My '82 Brazil bus!

[scrivyscriv]

I got an old wrecked 1982 Brazil bay window/barn door/??? bus about a month ago - I could have saved up and gotten a way better condition running newer bus, but I've never seen a bus like this before and wanted a challenge. It was in an accident (killed the driver, not wearing a seatbelt ) that damaged the front left and back left corners. The interior paint is the only thing I'd say is in good condition, but overall, I've seen much worse come and go on here as far as restos go.

Bought a frozen 1500 engine out of a 67 Beetle, stripped it down to its shorts, and found #3 swallowed a valve. The engine parts are mostly reusable, obviously less cylinders, a head, etc.

I've gotten the bus stripped down almost as far as it will go, but I have a few more things left to remove.
This is what it's looking like now:

My latest progress was removing all of the windows, miscellaneous hardware, headliner, and interior panels. You can see in the above photo that the sound-deadening material is still glued on to the roof and walls. Since all of the interior paint is in very good condition with no rust, I will leave the roof like it is and only remove the wall material.

I have the front axle beam out and welded up a stand for it, so I'll be able to work on it without leaving it on the floor. I hate working on the floor - it feels unprofessional and is a pain!

Last Friday I was able to remove all of the axle parts that appeared damaged in the previous accident. I found a little more damage than I had hoped, but all of the damage is reasonable. As a technical side note, what I found was a twisted upper torsion arm and either a slightly bent kingpin or spindle assembly. The next thing is to send my spindles out for overhaul.

One of the biggest work areas is the back left. The damage isn't catastrophic, but it will take a good bit of work to get it repaired. In order to do a full repair, I'm researching pulling the body off the frame. Most Volks say it's impossible or can't be done, but I've seen photos and videos that show otherwise - right now it all depends on how much work it will take to pull the body off, or in simpler terms, how many welds will need to be drilled and ground off. I'm most likely going to have to un-seam the exterior from the interior sheet metal and cut the exterior metal out, for replacement. I may be able to recover some of it, but not much.

It's coming pretty slowly but there is a lot of work to be done on it. I expected to find more problems as I got into the project, and I have, and they have all been manageable so far. Rust, some frame damage, etc.
Can't wait to get things cleaned up and back together!
I ordered some paint chips from Summit Racing to check what color I might spray when I'm done.. I think I might go back with original colors.

[fsetyadi]

Any update on your restoration progress?
I got 1981 Brazilian Bus also..

[Marco H.]

I really call this a challange. Good luck with this. If you need some specific parts from Brazil, perhaps I can help you. Please have a look at www.vwantigo.com
I don't have much of the Bay-Bus yet, but perhaps more then you can find in the US.

Greetings from Brazil
Marco
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My Homepage:
Star-Wars-Costumes / VW Aircooled Brasil / Parts-Shop
http://www.vwantigo.com

[Delboy3867]

We're currently doing up the same bus - a 1981 here in NZ. They were imported in small numbers from new here but very few left as the body steel was inferior grade to the Wolfsburg models. I'm really interested in what the rear "valance" looks like - above the hinge of the rear upper door hatch. Ours has completely rusted out and I'd like to try to get some pics to try and source one or to give to a good panel guy if that's out of the question! I might do a photo set on it if I get time and we can compare info. Ours has had a good deal of hours done on rust repairs - mainly around windows - that inward slope on the rear windows was a poor idea, eh?! We've just got the rear passenger quarter from bottom of window apertures to gutter to find and we might have a runner this summer! Good luck mate!

[scrivyscriv]

Just to update, I ended up letting the bus go. Just too much labor intensive work that I kept finding. Sad to pass on such a unique bus here in the States, but just not something I could complete.
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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.