TheSamba.com :: View topic

Thu Oct 20, 2011 8:54 pm

We just traded our 1958 Chevy for this Panel about 3 weeks ago. Even though my wife loves the Bus, she really misses the Chevy. But it went to a great guy, who has great plans for it. I'm just dreading the day that we see it at a local car show, because she's going to be pissed at me for not fixing it up for her like that! :lol:

The bus was driven on the last Shasta Snow Trip by Jason, which is why it's got the knobby tires and Bice bumper on it, and a "Shasta snowtrip" badge on the back! It's also got a Bay Window bus beam on it, which I was told makes it sit up a bit higher. When I first saw this bus, I was thinking that it needed to be lowered immediately.... but it's really grown on me. At this point, I wouldn't dream of lowering it!

The engine is a 1776 with dual Kadrons, and it runs pretty well. It's got a baywindow rear seat in it, some ugly linoleum on the rear floor, a few decent looking homemade wooden panels on the interior, and the only real rust I have found is in the rain gutters. They were slathered with body filler, so I've got to grind all that out with a wire wheel and weld in metal wherever it needs it. The gutters themselves have rotten clear away where the feet of a roof rack used to sit.

Even though it's supposed to be really cool, I really dont' like the Bice bumper. I am trying to decide if I want to sell it and get a pair of stock overrider bumpers (my M code plate says that's what it came with. Code 360, overriders and front blinkers.) Or maybe get a pair of fiberglass pressed bumpers. I love the look of pressed bumpers, but I know they're not correct on this bus.

Eventually, I'd also love to paint it PGSG, even though it should be all Grey. I think a PGSG bus, raised with knobby tires, would be awesome. I'd love to add front and rear Hurst bumpers....and raise it some more with banana plates and an adjustable raised beam...maybe a Subaru engine conversion like I have on my 58 Bug... and on and on... I've got more ideas than I'll ever have time or money to do a quarter of them. So don't worry. :lol:

For now though, first thing is to tackle the rain gutter rust, and repair the driver's side rear quarter panel. I guess the bus had been t-boned at some time in its life, and it shows in the cargo door frame. I'll get more detailed pics of the problem areas, because I need advice on how to repair it. I have some general autobody experience (even took two semesters at the JC back in the day), but I'd like the advice from people who know buses. Does Gerson or anyone else make repair panels for the driver's quarter panel of a double door?

Please let me know any thoughts, opinions, insults, suggestions, or anything else that pops into your head. And I'll work on getting some more detailed pictures of things I have questions about.

Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:03 pm

I almost forgot to add this. Last weekend, we took it on our first family camping trip. I have to admit, I have NEVER been a bus guy. I've literally mocked buses in the past. Heavily. And gleefully blown past caravans of buses on the way to car shows, in my 2270 type4 powered Ghia going 100mph+.

But I got a glimpse of the joy that vintage buses can be on this trip.

In order to camp in it, I built this little coffee-table sized platform to hold up the front of our futon mattress, then folded the Baywindow full length rear seat down. It didn't want to lay flat, but with the coaxing of a ratchet strap,the cushions compressed enough to make it work out great:

It's obviously not very refined, but it worked great. I liked being able to stash all our camping stuff underneath the platform. And we loved being able to use our futon mattress instead of a foam mattress. I think I will make a new platform out of bent emt conduit, which can bolt down to the front seat mounting bolts, so that it's bolted down while driving and out of the way of the rear passengers. Cheap and effective.

My daughter is only 2, so she had plenty of room on the front bench. But a child's cot might be going up in the near future:

And here's the baby waking up to the sunrise over the lake:

Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:20 pm

Looks great, I love the double door buses...

Here is mine, I have a early bay window camper kit in the back.

I like your plans/dreams for the bus except the subaru conversion. PS/SG is a great combo, and i agree on some busses the Bice bumpers look heavy. and to much.

Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:28 pm

OTO X58 wrote:
But I got a glimpse of the joy that vintage buses can be on this trip.

Welcome to the bus life. A little slower, really enjoyable, and way cool. Keep taking your family out like those pictures and your wife will forget about the Chevy in no time

Thu Oct 20, 2011 10:09 pm

Great pics. Enjoy the camping. I just got home and found two safari windows (the macbook kind) open to camping reservation sites. Looks like my wife is ready for another road trip in the bus.

Thanks for the thread.

Thu Oct 20, 2011 10:45 pm

TK Was here!

Thu Oct 20, 2011 10:57 pm

I noticed your mountain bikes. If mountain biking is like a classic Chevy then single speed mountain biking is like a VW bus. :D

My Niner fits nicely inside my bus. Gonna have to get a rack or bumper mount for the entire stable for the whole family.

Thu Oct 20, 2011 11:26 pm

Cool bus.
I'd love to do some camping trips in my panel but the wife prefers hotels :lol:
Where does your daughter sit in the bus?
My 2 year old sone sits right behing the bulkhead but I think he's gonna want to see some more when he gets a bit older.

Fri Oct 21, 2011 10:40 am

Thanks for the comments!

JonAllenRizzo wrote: I like your plans/dreams for the bus except the subaru conversion.

Very very cool bus you've got there, Jon!

That's an expected and respected opinion. I honestly agree with it, for the most part. I won't be able to afford it in the near future, but if I ever did get a chance to do it, I'd keep it simple and clean, without cutting up the bus. Here's a picture of the Subaru conversion I did on my 58 ragtop, as an example. I didn't cut the H apron at all, not even on the inside.

There are many benefits to the conversion, especially with VW engine parts getting more worn out, harder to find, and more expensive. I did the entire conversion in my Bug for $2000, including the fuel injection computer, radiator, stainless exhaust, and everything else. Hard to build a decent performance VW engine, for even twice that much.

bcampagnolo wrote: I noticed your mountain bikes. If mountain biking is like a classic Chevy then single speed mountain biking is like a VW bus. :D

My Niner fits nicely inside my bus. Gonna have to get a rack or bumper mount for the entire stable for the whole family.

Yeah, you're right. I don't miss the Chevy at all, because I never liked it. But my wife loved it!
You can see our trailer for the baby, sitting inside the bus in one of those pictures. I have this aftermarket woodslat roof rack which is narrow enough for a type3 roof, which was originally a suction cup rack. I've modified it to fit onto the Yakima rails, and it fits on the roof in between the two bikes. I plan on sticking the trailer up there on the roof rack. But when the baby gets older and has her own bike, you're right, I'll need a new solution!

volksfahrer.nl wrote: Cool bus.
I'd love to do some camping trips in my panel but the wife prefers hotels :lol:
Where does your daughter sit in the bus?
My 2 year old sone sits right behing the bulkhead but I think he's gonna want to see some more when he gets a bit older.

I love your bus, and your bug! But most of all, I love the pictures you take. Very good eye, man.

Our daughter is also 2, and she sits in the front seat right now, because I haven't had a chance to put good seat belts on the back seat. She totally loves looking out the windshield and seeing everything, but I worry about the safety factor. But I am afraid to put her in the back, especially with no windows, now that she's had a taste of the good life. :lol: She is going to complain like crazy.

Fri Oct 21, 2011 2:35 pm

I think you got the best part of the deal.
Great Van.,enjoy it.

Sun Oct 30, 2011 11:15 pm

Thanks for all the comments!

Some more close-up pictures from today:

The rain gutter rot:

As you can see, someone buttered it up pretty good in the past. I am going to get all that bondo out of there with a wire wheel, but I just wanted to ask for advice on how to fix this correctly? I have replaced a few panels, and I can weld just fine, but those rain gutters have got me a little concerned. I could make a piece and weld it into place, but I am afraid it won't look right.

Sun Oct 30, 2011 11:29 pm

I got that 360 was a code for overrider bumpers and front turn signals, and UA is los angeles. But what is the 215?

Someone fiberglass matted over the vent holes in the rear sometime in the past. I want to take this off, but it's really stuck on there. I'm going to have to be careful and not bend the vents.

Got some wiring cleanup work to do, but everything works just as it should. Aside from the rear cargo light switch on the dash. that has no wires going to it, so I am going to wire that up.

Sun Oct 30, 2011 11:35 pm

And finally, the driver's side cargo door area. The PO said that the bus was lightly T-boned in the past, which messed up the rearmost cargo door pillar, and really did a number on the lower hinge:

I am not in a huge hurry to fix the cargo door pillar, because it works fine and looks OK when the door is closed. But I need to look and see if that panel behind the cargo door is available from Gerson, otherwise I'll have to find something in the classifieds.

Were those reinforcement plates on the belly pans installed by someone? They don't seem factory, but they line up with the seat mouting holes perfectly.

The bus definitely has a good amount of bondo on it. I guess it also had a camper window installed in the past, and someone welded the hole back shut. I haven't even looked at that panel yet, because it's under the birch.

I am very happy with the bus overall, and after fixing a few of the bigger issues shown above, I'll be even happier with it.

Sun Nov 20, 2011 6:46 pm

I got a chance to do a little bit of work on the bus today. Brake adjustment, valve adjustment, and carburetor adjustment. I also stripped and sanded the wheels, and painted them with Krylon Dover White:

I am thinking of bombing the bus in Krylon River Rock this spring, because I can't stand the baby blue two tone, and I can't afford to use real paint yet. Does anybody know if River Rock comes in a gloss finish, or is it just satin?

I've also got a deal brewing for a pair of stock bumpers that need a little work, in exchange for mine. Looking forward to getting those repaired and installed!

Sun Nov 20, 2011 6:55 pm

This used to be an Old Volks bus... I spent some time in this bus at Madera last year (?).

Personally, I think that this bus deserves more that a rattle can bombing job. But that's just me... it's your bus now man; good luck with it.

I liked the gangster 58' Chevy, but would have traded just the same, OTO X58. :wink:

Sun Nov 20, 2011 7:18 pm

Busryder wrote: This used to be an Old Volks bus... I spent some time in this bus at Madera last year (?).

Oh cool! Yeah, I got it from Jason in Old Volks. Super cool guy.

Busryder wrote: Personally, I think that this bus deserves more that a rattle can bombing job. But that's just me... it's your bus now man; good luck with it.

I agree completely, because it's a pretty solid and straight bus! I just can't invest that much time or money into it right now. And when I consider all the body work that's been done to it in the past, I doubt there's much chance of stripping it back to the OG paint. Just about every square foot of this bus has some sort of evidence of Bondo haha.

I figure that the Krylon job could work for a year or two, until I can do some minor body work and spray it with L345. I am only considering this after seeing the results from this thread:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=421762&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Particularly, these pictures of dmuis's truck on page 12:

I figure it'll still be sealed up under the Krylon, because this blue paint job will still be under there. It just will look more like an original L345 panel with off road tires on it, which is what I want. I'm still not sure if that's what I'll do though, just throwing the idea around.

Sun Nov 20, 2011 9:12 pm

Amen to jettisoning the Bice, I can't stand those things or any other half-baked attempt at engineering. I gave a set away once and was prepared to pay someone to take them. Looking forward to your new bumper and L-345 look soon. Keep motivated... and you know there's a pre-Shasta Party with your name on it coming up in December right??? Don't miss out on it!

Sun Nov 20, 2011 10:33 pm

kombisutra wrote: Looking forward to your new bumper and L-345 look soon. Keep motivated... and you know there's a pre-Shasta Party with your name on it coming up in December right??? Don't miss out on it!

Thanks man!! I cant really go on the Shasta trip this year, but I would love to give it a shot next year. That'd give me a chance to get to know the bus a little better, and get myself in a better financial situation. It'd be cool to crash the party tough, and to get to know the nutjobs that go on these trips. hahaha

Mon Nov 21, 2011 12:27 pm

OTO X58 wrote:

I am thinking of bombing the bus in Krylon River Rock this spring, because I can't stand the baby blue two tone, and I can't afford to use real paint yet. Does anybody know if River Rock comes in a gloss finish, or is it just satin?

You can get some spray Acrylic Enamel paint on Ebay for around $50/gal. Im sure it isnt great paint, but would still be worlds better than spray bombing it, and not much more expensive (even after hardner) when you count the cans.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=%28car%2C+auto...m270.l1313

Fri Nov 25, 2011 10:32 pm

I just stumbled upon this video on YouTube, and I'll be damned if that's not the homemade rear bumper on my bus:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK0brMNGq1c

Skip to 1:15 for a good view of it.

Unless this was a custom Cal Look type nerf bar that a company used to make, I believe that's the same bumper.