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velvetgreen
Samba Member
Joined: August 17, 2004
Posts: 2745
Location: Canada
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 Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2020 6:58 pm Post subject: Re: Restoring a 1956 Split - Can we overland the American Continent? |
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^^ I meant to say if you have a roof *rack* or some other means of carrying a bike either on the top or the back of the bus. Anyhow let you decide the merits of that.
Here is Wheelie Pete's adventure from a few years back- my how the years fly by..
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0 |
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joe cool
Samba Member
Joined: August 20, 2006
Posts: 1259
Location: Yolo County CA
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| Posted: Sun Jul 12, 2020 7:30 pm Post subject: Re: Restoring a 1956 Split - Can we overland the American Continent? |
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| I advocate small nut because bearing replacement is simpler than big nut. I like reduction gears for additional ground clearance and hill climbing ability. I don’t know the roads you will travel but I would expect a few rough ones. |
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onehappykombi
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2017
Posts: 150
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| Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2020 5:26 am Post subject: Re: Restoring a 1956 Split - Can we overland the American Continent? |
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| velvetgreen wrote: |
Sounds like a great trip, presumably you speak Spanish (and English too) which should be a great advantage when travelling through Latin America. A smart phone with a data plan is always a good thing, although I am sure there will be areas where you have no reception.
As others have stated stuff will break so best be ready to accept that and fix it. Part of the adventure. If you have roof somewhere on the bus to put a cheapish bicycle or two it may be handy. Great for parts runs or in a backup plan in case of an extreme breakdown! Just a thought am sure you already know this better than I.
Have a great trip- start a dedicated thread/ social media feed etc.. people will want to follow along with your adventures. Perhaps a sponsor or two wants to put a sticker etc on your bus and help out with some of your costs?
Finally check out Wheelie Pete's awesome trip from Detroit to Alaska and back a a few years ago in his 66' bus. Awesome adventure! |
Hello velvetgreen, thank you for all your comments!
I'm from Argentina, so my first language is Spanish, and Claire is from the US and speaks perfect spanish as well, so we're both 100% bilingual. That will certainly help us!
We do expect things to break, and that's why we avoided going to the mechanic during the whole process. All the work listed was done by ourselves, so now we know a lot about the bus and hopefully we'll be able to tackle the repairs.
For now we only have a Facebook, Instagram, and website (linked on the signature, please check them out!), all of them under onehappykombi. We might document the whole adventure on video and put it up on youtube as well.
Wheelie Pete's trip looks amazing!! We had never heard of him and it's great to find about people with experiences like this.
Thank you again for your comments!!
OneHappyKombi
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'56 Early Split & '69 Early Bay
Overlanding the USA
Camper special engine build |
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Manfred58sc
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2009
Posts: 3382
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| Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2020 5:40 am Post subject: Re: Restoring a 1956 Split - Can we overland the American Continent? |
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Wheelie Pete is the best example of how to do these trips in the modern era, not over loaded and fearless. You 2 would make an awesome you-tube channel!
Maybe a short "shake-down" trip or 2 in an area close to you?
Safe travels.
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Fat chick owner/operator |
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Okie Adam
Samba Member
Joined: November 07, 2003
Posts: 1347
Location: OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOklahoma
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| Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2020 7:12 am Post subject: Re: Restoring a 1956 Split - Can we overland the American Continent? |
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This rubber brake line might need to be addressed. IT looks like it is pulled to a pretty tight angle which will ultimately end in some failure.
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Oil Capital Air Cooled
55 Wolfsburg Kombi
60 Walkthrough Kombi
62 Single Cab
66 21window
67 so42
76 Westy
64 Karmann Ghia |
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pyrOman
Fire Master
Joined: July 21, 2003
Posts: 12408
Location: Over 2002 posts deleted!
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| Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2020 7:43 am Post subject: Re: Restoring a 1956 Split - Can we overland the American Continent? |
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My concern with ^^^that^^^ picture is the apparent cut of the chassis to clear the CV joint! I have IRS on my bus but used type 1 joints so there was no need for clearance. 
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Some people are so busy being clever they don't have time enough to be wise. |
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Manfred58sc
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2009
Posts: 3382
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| Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2020 10:16 am Post subject: Re: Restoring a 1956 Split - Can we overland the American Continent? |
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yes, fix the brake line. Provide more pictures for additional safety inspections.
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Blue Baron
VW Aficionado
Joined: June 16, 2006
Posts: 24059
Location: Southeast USA
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| Posted: Mon Jul 13, 2020 8:05 pm Post subject: Re: Restoring a 1956 Split - Can we overland the American Continent? |
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Those headlights don't look very bright. Consider investing in some effective lighting!
Frankly with the issues of the notched frame, kinked brake lines and welded axles, I'd be concerned about driving 100 miles, let alone transcontinental on secondary roads.
Could you supply some more detailed photos of the complete running gear, front and rear, as well as the engine?
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We are striving for perfection, to make our cars run forever, if possible.
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onehappykombi
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2017
Posts: 150
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| Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2021 10:26 am Post subject: Re: Restoring a 1956 Split - Can we overland the American Continent? |
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| joe cool wrote: |
| I would consider going north to south with the reasoning that the weak parts are probably going to break earlier in the trip and you would have better access to services, tools and parts in North America. Just a thought. |
Hello Joe Cool!
A lot has changed since we last posted on this site, and time ended up proving you right!
We had to keep postponing our trip due to breakdowns and many other unrelated issues. Then during 2020 Claire was unable to enter Argentina, and if I had left the US I would have been unable to re-enter. So we booked a place in Uruguay to build the interior, because they had not closed borders all year, and 2 days later they went into shutdown.
Being that it's not the time to attempt a bunch of border crossings and unable to go back from NY to our Bus in Argentina, we decided to buy a '69 Bus in Florida, and plan to overland the USA avoiding big cities and visiting as many National Parks as we can!!
Hopefully in the future we'll be able to do a more ambitious continental trip
_________________
'56 Early Split & '69 Early Bay
Overlanding the USA
Camper special engine build |
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onehappykombi
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2017
Posts: 150
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| Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2021 10:27 am Post subject: Re: Restoring a 1956 Split - Can we overland the American Continent? |
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| Blue Baron wrote: |
Those headlights don't look very bright. Consider investing in some effective lighting!
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The lights aren't on in any of the pics but thanks for your concern!
_________________
'56 Early Split & '69 Early Bay
Overlanding the USA
Camper special engine build |
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karl h
Samba Member
Joined: October 10, 2005
Posts: 578
Location: austria
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id'r
Samba Member
Joined: September 14, 2003
Posts: 83
Location: Portland, OR
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onehappykombi
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2017
Posts: 150
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| Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2021 3:26 pm Post subject: Re: Restoring a 1956 Split - Can we overland the American Continent? |
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| Manfred58sc wrote: |
Wheelie Pete is the best example of how to do these trips in the modern era, not over loaded and fearless. You 2 would make an awesome you-tube channel!
Maybe a short "shake-down" trip or 2 in an area close to you?
Safe travels. |
Hello Manfred!
We had to be flexible with our plans, and are finally on the road doing a trip around the USA without crossing borders. We also started a YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYUxRpY1wppHlstFWBO84fA/videos
Hopefully one day we can drive the '56 from Argentina, for now we absolutely love our '69  
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'56 Early Split & '69 Early Bay
Overlanding the USA
Camper special engine build |
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onehappykombi
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2017
Posts: 150
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| Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2021 3:35 pm Post subject: Re: Restoring a 1956 Split - Can we overland the American Continent? |
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That's crazy!! I had never seen their story. Their choice of vehicles is insanely perfect
Thank you for sharing!!
_________________
'56 Early Split & '69 Early Bay
Overlanding the USA
Camper special engine build |
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Eric&Barb
Samba Member
Joined: September 19, 2004
Posts: 24733
Location: Olympia Wash Rinse & Repeat
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| Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2021 3:41 pm Post subject: Re: Restoring a 1956 Split - Can we overland the American Continent? |
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Insulation does not cause condensation. It will hold moisture against metal if not air gapped away and not let the water dry out, which leads to rusting.
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In Stereo, Where Available! |
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onehappykombi
Samba Member
Joined: March 26, 2017
Posts: 150
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| Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2021 3:47 pm Post subject: Re: Restoring a 1956 Split - Can we overland the American Continent? |
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| Eric&Barb wrote: |
| Insulation does not cause condensation. It will hold moisture against metal if not air gapped away and not let the water dry out, which leads to rusting. |
Have you seen the Havelock Wool products?
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'56 Early Split & '69 Early Bay
Overlanding the USA
Camper special engine build |
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Eric&Barb
Samba Member
Joined: September 19, 2004
Posts: 24733
Location: Olympia Wash Rinse & Repeat
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| Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2021 4:58 pm Post subject: Re: Restoring a 1956 Split - Can we overland the American Continent? |
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| onehappykombi wrote: |
Have you seen the Havelock Wool products? |
No, but just looked that up, and the problem is it still absorbs water. Which means one would need to ventilate the interior (and probably heat it all up) to get such moisture back out and if you install a covering like wood paneling it can keep it from drying out. We have lived in our panel camper for up to three weeks in cool and even icy conditions.
Still might try it out with the Mylar bubble wrap insulation. Put the bubble side toward the sheet metal which if not over stuffed will allow air to pass between it and the metal. Then add the wool with paneling over that.
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scottvw
Samba Member
Joined: November 17, 2004
Posts: 2821
Location: Centennial, CO
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| Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 9:42 am Post subject: Re: Restoring a 1956 Split - Can we overland the American Continent? |
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| If you make it out to Colorado, touch base. |
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GenXer
Samba Member
Joined: January 09, 2015
Posts: 106
Location: Merritt Island
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| Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 10:01 am Post subject: Re: Restoring a 1956 Split - Can we overland the American Continent? |
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| I just subscribed to your youtube channel. Covid era is definitely an odd time to start this adventure. I've been watching KombiLife for years and the struggles they had last year were unique to say the least. It should be getting better now. I think the US has a lot to offer in great driving adventures and an almost limitless variance in terms of natural terrain - definitely enough to keep you occupied until restrictions ease off and you can dust off the passports. Good luck on your adventures and I will be tuned in. |
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