New Bus- '56 Springframe Westy!

[Clara]

left the beach front condo early in the morning to go to BBXXI

we had not set up this tent for this bus before. Had always used a later tent. We managed to find an early flat top tent, which takes different poles than the peaked tent. One pole was missing from the set, and was custom made from metric tubing. Unfortunately I had not set up the frame before, and there was a booger weld inside the pole end where the other pole fits in, and I spent a while finding a file and filing the inside of the tube. Here Greg has a go.

The Quaker Steak and Lube was a good place for a show,

John's Sunroof swivel seat kombi performed flawlessly:

_________________
The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/

[Clara]

The flat top tent is early and rare. It is shown in this 1955 westy brochure, which offered the flat top and peaked tents. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/lit/55westy.php

There are fewer of these awnings known than spring frame westys, and this one is in amazing condition.

_________________
The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/

[Clara]

Sub hatch wood panel trivia...
I was glad to see a number of sub- hatch westies at the show

check out the different screw placement for the wood panels on the hatch. There were AFAICT, two patterns:

later with three in the middle and 5 at the end:

earlier: I think this was jjjjack's bus, just lovely
4 in the middle, 7 at the end

My '56 had a similar arrangement to jjjjack's bus:

Would be better with a pic with all the bits installed, see if I can find that later.
_________________
The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/

[Clara]

Next day was Bug Jam.
This was my favorite car there.
Robert Owings would have loved it. He was a friend in his eighties who had recently passed. He had been a machinist since the 40s, and taught Greg much. Also sort of a substitute Grandpa.
His taste did not run to stock, bless his heart.

A little caravan headed north after Bug Jam:

not really used to driving a shiny bus.

you can see a nice air gap around the subhatch:

_________________
The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/

[Clara]

stopped to Get Mark Rafferty adjust the front doors:

met up with Gibbs in his 59? 61? Ford station wagon

He got his kids a cute puppy:

I had not put cab door panels in the westy:

back on the road:

_________________
The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/

[Clara]

Now the caravan is John's SSS Kombi, Gibb's American boat, and our 56 westy

Just into Jersey something was up with Gibb's ride

puppy!

We invoked the 15/ 45 minute rule, Gibbs had a tow truck on the way and two blue buses headed north.
_________________
The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/

[Clara]

fall color in New Jersey:

Had not installed the trip speedo as it had 00000 milage.
Took a pic of the milage we left the bus at, so it could be reset to it.
Greg cleaned the bugs off

made a list of what still needed to be done,

and flew back home.

All in all, it was madness to only have 2-3 weeks to assemble the bus, go to the show and drive back. I am not surprised there were loose ends.
_________________
The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/

[j.pickens]

And another interlude for Clara's update pix.
Last night, camping on Loon Lake, Minnesota.

_________________
Founder and Chairman Emeritus, ECMSAS
BBX BBXII and BBXXI Long Distance Award Winner

[Clara]

I'm going to try to finish the May updates.

Greg and I flew out to NJ, and had a few thing to tinker with on the bus before heading to Charlotte for CTS.
First, installed the rebuildt trip speedo that had been set to the mileage the bus was left at in November. I keep a log book, so having the same mileage makes it easier to figure how many miles since a repair was done. The speedo in the bus when we got it was out of the PO's 63 parts bus, so we had a correct speedo rebuildt and set to 00000 when we started driving it. We had put almost 30K on it since 2006, and the resto is still in progress.

The trip speedo is a useful accessory, particularly in a no gas gauge bus.

_________________
The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/

[Clara]

Installed the new hinges for the subhatch, which Greg had made.
We re-installed the seals we had to take out for it to shut with the short hinges. I did not take pics, but it went so smoothly.
done:

Greg cut and installed cargo door seals:

I did a tune up and replaced spark plugs:

then I find there were only 3 in the pack:

so I put an old one back in, You are not supposed to do this. so don't. okay.

random lug nut pic:

replaced the heater cable, now the heat can be turned on or off from the front. (I think I had twisted it during the November re-assembly, I forget. Anyway, I wanted it to work)

Did a few other things to the bus, then drove to Philly for the day to get a pinstripe
_________________
The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/

[Clara]

Took both the 56 and John's swivel seat to Philly for pinstriping.

Found a guy who'd pinstripe for a six pack of beer

took longer than we'd thought, so we stayed overnight, and John rolled in with Manny the next day. He also brought some things we had left in NJ.

_________________
The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/

[Clara]

looking good!
John's SSS kombi:

'56 westy and SSS Kombi:

John, Greg, and Manny drove south. I stayed in Philly to catch a ride to the Thank You Jerry show that night in Maryland, where I'd meet with a high school friend and get a ride to Virginia and meet up with them late that night.

Meanwhile I messed with Cuddy's bus while he was at work. This bus obviously had had been mechanically maintained, but it had a dying-when-you-step-on-the-gas carb issue. I 'fixed' his carb by replacing it with a used one I hosed out, but dropped it and broke the little arm off. With a little bailing wire it ran great!

Then Gibbs & I went to the show. It was awesome. I found Steve. After the show he was tired, so I drove his modern car south. It is less tiring driving a modern car than a 50 bus, fwiw. Then I got tired, and stopped at a rest area for a few hours sleep. Woke up and got to Virgina at Jeremy's place at 8 am and it was awesome, all the buses there, like the CTS had begun! Everyone rolled out immediately.
_________________
The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/

[mattcuddy]

Midnight, makeshift paint booth. Greg spraying the vent window frames for this bus a day or so before Bulli brigade 2014.

[BlastMasterMannyFresh]

my ford escape looks amazing in that picture

[Clara]

On the way to CTS,

Dustin drove his DD kombi instead of the Dove Blue early Westy:

Jeremy pulled over cause something happened:

impressive!

some linkage issue on Dustins bus:

Actually, I think we installed the heater cable in the westy here, not back in NJ.

Anyhow, it was determined to be a motor issue, tow truck was called, and Robert (who showed up after these pictures were taken) stayed behind with Jeremy to wait for the tow truck. As his bus has g-force capability, we knew he could catch up to us no problem.
_________________
The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/

[srfndoc]

Looks like a great trip. Where did you guys find that flat top tent in such good condition? I've only seen two others and both were in really bad condition.
_________________
RPM=(MPH*336* (R&P*4th*1.26))/Tire Diameter in inches

[Clara]

rolled down to the Monkey Nut pre-party, then CTS the next day

Eric from Ontario's og pinstripe:

Montana Westy:

Still just had not restored the other cargo door panel, or any of the other interior panels except that one roof panel

It was a good day for chillin' in the shade.
Big props to the people who put on CTS, it was a great show at a great location.

_________________
The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/

[Clara]

[Clara]

Left CTS to go to the Farmington Drag Strip

We avoided a freeway where traffic was gridlocked due to a bad accident.

Link

_________________
The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/

[Clara]

some stayed at he nearby hotel, some camped at the Drag Strip.
fun checking everything out at the swaps
remember these cans? remember the pull tabs on the ground everywhere?

wow!

drove out of there with another epic caravan headed north.

It was pretty hot and we stopped at a Mexican place for lunch. Nick went next door and got a pie pan and we attached scoops to try to get it to run cooler. It did help, but something was going on. I believe he got home okay though.

_________________
The Obsolete Air-Cooled Documentation Project http://oacdp.org/