Living in Brazil and Hunting Type 2s

[Abscate]

That horrible stink is the bowels of the Split owners who dumped their 401ks as an 'investment' realizing they just got short-sold
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.ssS!

[NASkeet]

Whilst I was looking through some of my old posts, I came acrss the following related topic thread:

International > New Type 2 VW from Brazil

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=123051
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Regards.

Nigel A. Skeet

Independent tutor (semi-retired) of mathematics, physics, technology & engineering for secondary, tertiary, further & higher education.

Much modified, RHD 1973 VW "1600" Type 2 Westfalia Continental campervan, with the World's only decent, cross-over-arm, SWF pantograph rear-window wiper

Onetime member, plus former Technical Editor & Editor of Transporter Talk magazine
Volkswagen Type 2 Owners' Club (Great Britain)

http://www.vwt2oc.net

[The Canadian]

[vwwestyman]

I think if you're only going to start it once or twice in those temps, I wouldn't worry too much about a heater.

That said, I do like to use block heaters when possible. (both my water cooled VWs have them, the air cooled ones don't right now.) I like how the car's heater works nearly instantly, and that it is easier on the motor for starting in cold temps.

I don't think there are many options besides one that mounts to the underside of the block for an air cooled VW. I guess there are dipstick-replacement heaters. I think I'd go for the kind that mount under the block, as it'll warm both the block and the oil.
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[NASkeet]

[The Canadian]

Thanks for the info about the oil heaters!

Now for a few pictures of another project, I have been working on getting the next 2 buses to send. I am going to try and build two modern Westfalia style campers, kind of like those Danbury campers they have in the UK. Here's the first one, already in the paint booth.

I will have to sell the other 2 I have sent in order to fund this project, lets see how it goes. If anyone has any suggestions on what to include or not include in these campers, don't hesitate to comment. I am sure that this will be a big project.

[Gruppe B]

Hello Canadian,
Did Brazil make any factory highroof busses there?

[richparker]

I use a Kat’s sump heater. I usually plug it in about an hour before I need to leave in the cold weather. My engine really likes this, it cranks fast and warms up fast once started, producing cabin heat quickly. I do have working flaps too.
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build
’63 Deluxe Build

[DannyJ5150]

Dude- this is one of the best threads I have read in a long time on here- thank you.
Keep the stuff coming. I'm checking this every day for updates now.

[NASkeet]

There are, or at least were, special after-market elevating roofs available in Great Britain, for the Brazilian built 1997~2015 "bay-window" VW Type 2; including one of Westfalia style.
_________________
Regards.

Nigel A. Skeet

Independent tutor (semi-retired) of mathematics, physics, technology & engineering for secondary, tertiary, further & higher education.

Much modified, RHD 1973 VW "1600" Type 2 Westfalia Continental campervan, with the World's only decent, cross-over-arm, SWF pantograph rear-window wiper

Onetime member, plus former Technical Editor & Editor of Transporter Talk magazine
Volkswagen Type 2 Owners' Club (Great Britain)

http://www.vwt2oc.net

[The Canadian]

[The Canadian]

[Ride_On]

Sweet! Must be a relief that they've landed at home! They look great, especially the white one. Hope that brings an end to all the major headaches!

Are the Brazilian mirrors like on the blue bus readily/easily available? They're on the order of $90USD per side up here, but someone had seen them for ~$40USD for a pair from a Brazilian site. Interested if you did happen to toss a set or two in your next export buses.

Good luck with your conversions! Paint is looking sweet!
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1977 Westfalia 2.0 FI Skills EJ25 w SubaruGears 5sp
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=687254
2018 Golf Sportwagen 4MO DSG (Dieselgated 2013 Golf Wagon TDI DSG)

[NASkeet]

[NASkeet]

[The Canadian]

Time to Revive this thread after a 5 month hiatus!


Those first two buses which I brought into Canada are finally through the Out of Province inspection and registered in Alberta! The 2002 blue bus has already sold:

And the 1991 White Bus is currently for sale:

I'm just finishing this 2002 Green bus right now, its heading North soon!

Currently have 3 other Bus projects on the go at the moment as well, more info to come...

[NASkeet]

[The Canadian]

Time to resurrect this thread for another update. I have been busy down here in Sao Paulo learning and building.

After many delays this model year 2002 bus was finally finished in order to ship to Quebec.

I also bought another bus to ship with it, this time a split window which I though I had picked up for a great price but I ended up getting ripped off big time. I spent 4 months with it torn apart, we ended up having to fix the frame(the engine cradle was bent and had a shoddy hidden repair), replace the front floor and floor supports, do a bunch of engine work, fix the rear door and rear quarters which were full of bondo, properly set the rear suspension, put proper seat belts in it, and replace every piece of glass(Brazilian glass is not DOT approved)
Now it is in much better shape, and I can ship it with a clean conscience.

Here’s the buses getting loaded up in the container:

And here they are after my buddy(the buyer) picked them up in Quebec.

Both of these buses managed to pass the Out of Province inspection in Quebec on the first try!! I think I might be getting better at this.

I also have another two modern bay window buses that are finished, more to come on those soon…

If you guys have any questions about Brazilian buses feel free to ask, I am learning a lot down here.

[Abscate]

Excellent. Why oh why did they fill their ad with ugly men with the “ much better choices” in Brazil?
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.ssS!

[The Canadian]

Buying a Bus at an Auction in Brazil

I have found that there are some pretty interesting auctions going on here, and in February I was browsing online when I came across an Auction being put on by the Tribunal de Justiça de Sao Paulo(the Sao Paulo Court of Justice). They were selling their fleet of 16 Kombi vans which had been used to shuttle their workers around the city of Sao Paulo. All the buses were model year 2003, which was just what I was looking for!

After reading through the auction rules and making liberal use of google translate, I was ready to make an online bid. I never actually went to see the buses in person, so I was buying based off photos alone(and there was only 3…)

Of the 16 I identified 3 buses with extremely low miles, and ended up buying the one with the lowest of them all (only 47000kms!!)

After the auction it took them two months(!!!) to do the paperwork so it was ready for me to pick up. Finally the day arrived and I drove across town to see what I bought. Unfortunately when I picked it up there was a lot going on so I didn’t take pics, but I do have pics from a day later.

The day after I bought it, I drove it a short distance to get a quote from my upholstery guy for a new interior. While the bus was parked outside a truck backed into me and pushed in the front… I was not impressed.
Of course the guy had no insurance and gave me every excuse in the book. I ended up getting about $30 out of him, I’m sure that will cover it(not)

Next I brought it to a few paint shops to get some quotes, I got a good recommendation from a friend for a shop that does good work for a reasonable price(if you pay too cheap down here you will get terrible quality of work, just like anywhere in the world I suppose).

So here we go, I stripped out the interior, and the Bus spent a month at the paint shop, first step was to remove the dents, then they removed all the glass and the doors, lights, etc. then painted the roof white, followed by painting the bottom blue and then the middle/window area white. We also touched up many areas inside the bus and repainted the cab floor, as well as the wheels and bumpers.

Removing the dent...

Skim of bond to finish it off..

There was another dent in this rear pillar about the size of my hand, I didn't take a before picture unfortunately

MANY other areas with small imperfections were corrected

Spot priming all the corrections:

The painter is a pretty awesome dude, I talked to him ALOT during this entire process

We used Sherwin-Williams paint

Shooting some color!!

The bumpers got painted blue by mistake, Luckily they are going to correct them free of charge

Time to tape off the top for some white paint:

How it looked after painting..

There was a lot of polishing done after painting...

Starting to look good, next step was reassembly then on to the upholstery shop, more to come...