The Smile Bus - '61 SWR

[kombisutra]

Glad to see the thread on the bus Jake! The SWR will surprise the hell out of you when you begin to put the wax to it. That thing will be really nice, and congratulations on sticking it out for so many years. I've done the same, but that's a hell of a long time that thing sat there!

Somethings driving me crazy and I need help. The face on your bus struck my memory. There's an image in the back of the Floyd Clymer Transporter Owners Handook (I believe) and for the life of me (five hour internet search) I cannot seem to pull the image down. So many of you know the image I'm talking about: the bus (may be a single cab) is blasting down a southwest dirt road toward the camera with a jashua trees in the image. On the front of the bus, is, well, shit... that bus may be the same bus!

I'm kind of like 15,000 miles from my VW library at the moment, and while the internet is really good, I'm apparently lacking in my search ability. I've spent a long time trying to pull it down with no luck. Unless someone can find it on the internet, can somebody pull the book off their shelf and scan the damn image? This search has had me pulling my hair out. Thanks. Let's see if it's the same bus.

Jake, you -might be- rocking one hell of a famous bus right there!

['64cal lookdub]

['64cal lookdub]

When I cleaned out the bus I found one of the original commercial hubcaps and it had two more rusty dinged up chrome caps. I bought a nice original German set from this dude yesterday. I had planned to repaint them the correct colors but the chrome was too nice. Today I just detailed them using the wood block method and they came out pretty decent. Someone drilled a hole in the center of the lower right cap. It was just something to do while I'm waiting for the rest of my parts to get here. I will probably repaint them the correct colors later on.

[KombiMadness]

[kombisutra]

Nice caps, but please stay the course and put grey caps on it. Commercial buses almost never got the chrome ones, and that may have only been after they rolled out of the factory. You'll lose you caps with enough frequency that it makes good sense to pound out dented ones, and just paint them.

Literature Collectors: Looking for the vintage Floyd Clymer image of the smiling bus in the back of the Transporter Handbook flying through the southwest desert. This bus has the same "grill" - may be the very same bus!

[hubCapT]

Got a small pile of dealership literature from a local buddy recently, this 1962 "The Owners Viewpoint" has some smiley busses from the Truly Nolen Exterminating Company. They all appear to be single cabs in this fleet though. Looks like your bus even has the eye lashes around the headlights though?

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"I have always thought that stereotypes were a real time saver." cdennisg

['64cal lookdub]

That's funny, they look close! The teeth are similar too. It even has the eyelashes painted above the headlights. Mine have pretty much worn away but they're more visible in the 2006 photos. Thanks for posting up, it looks like you may have addressed the mystery if these are the photos Brian was talking about.

I saved this photo a while back of another bus with a smile painted on the nose:

[nlorntson]

I recall seeing this exterminating company in FL more last winter. They now drive in new beetles with ears and tails.

http://www.trulynolen.com/corporate/mouse-car.asp

[2true]

[kombisutra]

Outstanding! Exactly the image I remember! I have that piece of literature, and I guess that's where I remember seeing it. I'm pretty sure I've seen the image used in the Clymer Handbook too, but I may be wrong. I did remember I had thought it was a single cab. Anyway, thank you for taking the time to post those pages. Really cool, tough to believe there isn't some connection. Just happy to be able to compare them.

[cru62]

[kombisutra]

Glad the memory is still functional! One thing for sure: not only is that a badass historic image, but soon enough, the panal with the same smiling face will soon be blasting down dirt roads again!

['64cal lookdub]

['64cal lookdub]

I haven't been hitting the bus as fast as I'd liked to lately, but it will be back on the road here shortly. I've pretty much collected everything to get it rolling again, a few things aren't pictured.

I hooked up one of my decent 6v batteries and it turned over like a champ with the ignition switch. I had GabVWKey cut me a key off the code and luckily the switch was good. I put in fresh oil, plugs and wires prior but it wasn't getting spark. The ignition parts were fried so I bought some NORS parts off here for my big cap distributor.

I have always just purchased new master and wheel cylinders, but after running across Kombisutra's extraction threads I realized rebuilding is the way to go if they check out. I used Brian's grease gun trick to remove the pistons and it worked great. Just screw in a metric grease gun and pump until the piston is almost out. I used a small C-clamp to hold pressure on one piston so the other one would move free after the other was out enough.

They were all in pretty good shape, a few did had some light pitting and corrosion issues, but the cylinder hone took care of it. I had to work one cylinder quite a bit longer than the others but it honed out great. To my surprise the piston cup seals were in excellent shape, they looked just as nice as my new seals from Napa. I of course used the new seals, but I wouldn't have worried about reusing the ones I pulled off. The perks of rebuilding, I now have German wheel cylinders ready to roll without raping my wallet or cussing the inferior replacements.

I went ahead and rebuilt the master cylinder too. It's an old Varga and after I blew it apart the bore looked pretty nice. I honed it shiny and installed a Raybestos kit. I'm glad the aluminum reservoir was never pitched.

[Eric&Barb]

You should upgrade to dual circuit MC and have safer brakes.
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In Stereo, Where Available!

[RPGreg2600]

['64cal lookdub]

[Eric&Barb]

That is great if you are going to make it a museum piece and trailer to shows.

If you are going to be driving it, adding safety items like seat belts and dual master cylinder is not a crime.
When, not if, you blow out a wheel cylinder you will have zero brakes. With dual circuit more than likely you have about half the braking power. Have seen enough crunched bus noses directly due to failed brakes. Knock on wood, we have just avoided that a time or two.
_________________
In Stereo, Where Available!

[cru62]

['64cal lookdub]

That is a before picture.