Early bus found in the weeds

[Dewayne]

GEEZE, That's some serious wear on that drum! The shoe must have been grabbing that lip something fierce... I'm surprised you got it off!
_________________
"My ex-wife had a hint of a beard and she looked like a manly-girl... that made no difference..."

Drive 'em if ya got 'em, and don't brag if you didn't do the work yourself...

'64 SO34
'60 SO23

[TDCTDI]

[Eric&Barb]

[OTO X58]

[Eric&Barb]

You can reach thru the lug bolt holes in the drums to reach the spines of the brake shoes with a long punch or other rod and hammer a few times to get the shoes to easily pop loose.
_________________
In Stereo, Where Available!

[OTO X58]

[hitest]

Find out what the county charges to dump all those scrap tires and offer that labor to do it. It may be a better offer than cash
_________________

[Abscate]

Once you break it out of dry dirt, it will slide out with a good tow strap. No chains please. You won’t do any more damage pulling it out, if the frame folds from that, it was past economical repair already
_________________
🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🍊 🍊 🍊

[scrivyscriv]

[Alan Brase]

[schnidlee]

Rule #1- Don't post pictures of a find online until it is in your driveway. Get yourself back out there ASAP and get this home before someone snakes you.

Looks like a great find, congratulations. Once you jack it up and put wheels on it, it will drag out easy even if the wheels aren't turning.

[OTO X58]

[the.fordhams]

You may get lucky and they removed the front brake internals but if they're stuck then maybe take a big brake drum puller to remove the drums and release the brake internals up front (and maybe on the Stude rear drums too?)

You have a steering wheel which is really good but did the arms underneath look all connected? If not plan bring some track rods to keep the front somewhat pointed the same way.

Do you think that big tree limb will allow enough vertical movement to get wheels under? Maybe you could skid it on the plywood with a tractor pull and then put the wheels on?

Awesome rescue
_________________
63 OG Turkis Bug Patina air ride
65 OG Safari Beige Notch project
65 OG Pearl White SO42 Patina
67 SO42 project
03 Eurovan Weekender
08 Touareg 2 V6

WANTED :
Bob King VW dealer Wilmington NC dealer tag surround and any Literature for 03 Weekender

[DanM]

Lawd have MRSA!

[KevinAlbrecht]

I am not sure if a come-along would be the thing to use, but some sort of winch would be helpful I think.
_________________
Kevin Albrecht
1963 Panel


Don't forget those seat-belts!
Click to view image

[OTO X58]

This is how I left it for now. We're going to come back before the winter and get it out of there before the rain and snow comes. I'll have to line up a trailer and get a couple of friends together that can help dig, pull, fight off rats, and most off all just enjoy the process. I think it'll take at least a couple of days. The property owner's family are friends of mine and they really don't want outsiders to come there and find out about the place due to past thefts and things. I absolutely don't want to be any kind of bother, so I have to balance getting enough help with being respectful. Luckily, I have a few close friends who would be cool and would absolutely love to be a part of the extraction.

My plan is to bring a set of wheels, a handful of lugnuts, a stack of 2x4s, a few 4x4 posts, sheets of plywood and screws, a chainsaw, car trailer, chains and straps, shovels, and some floor jacks. I will try and jack it up enough to get wheels under it, and dig out the dirt enough so that it's not dragging too bad. From there, we'll try and hook chains to the beam and pull it out with a tractor. If it doesn't go, then I'll make some skis out of 2x4s and plywood to help it slide out. I think one wild card will be whether or not that Studebaker rear end stays in place.

I am open to thoughts and suggestions from more experienced folks. Last thing I want to do is bend or rip the bus trying to get it out, especially if the frame is weak.

Once on the trailer, I'll need to use one of the 4x4 trucks on the ranch to get it out of there and up to the driveway. At that point, my dream is to hitch the trailer to my 62 Chevy wagon and tow it home that way.

There's a campsite nearby, so it might be cool to arrange a victory party there and then a caravan home. That way I have help when the Chevy takes a shit.
_________________
RIP HBB 10.10.84 - 12.25.09
Autocrossing the 58 Rag - Subaru Swap!
1957 Gazelle Beige Ghia
1957 Dove Blue Kombi field find

[KevinAlbrecht]

following...
_________________
Kevin Albrecht
1963 Panel


Don't forget those seat-belts!
Click to view image

[OTO X58]

To me, it looks like a lot of this rust particularly on the front floors might be bottom-up. Meaning that the moisture from the soil is eating away the bottom of the bus. So while it doesn't look bad at all from the top, the bottom might be ruined. I hope that's not the case. I couldn't dig out enough to verify that on this trip, but I will find out the next time I am out there.

My plan is to bring a pair of wide 5 wheels with tires to mount to the front end. Whether or not it rolls, those will help keep the bottom off the ground when we drag it out with a tractor.

But the rear end is a whole different story. The frame horns have been cut out, and a solid axle rear end has been bolted to the spring plates. After some internet sleuthing, it appears that the rear end is from a 50s Studebaker. I believe that means it is Ford bolt pattern. So I will bring a pair of 5x4.25" wheels with me also, and hope that the rear end stays in place long enough to drag it out.

It might be hard to tell, but the bus is on a gradual slope towards a cliff. The soil around it is very loose from years of leaves decomposing. It's not a super easy place to work, so I want to try and get it out into the field and onto a trailer where I can have a better look. I don't think I'll really know how bad the underside is until I get it to a car wash and pressure wash the bottom of it.

Here's some shots of the rear end setup:

There you can see the missing frame horns, but the torsion housing is still there! that's good news. There's a piece of angle iron on the axle which connects to a rod that is bolted to the passenger side spring plate. I believe this is acting like a panhard bar to center the axle. Between this and seeing that chimney hole, I think it was probably used as a camping trailer

It looks a lot like this 1938 Studebaker axle:

And there were a few Studebakers and Packards in the yard, so that would make sense if they did this modification here.

I actually didn't notice that the bolts and cap are missing from the spring plate. That could be a problem. I might need to just find a way to ratchet strap that in place for the extraction.

Looks like this Studebaker drum, with that flat plate on the wheel mounting surface, and square tab near the brake surface.
_________________
RIP HBB 10.10.84 - 12.25.09
Autocrossing the 58 Rag - Subaru Swap!
1957 Gazelle Beige Ghia
1957 Dove Blue Kombi field find

[OTO X58]

The roof gutters are in great shape, and that was a huge surprise. I figured they would be rotted out from all those leaves.

I think there was a wood stove in here at one time, and this 6" hole was for the chimney.

The condition of the floors is also shockingly good!

This will need a little patching. but that's not too bad.

This dog leg is a bit gross, but I've seen much worse.

it had an access hole hacked into it, but it looks like they kept the section of metal that they cut out. Shouldn't be too crazy to patch back up.

This side was punched in some, but I bet it can be straightened back out to be fairly decent. I'm not trying to get into a restoration- just iron out some of the dents, strip it to original paint and get it driving, so I can go enjoy it with my family. I'll even keep the bullet holes.
_________________
RIP HBB 10.10.84 - 12.25.09
Autocrossing the 58 Rag - Subaru Swap!
1957 Gazelle Beige Ghia
1957 Dove Blue Kombi field find

[OTO X58]

I paused while cleaning it out to get some pictures.

I think that it was placed on a bed of old tires with wood planks on top, and eventually the wood rotted away, letting the body down into the soil. all the windows were broken out and laying around, and there's plenty of bullet holes on this driver's side.

This is the worst rust that I have found so far, but I fear that the frame rails may be in poor shape if they're sitting on the ground. Hopefully there's some tires under there.

I kicked that dent out of the nose a bit and knocked the bondo loose. I'm really happy that it's not rustier especially down low by the seam. that really looks great! That bumper creation is awesome too.

This Bay tree was super overgrown and actually had some limbs snapping due to the weight on it. Once we trimmed a few limbs, it lifted up off the roof. It's caved in, but I don't think it was only from the tree, as the inner support is also bent down. Someone probably had a dance party up there.

non-original tail light, but at least the holes aren't cut out for big lights.

The interior is surprisingly in pretty good shape and fairly complete. Pretty cool that the dash is not cut for a radio. The seat is missing, but it seems like all the pedals, ebrake, and steering is there.

There wasn't anything in the under seat storage bin, but we did find some stuff in the package shelf.
_________________
RIP HBB 10.10.84 - 12.25.09
Autocrossing the 58 Rag - Subaru Swap!
1957 Gazelle Beige Ghia
1957 Dove Blue Kombi field find