Another road trip thread

[mandraks]

[pig-pen]

hmmm... yes, a NOS set of BRM speedwell magnesiums... maybe I should sell them to a collector and but a whole new truck!
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1954 L227 Type 113
1964 L31 Type 265

[pig-pen]

So... decided to go all dove blue on the outside, OG dove blue on the inside with some of Clara's panels which should be arriving soon I hope.

Undecided where to get my seat covers from, but I need em.

Any thoughts as to what colors to do my bumpers and wheels? I only ask as my wife really dislikes white for this, and the truck was bought for 'her' as a 40th birthday pressie , so what she says goes on this front...

I was thinking mouse grey perhaps?

Photos to post as and when I get them.
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1954 L227 Type 113
1964 L31 Type 265

[Eric&Barb]

If you want seat upholstery get it either from TMI or better closer to original upholstery from Blackdog that Matt makes.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=348302&highlight=matt+upholstery

If you do want just seat covers you can search here:

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=...t%20covers

Grey is just too muted of a color to go with turquoise, hot pink would look better.
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In Stereo, Where Available!

[pig-pen]

Hot pink bumpers it is then.

Ok, so I want to create a list of reliable shops along my route. Was wondering if any California residents could chip in here...

So far I have...

Tyrones Garage - Oxnard
German Werks - Santa Maria
Broad Street Automotive - San Luis Opismo
Lighty's Volkswagen Repair - San Luis Opismo
Get Hot Bugshop - Monterey
Old Volks Home - Santa Cruz

I have a big gap here between Santa Cruz and Yosemite

VOLKSWERK VW Parts & Service - Modesto

then onto NAPA and san fran... so any recommendations here are most welcome



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1954 L227 Type 113
1964 L31 Type 265

[Big Bill]

Kombi Haus Sacramento, never used them myself but heard they are GREAT.

[sambanut]

Gilroy gardens in gilroy might be worthwile for the kids. I've never been there but heard it was nice for little ones.

[pig-pen]

So its probably about time to show the work that JER-FAB are doing, it has all kicked off in earnest. Unfortunately after much investigation there was little OG paint left at all, along with a few foam filled surprises!

I have been a bit slow getting the pics up, so here is the work from the last 2 weeks... warning, lots of pictures!

First job was getting rid of the rhino-liner which seemed to be everywhere!

gates stripped of rhino

and media blasted...

cab floor rhino removal...

revealing

surface rust under rhino lining, but good to get that stuff off.

nose repair

nose sealed and ready for blocking

big dent in roof and OG paint not all it was cracked up to be

foam filled shenanigans and lots of filler removal

work to door.

and a bit more on the roof.

huge dent full of bondo

removed, pulled and sorted.

yet more foam filled doom. We thought this was a solid truck but not so...

and another bondo filled dent discovered. jeez.

drivers side inner brace tacked back together...

and drivers rocker repair

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1954 L227 Type 113
1964 L31 Type 265

[Shoyrtt]

Any more updates? It's almost August and time for your California trip!

[cru62]

Jonathon at Westy Werks in San Luis Obispo. Or GoWesty in Los Osos.
PM me with your ETA @ Yosemite. I am working in the park and can suggest some stuff to do.
Is it really going to be ready soon? The closer to Labor Day the more you want to stay away from the Park. All the locals leave on the major holidays. Gridlock doesn't even come close to describing it.
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"My biggest worry is that when I die, my wife will sell all my parts for what I told her I paid for them"-Jon

Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.

Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[pig-pen]

Ah yeah, updates. I will get on that one.

We were supposed to be coming aug 5th, but delayed flights as I got a job in.
Being self employed sucks sometimes. And then the job got cancelled so I am $1000 down

We are now arriving 8th, picking the bus up on the 10th. I am not being allowed to see pics of her painted. Mike at Jer-Fab wants it to be a surprise! I can't wait.
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1954 L227 Type 113
1964 L31 Type 265

[pig-pen]

[pig-pen]

So we arrived!

After a minor delay we picked up the truck...

and set off up towards Malibu.

A stop for a great lunch in Ventura

We were going to stay longer but the schedule was tighter than before so we had to keep on gunning up the road...

this truck / reflection really melted my melon

arrived at Madonna Inn, San Luis Obispo for my wife's 40th Birthday...

more tomorrow...
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1954 L227 Type 113
1964 L31 Type 265

[Saul Koll]

beautiful bus!!
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"I wish you could smell the smell that's coming from the bus"...

[mandraks]

you might already know this.... but you do look like a "bus family"!
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regards

Uli

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

[cru62]

What did you think of the Men's Restroom @ Madonna Inn? The last time I was there using the "waterfall", three older women barged in an just started cracking up. Then they noticed me, apologized and left, giggling.
When you leave SLO you will pass my house just off the highway in Santa Margarita. Wish I could have met you.
Take it easy driving across the Central Valley. It was smokin' here in Hell Portal yesterday; 103*F. Cooler today.
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"My biggest worry is that when I die, my wife will sell all my parts for what I told her I paid for them"-Jon

Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.

Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[73sedan]

Your DC is gorgeous. Wow.

Looks like you guys are set for adventure. Have a blast, explore and meet new people and places.
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Miami Palmtto Bugs

[AZ Landshaper]

The west coast is the best coast. Enjoy your stay here in USA. This place rocks. Ive been here 40 years and still haven't seen al there is to it

[williamM]

Believe you ment to say 39 years old----- you'll learn!!!
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some days I get up and just sit and think. Some days I just sit.

opinion untempered by fact is ignorance.

Don't step in any!

[The.Walrus]

I hope I'm not too late.

I went to UC Santa Cruz where I had my Bus the entire time, it's a great place to have a Bus. I filmed the doc in my sig as part of my first production assignment (thus, it's not the greatest documentary, being my first and all) there and got the last series of shots of VWs by going, "Let's just drive around town, we'll find enough aircooleds."

In Santa Cruz there's the Old Volks Home and Old Volks Cafe...ah, dammit, a quick google to make sure they both still exist shows the Cafe is now just a vanagon place called the Van Cafe.

Site wise you are looking for Pleasure Point and the Surfing Museum. For foods there are three places: Planet Fresh Burrito on Cedar, Jack's Burgers on Lincoln, and Pleasure Pizza.

I never actually went to the Mystery Spot. Don't know why.

The Boardwalk has a bunch of carnival rides and I think the oldest coaster in California, plus and indoor mini-golf course and arcade that's pretty cool. You're just missing Woodies on the Wharf if you're not there now.

Coming into Big Sur be sure to take in the Bixby Bridge on Hwy 1, it was the longest concrete bridge (is?) and it just looks cool and is in a lot of photos and the opening of "Here Comes Bronson" among other things.

Going past Monterey on Hwy 1 you'll pass through Moss Landing, you won't notice more or less but there is a marina on the side of the road. Pull into that. There's a nice restaurant there but that's not why. It's your best bet to see sea otters that frolic in the marina's bay up close. Like, you're almost closer than you would be at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Carmel by the Sea has a beach that is great for sunsets. And so many art galleries that your kids might go limp in protest of having to look at one more carving of a tree. 17 mile drive is a chance to pay a fare to look at super rich people's houses and that one tree that's in all the mentions of Monterey.

If you're broken down in San Francisco City Automotive is the only place to go. Rolph's had that shop open since 1966 and is fantastic if a little hard to understand. You might come back and find a pile of Brazillian parts he's pulled off your car, though. Original German is the way to go with him.

There's a Beat Museum on Broadway in San Francisco if you got a little Kerouac in you.

I used to live on Treasure Island between the spans of the Bay Bridge, it's worth a stop for a few reasons. First, if you want the postcard view of The City, that's where it's at. (I left my Bus once on the Avenue of the Palms to go get something and came back and Spanish tourists were taking turns taking photos next to it). Second, it's an abandoned Navy base and has this cool ghost town feel to it that's kind of neat.

There's so much food in San Francisco I don't know where to start. North Beach. Start in North Beach.

Sacramento is liquid hot. Avoid. Kombi Haus is well stocked but they don't really pay attention to what I tell them and their constant refrain is to 'modernize' the Bus with Golf brakes etc. Der Wagon Shoppe in Orangevale is understaffed (literally just the owner, like City Automotive) but every time I get my Bus back from him it runs like a top.

There are tours of underground Sacramento in the summer, the first and second city they built that got flooded so they built the current one on top. Driving through the Delta is kind of quaint and you can find some cool places to stop.

If you make it through Sacramento and are working your way up to Tahoe on 50 there's a little town along the way called Strawberry that has a general store owned by a split window Bus fan and has a 21 window out front. I missed the owner but talked to his friend Hippie Tim, awesome place and dude. My girlfriend found a few paths through the woods and the Mormon Immigrant Trail that was pretty cool. The milk shakes at the Sno Cone Drive In are good in South Lake Tahoe and there's a baker that makes fresh bread loafs and stuff. Don't bother with the paddle boat that goes around Emerald Bay, it's a long boat ride with a kind of iffy buffet to look at an island you can look at from land. It's not the California side but you can go over the mountain just over the Nevada side of 50 on Kings highway that will take you down into a small farming valley in Nevada to Genoa, a quaint small town with a former fort for people working their way to California.

Along Hwy 1 again north of the Bay Area there are a few more cool things. Bodega Bay is the location for the Hitchcock movie The Birds. There's a town just off 1 that would prefer you not find it that's cool, but for the life of me I can't remember its name.

In a town called Gualala there is a drug store that's six kinds of awesome. It's a mish mash of various things, there's a rotating car display, various Bus related stuff like tin sculptures (no discount for having a Bus, I tried), vintage instruments and used books. On Saturdays or Sundays, I don't remember which, they have hot dogs and an open mic for local musicians. When I went inside there was an unofficial jam/master class in world music going on. The BBQ place is tasty in that town as well. If your timing is right you can get there for one of the 'Pay and Take' I think they're called thrift sales.

North of that on the way to Mendicino about where the pigmy forest is there's a graveyard on the west side of the road (Hwy 1 still). Go through the graveyard (it's a pioneer graveyard, which is interesting in its own right) to where there's a sign for the 'Blowhole', follow the path (watch out for poison oak) and there's a giant hole in the ground with a cave at the bottom that goes out to sea that the tide comes through to a small beach at the bottom.

Mendicino is awesome, but there's a gas station in that town that's like a dollar more than every other gas station around, so gas up out of town.

On the way there you'll probably want to stop in Elk just because it looks awesome and there are some good beach cliff walks and an artist's place.

Avenue of the Giants is worth it, and maybe you'll have better timing and be able to go into that place with the giant concrete cheesy dinosaurs I only saw from the outside. Plus the obligatory pictures of your Bus driving through trees and next to Paul Bunyan and Babe. There's a town north the Redwoods that has metal sculptures everywhere that's pretty cool but I can't remember the name now.

Also, just shy of Eureka there's a 'ghost' town called Samoa that has the last operating cook house where you go and order "Food please" and they bring you a TON of it. Like a five course lunch and then ask if you want seconds.

I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch of things. I love road tripping California in my Bus.
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1967 Camper
Her Movie
I need red Mr. Bubblehead stickers (2) with his arm sticking out.