1966 Deluxe Fix-R-Upper Build Tread

[Ran When Parked]

This is where I will be documenting the build of the '66 Deluxe that I have recently purchased.

This is going to be a long one. It took two days to get a bolt out of the cab that the P.O. installed. Eventually, I had to hacksaw it out as my drimmel tool broke from cutting the engine lid's hinge pin (iron nail) that had fused to the hinge.

I will try to remember to document each step and post it here. If I actually finish before quitting I can look back at what an awesome, wonderful, and devilishly handsome, person I am. My modesty spider sense is tingling so I better stop here and post some pics.

First appearance "Today in Bus Hunting History..." (Page 709):
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1...tart=14180

Quick Recap (at home in driveway facing the street):

In my part of the country, my homeowners association guidelines only mentioned that I should own a gun.

My first step is to get the junk out, remove the good stuff and catalog it, then pressure wash it. When that is done, I can take some pics of the rusted out and broken parts and get some advice on how to proceed.

Removing the seat belts (all are present and original - maybe):

Removing the wood 2x4 drivers side seat base (a favorite accessory down south and original - maybe) - 2x4 also in homeowners guidelines:

A Hacksaw to the Hack I Saw:

Glamour Shot (you can tell this is an S-Bird Bus as it is spreading it's wings to fly "Ca-Caw Ca-Caw")

Artsy Shot (Free and available for immediate distribution worldwide):

Back to junk removal and ziplock bagging screws and such...

[srfndoc]

Way to step up for the challenge shitbird. A lotus white deluxe is always a nice find, good luck.
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RPM=(MPH*336* (R&P*4th*1.26))/Tire Diameter in inches

[Ran When Parked]

I am still removing trash from the bus and removing the good parts, bagging them, and collecting information. It is going slow.

Yesterday, I pressure washed 4 rims. I made a note to scrub them with a wire wheel. I could have them sandblasted but I think it would be better to put that money elsewhere. For now, a wire wheel and tires are all they need. The rims are for pulling other buses out of the woods so they do not need a powder coat at this point. Out of eight rims, I have one bad one. More on that later.

Today, I removed more trash and unscrewed parts. Here are a few pictures.

Start of Trash Removal - only had 30 minutes work time so it looks the same after the work stopped.

I found this cool OG bar/handle on right cargo door. It's bagged.

I unscrewed this broken pop out window lever. What a shame, I am going to clean it up, fix it somehow and put in on the "bar" or I might turn it into a lucky rabbits foot (lever + chain + keys). I love these old pieces. It will not be wasted.

This is the bad rim. I cut the tire off. This rim has been propping up the bus for 20 years. You can see the roots. When I was pulling the deluxe out, a local guy, that is around 20 - 25 years old, told me he used to play around it as a kid and it was missing the transaxle back then.

The face of the rim is good. I can have 'my metal guy' chop it in half and then I can pretty up the front. After some paint, reused hub cap clips, and a hub cap on it and it will look great on a wall. It will not be that heavy.

Most likely not an OG curtain wire.

Most likely not an OG shower curtain rod. This was behind the walk-through seats. As luck would have it, there were not any holes cut in the bus or weld spots holding it up, just a spring.

That's it. I could have titled this post "Nothing to Report".

[Mrs. rubbachicken]

you have a lot of work ahead of you, good luck, keep the pictures coming


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lucy our westy


lucy's BIG adventure

[Ran When Parked]

/* Note to Self: I am still in the process to find out if this is the bus that I will pour thousands of dollars into, or should I buy another one. I really like this bus but there are other ones that I would rather have. Either way, this bus will be better off when I am done than were it used to be. End Note */

I spent part of the morning and part of the evening working on the bus. I needed a break after seeing the cargo area. So I went to town and had a bite. Later in the day I worked on the front floor.

The cargo floor was a mess. I had to remind myself that I knew ahead of time that any bus I buy in the southeast is going to need the whole bottom replaced. I am referring to the barn, woods, and junk yard finds. The rusted bottom shouldn't keep surprising me, but it hosed up my attitude at lunch today.

The front floor was not that bad and my spirit picked back up. It looks just like all the other floors on this site that need replacing.

Time to Add to the Collective with Pictures.

I filled up a whole trash bin with cargo area junk. It was like a historical dig site in there. Every 10 minutes of sifting would yield another layer of artifacts. I managed to get to the 1965-66 layer before lunch.

This is the main cargo area "cleaned up".

I have some great pics of the artifacts. I performed a "Crime Scene Investigation" on the evidence and came to a conclusion on how the front window was busted out. More on that in a later post. My investigation techniques are taken from T.V. shows, so the report will be roughly 10% accurate. But like I said, that will be a rainy day post.

More goodies, most from today's removal but a broken window latch is from the last work session. Out of six "M-Coded" pop out window latches, two are missing, two are broken, and two are good.

WD-40 helped me get the gas flap open.

Hill Billy curtains removed - will post in classifieds - so don't worry California.

One awesome cargo door.

Another awesome cargo door.

Neither door is perfect but they will be fun to work on.

I could not find a thread on how to Buff this Out. PM me if you run across it.

More Buff Out.

This is the best P.O. hack thus far. The chicken wired-up Gas Pedal tin floor patch. I have read about this in the Danger Hack Thread. Side note - this must have worked for a while.

I think this pedal will be converted to bar wall art. Let me know if it can be saved. Poll: Save or Art?

Another floor shot.

First Fix. This seat post was beat flat. I beat it upright. Looks brand new.

More Floor.

Sweepers, sweepers, man your brooms... This is the pile of red dust.

End of the day.

No time to proof read, the whole house is bitching at me to come back to reality. Have a day!

[earlywesty]

Cool bus, do you have a pic of the m-code plate? This looks like one of those single colour Lotus White deluxes, I like them. Let me know if you decide to pass it on.

[mandraks]

[Ran When Parked]

[Vintagespeed]

cool find, just restore it, you'll have a great bus.

mine didn't look much better and now two months later it's up and running with new floors, rockers, dog legs, etc. It's mainly time consuming, but I had great help

[Ran When Parked]

Hopefully, I can do it in two months. For now, it's Fred Flintstone time.

[Clara]

I hope you didn't throw away to old interior panels. I see the long one curled up in the cargo area.
They can be flattened out and re-used. It is amazing how well that can work.
That color is not available reproduction, unfortunately.

[Ran When Parked]

[Ran When Parked]

I've been too busy working and watching my kids to get anything done on the bus or to get more bus hunting hours logged. I think I like hunting them more than fixing them. Buying a bus is a lot easier than fixing one.

I did have my metal guy cut the rim (the one in the pictures above with the roots attached) in half. The back side was rusted out so I had it cut off. I will pop a rusty hub cap on it and have a hanger welded on it. It will be a nice piece of wall art.

I put a bid in on this bus:

Most likely, I will not win. I liked the OG color description.

I have only had time to hose wash one side of the bus. Here it is before wash:

and after wash:

I was looking at my side mirrors. Both of them are installed identically in placement and both have the same screws. I was wondering if they are correct for a '66 Deluxe. Do you know? I will research this one if no one wants to throw out an answer. My '67 camper had some nasty trucker mirrors on it. I trashed those and installed some mirrors that go into the door hinges. I hope these are legit, because I like them:

Now, I am off to read the other posts that do some amazing work.

[mandraks]

don't worry about taking those mirrors, they are definitely not original to the vehicle. This will be a great looking bus once it is all fixed and painted back to lotos white
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regards

Uli

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'53 3-Fold Oval, L35 Metallic Blue, looking for a narrow hatch panel

[Ran When Parked]

I knew something didn't look right about them. It might have been the fact that the bottom of the fixture slightly overlaps the body trim and I guessed that VW would not have done that design.

It was hard to tell because both side are installed identically. I've never owned a deluxe to know.

I will take them off and fix the holes and put on correct mirrors.

Thanks mandraks.

[Shaun Murray]

I think those mirrors are off of a '67-'72 Chevy pickup. Those are identical to the ones on my '72 Chevy. Don't throw them away just yet, you may be able to sell them because that style of arm and base seems to be quite uncommon anymore.
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"Cross Country Trip" http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5...highlight=

[Ran When Parked]

[Ran When Parked]

I've been busy in the VW Bus World doing everything other than working on the Deluxe. The only thing I managed to do is remove the Chevy mirrors (and store them) and test fit the new step. See:

I did not step on it due to the fact that the bus would imploded on itself.

I picked up three big nuts and one front end. The plan is to learn how to take them apart, rebuild them, and paint them like the other folks to on this site. This way, I will have plenty of spare front and back ends. See:

I made a tool box stand and a wheel shrine. I have 2 more rims to add to the ones shown. Also shown is my new Deluxe rear bumper. See:

I tried to get the two front wheels off of the Deluxe but the wheel kept spinning. I hit it with PB Blaster and it did not loosen up enough (to keep the wheel from spinning). John Muir from "How to Keep your VW Alive" fame, advised to loosen the nuts before you jack it up. I read that this weekend. I wish I would have read that before I put it up on jack stands.

I am getting the 6 wheels blasted. Getting new tires for my other bus and putting the old camper tires on these rims. This will give me five spares for pulling busses out of the woods.

Hunting Update:

I have found two busses that are being used for storage and are not for sale. One's a Deluxe (dead end) and the other is a Standard with a sliding window (still working this guy - hopefully he lets Home Depot deliver and install a storage unit as a swap).

This morning, I received an email that shows a late 50's early 60's panel van with the cargo doors on the drivers side. That is all I could see from one picture. I am meeting the middle man for lunch tomorrow. Guess what? The owner is using the panel van for storage. I want to buy it. Hopefully, it is in good shape and the owner will sell. As far as "Closing on the Hunt", I am 0 for 2 now but maybe by next week I will be 1 for 3. (not counting the '66 Deluxe).

[SkooobaSteve]

Your on a roll I havn't hand any solid leads on a but for sale or not in a long itme.
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Jonathan
Romans 6:13
WTB 67 beetle rear seat belts.
59 Euro ragtop build with my dad
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=493553&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
65 dlx Slow build
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=391061

[Ran When Parked]

I am wishing I will stumble on a black over red 23 window. If not, I hope to buy enough other buses and trade up over the years. That wish keeps me actively looking. I am too dumb to know the odds and can not afford to buy one out right from the guys here in the know, so to speak.