TheSamba.com :: View topic - Another Samba has been found in Norway (May 57)

Wed Aug 12, 2009 1:52 pm

bushaus wrote: At the very least, they've cleaned up part of a lake in Norway! Wonder how long it was down there, seems like with a VW, anything longer than 2 years and it might have dissolved!

Very cold fresh water will not corrode metal like warmer water will.
It is entirely possible that it had indeed been in teh water for some time and still be this intact.

Wed Aug 12, 2009 2:03 pm

M113 wrote: Isn't there something "fishy" about how perfect the sunroof is? Seems a little too nice and "watertight"!

Yeah, that sunroof looks perfectly tight. True what others have said about cold water and the lack of light and oxygen down at the bottom. I recall a few years back some warbird enthusiasts pulled a Navy F4F (I think it was an F4F) out of one of the Great Lakes that had been there since the ealry 40s. Apart from minor crash damage, the paint was still shiny and even on of the tires still had air in it. Still had gas in the tank, too.

EDIT: Oops. it was an SBD Dauntless:

Wed Aug 12, 2009 2:48 pm

BryanM wrote: bushaus wrote: At the very least, they've cleaned up part of a lake in Norway! Wonder how long it was down there, seems like with a VW, anything longer than 2 years and it might have dissolved!

Very cold fresh water will not corrode metal like warmer water will.
It is entirely possible that it had indeed been in teh water for some time and still be this intact.

Thanks, I just learned something today!

Wed Aug 12, 2009 5:04 pm

This german Tank was found and saved from a lake in russia after 62 years of being in cold water and mud and still rolled with factory paint. Have a look cool. 8)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtJkyd3JJWE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZHVgMzfD38

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBK3Zs13p94

Wed Aug 12, 2009 5:14 pm

That`s an amazing find. I wonder how much of it will or can be saved?

Wed Aug 12, 2009 5:32 pm

Send it to Stall20... :wink:

Wed Aug 12, 2009 5:35 pm

god that thing is gorgeous!!!! break out the CLR! :D

Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:17 pm

Now that it has oxygen getting to it, won't it just rust faster?

My first thought was "hope they don't find a body in it"

Wed Aug 12, 2009 7:27 pm

My second thought was- he's gonna need Lind's drum puller.

Wed Aug 12, 2009 8:35 pm

[quote="thom"]That shit will dry out...

Thom, with the ultimate one-liner!

Now that's my kinda' Deluxe, 'cept, where's my center seat? Definately throw it back LOL!

If that's fresh water, that bus WILL dry out and may very well surprise everyone for lack of corrosion. Will look forward to the updates on this thread and the bus's soon to be revealed condition. VERY nice roof to begin with.

Thanks for posting this!

Thu Aug 13, 2009 12:00 am

from here http://sccevent.com/

More info here too http://www.volksforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=58322

Quote: One of the most hardcore enthusiasts in Norway when it comes to vintage beetles, Morten Lund, wanted to put the statement on the SCC t-shirts “Don’t lower your standards” to the test. But not by un-slamming a standard beetle, he had something else in mind. Some six years ago he “purchased” a untouched original 1957 samba bus with Norwegian history, and arranged all the paperwork. Due to his relatively large collection of VERY old VW’s counting some fifty cars, the time had not come around to collect it yet.
Fortunately for us, he decided that SCC 2009 would be a great place to display the samba for the very first time. There were some minor practical issues to be solved; the bus was parked on the bottom of a mountain lake. 50 feet below the surface!!!
The reason for the somewhat odd choice of parking space back in 1974? A defective transmission!!!
The rescue mission took place in the most scenic surroundings Norway has to offer, and as close to the SCC weekend as possible because Morten wanted to display the bus as “fresh” as possible from the lake!
Involving divers, an enormous mobile crane and a handfull of good friends the bus finally saw the light of day again. We can guarantee you a condition of a vintage car that you have never seen before. And will probably never see again!!!
At SCC you will have the opportunity to judge for yourself, does it pay off to lower your standard or deluxe in to a mountain lake for preservation?
The crazy rescue team leader and owner is a co-organizer of the Vintage Village at SCC, and will be around all weekend to show pictures and tell the story!
This has to be one of the most amazing feats we have ever seen in the European VW community and the SCC crew are MOST humble and proud to present it for your viewing pleasure at the event!!!

ONLY AT THE SCC!

Thu Aug 13, 2009 7:03 am

So, person "A" says "My transmission is hosed, so I'll push it into the lake?"

Then 30 years later, someone (maybe "A", maybe not) says to person "B" - "Hey, wanna buy a '57 deluxe? It has a bad transmission, and it's at the bottom of a lake." Person "B" says "Hell ya, but it's gonna be a few years until I can come get it, is that OK?" Sure!

Um, yeah. And I thought the Oregon/PNW guys smoked a lot of dope...

Thu Aug 13, 2009 7:10 am

My buddy, Thomas in Noway tells me crazy stories of VW bros with are divers, and pull ALL KINDS of cool stuff out of deep, cold lakes. Military equipment, VWs, what have you.
Cool to see some pictures.

Thu Aug 13, 2009 9:22 am

wonder if this beetle is related

Thu Aug 13, 2009 7:58 pm

thom wrote: So, person "A" says "My transmission is hosed, so I'll push it into the lake?"

Then 30 years later, someone (maybe "A", maybe not) says to person "B" - "Hey, wanna buy a '57 deluxe? It has a bad transmission, and it's at the bottom of a lake." Person "B" says "Hell ya, but it's gonna be a few years until I can come get it, is that OK?" Sure!

Um, yeah. And I thought the Oregon/PNW guys smoked a lot of dope...

Thom, is it person "C" that gets it running and driving (without doing any metal replacment, body work, paint, or interior) and calls it a hood ride?

Thu Aug 13, 2009 8:01 pm

this has to be one of the most intresting finds I have ever herd of . I am sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for pictures of it as it looks all cleaned up... If this thing ends up back on the road iot will be one of the most intresting finds in bus history My mind asks how did the get down there to recover it and what did it cost to get that thing out of the lake? I would be interesting to see some dive pictures of it under water befor they brought it up.

Thu Aug 13, 2009 9:07 pm

kombisutra wrote:

Now that's my kinda' Deluxe, 'cept, where's my center seat? Definately throw it back LOL!

A drive out thread of this bus would have been much better.

Fri Aug 14, 2009 12:07 am

mike spadafora wrote: this has to be one of the most intresting finds I have ever herd of . I am sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for pictures of it as it looks all cleaned up... If this thing ends up back on the road iot will be one of the most intresting finds in bus history My mind asks how did the get down there to recover it and what did it cost to get that thing out of the lake? I would be interesting to see some dive pictures of it under water befor they brought it up.

The whole rescue mission is caught on tape with proffesional equipment by the divers. I think that is even more exiting than pictures. The bus is dispalyed this weekend at the largest VW meeting in Norway, and will be cleaned up after that. Most of the rust damage (in the usual places) was probably there before it was dumped. The rear has suffered some rust attack, prbably because the bus was standing in a downhill position under water. Air was caought in pockets in the upper area of the engine compartment, and upper rear part of cargo area. It seems that maybe the battery was in, and the acid did some good work around the battery tray. Stay tuned for more deatils of this samba bus, and after seeing it live, this will be back on the road...

Fri Aug 14, 2009 9:58 am

TOP. love it
looks in really very decent condition. would be cool to roll it with the limpets left on
plenty of pics from the show, please

Fri Aug 14, 2009 10:41 am

I'm immediately reminded of a story I heard many years ago about a cargo ship sinking in the early 50's loaded with early VW's. Anybody else remember hearing this story and can provide some more details? Imagine a cargo hold full of split window bugs and barndoor buses!