L345 SO23 (1960) Resurrection

[Tom Mohr]

(As found in 2004.)
Others knew of the existence but had not pulled the trigger. We originally had started with and showed a 1962 beetle. My daughter always enjoyed the busses when we were at shows. I met the owner/seller of this bus while at a show, he stated he had a few items for sale. I mentioned to my daughter that "so and so" said he had a couple of buses. A few months later my daughter and I went over and looked at this bus, and in 2004 struck a deal. Who knew what early SO's would become.......

(Dec 2016)
Photo of the outside same angle, saved most of the original paint. Much more to come. Hope to make its 1st VW show in 2017.

[srfndoc]

Nice save, especially on the paint. How far a long are you with the interior?
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RPM=(MPH*336* (R&P*4th*1.26))/Tire Diameter in inches

[jjjjack]

Nice! Can't wait to see it on the road
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Jack Stenner
1959 Mango Westfalia SO-23
1953 Porsche 356 Coupe
IG:j.stenner

[Tom Mohr]

When we bought this bus I was unaware of camper buses and their idiosyncrasies, I thought this was fairly complete! A plus was only ONE spot that had rust through, passenger rocker about the size of a fifty cent piece. The dogleg was missing due to damage, a correct door was in place, presumably to replace the damaged one. Some sheet metal wrinkle was located below passenger headlight. At the time of purchase sheet metal was difficult to find for buses. Fortunately we only needed the dogleg, or so I thought. By the time I got around to it Funky Green was available.

[Tom Mohr]

The re spray paint removal took a lot of time. I attacked it in patches over several years. Some areas went real easy some were extremely difficult. I believe this was partially due to the amount of prep/sanding done to the original paint. I assume that it was re sprayed in the 70's due to the color.... dark metallic gold. You see a few original paint cars with that color today. One that comes to mind is mid to late 70's Dodge Duster, my brother has one......The 1st product I tried worked great, as long as the ambient temperature was at lease warm. (See the container in pic). It has the consistency of a runny jello when its warm out. Just put it on in a 6 square inch area, wait a bit a wipe it off. Most of the time I used a wet "window bug sponge", something with a little bite to it, and plenty of water to neutralize the paint removal material. In the tough areas I used a scotchbrite pad with plenty of water. Rinse wiped area, dry, then reapply to next area.

Before

Some removal

Re spray "lifting", this can occur within several seconds to a minute. depending on the ambient temperature and the underlying prep work done.

Completed

[Stocknazi]

Wow, what a before/after. The paint turned out super nice.
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WANTED:
58 Westfalia cabinet knobs (3 needed), roof rack, and (7) privy tent poles (silver painted).

"When the people are afraid of the government, that's tyranny. But when the government is afraid of the people, that's liberty."
"Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God."

Thomas Jefferson

[Braukuche]

Look nice
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Go Reds! Smash state!

Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1960 Baja Bug
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Notchback
1967 21 window less rusty now

[Tom Mohr]

Here are some photos of the before and during metal work. I accomplished all of the before work.

But the smartest decision I made on this project was turning the bus over to Bobby for the REAL transformation.

I was hoping to be able to find some the pictures that I took while he had the front chained to a tree to help position and massage, the front end. Bobby has an amazing eye and had to do a lot of adjusting to get the sheet metal pieces to fit just right. He also has to repair some rust in 2 doors. (Remember I thought this was rust FREE) and welded in the additional tail light holes.

[velvetgreen]

looks great- love that L345! How much original paint is left on the bus?

[Tom Mohr]

The only newly painted, non original paint is what you see here primered. I also painted the taillight repair sections. I kept as much original as possible. Experienced painters wanted me to take the paint to the belt line. But I wanted to keep as much original paint as possible. The paint is a pretty good match in some areas but not others.....as far as original % maybe 75%+ or ??
OG safaris are hanging on the racks. The bus is m-coded for them and were missing. Funny thing, the guy who bought them off this bus 25 to 30 years ago, I know here in town.

[Z]

Wow, great looking bus. I hope to see lots more of your work on it.

[Tom Mohr]

[Tom Mohr]

Some interior shots as we found this bus.

[earlywesty]

Enough teasing, let's see some current photos. Great bus and nice job so far!

[bubba]

Sweet bus...
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***WANTED***
SO-23 Cargo net hooks...
for sale
curtain Bungee cords for SO23, 22, 33 ,34 ,35
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1587591

[Tom Mohr]

Sorry this has taken soooo long to update. But here are some pixs of the interior coming together.

[Tom Mohr]

Sub hatch trim before during and after polishing

[Tom Mohr]

Cabinets going back in.....

[Tom Mohr]

Nearly completed resurrection......

[Tom Mohr]

Display at a local show. Annual Pontiac Club show had a vintage camper display area.
So we attended. 1st show with the SO 23. Lots of people shared their VW stories, very enjoyable day!