TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sun Apr 12, 2015 6:08 pm

So after years of waiting I finally got my hands on this panelvan. It was originally shipped to Los Angeles but made it's way cross country to SC some years ago. I remember seeing it on the roads here a few times 5-6 years ago. I first met the bus shortly after the then owner sold the running engine and was planning to make it a shop bus. My late wife painted the logos on it for him and it never moved. He owed me money and the bus was gonna be payment, but he gave it to someone he owed more money to, and I got the full length rack instead of the whole bus. It got moved to the woods not far from my house where I saw it often, sinking further into despair and decay. As fate would have it, a chance to buy it came along, so I jumped on it. The last person that actually drove this thing, drove it a LOT. I found his maintenance log under the seat, his last entry was at 450,000+ miles! Regular fluid changes, brakes, tune ups, engine rebuilds, are all listed. The engine is long gone, but that's really all that's missing, other than taillight housings. It needs rockers, lower doglegs and front valance, but floors show only surface rust. Has a wild camper interior and external (really external, see pics) oil cooler on drivers side. Spent the weekend freeing up front doors latches and getting reacquainted.

Sun Apr 12, 2015 6:26 pm

Interesting story. " My late wife painted the logos on it for him " The paint looks good in pics, how could you paint over the lrttering anyway? Nice color too...

Sun Apr 12, 2015 6:37 pm

Not planning on painting over lettering. Just fixing the rust and trying to match the paint. She had always been an artist, but this was her first lettering job, using the pinstriping brushes I had bought her. I'll post better pics of the lettering tomorrow. She really nailed it. The shop closed down around the time bus was parked in the woods. The lettering still holds meaning though because it's from her hand.
The paint isn't that bad over all. Just some rough spots that need addressing.

Mon Apr 13, 2015 5:34 am

Looks like she did a great job on the lettering, glad you got the bus, panels are cool 8)

Mon Apr 13, 2015 7:45 am

Interesting: non-walk through with no top vents..?

Mon Apr 13, 2015 7:51 am

KevinAlbrecht wrote: Interesting: non-walk through with no top vents..?

It has vents on one side.

Mon Apr 13, 2015 8:04 am

Sh*tBird wrote: KevinAlbrecht wrote: Interesting: non-walk through with no top vents..?

It has vents on one side.

Even MORE interesting. I suppose some creative body work.

Mon Apr 13, 2015 8:09 am

Yeah top vents are filled. I will rectify that. Plan is to get him running, braking. Drive it for a bit then tackle body.

Thu Apr 16, 2015 6:19 pm

I've only been tinkering the last couple days removing the rotten door panels. Hoping to get the remnants of rotten camper interior out this weekend and assess what's needed. Posting a few pics of cab floor, funky gauge dash hack, and closer shot of logos.

Fri Apr 17, 2015 12:45 pm

Nice bus! I had to laugh when I saw the external oil cooler and the "German Auto Specialist." :)

Those are some funky retro gauges and switches in the center of the dash.

Arthur

Sat Apr 18, 2015 9:07 am

Yeah that oil cooler is REALLY external! They did some crazy stuff back in the day. The logos were for a shop I worked for about 9 months, that was only open for a year. I'm gonna leave the logos though because they were painted by my late wife.

Sun Apr 19, 2015 1:04 pm

Love the logos! I'd certainly keep them too. Fix the rusty bits and get it back on the road! :)

Arthur

Sun Apr 19, 2015 5:51 pm

So spent the day pulling the homemade camper interior. While it was cool and functional at one time, it was moldy and had to go. I saved the doors from the side cabinet.
Gonna need about 1/3 of the cargo floor. Drivers side doesn't look so bad, put pass. side was half ass patched at some point, and I'm a little nervous to find out how bad it really is. Time to order some metal. Here's a few pics from today.