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RetroRoadTrips
Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2014
Posts: 21
Location: Brussels, Belgium
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 Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 6:45 am Post subject: Re: Mouse Grey / Pearl White Buses |
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I've bought a '64 21w project on this website about 15 months ago.
Original 21w, Mouse Grey, matching numbers, birth certificate, 2 registered US owners, nice history (sold in my home town Brussels, but immediately exported to the US as a wedding git) with pictures of 1st and 2nd owner, mostly complete (missing middle seat and rear bumper)
The bus was cheap, because it needed so much rust repair...
But the welding has been done, the body work is almost finished and the bus will be ready to be painted in a few weeks...
So... I'll need some help/advice...
- Anyone feedback on the Glasurit paint for MG and PW? I would use the codes as found on their website...
- Rubber insert for deluxe trim. Still no repro for MG? Any NOS available?
- What's the best place to buy the interior fabric per yard? I don't need the plain basalt grey, I am only looking for the middle part of the panels, with the crossing stripes pattern (sorry, don't know how else I should call this)
- My bus has a full middle seat and I found one, but it's not '64. I am sure this info is already on thesamba.com. But what details are specific to a '64 full middle seat?
- What about the ash tray attached to the back of the middle seat? Is this exactly the same as the one on the bulk head? Or a different model?
- More to come, I'm sure...
Pictures before and after soon... When it's finished. ;p |
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EverettB 
Administrator
Joined: April 11, 2000
Posts: 69813
Location: Phoenix Metro
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 10:20 am Post subject: Re: Mouse Grey / Pearl White Buses |
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I can answer some of your questions so I will do that below.
| RetroRoadTrips wrote: |
- Rubber insert for deluxe trim. Still no repro for MG? Any NOS available?
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Not that I have seen.
NOS if you can find it.
Red looks nice too (my opinion)
| RetroRoadTrips wrote: |
- My bus has a full middle seat and I found one, but it's not '64. I am sure this info is already on thesamba.com. But what details are specific to a '64 full middle seat?
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It's the same for 64-66.
Fold-down portion folds off to the side instead of straight forward like earlier seats
Leg by cargo door is kicked out instead of going straight down and has no extra 45-degree cross-bar like 67-up seats
See the middle seat thread for info
Here's the original seat in my old '64
| RetroRoadTrips wrote: |
- What about the ash tray attached to the back of the middle seat? Is this exactly the same as the one on the bulk head? Or a different model?
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Same part
_________________
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Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery! |
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velvetgreen
Samba Member
Joined: August 17, 2004
Posts: 2745
Location: Canada
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velvetgreen
Samba Member
Joined: August 17, 2004
Posts: 2745
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 11:32 am Post subject: Re: Mouse Grey / Pearl White Buses |
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| apologies to Douglas for mangling the spelling of his name but he does know his Mouse Grau! |
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VW Bus DR
Samba Member
Joined: September 25, 2014
Posts: 25
Location: Pennsylvania
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 4:13 pm Post subject: Re: Mouse Grey / Pearl White Buses |
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Hi all
Al here from PA in CO for winter I will be posting pics of my 64 samba mg/pw bus soon sooooooo nice to see all the mg/pw busses |
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G-wood Todd
Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2005
Posts: 1047
Location: Colorado
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 6:09 pm Post subject: Re: Mouse Grey / Pearl White Buses |
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Quit teasing! Let's see some pics of those mg/pw 21's! Not too many around. I'll show you mine if you show me yours.  I'll confirm with Everett that the grey trim insert is not reproduced. I'd also like info on where to purchase interior panel material.
_________________
and take the kids for instance "Are we going in the Volkswagen bus?" and they say "Yay!" and clap their hands and if it's a glorious day you can slide the sunroof back and let a little of the glory in and all of a sudden, it stops looking funny.
-Volkswagen ad |
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VW Bus DR
Samba Member
Joined: September 25, 2014
Posts: 25
Location: Pennsylvania
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 7:46 pm Post subject: Re: Mouse Grey / Pearl White Buses |
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VW Bus DR
Samba Member
Joined: September 25, 2014
Posts: 25
Location: Pennsylvania
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 7:59 pm Post subject: Re: Mouse Grey / Pearl White Buses |
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Here is "minnie" see i was not teasing  |
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G-wood Todd
Samba Member
Joined: January 11, 2005
Posts: 1047
Location: Colorado
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 8:36 pm Post subject: Re: Mouse Grey / Pearl White Buses |
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| VW Bus DR wrote: |
| Here is "minnie" see i was not teasing |
Very nice 
_________________
and take the kids for instance "Are we going in the Volkswagen bus?" and they say "Yay!" and clap their hands and if it's a glorious day you can slide the sunroof back and let a little of the glory in and all of a sudden, it stops looking funny.
-Volkswagen ad |
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VW Bus DR
Samba Member
Joined: September 25, 2014
Posts: 25
Location: Pennsylvania
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 8:38 pm Post subject: Re: Mouse Grey / Pearl White Buses |
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thanks she is our baby  |
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Tmiller3
Samba Member
Joined: June 12, 2014
Posts: 142
Location: Lone Tree
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 8:45 pm Post subject: Re: Mouse Grey / Pearl White Buses |
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Can't resist the opportunity to share pics of our mg/pw 23!
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EverettB
Administrator
Joined: April 11, 2000
Posts: 69813
Location: Phoenix Metro
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VW Bus DR
Samba Member
Joined: September 25, 2014
Posts: 25
Location: Pennsylvania
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| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 10:58 pm Post subject: Re: Mouse Grey / Pearl White Buses |
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| Thanks Everett |
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Tmiller3
Samba Member
Joined: June 12, 2014
Posts: 142
Location: Lone Tree
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| Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 5:20 am Post subject: Re: Mouse Grey / Pearl White Buses |
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| Thanks Everett. So proud to be a part of the VW bus community. |
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RetroRoadTrips
Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2014
Posts: 21
Location: Brussels, Belgium
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| Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 7:47 am Post subject: Re: Mouse Grey / Pearl White Buses |
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Great buses!
Since mine is currently not painted, I can not post any pictures of its current condition in this MG/PW topic. ;p
But this is my bus before restoration...
Yes, long before restoration, picture taken in 1965. 
Hope to complete the FULL restoration in 5-6 months.
Any experience with the Glasurit paint and suppliers of the fabric for interior panels, let me know!
Maybe someone has the vw parts number for the ash tray on bulk head and middle seat? |
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floyd1969
Samba Member
Joined: January 26, 2010
Posts: 300
Location: Jersey Channel Islands.
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| Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 9:30 am Post subject: Re: Mouse Grey / Pearl White Buses |
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| TMI products do the material you need it's called "silver beige" ashtrays are fairly easy to find there's some in the Samba classifieds. |
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Tmiller3
Samba Member
Joined: June 12, 2014
Posts: 142
Location: Lone Tree
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| Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 1:09 pm Post subject: Re: Mouse Grey / Pearl White Buses |
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| RetroRoadTrips wrote: |
Great buses!
Since mine is currently not painted, I can not post any pictures of its current condition in this MG/PW topic. ;p
But this is my bus before restoration...
Yes, long before restoration, picture taken in 1965.
Hope to complete the FULL restoration in 5-6 months.
Any experience with the Glasurit paint and suppliers of the fabric for interior panels, let me know!
Maybe someone has the vw parts number for the ash tray on bulk head and middle seat? |
In your picture of the bus that you're restoring, I noticed that the bus has Colorado license plates. Would you happen to know who owned the bus before you? Do you happen to know where they purchased their bus from in Colorado? |
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RetroRoadTrips
Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2014
Posts: 21
Location: Brussels, Belgium
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| Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 4:50 am Post subject: Re: Mouse Grey / Pearl White Buses |
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| floyd1969 wrote: |
| TMI products do the material you need it's called "silver beige" ashtrays are fairly easy to find there's some in the Samba classifieds. |
TMI is the only one I had checked so far.
But the picture on their website seems to be very different from the original colors I have on the back of my interior panels.
Their phosphor fabric I have seen already and on the website it looks darker than it really is, I know.
Should probably ask them if they want to send me a 10 centimeter square...
I'm just not 100% convinced yet. I'ld like to hear from someone who has held the original for a grey interior next to the TMI reproduction. ;p |
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RetroRoadTrips
Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2014
Posts: 21
Location: Brussels, Belgium
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| Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 5:20 am Post subject: Re: Mouse Grey / Pearl White Buses |
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| Tmiller3 wrote: |
| In your picture of the bus that you're restoring, I noticed that the bus has Colorado license plates. Would you happen to know who owned the bus before you? Do you happen to know where they purchased their bus from in Colorado? |
Information provided by the first owner:
Our 1964 microbus was bought for us by my father-in-law in Belgium (of all places) and shipped to New York city in August of that year. In those years, I guess, Europe was still cheap and buying the bus there and shipping it was less expensive than getting one here.
I received my PhD from Cornell U in August and we drove the bus along with my wife, two children, a basset hound and cat to Fort Collins, Colorado, where I was to teach at Colorado State U.
The only notable event for the bus was a dent in the rear bumper caused by my wife backing into a low profile post. Also, I had attached what I called an on all the time light to the front bumper for safety’s sake. This turned out to be against Colorado law and we cut the connection. There still may be a little hole behind the bumper for the wires but it may have been filled when we later repainted the car.
We drove the bus to St. Paul and my new job at Macalester College in the summer of 66, now with three children. And we sold the bus in 1977.
During those years, I regularly adjusted the valves and changed the points when necessary. In about 1973 (I think) I traded my aging Honda 305 superhawk (I wish I still had it) motorcycle to a neighbour who decoked the heads. Carbon had built up enough to increase compression and cause detonation at speed.
The original paint on the bus was Volk’s mouse gray bottom, and lighter tan top. But about 1976 or 5 we developed a serious rust problem that was working its way into the interior, especially behind the front seat. I arranged with guy in a nearby suburb to weld a new bottom plate and work on rust holes. We had the car painted in its current yellow and cream scheme.
Unfortunately, some how during that process a small wiring short occurred somewhere between the battery and the lights and control panel. The bus ran fine but the battery would run down after a day or two. I was unable to track down the location of the short or even the circuit it was on, and resorted to disconnecting the battery at night. This led me finally to sell the bus and replace it with a used Chevy suburban.
Notable events in the bus’ life included running out of gas going downhill into Kansas City. The miracle here was that I managed to coast off the road into a gas station. The trip home from Oklahoma saw several miles of head winds that often slowed us to 45 mph.
Cold weather was always a problem. For four years the bus was parked outside our house. To start it on below zero days, I placed an electric heater under engine to loosen up the oil. This worked after a fashion. Also, with virtually no effective heater, the rider was always cold. On one occasion my wife and daughter drove in below zero weather to southern Iowa and barely made it home because of hypothermia. After that I discovered I could by a gas fired hear, which worked a little better. That might still be in the car.
We traveled to Arizona, then on to California in the bus during the 70s. On the way down the hills into San Diego the voltage regulator died and the dreaded red light appeared. I managed to run into town on the battery and find a dealer the next day to get fixed.
By then we had four children and we traveled with the bus backed level with the rear compartment. We covered the load with soft stuff and our kids could just bound around in the back of the car. Today we would have had to strap them down under nets. Our kids also loved to ride with their heads out of the open top.
One winter day our three-year-old daughter fell out of the rear engine platform. Someone failed to close it all the way. Luckily my wife, who had just started up, saw her sitting unhurt in the snow behind the moving car.
Longing at the pictures of the bus brings back many thought of days when we were young and the bus was an integral part of our lives.
Dave
So the bus was originally sold in Brussels, Belgium at the dealership called D'Ieteren. It only had the Colorado plates for 2 years I think. |
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RetroRoadTrips
Samba Member
Joined: April 10, 2014
Posts: 21
Location: Brussels, Belgium
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| Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 5:35 am Post subject: Re: Mouse Grey / Pearl White Buses |
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This is 1977 when Dave (on the right) sold the bus to Bill (on the left).
I still have their bill of sale also...
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