TheSamba.com :: View topic - New 23 window barn door found.............

Tue Apr 29, 2014 3:38 pm

I was unable to locate vin number due to being submersed under water part of the year it is so corroded, where would vin usually be located ? Side of frame rail right?

So what do you guys think?

One heck of a project :lol:

Tue Apr 29, 2014 4:39 pm

Whats the story? Amazes me how some of these cars end up.

Tue Apr 29, 2014 5:10 pm

I wish I knew the whole story, but where I found it is in a spot where I think there used to be a junk yard on the river and they covered over it and made a park. There are cars or rather frames sticking out of the bank with rusted engine blocks sticking out of the bank......
Well I was walking with the girlfriend and the dog and just so happened to stop and walk over to the bank. Well I see the torsion bar suspension/ spring plate. Having done rust work on my split bus I instantly recognize the frame...... Excited I say that's a split bus!! Then i see the trans carrier tubing,Then I see the part by the spring plate and remember seeing that in the forums and knew it was barndoor..... Then I find 1/3 of the deck lid, then find some deluxe trim, then I crawl back up the bank and see the skylights.

I couldn't believe it!!! Shocked to say the least..... It was bittersweet..... I found a barn door...... Oh...... There's not even a vin number on the corroded chassis :lol: :lol:

Coolest thing is there is signs of faint logoing on the deck lid piece and other scraps I could find.

Seems the twisted aluminum trim survived the best, and there are some type of hooks in between the skylights???
Barn door pedals are very rough....

Not really much left and if its there it looks like it came off the titanic.... Anywhere I might of forgot to look form a vin?

Tue Apr 29, 2014 5:14 pm

Nothing stamped on the frame rails. Just the engine bay and on the tag. Is there a front beam there?

Tue Apr 29, 2014 5:51 pm

Wow, awesome find. Too bad it's completely wasted.

I don't see anything in those pics that would have a VIN #.
It's on the "hoop" above the transmission, where the seal rides:

If there is some piece of front bulkhead there you could get the body #. It would behind the front passenger seat area.

Or the front beam has a stamped-in # on the right side arm that might give an idea of year.

P.S. Grab that trim!
P.P.S. "That will buff out"

Tue Apr 29, 2014 6:01 pm

EmpiGT wrote: Nothing stamped on the frame rails. Just the engine bay and on the tag. Is there a front beam there?

Front beam is there! Its like a boat anchor but its there ! Why?

Tue Apr 29, 2014 6:05 pm

Here you can see the beam

And as for the trim I might have to do a lot of digging, lol, there's a rusted car push through what's left......

Tue Apr 29, 2014 6:13 pm

Did you drag it out for wall art. Like Everett said above there is a #stamped on the rubber snub mounts on the beam but it is a body number and not the vin. To narrow down the year. To me it looks mid 53. Early style trans horn reinforcement but shallow skylights.

Tue Apr 29, 2014 6:27 pm

Barndoor Front beam #

Then you can look it up here under Front Axle
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/chassisdating.php

Tue Apr 29, 2014 7:09 pm

Zooming in closer. Those look like they are deep skylights. Any better pics of those? Or any front door parts to see if it has piano hinge vent windows?

Tue Apr 29, 2014 7:12 pm

EmpiGT wrote: Did you drag it out for wall art. Like Everett said above there is a #stamped on the rubber snub mounts on the beam but it is a body number and not the vin. To narrow down the year. To me it looks mid 53. Early style trans horn reinforcement but shallow skylights.

I'll take a look on the weekend but I have a feeling its corroded off.....

Ya wall art ??? Maybe... I know I saw it i was thinking what could I do with this?? I went back down to it earlier today and was just looking at it thinking how can I rebuild it hahaha when I saw it I was thinking there couldnt even see one savable part with how corroded it is and no vin..... If I could find the vin plates I would be tapping the bank account and putting in a mega order to gerson 8)

Tue Apr 29, 2014 7:17 pm

EmpiGT wrote: Zooming in closer. Those look like they are deep skylights. Any better pics of those? Or any front door parts to see if it has piano hinge vent windows?

I'll try to get better pics on the weekend, I can take a measurement to, know the measurement difference?

My new hobby might be sifting through this pile of parts while people jog by on the park scratching there heads wondering why this guys digging in the rubble :lol: :lol:

Tue Apr 29, 2014 11:46 pm

If you find a usable vin it's doable. I can think of 2 others being done which are just as bad.

Can you check the skylights.
From the INSIDE if they have this recess...

Then it's a 53-55.
If it's flat from the INSIDE right up to the edge of the skylight opening then it's early 53 or before.
If you can find the dash that would say to. Look for a bit sticking out where the steering column goes.

Wed Apr 30, 2014 3:36 am

It would be cool to see that thing just as art like a dinosaur sculpture

Thu May 01, 2014 8:58 am

grab every piece and walk the dog more often...... :shock:
Coolest wall hanger at least, if not throw it up for 10 grand hahah

Thu May 01, 2014 9:34 am

:shock: 8) looks like someone got the spindles already. :lol: Start digging!!

Thu May 01, 2014 3:20 pm

That thing is sitting in Revelstoke, B.C. Canada. A buddy of mine found that thing probably 20+ years ago.

I checked it out with him maybe 15+ years ago. Looks like it's now more exposed. When I saw it, my buddy grabbed the very rusty VW nose emblem and I still have one of the aluminum rear body bumper corners (rough shape). Yup! It's an oldie - pre 1953.

I took one photo of it back then. In the photo, I'm pretty sure I can make out a pod hole in what was left of the dash, although I don't recall seeing it when I was there in person.

Back then we thought there was nothing left of it. It was buried in the side of the river bank. Always wanted to go back and see it again.

Thu May 01, 2014 6:13 pm

That makes 2 Canadian 23 window BD's that have been found in a river bottom. Thankfully the other one is more saveable than the one in this post. :shock:

Thu May 01, 2014 6:25 pm

i can think of one bus that could use the frame

Fri May 02, 2014 12:20 am

The front axle number is stamped with large and quite deeply recessed numbers, you should be able to read it after some cleaning with wirebrush or scraper. As Everett posted the location here is where that would be on your sad heap :wink: