Long awaited project - “with a little help from my friends”

[ultralite]

At Bugapaluza this year I saw a friend I haven’t seen in a while. In catching up I mentioned the idea I’ve had a long time for having a “rough Bus”. While I love to camp in my current Bus (and often do) I get a little nervous taking it off road (which I often do as well). Nothing off-road difficult like I’ve seen some impressive rigs do. Mainly just forest service roads in the Appalachian Mountains for me.

I told my friend, Jon Hobus (fellow Samba member), that I had casually looked for a rough but solid Bus that I could take backcountry because I like to do a lot of trail running, mountain biking, and dirt road exploring. He said he might have what I was looking for. As someone who has bought a lot of used cars over the years I have learned to “shop owners” and I know Jon is a good owner.

I camped not far from where he lived and went and looked at it.

These things are like potato chips, hard to have just one. So I bought it

Yesterday I took the wheels off. Today I had the dry rotted tires removed. I’m going to clean up the wheels a little bit and put new tires on there so the Bus can be rolled in the shop when needed.

I think I’m going to put Grabbers on there. While I’ve always been able to get down the forest service roads, there have been a few times when a little extra traction would have been welcome.

I’m still in the final deciding stages on the engine and transmission as to what I want to do. I cover a lot of miles in my Bus; highway and off-road. I’ve read the threads on the Grabbers/off-roading and have noted the suggestions on upgrading the engine to handle the bigger tires. My current Bus has a 1776 which I have always been happy with.

I’m not as clear on anything I could do with the transmission, if anything. I guess like everyone else I’d like a little more highway speed and comfort in 4th gear. I also seem to recall reading something on here about limited slips a long time ago, but I haven’t searched that lately.

In any event, I wanted to put this up here to document a little progress and maybe ask a question or 2 along the way. Plus, stay in touch with a few friends. I want to thank Jon for selling a good project. I want to thank Jeff Geisen for introducing me to the backcountry roads of Appalachia.

Peace friends!
_________________
Godspeed

'76 Beetle (sold)
'69 Beetle (sold)
'72 BMW 2002 (RIP)
'69 Westy
'02 BMW wagon AWD w/stick shift(sold)
'67 Beetle (sold)

[mikewire]

Thanks for sharing, looking forward to seeing what you do with it.
_________________
-Mike

@countdowngarage
@bigskyeuro

1972 VW Kombi 9 Passenger Deluxe 221(5) w/ 2.0L F.I. VWAC swap
1965 VW Beetle Deluxe Bahama Blue

[Hobug]

I'll be glad to see it get back on the road!
_________________
73 Thing (Typ481)
76 Westy
69 Squareback auto
74 Bug
63 Bug
63 Ragtop
72 Vert

[Ceckert64]

I know the exact feeling, my 72 was going to be a rough bus then it got too nice

Good luck! I'll be following along
_________________
1964 sunroof Beetle Restoration "Herbie"
“Joann” 1970 Elm Green Squareback
1972 Yellow Tin Top Westfalia -Sold
“Fitz” 1971 Westfalia Poptop EJ22 swap
“Rome” 91 Syncro

[ultralite]

It’s great to have cool, capable friends. Joe teaches welding out our local vocational school and builds custom motorcycles in his spare time. I asked him to go with me to take a look at the rust repairs I need. I know how to weld and I can make some really ugly ones but I want to improve my skills a little with this project. I wanted to Joe to give his opinion on which ones I should try and are there any I should leave to a professional. He thought the Bus was very solid and the welding needed looked “fun”. We’ll see

We also got the engine to turn, a great sign! No, I had not tried to turn it at its home in the barn. I knew I was taking the engine anyway (which was out of the Bus).

Keep forgetting to mention; the reason I put “little help from my friends” in the post title is because a friend helped me get the Bus home, same friend gave me space in this shop (with lift!), my welding friend here was kind enough to consult, and soon a former mechanic friend is going to help me assess the engine, brake, and suspension needs. And, that generally characterizes my whole VW experience, dating back to my first Beetle in college.

_________________
Godspeed

'76 Beetle (sold)
'69 Beetle (sold)
'72 BMW 2002 (RIP)
'69 Westy
'02 BMW wagon AWD w/stick shift(sold)
'67 Beetle (sold)

[ultralite]

Been too long!

Shortly after that last post I got laid off from work which greatly affected the Bus budget . Fall is my favorite time of the year so I took a couple of months to drive my other Bus, camp, hike, trail run and mainly just enjoy the season.

Then, I opened a retail store. And like a lot of working folks I either have some time or some energy but never both. Finally, I found someone close to home to get the restoration going and it's been great so far.

photo dump incoming....
_________________
Godspeed

'76 Beetle (sold)
'69 Beetle (sold)
'72 BMW 2002 (RIP)
'69 Westy
'02 BMW wagon AWD w/stick shift(sold)
'67 Beetle (sold)

[ultralite]

Here is the condition when we picked it up at Jon's

_________________
Godspeed

'76 Beetle (sold)
'69 Beetle (sold)
'72 BMW 2002 (RIP)
'69 Westy
'02 BMW wagon AWD w/stick shift(sold)
'67 Beetle (sold)

[ultralite]

Some close ups of the rust

_________________
Godspeed

'76 Beetle (sold)
'69 Beetle (sold)
'72 BMW 2002 (RIP)
'69 Westy
'02 BMW wagon AWD w/stick shift(sold)
'67 Beetle (sold)

[ultralite]

New metal going in....

_________________
Godspeed

'76 Beetle (sold)
'69 Beetle (sold)
'72 BMW 2002 (RIP)
'69 Westy
'02 BMW wagon AWD w/stick shift(sold)
'67 Beetle (sold)

[ultralite]

Engine was rebuilt by Lindy Herrell's shop, he sent the transmission to a gentleman in TN whom I've met at Bugapaluza but I can't remember his name. The front end received disc brakes.

_________________
Godspeed

'76 Beetle (sold)
'69 Beetle (sold)
'72 BMW 2002 (RIP)
'69 Westy
'02 BMW wagon AWD w/stick shift(sold)
'67 Beetle (sold)

[ultralite]

The body work turned out excellent, the photos don't do it justice. Everything is epoxy primered and super smooth (black door primered too)

_________________
Godspeed

'76 Beetle (sold)
'69 Beetle (sold)
'72 BMW 2002 (RIP)
'69 Westy
'02 BMW wagon AWD w/stick shift(sold)
'67 Beetle (sold)

[ultralite]

Paint was started last week. I took inspiration from the Land Rover pastel green: the wheels will be blacked out with the Grabbers already installed and the Westfalia roof will be white like the first photo:

_________________
Godspeed

'76 Beetle (sold)
'69 Beetle (sold)
'72 BMW 2002 (RIP)
'69 Westy
'02 BMW wagon AWD w/stick shift(sold)
'67 Beetle (sold)

[RalphWiggam]

Who is doing the body work and paint? Looks really good!

[ultralite]

[RalphWiggam]

Yes please. I'm in the same area as you. My bus is fine but I'm looking for someone to paint my 67 Porsche.

[ultralite]

Stopped by the shop this morning and liked this view:

_________________
Godspeed

'76 Beetle (sold)
'69 Beetle (sold)
'72 BMW 2002 (RIP)
'69 Westy
'02 BMW wagon AWD w/stick shift(sold)
'67 Beetle (sold)

[Bobs67vwagen]

Nice work on this bus and I like the color also. That Weber type empi carb you have on it is not well liked on the samba due to the manifold heat being insufficient to properly atomize the fuel. Most will probably tell you to ditch it for dual carbs. There is a member named schepp on the off road forum who devised a system that works well for a single carb set up that seems to work well. It might be informative for you to read that if you encounter problems down the road. Good luck with your build it looks great.

[Slip356]

This bus looks like it will be too nice for a ‘rough bus’ to take off road.