TheSamba.com :: View topic - My 1968 camper - kind of rough

Thu Feb 19, 2015 7:06 pm

Hi folks - on new years 2015 I bought a 1968 camper. ( I had 71 daily driver bus back in 2005, but had to sell it, new baby blah blah blah, needed a car w heater...anyway...back to now, I wanted a bus to work on and drive again. )

the 68 was living in Seattle, and I brought it down to Portland for some TLC and to clean it up.

Bus is a bit rusty in spots, a bit rough, but it is mine.

The engine seemed strong on drive home, but, after driving it home, I took it to local shop for engine check out. Shop said engine has a knock and engine needs a rebuild.

While I save up for rebuild costs, I am redoing the interior. The interior was complete, but old and musty and kind of rotten in spots from leakage. Here is what interior looked like:

Oh and yeah the bus has some front floor rust issues

Current status: Right now, camper interior is out, wood floor is out, rust in cargo area and back deck are being worked on, and cabinets have a fresh coats of spar varnish on the inside to prevent moisture damage. Steering wheel is back in. (Drivers side front floor is cleaned up and patched as best I can - por15 and patch panel w rivets - I know not the right fix for some samba folks, but due to space restrictions and fire hazards in narrow garage, I went w rivets...).

I will post more progress pictures as I go.

Thu Feb 19, 2015 7:29 pm

Good for you! Seems like a worthy bus.

Thu Feb 19, 2015 7:31 pm

Greetings from a fellow early Bay (Westy). Congratulations, I still think you got a good one. If you haven't found him already, do a search on here for a member who goes by the name of "71Whitewesty". I forget if he's in Oregon or Washington but he posts some great videos of trips from around there. Point is, what a great area you're in to use yours.

You know, if I had it to do over again, I'd likely go with an early Bay slick top with Westy interior. I really like the exterior lines. My upper cot is not very useful anyway. And speaking of your neck of the woods, there's a great awning and add a room maker up there called "Cascadia". I'm thinking about trying one on my Westy.

Wish you well on the engine rebuild. Happy motoring!

Thu Feb 19, 2015 8:24 pm

Looks like a nice one! Is that Arizona yellow I see?
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=617043

Thu Feb 19, 2015 9:20 pm

Yes Arizona Yellow - or what is left of it. Bus was painted white by PO - drivers side door inside is blue and rear hatch was red. I am thinking of getting some spray paint matched to Arizona Yellow to lay over the por15 and primer on the interior parts where I need to repaint.

Here are some pictures of the interior as I did the rust repair.

The horse hair dread locks on the back deck were rotten and had little bugs crawling in the fibers.

Behind drivers seat. Ouch.

Cleaner!

The result of leaky windows and insulation glued in place behind panels:

Cleaner!

This glue was a bitch to get off the sheet metal.

Cleaner!

Leaky window. 7 different sized screws held window in place, non evenly drilled, with a big 'oh bus what happened?' on the frame behind drivers side.

Window is out. Need to repair window frame before putting it back in.

Fri Feb 20, 2015 12:11 am

Wow you've got your work cut out for you but at the same time, have already accomplished so much and it seems like a pretty solid bus! What color are you going to make the outside? Arizona Yellow or something different?

This will be fun to watch. I love these kinds of stories. :)

:popcorn:

Fri Feb 20, 2015 12:53 am

austinb wrote: Hi folks - on new years 2015 I bought a 1968 camper. ( I had 71 daily driver bus back in 2005, but had to sell it, new baby blah blah blah, needed a car w heater...anyway...back to now, I wanted a bus to work on and drive again. )

the 68 was living in Seattle, and I brought it down to Portland for some TLC and to clean it up.

Bus is a bit rusty in spots, a bit rough, but it is mine.

The engine seemed strong on drive home, but, after driving it home, I took it to local shop for engine check out. Shop said engine has a knock and engine needs a rebuild.

While I save up for rebuild costs, I am redoing the interior. The interior was complete, but old and musty and kind of rotten in spots from leakage. Here is what interior looked like:

Current status: Right now, camper interior is out, wood floor is out, rust in cargo area and back deck are being worked on, and cabinets have a fresh coats of spar varnish on the inside to prevent moisture damage. Steering wheel is back in. (Drivers side front floor is cleaned up and patched as best I can - por15 and patch panel w rivets - I know not the right fix for some samba folks, but due to space restrictions and fire hazards in narrow garage, I went w rivets...).

I will post more progress pictures as I go.

I lived in a 68 for a time once. How well I remember that mustard colored vinyl---frigid in the winter, sticky in the summer, only upside is it would wipe clean when my baby brother threw up on it.

I'd rivet the floor in in a heart beat. Some marine sealant between the panels and stainless rivits. Last forever. The outside looks pretty strait. Nice score!.

Fri Feb 20, 2015 5:45 am

If u haven't already done it change oil, NOT a 50wt kind & run it some , if its been sitting awhile may smooth out. Get a 2nd opinion on the knock.

Fri Feb 20, 2015 9:16 am

that thing is beautiful, '68 is the best year.

Fri Feb 20, 2015 9:24 am

Brian wrote: that thing is beautiful, '68 is the best year.

I agree! :wink:

Fri Feb 20, 2015 3:12 pm

Very very nice bus. Any bus you can camp in is the best year IMO. 'Cept those damn '72. :wink:

Mon Mar 02, 2015 7:18 pm

hi folks -

Just posting an update...still in the redo of the interior phase...not going to paint exterior...will take off rattle can white to OG paint eventually...

here is my floor it looks like a cow...por15 down

wall shot..por15

side louvered window got cleaned and a new screen

cleaned off paint off emblem, plan is to take it in to get re chromed and hole filled

took camper stuff out to sand and re finish, here is the jump seat before

after, w spar varnish...still rough sealed off as best I could

and oh yeah pedals back in bus she is driveable...don't be jelly of the purple shifter. ;)

Mon Mar 02, 2015 9:51 pm

That's a good looking ride - keep up the good work!

Mon Mar 02, 2015 10:07 pm

your steering wheel looks like mine. Got a plan?

Mon Mar 02, 2015 10:14 pm

Hi Yes PITApan, my plan is to peel off the weird beef jerky wrap, tighten up what is there and hook up a la cucaracha horn either through the center horn button or aux button. totally serious about the horn sound. :)

Mon Mar 02, 2015 10:57 pm

austinb wrote: Hi Yes PITApan, my plan is to peel off the weird beef jerky wrap, tighten up what is there and hook up a la cucaracha horn either through the center horn button or aux button. totally serious about the horn sound. :)

I was wondering about the center where the plastic is missing. The miracle of Bondo?

Wheelskins is a brand of wheel cover that looks really nice if you have rim cracks. Its a circle of leather and you stitch it on.

Sun Mar 22, 2015 9:57 am

ok an update on my progress

I primered / painted the inside.

The floor and side walls that will be behind panels are going to be hidden so they will stay white.

The visible sides of the inside I repainted Arizona Yellow

And also got the passenger side under side of the bus coated with some por15

Next up is the louvered window..which is taken apart...re doing the seals...which will keep me busy for a while...then putting louvered window back into bus....

Mon Mar 23, 2015 5:21 pm

Looks great AustinB. I'm following your posts. I just bought a 68 myself. Campmobile. Out of curiosity, where did you get the screens for the louvered windows? Keep up the good work.

Mon Mar 23, 2015 7:44 pm

Great work! I'm in about the same position on my 68 as well. Couple questions: What was your process on the surface rust? I'm looking at using a rust/paint stripping tool attached to my drill to get any loose rusty stuff off before applying the POR15. Did you brush or spray on the primer and paint? Specific products?

Also, can you tell me more about the patch over your sink drain hole? Mine is a bit trickier because of the belly pans, but I want to formulate a good plan for covering it up before I replace the floor. I'm leaning toward a small piece of sheet metal and silicone.

Keep it up!

Wed Mar 25, 2015 9:53 am

hi -camping68 my process for removing surface rust was a drill with coarse wire wheels.

I then applied por15 cleaner then por15 metal prep then por15 paint, which I painted on w brush. Over por15 went some por15 black top coat spray. Over that went basic white primer, then white enamel both rattle can from the local auto parts store. the yellow walls were painted w rattle can touch up paint matched to color from automotivetouchup.com , covered w clear coat.

the patch on the floor for sink hole was done by previous owner. it is a piece of sheet metal glued to floor with a silicone adhesive. Not pretty, but I'm not putting a sink back in and the patch is going to be covered by flooring, so I left it be.

d21998 - I got the screen replaced from a local screen shop in Tigard Oregon. Mobile Screen was the name.

( Cleaning and replacing seals in louvered windows is maddening. Fear of cracking glass and rusted in place screws have replaced counting sheep at night. )