58 westy golde sun roof

[Andy57]

looking for more info on this bus. 58 pgsg has a 58 westy interior but has standard door pannels. Also has a golde sun roof almost identical to a 56-58 ghia and porsche 356. Bus has some strange holes, one in the cabinet, one in the back deck. Any info on the bus would be cool, I am not super verse in early westys.

[Andy57]

[Braukuche]

First reaction is HACK. But that is damn clean looking and Golde would install sunroofs into anything. Be interesting to see if it’s a German delivery bus since Golde installation facilities were all over the place, but in the US less common. I’ve read only two one on the east coast one of the west. Pretty slick in any case.
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Go Reds! Smash state!

Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now

[Lind]

Very cool bus. What is the width of the sunroof?
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Wanted:
Idaho VW license plate frames or other dealership items.
VWoA literature and early dealership or distributor literature/pictures/information
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[sled]

Hack is a rough word, but in this case it applies. This bus started life as a normal standard microbus, as seen by the headliner clips. All westfalia buses started as kombis, with hardboard headliner panels in the cab and no headliner in the rear (wood paneling installed)

looks like someone got really creative at one point in its life.
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drive your split.

[campingbox]

The hole in the back deck, floor next to the wheel well, and the roof I think were provisions for a silo propane refrigerator - which would be era correct for that interior. I think at some point someone got rid of the fridge and shrunk the cabinet (or rebuilt it completely) to be flush with the rear hatch and have doors instead.

[earlywesty]

It was 58 pgsg microbus that someone has upgraded at some point. Kind of interesting mods. The interior is 58 westy specific and I would venture as far to say that it may have been installed at the factory early in the buses life in order o have the correct Silo propane fridge vent and drains. I also see something looks similar to microbus style tent mounts on the roof, which may also suggest it was taken to westfalia as a used vehicle for conversion as the headliner would have been in place necessitating the use of the 6 sheet metal screw style mounts given the interior of roof was inaccessible.

[earlywesty]

Also - do not throw anything away. There could be oddball stuff there relating to the camper kit.

[ronjonlasvegas]

What a great find. If this was a German or Europe delivered bus when new it would have come with semaphores and not bullet front turn signals. Do the front bullet turn signals look factory or aftermarket? Do you see any signs that this bus had semaphores? Based on the pictures it looks like a bus that was obviously born as a standard and then taken to Westfalia factory for a conversion so it would have had to been in Germany.

I'm guessing this one is too old to have a m-code plate so order the birth certificate to know for sure where it was delivered when new.
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September 1964 Standard Sunroof walk through SWR/BG original paint.

[srfndoc]

With those six screw tent mounts I always think SO22 since they only used those when a headliner was in place.
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RPM=(MPH*336* (R&P*4th*1.26))/Tire Diameter in inches

[Stocknazi]

If you're not well versed in Westfalia, you will be shortly

The covered hole in the roof, luggage shelf, and floor (with bracket) are all definitely the ducting for a Silo refrigerator. My guess is that was installed at Westfalia. Ribbed rubber floor mat is original 58 Westy as well.

Either someone found a 58 Westy and salvaged the interior (not my first guess due to the Silo fridge holes) or a standard was sent by VW or owner driven to Westfalia for conversion. If the previous owner installed the kit he had access to two 58's b/c the fridge has been swapped out for the rear wardrobe cabinet.

I can't speak to when the sunroof was installed, because I no nothing about them, but it's not an impossibility that it COULD be Westfalia installed.

A birth certificate is a must for this bus. Possible it's an SO-22, and may be the earliest one known.

Just to echo others don't throw ANYTHING out.
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WANTED:
58 Westfalia cabinet knobs (3 needed), roof rack, and (7) privy tent poles (silver painted).

"When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty."
"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God."

Thomas Jefferson

[Braukuche]

[Douglas Denlinger]

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/2480395.jpg

This looks like the base of a Karmann Ghia seat.

This bus brings to mind a Mercedes 0319D, that a friend owns. Original owner purchased the base Mercedes, had a Dormobile top installed. Then designed an interior for Westfalia to fabricate.

A dream and money could build anything. Much like today with Emory in the 356 world.
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Upholstery Haus

Active 23 Window Samba Collector/Restorer,since 1986

[Andy57]

Here are the top measurements. There is no cutting or welding done to the roof skin.I can see both above and below, so there must have been some type of stamping to press the roof hole and edges. scraping back the paint on the sun roof shows it was palm green so likely installed early in the bus's life. I would believe it to be westy installed camping kit with the mount of detailed parts still present. I also think the rear cabinet doors are from the original kit and refitted on to this cabinet, being the doors are similar wood and latches to a 58 westy.

[Clara]

[von_hansel]

This bus is SWEET!

Whether its a factory install or a PO install, I would rock the heck out of this bus. It will look a lot better once you strip the paint off of the kit.

Having heat in the rear is a huge plus! I like how they utilize the heater log with the rear seat.

Can we get a picture of the front side of the rear seat bottom?
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[Erik G]

Sunroof bracing and drains are exactly how Golde would have done it. Looks pretty wide to be a ghia / 356 sunroof... Curvature is spot on too

And I agree that we can't say all Westys were kombi's. Clearly they were not

[j.pickens]

[Lind]

[House]

We need the “mind blown” emoji…
Pretty early in 2024 for the Monster Bus award…