1965 11 window, Zelda the Bus

[pondoras box]

I have had some really good luck always followed by some bad when it comes to VW's. After the bad I always swear I am out of VW's for good! Well to gloss over some of the details of why I sold a very solid almost on the road 15 window a few years back and said thats it I am done for good.

Then about a year ago my daughter tells me she found a bus and low and behold it is a splitty and I was able to score it with help from my awesome girlfriend.

It was difficult finding the owner and closing the deal, the story is somewhere on the found in bus history thread if you want to read it.

Let me introduce you to Zelda, a 1965 stardard microbus. She is named after my grandmother who used to love to ride around in the 23 window I once owned but was tragically stolen from me.

Sorry for the crappy recovery pics as it was recovered while we right in the middle of being hit with super storm Sandy last year. We experienced high winds then heavy rain followed by sleet then finally snow that night but with the help of some good friends I was able to get her to a dry and safe resting place for a few days. My boss wasnt too pleased with it being under the covered parking at work but it all worked out in the end.

I will start with a few pics of how I found her and the recovery.


As found

Another as found

During recovery

another recovery pic

moving her from work to dry storage

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Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[pondoras box]

I will not be doing a full resto on this one, the original paint is still under the crappy blue repaint. I will save what I can and replace the rusted areas and blend to the best of my ability. I am going to do a mild lowering job, nothing severe, but just doing flipped spindles and straight axel kit.

At the risk of all the critisim I will post pics of the progress but I warn you it will not be fast. I am limited to the amount I can spend on her right now but hopefully in February I will have more disposable income to throw at her. So be patient. Constructive critisim is welcomed, I am not a professional but like to learn and do as much as I can myself.

My goal is to have it in next years 4th of July parade, my daughter is really excited at the prospect of that so I guess I better get cracking.

The goal for the rest of the summer is to strip back to the original paint and clean up what ever I can. Do all the elbow grease stuff for now until I can but all the new parts she needs.
_________________
Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[scvw]

Looking forward to following this thread Robert.
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58 Coral Red ragtop(Diana's car)
57 PG/SG standard
63 Ruby Red SC
SOUTHERN INTEGRITY AIRCOOLERS


WTB - Sigla popout glass like in my ad.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1667775

[pondoras box]

I did clean a few areas already over the weekend.

Right now I have some of the dash area to show but I did get more done I will just show those pics later.

As found

After a quick wipedown

Some compound then polish

Was able to find the horn button and I think it and the steering wheel cleaned up really nice!

More to come hopefully tonight.
_________________
Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[KevinAlbrecht]

Wow, that steering wheel cleaned up awesome. I guess I never realized the tradeoff from an East coast bus vs. a desert bus. The plastics hold up better, albeit the rust issues me be more prevalent.

Having spent the first part of my life on the East coast, I am impressed when people are still finding some to bring back on the road.
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Kevin Albrecht
Wait, what...?

[pondoras box]

Thanks Kevin, I have been back on the east coast for about 6 years now. I really miss being back in Arizona. But I would gladly trade you a nice shiny steering wheel for a rust free bus! I did luck out with this one though it isnt as bad as most I have found since coming back to the rust belt. It was owned by a little old lady who taught art at a Catholic school here in Erie and was obviously well loved and cared for until 1978 when it was parked in a garage and forgoten about. It had one repaint on the bottom at some point along with some rivet style body work.

But I did get a little done last night I was able to get the passenger door off and back to the apartment where I hit it with easy off and got down to the original paint. It actually took me longer to pull the door off the bus than it took to get back to the original paint. I dont have any after hitting it with compund and polish, it was after dark when I finished and my camera is marginal at best. So maybe tonight. It does have a few bare spots and some damage but over all I am very happy with the results.


Before

During sorry this is the best I could get

after but before polish, its much shinier now

_________________
Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[BlueJayScout]

Looking great so far, I love the dash and paint cleanup, is the exterior og paint?
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1959 Panel

[Prafeston]

Very cool!

[pondoras box]

The bottom has been repainted once but the top is original and the original blue is still under the one respray and very easy to get to so far.
_________________
Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[pondoras box]

A little more progress to report.

I have been cleaning everything I can. Its a bit of a hassle as I either have to pull it off and bring it to my apartment and do it in the living room or go to the storage shed and work there with no power. So for now progress will be limited but steady.

Pics for today are the passenger all striped back to original paint and polished back out.

Hope you enjoy the pics.

After striping and polish

Another angle showing some bleed through on the white, kinda cool

Back on the bus with a smiling daughter the kids love to help which is definitely cool

_________________
Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[pondoras box]

Been busy with some more clean up.

Working on the interior panels trying to save all the original pieces. So far I have cleaned the passenger side kick panel, passenger door, and both cargo door panels. Everything cleaned up very nice except for some bad rust stains on the rear cargo door piece. Any suggestions on how to remove that without destroying the original vinyl?

I used semichrome polish for the trim strips and I am very happy with those results, if you have never used it semichrome is the absolute best for polishing metals. Made in Gremany too so goes well with VW's.

I dont have before pics for the front cargo door but all of them had mold and mildew stains as well as decades of dirt, grime and dust. In fact these before pictures were after a quick wipedown with a damp cloth to get the heavy stuff off.

Before cargo door panel

Another before along with my son's foot

After pics

There are a few scratches and tears that I will not be able to get out but its original material and original to this bus so I feel they are worth saving.

Sorry if these pics are boring if so just let me know.
_________________
Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[williamM]

BORING???

Did you forget for a minute which crowd you were talking to???

Keep up the cleaning- and get those new windows in there as soon as possible Then just sit in the D seat and make "RUMM RUMm " noises.

That what keeps me going.
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some days I get up and just sit and think. Some days I just sit.

opinion untempered by fact is ignorance.

Don't step in any!

[durfeec]

what'd you use to strip the blue off? i have to do this now with my bus and have tried a few things from here with little success. Mostly just been we sanding the really faded paint off but need something for the thicker stuff.
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1960 Bus Panel/Camper

[pondoras box]

I have been having really good luck so far with heavy duty easyoff. Spray it on and wait about five minutes and the respray comes off with a plastic scraper. The old paint gets a milky appearance almost immediately. After I scrape off the old paint I neutralize the oven cleaner with a lot of water.
_________________
Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[pondoras box]

I have been still making progress albeit slow, remember I am still in an apartment so its a bit cramped with bus parts in my car and all over my apartment, thank you Amanda for being understanding of my sickness.

I was able to get the rust in the windshield openings treated and painted.

Driver's side

Passenger

Both

I got the paint mixed by code but its not a perfect match, do not know if original is faded or the paint is wrong but its better than rust.
_________________
Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[pondoras box]

I did manage to strip the paint on the lower front. Its not original and there is evidence or earlier repairs. I am just going to roll it like this for a while and worry about it once it is a driver.

I have been replacing every piece of rubber when I do an area so if its bolted back on it has had all the rubber or rusted hardware replaced. might as well only do it once.

I went to the show in Pittsburgh last weekend and was able to score this with a bit of horse trading. Dont know if I need it or not but its been restored and sealed and mine has had gas in it since 1978 so probably not a bad investment. and if it turns out mine is fine then I will trade it for something else I guess.

I painted it black

_________________
Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[pondoras box]

The bus was sold new in Hamburg NY from Hal Casey Motors. It still had the decal on the rear hatch but had been painted over.

As I was afraid I might lose it during the paint stripping process i had my son Jake, who has been helping me and has way more artistic talent in his pinky than I have at all, make an etching of it in case I needed to have it reproduced.

But in the end the hatch came out very nice and we saved the decal!

in the pic it looks wavy and orange pealed but its super smooth in person.
_________________
Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[pondoras box]

Just some of the before and after of the rear hatch.

Before

After

After inside

Yes this bus lived its entire life in the northeastern rust belt, you will get to see those pics soon enough.
_________________
Looking for anything from Hal Casey Motors out of Hamburg New York, from license plate surrounds to matchbooks.

1961 23 Window (Bobo)
1965 11 Window (Zelda)
1965 13 Window (Lucas)
1957 Oval ragtop
1988 Cabriolet VR6 conversion
Plus a lot of other rusty junk

[Vintagespeed]

nice going, that og paint comes out great.

cool logo too, keep it up!

[disneyherbie]

Awesome work so far man! Love it. I was the guy that had posted about having spotted it in Erie on the corner there. As it turns out, I moved back to PA and am only about an hour south of you. I live on Lake Latonka now. If you're ever down my way I'd love to grab lunch or something. I was at the Pittsburgh show last weekend! Small world. Surprised you didn't snag this from what little else they had in the swap meet. LOL I'm still pinching myself.