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SGKent Sat Oct 24, 2020 7:56 pm

Cap10323 wrote: $800-1000. Personally I'd say that's a parts-until-proven-otherwise bus.

My bus sat on concrete for about 10 years, the body looked 20 times better than that, and this was the beam. Admittedly the owner spun me a story about the Beam being changed, but still.

With rust, everything is worse than it appears. My 1" hole in the quarter panel turned into full inner and outer quarters, rockers, and some of a dogleg.




definitely want to check the beam and torsion tube on any bus before working on it. Beams can be replaced, the torsion tube is part of the main chassis.

Abscate Sun Oct 25, 2020 3:20 am

oprn wrote: Hello CanStan, yes I saw your Bus ad and looked it over. Pretty nice in my view and the price is fair too. There are very few Busses in our part of the world that are rust free. It must have been in storage for many many years or came from a warm dry climate. I would buy it IF I was looking for a Bus! But - I'm not. I'm very surprised someone has not picked it up. I am also surprised that my Bus flipper buddy has not made you an offer.

Ya your ad helped me to realize that the local market here is soft at the moment and I am better to wait until spring. That will give me a chance to get the engine running again too.

I wish I could roll up and have a beer and an evening. We would have that Bus humming O’Canada I a few hours

We’ve driven a bunch of flippers out of our area with the four car rule....more than four a year and you better have your paperwork and bond , because you are dealer in our state. They were all cheating on taxes, too.

oprn Sun Oct 25, 2020 4:04 am

Abscate wrote: I wish I could roll up and have a beer and an evening. We would have that Bus humming O’Canada I a few hours We’ve driven a bunch of flippers out of our area with the four car rule....more than four a year and you better have your paperwork and bond , because you are dealer in our state. They were all cheating on taxes, too.

Sounds good! It really could be that simple depending on the deterioration of electrical connections, rubber parts etc. Right now of course with no place warm to work on it (-16C this morning) and being an old guy with arthritis the incentive is not there. The renovations inside the house are calling me.

Abscate Sun Oct 25, 2020 4:18 am

It’s gotten a couple of my fingers but the rest of my body I can’t complain.

I do take better care of my hands and fingers using heat and impacts to get stuff loose , then zipping them off instead of all that wrist wear. I love those flexible extensions for this.

Maybe another year before we can shoot the border again. I sure miss the tables in Montreal.

Wasted youth Sun Oct 25, 2020 4:24 am

wagohn wrote:
I also think that there is another class of potential owner that isn't going to spend $10k+ on renovations to chase perfection. We bought a "rust in usual places" (battery tray, sills not too great, etc) bus back in April, spent $300 -> $500 refreshing all the brakes, tuning, etc. and drove the bus almost daily all Summer long. We camped, attended classic car parades, and had a great time.
We will never win any prizes for museum-quality and that's OK. Pulling into a campsite in July and enjoying our last summer with our daughter before college was priceless. Worth every dime, even if the bus imploded tomorrow we've had our money's worth. She's also the "cool kid" at High School who drives a Volkswagen. So, yes, I'd go $2500 for that bus.



Absolutley! There are a number of people who will just dink on their buses forever and never get them rolling or try to make every damn thing just perfect, only to fall on their faces in the end. USE the bus. DRIVE the damned thing, even if it squeaks, rattles and lets the wind in. These were meant to be a part of an active life, not trailer queens that get ripped off.

oprn Sun Oct 25, 2020 4:46 am

SGKent wrote: Cap10323 wrote: $800-1000. Personally I'd say that's a parts-until-proven-otherwise bus.

My bus sat on concrete for about 10 years, the body looked 20 times better than that, and this was the beam. Admittedly the owner spun me a story about the Beam being changed, but still.

With rust, everything is worse than it appears. My 1" hole in the quarter panel turned into full inner and outer quarters, rockers, and some of a dogleg.




definitely want to check the beam and torsion tube on any bus before working on it. Beams can be replaced, the torsion tube is part of the main chassis.
Oh wow! That beam is bad! I had a spare for this Bus from a '68 roll over with 68K miles on it that was as close to perfect as any used beam will be. I toyed with the idea of keeping it for this Bus but in the end the condition of mine was nearly as good. Just a but more wear in the center steering drag link was all so I advertised it on that same VW Face Book site complete with brakes. One call, no takers.

I refused to take it to the crushers so it hung around for 2 years until I found a guy in the city that wanted to put it in his split Bus. But - I had to meet him half way and that was with giving it away free!

SGKent Sun Oct 25, 2020 7:43 am

I am more worried about the torsion tube in the back. They rot too and rust never sleeps

oprn Sun Oct 25, 2020 12:34 pm

It's still ok.

No unfortunately rust never sleeps. Sometimes it slows down a bit and sometimes it sprints ahead.

Cap10323 Sun Oct 25, 2020 1:48 pm

oprn wrote: SGKent wrote: Cap10323 wrote: $800-1000. Personally I'd say that's a parts-until-proven-otherwise bus.

My bus sat on concrete for about 10 years, the body looked 20 times better than that, and this was the beam. Admittedly the owner spun me a story about the Beam being changed, but still.

With rust, everything is worse than it appears. My 1" hole in the quarter panel turned into full inner and outer quarters, rockers, and some of a dogleg.




definitely want to check the beam and torsion tube on any bus before working on it. Beams can be replaced, the torsion tube is part of the main chassis.
Oh wow! That beam is bad! I had a spare for this Bus from a '68 roll over with 68K miles on it that was as close to perfect as any used beam will be. I toyed with the idea of keeping it for this Bus but in the end the condition of mine was nearly as good. Just a but more wear in the center steering drag link was all so I advertised it on that same VW Face Book site complete with brakes. One call, no takers.

I refused to take it to the crushers so it hung around for 2 years until I found a guy in the city that wanted to put it in his split Bus. But - I had to meet him half way and that was with giving it away free!

Beams are tricky to both find and sell because nobody wants to ship such a thing. I had to drive 4 hours round trip to buy mine. and it was just under half what I paid for the entire bus.

Clatter Mon Oct 26, 2020 9:29 am

If some 'flipper' gives you $2500 cash for that bus take it!

The joke will be on him.

Cap10323 Mon Oct 26, 2020 1:22 pm

wagohn wrote:
I also think that there is another class of potential owner that isn't going to spend $10k+ on renovations to chase perfection. We bought a "rust in usual places" (battery tray, sills not too great, etc) bus back in April, spent $300 -> $500 refreshing all the brakes, tuning, etc. and drove the bus almost daily all Summer long. We camped, attended classic car parades, and had a great time.
We will never win any prizes for museum-quality and that's OK. Pulling into a campsite in July and enjoying our last summer with our daughter before college was priceless. Worth every dime, even if the bus imploded tomorrow we've had our money's worth. She's also the "cool kid" at High School who drives a Volkswagen. So, yes, I'd go $2500 for that bus.



That's what I did to mine. Went through all the systems and got it mechanically solid, repaired the "usual rust" with solid metal (doesn't look perfect, but a lot stronger than bondo) and have now put something like 7-8K miles of daily driving on it over the summer. Also went to car shows, camping, and have used it to transport everything from firewood to water heaters.

I am nowhere near wealthy or skilled enough to do a full restoration. Which is lucky because if I did, I'd never want to enjoy the bus.

oprn Wed Nov 18, 2020 9:50 am

Clatter wrote: If some 'flipper' gives you $2500 cash for that bus take it!

The joke will be on him.
I just thought I would update this thread. In my last post I had decided to get the Bus running for spring with the hopes that the market would firm up a bit. Well - I got some calls and messages on it from this site and one fellow jumped on a plane and flew out, borrowed a car and showed up here to see it. He was impressed with the overall condition and price and bought it on the spot with intention to drive it to Calgary 3.5 hours away for a once over. I said no, I would trailer it to Calgary for him seeing as he did not dicker about the price.

I did that and just got a call from him last night. He spent a week on it in Calgary with brake lines, tires and electrical. It took a new fuel pump to get it running too. He made it home 14 hours through the mountain passes in winter weather, used 6 quarts of oil on the first 1/2 of the trip until he found and fixed the worst oil leaks then it used no oil for the remainder of the trip.

He also confirmed what I told him, that bone stock 1600SP engine does indeed push that Bus at 75mph on the flat! Bear in mind this engine has not run in 30 years and he did nothing internally to it for the trip.

Sad to see it go but happy that someone is doing with it what I was not.

No the joke is not on him , it's on all the negative Nancys, he got a good Bus!

Mispeld Wed Nov 18, 2020 10:51 am

Right on!

It is easy to dismiss potential when you live out west away from the rust belt.

I recently sold a 1973 F100. The buyer said he could get a nicer one back in Texas for the same price. I told him I could get twice as much for it in New Hampshire but here we both are... in North Carolina...

Glad to hear your bus is still living.

aeromech Wed Nov 18, 2020 2:03 pm

I got some calls and messages on it from this site and one fellow jumped on a plane and flew out, borrowed a car and showed up here to see it. He was impressed with the overall condition and price and bought it on the spot

Since you used the samba and were successful selling the bus, a small donation is in order. The ads in the samba classifieds are free so I make a point of sending a donation. It's a good thing to do.

oprn Wed Nov 18, 2020 3:50 pm

Excellent suggestion!

Abscate Wed Nov 18, 2020 4:02 pm

If you give enough, you get a free yellow star!

crukab Wed Nov 18, 2020 6:58 pm

oprn wrote: Clatter wrote: If some 'flipper' gives you $2500 cash for that bus take it!

The joke will be on him.
I just thought I would update this thread. In my last post I had decided to get the Bus running for spring with the hopes that the market would firm up a bit. Well - I got some calls and messages on it from this site and one fellow jumped on a plane and flew out, borrowed a car and showed up here to see it. He was impressed with the overall condition and price and bought it on the spot with intention to drive it to Calgary 3.5 hours away for a once over. I said no, I would trailer it to Calgary for him seeing as he did not dicker about the price.

I did that and just got a call from him last night. He spent a week on it in Calgary with brake lines, tires and electrical. It took a new fuel pump to get it running too. He made it home 14 hours through the mountain passes in winter weather, used 6 quarts of oil on the first 1/2 of the trip until he found and fixed the worst oil leaks then it used no oil for the remainder of the trip.

He also confirmed what I told him, that bone stock 1600SP engine does indeed push that Bus at 75mph on the flat! Bear in mind this engine has not run in 30 years and he did nothing internally to it for the trip.

Sad to see it go but happy that someone is doing with it what I was not.

No the joke is not on him , it's on all the negative Nancys, he got a good Bus!

Congrats on the sale AND the great story from the new owner !!!!!

The Bay market is still not anything close to the Split market, in the last 4 years, I've sold 3 Bays, they were all $1500 or less, the lone Split I sold during that time was $3500, all 4 RUSTY as hell, pure VT. rust.......

My name is Tom and I'm a Bus flipper, but I do it to keep 4 money hungry VW whores on the road.... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

orangebug60guy Thu Nov 19, 2020 11:41 am

crukab wrote: oprn wrote: Clatter wrote: If some 'flipper' gives you $2500 cash for that bus take it!

The joke will be on him.
I just thought I would update this thread. In my last post I had decided to get the Bus running for spring with the hopes that the market would firm up a bit. Well - I got some calls and messages on it from this site and one fellow jumped on a plane and flew out, borrowed a car and showed up here to see it. He was impressed with the overall condition and price and bought it on the spot with intention to drive it to Calgary 3.5 hours away for a once over. I said no, I would trailer it to Calgary for him seeing as he did not dicker about the price.

I did that and just got a call from him last night. He spent a week on it in Calgary with brake lines, tires and electrical. It took a new fuel pump to get it running too. He made it home 14 hours through the mountain passes in winter weather, used 6 quarts of oil on the first 1/2 of the trip until he found and fixed the worst oil leaks then it used no oil for the remainder of the trip.

He also confirmed what I told him, that bone stock 1600SP engine does indeed push that Bus at 75mph on the flat! Bear in mind this engine has not run in 30 years and he did nothing internally to it for the trip.

Sad to see it go but happy that someone is doing with it what I was not.

No the joke is not on him , it's on all the negative Nancys, he got a good Bus!

Congrats on the sale AND the great story from the new owner !!!!!

The Bay market is still not anything close to the Split market, in the last 4 years, I've sold 3 Bays, they were all $1500 or less, the lone Split I sold during that time was $3500, all 4 RUSTY as hell, pure VT. rust.......

My name is Tom and I'm a Bus flipper, but I do it to keep 4 money hungry VW whores on the road.... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Tom, I picture you actually flipping a bus over when you said this. :lol:

Manfred58sc Thu Nov 19, 2020 12:08 pm

Congrats. I don't even bother listing anywhere else. Bay and Split asking prices are at least 25% above actual selling range. This will continue to expand as parts and expertise dry up. They will always be cool, but how much yard art and delusional dreaming can the market bear? Look at all the VW guys that have sold out in the last 2 years. They know...



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