would be dreaming to think my frame is A1.....

still need to clean it to make sure, but its getting way too cold to do it here (started snowing last night)

Wed Dec 01, 2004 7:46 am

how does it look underneath? seems like the frame rust in a deluxe often starts where the belly pans meet the frame

Wed Dec 01, 2004 8:09 am

ronnie wrote: how does it look underneath? seems like the frame rust in a deluxe often starts where the belly pans meet the frame

well, under the bus is about 1/4 inches of tar all around.

there's so much of it that's its falling from the frame.

i almost tear off (whats tear past tense? cant remember) the bumper when i took it off the trailer, and saw what's under that tar, something scary, which is the last picture of my first post...

Thu Dec 02, 2004 7:00 pm

tore?....teared?...lol....nice find

Sat Dec 04, 2004 4:48 pm

That bus looks mighty good for an Ontario bus, even with the rust you describe. That mess underneath looks more like the previos owner had it oilsprayed a few times.

la bonne chance avec les réparations!

Erik

Wed Dec 08, 2004 6:05 am

well, a small update.

last night i went to register my bus after having an inspection done on tuesday.

they couldnt find the model in their database so they had to leave it blank, and they put 4100 lbs as weight for my bus....

4120 lbs... that's alot... anyway

Friday it's leaving for his rest place for the winter, will see it again in april

Tue Mar 22, 2005 7:01 am

About 1 1/2 month before i can take it out of storage and start working on it.

been trying to find a middle seat for the bus for quite some time and its scary.

i was wondering if i could fit a middle seat + a bed in the back?

Tue Mar 22, 2005 7:32 am

The part collecting just started.

Ordered front floor (complete piece) from MetalWizard in 18 ga :D

Wed May 25, 2005 7:23 am

Well, the bus is finally out of storage. Had a 4 days weekend, but it was so cold (around 30 farenheit) and raining, so i didnt manage to do anything except snap a few pictures, and figure out a few more problem on the bus.

But i did manage to drive it for 10 minutes at 35 mph, and if we forget about the loose steering, this was actually lots of fun :D

Problem #1 : gaz pedal isnt working anymore. the old floor is so rotten, that the pedal isnt staying in place anymore. We had to be 2 to drive it (one to hold the pedal, the other to drive the bus. Should be fixed once the new floor are installed.

Problem #2 : Shifter can be turned. Ordered whole new set of bushing, and everything around it. From what i read, it should fix my problem.

Problem #3 : brakes work, but barely. Will need to see if bleeding them will fix the problem. But at least, the hand brake works.

So, a nice little list of all the stuff i realize i need to work on.

1. Rocker on passenger side. I can remove rust in 1 inches squares part...

2. Rear corner. Both are rusted badly under the light. Still trying to figure out if i should get a donor part or if i should get the wolfsburgwest's.

3. Front. Doesnt look too bad, but under the headlight, there's some huge bubble forming. i think there was bondo there before, but not 100% sure.

4. All the windows need work. I think for now i'll only concentrate on the windshield, since its leaking.

5. Frame look solid, but the front wheel well will need a donor, its rusted half way thru the seats. It was fixed, but badly, so its gonna be fixed good this time.

6. Heater box will need to be replaced. But i'm quite happy, its turning nicely.

7. Steering was loose. Will need to see if i can tighten (sp?) it without changing any part

8. Shifter.

9. Gaz line.

Body has alot of rust working its way around the rear well and rear corner weld, so i might ask a bodyworker to do it for me. After much talk with a samba member, i figured i dont have to make it a professional restauration. I can fix what's really important (front wheel well, front floor, rear corner), and temporary fix the other rust issue.

next stop : First weekend of June :D

Sun Jun 05, 2005 10:19 am

So i starter cleaning the bondo, and looked at some rust issue i might be having...

before :

during :

after :

The other side :

Rear Corner (i believe its the worst one) :

Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:01 am

Well, been awhile since i posted update on what's going on with my bus...

First, 4 weeks ago, we removed the Splash Pan (covering the steering and everything, that's the right name, right?), and gonna try to rebuild it as good as possible. It was very rusty, nearly completely gone.

Then we started working on finding more rust. Sadly, i forgot to bring my camera, but still snapped some picture with a "standard" camera.

Under the front light, the bubble cleaned good, and only found 3 pine hole. The rest look solid enough to just fill the hole and leave it like that.

Under the Deluxe trim, on bottom of the front (can't explain it any easier), there's some rust, a few inches wide, but shouldnt be too hard to fix, since its in the Flat part of the nose.

Started to remove Front floor, removed all of the passenger side with a.. um... thing to cut metal (sorry, forgot the name). Gonna need some major metal work on the front passenger wheel well before welding new floor in.

To do list for this weekend :

Fixing loose Shifter (got all the rubber from Wolfsburg West)
Bleeding brakes (gonna try to figure out what is wrong with the brakes).

Oh and i found 2 interesting bills when looking thru the old receip from the Previous Owner :

#1 : A receipt from VW for a longblock exchange... anyone know what that means? A rebuilt Engine was bough? or new?

#2 : a 4200$ Bill for sheet metal replacement from 2001. Now i know why the bellypan are so solid : they were replaced

gonna try to snap picture from both bills tonight and post them here ...