1971 Bay "time capsule" 32,000 og miles

[Wasted youth]

That pic you included of the underside of the seat was so great. I wonder how many people still think this bus could have 130,000+ miles on it.

[Abscate]

230,000



(Sarcasm , this is a beautiful 32k OG Bus or I’ll eat the two bolt rear apron )
_________________
.ssS!

[Jay Pearson]

Wasted Youth, people will think what they want.

What exists in the real world on this Bus, is a series of documented invoices, showing the vehicle license plate along with mileage and dates with no conflicting dates or mileage figures from multiple businesses. The physical evidence, the tires on the Bus that were installed at 31,181 miles on 7/11/1996, which just a little over 1000 miles were driven on. Along with all the wear evidence on the VW that all support the 32k.

If that is not accepted as proof of actual mileage then can an actual mileage statement be accepted on a vehicle?

I have owned 3 other documented mileage vehicles in the last 10 years, this is the best documentation along with physical evidence to support the actual miles that I have seen.

I was very fortunate to find a Bay Bus in this condition. Can't say it enough as to how rare it is to find a vehicle in the same family for 50+ years and I love it!!

But again people will think what they want.

Take Care!

[Jay Pearson]

Bus Daddy, thank you again on the Sun visor clip input.

For all we love about the aircooled VW era the engineers and designers did some unique things which I would have loved to been the "fly on the wall" to have overheard the rationale.

I will take a closer look at the passenger side sun visor and see the what or why the brass looking ring is there, I just noticed it the other day.

I will inform any passenger as part of the "preflight" announcements, do not try to disengage the sun visor at anytime, it will cause a sudden and permanent loss of your seat!!!

Take Care!

[crownline]

People are just jealous that they didn't find it first. I for one love that bus. Low mileage and all.
_________________
1972 Bus 1700 cc Single Carb. But not a progressive.
Barelymuvin
Wish I still had the ones I got rid of.

"It"s got some dings and dents and neither of us is going to SEMA."(Update, I went to SEMA in 2019 but the Bus stayed home)
[url=http://www.vw-mplate.com/mplate-8446.png]Click to view image[/URL]

[SGKent]

no question, it is one of a kind, a museum piece. Probably the last one in the universe.
_________________
“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[Jay Pearson]

Bus Daddy, follow up on the Sun visor, you called it right, a passenger must have pulled down on it and it did snap the tip off.

Clever repair on the previous owners part, that brass part holds what left of the end and secures it into the visor clip and it allows it to rotate as it should.

Still no touching the sun visor from the passenger seat going forward

It always makes you nervous when people are around a car and do things without thinking first. I remember a Bug O Rama event where an observer was try to close the front hood on an amazing 56 Oval without releasing the hood latch, the owner nearly lost control of themselves before he was able to get them away from the car.

A lot of colorful stickers and signs try to prevent this but... people... what are you going to do?

[notchboy]

Right? Beauty Aye.

[Joey]

[Jay Pearson]

Let the Sunshine, Let the Sun shine in...

First big thanks to Sgt. Kent's thread on the Samba on how to go about getting a frozen sunroof opened. Read up on it this morning before going after it. I have only done a bug sunroof before and this is a significantly harder job.

Took six hours+/- to finally get the roof open and sliding, this one was stuuuck shut, did all kinds of slapping to get the back edges to drop , used some old clay bars on gloves to get leverage. used a number of shims etc. it only moved by fractions for the first 3 hours, finally it started to move. I figured this thing must have serious rust or busted cables, etc. Once I got it where I could take of the covers and pull the cable ends out I was able to get it to move by standing inside and pushing it back.

Turns out zero rust nothing busted just a little dust around the inside. The culprit was the cable grease, in 50 years this stuff had turned to something between beeswax and glue This stuff is sticky times two.

Next up will be to de-gunk the cable, it does not appear to need anything else to get it back up and running other than a solid cleaning of the cables and the channels and tubes to get the old material off and lube it up to slide smoothly and reassemble.

Have to say this kicked my butt, going to take my time on the clean up and reassembly. Will need to come up with one tab under the metal channel that secures the screw, that was the only casualty on the project other than it will need a new roof seal. Suggestions on the best options are appreciated.

It's cocktail time, a double for sure, seriously this was a task!!

Take Care!

[busdaddy]

Congratulations!
That's one job I dread, good for you persisting and not F'ng anything up in the process. The final product will be well worth the effort.

Get those cables soaking in solvent, careful when brushing the old grease out of the grooves, the center of the coil is filled with fuzzy stuff to wick oil, don't think you have to scrub more to get everything out or you'll remove more than you should.
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

Слава Україні!

[busdaddy]

[oscarsnapkin]

[Abscate]

I think they are control codes referring to the options installed at TOM

Dusting off some ancient RAM, I think 157 was emissions, 506 brakes
_________________
.ssS!

[busdaddy]

Yes, the stamps indicate how that engine was equipped for particular options, in this case North American emissions (DVDA distributor and throttle positioner/altitude/decel valve with dashpot throttle stop) and power brakes (vacuum nipple on manifold).
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

Слава Україні!

[earlybayjim]

[Jay Pearson]

Spent the weekend on phase one of addressing the one major concern I had on the refreshing of the Bus.

During one of it's storage periods the Bus was parked in a garage that had a leaking pipe above it. Left leak stains and build up on the roof. Initially I thought I would need to take it into to be professionally repainted.

With the Sunroof now open I was able to get at these areas and really pleased to be able to remove the issue and keep the og paint in place. Not completely done, it will need some follow up polishing buffing and a little touch up here and there. Overall very happy that what looked a repaint is able to be kept as original paint.

Fortunately none of the leaking made it's way into the Sunroofs working parts. Now back to cleaning of the cables etc, and replacing the seal over the next couple weeks.

Take Care!

[Abscate]

I can’t wait to see that puppy open.......
_________________
.ssS!

[SGKent]

I hope that the top was dirt and not rusted into the top.
_________________
“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[Jay Pearson]

SGKent, it was a bit of a surprise, I thought for sure it was "rust" and had penetrated the paint and into the metal. Metal and paint work would be needed to fix it.
Really want to keep the og paint in place as much as realistic and possible.

Turned out to be a crust on top of the og paint from what was dripping from the pipes above it. Used rubbing & polishing compounds, my new favorite resto product "magic sponge" to get it off the paint, it did leave some discoloration in the paint but all in all I was stoked on how much I was able to lift out without breaking the og paint and only touching into the factory primer in less than a quarter size area around two of the toughest spots.

Cleaning up the cables and the runners next. I will get back to you when I have it all back together on getting the cables even.

Had the new Sunroof Seal from Wolfsburg West arrive, it is in 3 pieces versus og one, excellent quality wise and identical to the og one.

Will post some pics tomorrow.

Abscate, full open functioning Sunroof pic's to follow!!

Take Care!