My New 1974 9-Passenger Transporter

SevenOaks

For the past couple of summers my wife and I have traveled to cooler climates in our motorhome. We don't see many VW buses down here in hot Texas and so it was unusual for us when we started seeing them frequently in Fort Collins, CO, then in Seattle and Portland last year. Sure got me to thinking about my old '68 deluxe that I sold in '81 and soon I started looking for another bus. That's when I discovered TheSamba.com and began looking in earnest, several times a day for months.

We left Houston in late June, for our summer in Oregon and got as far as Dallas when I found The Bus. One of the great things about this bus is that I bought it from the original owners; they bought it new in May 1974. It's all original, except for the rebuilt 2000cc heads, 10k miles ago, and has been garage-kept, well-maintained and appears to be in great condition.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

My problem was that we were 300 miles from home and heading 2000 miles further away. I arranged with my brother to store it at his house until our return in September. So, I made the purchase, drove The Bus for 15 minutes to my brother's house (he let me put it in his pole barn) and then had to leave it. That was very hard to do. It kept me anxious for three months wondering just what I bought. I spent that time reading the first 150 pages of the Bay Window forum and enjoying the cool Oregon summer.

It finally cooled off enough in Texas for our return and my brother had taken good care of The Bus by starting it every week or two and letting it run for awhile. I did a one-way U-Haul rental on an auto transport to get it home and it is now resting comfortably in the garage. Now the real fun can begin.

Thank you, Samba forum members, for all the great information!
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David
1974 9-passenger bus
1969 Single cab
1966 Beetle

Kirk · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 7:21 am Post subject:

Awesome! What are your plans?
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poptop tom · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 7:24 am Post subject:

Congrats!

That thing looks to be in great shape! Look forward to more pics and info on it!
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'76 Deluxe Campmobile

Bala · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 7:28 am Post subject:

Wow, looks like you got a "good one"!
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1976 Westy

1966 Beetle

secretsubmariner · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 8:50 am Post subject:

Duuuude 9-passengers are the tig ol' bitties.

Good one, love the colors
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1978 Champagne Edition Bus FI
1970 Auto Fastback FI

TequilaSunSet · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 9:18 am Post subject:

Wow that is nice and clean looking... great find!
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Don't harsh my mellow...
1985 Hightower Vanagon 1.8T- Gone
1972 Panel Bus- Gone
1967 Bug- Gone
1964 Euro Sunroof Bug- Gone
1969/72/63 Sunroof Bug- Gone
1975 Brazilian Bug in the Philippines 🇵🇭- New to me

Montana74 · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 10:31 am Post subject:

Jeepers, I dunno......There ARE a few scratches on the bumpers....... Wink

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1974 Standard Beetle.

SevenOaks · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 12:58 pm Post subject:

SevenOaks · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 1:14 pm Post subject:

Here are some more pictures.
The type 4 engine is going to be different but I think I'm going to like it. It has the BN4 gas heater that might come in handy if I move to Bend, Oregon (love that place!).

I do plan to get the dealer-installed a/c working with a modern, efficient compressor but I have until next summer to accomplish that (which occurs here in March).

The cracked windshield will be replaced and that will give me the chance to take care of whatever rust issues I find underneath.

Best of all, it has that old Volkswagen smell!
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David
1974 9-passenger bus
1969 Single cab
1966 Beetle

skid · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 1:35 pm Post subject:

I love that smell!

Looks like you got a great bus!
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'71 Westfalia

Montana74 · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 1:42 pm Post subject:

I love that smell as well! First car I remember being in was my folks old Beetle.....that smell is like Home-cookin to me!
Bus looks great! Nice score for sure. Inside will clean up nicely.
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1974 Standard Beetle.

9mmMike · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2012 4:41 pm Post subject:

The "smell". That's the first thing that my bride said when I bought the new bus. Have not had an aircooled bus for years and as soon as she sat in it, she remarked on that "old VW smell"! Ha!

That's a real nice bus you got there. AC and heat? Sure it's a VW? Ha!
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1974 Thing - x-Acapulco
1989 Intermeccanica Roadster
1972 SCCA GT4 Beetle
1971 Chianti Red / Pastel white Bus
mcode -
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onion456 · Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 6:37 am Post subject:

o snap, i didnt realize it was a 9-pass. that thing is sweet! cant wait to see it in person =)
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'76 Sage Green Westy 2.0 FI
'76 Creamsicle 7-passenger 2.0 CS FI
'85 Tan Westy

Poptopcamper · Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2012 5:09 pm Post subject:

I grew up in La Marque and had a 1973 transporter back in the 70's. I can't take that heat and humidity anymore so I only come to Texas in the winter. However that's when we are buried in snow and below zero. So I won't be driving my current bus to Texas anytime soon. Looks like you found a good one.
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If you only have one tool in your tool box, and it's a hammer, pretty soon, everything looks like it needs to be whacked!
1978 VW Riviera
2021 Dodge Ram 3/4 ton
2020 VW Tiguan
2001 Harley Electraglide Classic
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SevenOaks · Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 10:49 am Post subject:

I have my bus up on jack stands with the wheels and bumpers off getting their new pastel white powder coating.

In the process of removing the rear bumper both of the frame nuts for the driver's side bracket started spinning, same as in this thread I found: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=288183

I was able to finally get the bracket off with downward pressure on the bumper that kept the nut from turning and a lot of patience. Getting it back on is going to be a big challenge.

I started a blog about my bus to keep family and friends updated about my new passion since I probably couldn't get them over to TheSamba. If you'd like to see it, it's http://vwbus.blog.com.
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David
1974 9-passenger bus
1969 Single cab
1966 Beetle

Boesen · Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2012 11:38 am Post subject:

Beautiful and bookmarked your web blog and this tread too. Awesome!
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1979 Westfalia Deluxe http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=474334&highlight=iowa

SevenOaks · Posted: Sun Oct 07, 2012 1:50 pm Post subject:

Not much going on until I get my bumpers and rims back from the powder coater BUT I did get this from the Samba classifieds:

I thought it was a Motorola 5VW2427 but when it arrived it turned out to be the 5VW3401 - which is stereo, so I've ordered a Retrosound dual voice coil speaker for the dash location. I was told it came from a'74 bus - perfect!

I hope I can figure out a way to renew the "Volkswagen" engraving on the band selector. Any ideas?
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David
1974 9-passenger bus
1969 Single cab
1966 Beetle

SevenOaks · Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 10:34 am Post subject:

It's still going to be a couple of days until I get my rims and bumpers back so I figured I'd tackle trying to fix the bumper bracket nuts that broke their welds inside the frame when I removed the rear bumper. I could get to the nuts inside the frame since they were laying flat, but loose, in position over the bolt hole. I fashioned a tool from a wooden bbq skewer, a plastic sheet rock anchor and a right-sized nut that I could use to lift the bracket nut up and out of the way.

While up out of the way I used a Dremel tool, a small scraper and a small piece of rolled-up coarse sandpaper to try and clean up the dirt and rust where the nut sits. Once it was as clean as I could get it through that tiny hole, I mixed up some JB Weld and stuffed it around inside the hole as best I could, then lowered the nut back down into the epoxy. I'm not optimistic that this is going to work but I figure it's worth a try before doing something more drastic.

After giving it 24 hours to cure the next step was to see if I'd be able to renew the threads with a tap. Much to my surprise I was able to clean up the threads without breaking the nut loose. Of course, the real test will be when I attempt to bolt the bracket back on.

I almost forgot to get a "before" picture of my hub caps. They sure cleaned up nice!

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David
1974 9-passenger bus
1969 Single cab
1966 Beetle

peaceful warrior · Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 10:46 am Post subject:

David, when you get your wheels back, don't forget to grind or sand out the powder coating in the lugs holes. Too many forget to do this until they see their wheel and tire passing them on the street or highway. Wink

Very nice bus, btw! Very Happy

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"Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." Albert Einstein
"Notchboy" says "Man up!"
"Tram" says " My bus is bigger than your bus."
66 13W Deluxe, 68 Westfalia, 87 Syncro.
TOOB Member #15
Brian

SevenOaks · Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 1:05 pm Post subject:


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