Today in Bus hunting history...

[jkeskitalo]

Yes my latest "save" indeed had problems.. the farm house owner whos forest it was in, said that there has been maybe 10people taking parts from the bus Before I got there. .

Someone had cut the sheet metal above rear axle and engine..
Others took allmost all other parts that were not welded in..

Thats why its a parts bus..

The wall art idea sure sounds nice.. would you just place it on the wall like that?
Or sandblast and paint it first?
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After being used as a yard storage for 30years, the -58 Microbus has been lifted up from the ground and being prepared for welding and welding and welding.... (date acquired: 23.8.2013)

[scvw]

Hang it as is.
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58 Coral Red ragtop(Diana's car)
63 Ruby Red SC
67 Pearl White SO42
SOUTHERN INTEGRITY AIRCOOLERS

[cdennisg]

[Douglas Denlinger]

[Riff Raff]

This past weekend, Jeff and Don and I headed out on a couple thousand kilometre road trip to rescue a segapone Canadian Standard Beetle and a sorry assed Mango out of northern Saskatchewan.
I had heard about this bus about a year ago, along with rumours of a BD.
I went on a recon mission on August long weekend as I was going to be close to there for a family reunion anyhow.

This is what I found.

Mango in the weeds. No wheels, sitting down in the dirt.
Stripped for parts and left for dead.
The rest of it looks like it should be saved, so plans get started for a rescue mission.
This bus is not worth another trip unto itself, but Jeff needs to retrieve his Beetle, so we'll grab the bus while we are there. Besides, it will be a mid grade challenge to get it up and out of it's resting place.

We figured this past weekend would be good as there is still 12 hours of daylight and a full moon in case we have to work into the night.
The Mango had been left for dead in a patch of trees that was a little island in a crop of red clover, so I wanted to wait till the crop was off before rescuing. The mosquitoes are six cylinder models up here and I wanted a couple good hard frosts to decimate their population and thus improve our working conditions.

Headed out from Calgary early Friday morning. Stopped at the Wainright John Deere dealership on the way through to pick up a couple tubes of cornhead grease for steering boxes in the buses back home.

Drive for another eight hours or so, as far north as cultivated land exists in North America. Literally, a mile north of here, the great boreal forest is untouched north to the Pole. Well, there aren't trees that far, but you get the idea.
Turns out the crop was not off yet and there had not been a hard frost!
Oh well, nothing can be done about either of those things now.

The Mango has been sitting in the dirt for a number of years, but most of the year the ground is frozen, so I was hoping the underside corrosion would not be terminal.

We pulled the bus back a bit to get a little room to work before starting on the raising.

It has this 71 bay buddy hang with.

Jeff and Don get busy on the front and I got busy on the back.
I had built a transportable transaxle for bus rescuing.
It is a centre section with all the guts removed so it is light and easy to manoeuvre. The axle tubes have no axles, no upper RGB gears and no brakes. The axle tubes and centre section can be bolted in independently, so it's much easier than trying to bolt in a complete transaxle to a bus in the weeds.

Jack up the passenger side and get a wheel on the front.

I had initially thought the doglegs were rotted away, but it turns out they were hammered under to make room for the wide tires this bus was tastefully equipped with in the seventies. Rear wheel wells were hacked for the same reason I presume.


Add torsion bar, springplate and axle tube on the back.

Listing a little to port.

Turns out the thoughtful person who scored the wheels years back let the bus back down on cinder blocks that managed to keep it out of dirt.
The underside was in MUCH better nik than I had feared.

Repeat the operation on the drivers side and the Mango is on it's feet for the first time in decades likely.

Of course, we got to site in late afternoon, so most of the drivers side raising was done by the light of the full moon (and Don's truck headlights).

The bus was half full of dilapidated VW parts and other assorted crap, so it all got sorted between leave and take piles.

Wheels on, drag it out into the open and winch it up onto the trailer.
By now it is 11:00 or so and we are pumped, so decide to start the 10 hour drive home.
Drove to Battleford and grabbed a couple hours sleep in an industrial yard.
stopped in Provost for fuel and took this pic.

Made it to the farm about noon and unloaded the bus and beetle to their new resting places.
They'll both be here for the winter and then we'll see.

So from Friday morning to Saturday afternoon, we drove 2200 kms, pulled the Mango out of the weeds, loaded the Mango and beetle, dropped them off and made it home with no speeding tickets, injuries or harsh words.
Fricken exhausting, but a great adventure!!
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The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge
- Daniel Boorstin

[Da TOW'D]

great adventure alright
good job
cheers
hank
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'57 type 1 Blackberry
'58 SC Ruf
'62 type 3 Notch
'92 Eurovan Willy
'99 Eurovan Winnie
and NUTS

[cdennisg]

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Confusious say it takes it takes two wipes to know you need three, but it takes three wipes to know it only needed two.

[&Dan]

Heroic guys are heroic!

[Stetoppingphoto]

wow that beetle looks a good find
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Fender Bug

[dawerks]

I originally tracked this bus a while back to a wrecker who wouldn't sell it. He eventually did (but not to me), but was kind enough to get me in touch with the new buyer. After a quick exchange of cash, the deal was done.

Pretty sure I will be reselling it as it's a Panel and not super appealing to me.

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"There is only one sin; disconnection from self."

[ingenbremser]

whoa !! barndoor at a wrecker ...
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52 split

[Braukuche]

[durfeec]

[mandraks]

looks pretty cool and sturdy, that orange will get one noticed though
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regards

Uli

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'53 3-Fold Oval, L35 Metallic Blue, looking for a narrow hatch panel

[Sdmjake]

RiffRaff, That is a great 'Bus Save' story. Made my Monday morning reading that.

[paras]

look what i've seen in a gas station in athens.it's condition is fantastic for it's age and that is not the only one.there is another one like this.they used to be school buses in athens greece and somenone saved them from beiing demolished.sorry for my english

[zozo]

Wow! Get them both!

[empiracer]

Nice !!!

[paras]

the first one the buyer started restoring it.and and thats the next to be restored.everything is original on it.it was sitting since 1980 i think protected from sun and rain

[RHD Notch]