Wolf from the Woods - Austrian 1955 panel

[djfordmanjack]

Hello everybody, my name is Guenter from Austria/Europe.

this topic is about a 1955 Wolfsburg panel that has been retrieved from local woods by my friend Valentin just a few years ago and is in my posession since last summer.
It was owned by a farmer family and parked in their woods (probably for a hunting shack). Judging by the fact this van has never had an inspection sticker on it, it has been off the road since at least early 70s. but it was not abandoned, nor forgotten. for decades it has been parked next to a marked hiking trail - and as a matter of fact - has been the actual trail marker

see the red arrow on the RR corner.

it has been stripped and molested, bent and dented.

Nevertheless. this 1955 built 'Wolf' is still all og paint and I plan to keep it that way. of course it needs most of the chassis replaced and more.
Usually I am into Barndoors, but couldn't resist this one, as it is early WB and still has quite a lot in common with a BD.

_________________
Hotrods, Fords, Veedubs and Triumph Twins ! ______Barndoor + Kohlruss Coachbuilt DLX afficionado

'52 BD Coachbuild project
'54 Oval Sunroof project with my son, L275 Lichtbeige
'55 Wolfsburg panel project, Taubenblau L31 all original paint
'62 Dickholmer, custom color Seeblau L360, daily driver

[djfordmanjack]

a little clean up and removing stuff.

_________________
Hotrods, Fords, Veedubs and Triumph Twins ! ______Barndoor + Kohlruss Coachbuilt DLX afficionado

'52 BD Coachbuild project
'54 Oval Sunroof project with my son, L275 Lichtbeige
'55 Wolfsburg panel project, Taubenblau L31 all original paint
'62 Dickholmer, custom color Seeblau L360, daily driver

[type2rescuemaine]

Woah

Keep that red arrow on there!!

[djfordmanjack]

['64cal lookdub]

Never thought I'd see 19" Model A wheels on a bus.

[BarryL]

[busdaddy]

But how will all those hikers find their way now?

I like the wheels, could be the beginning of a whole new trend!
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Wanted, OG paint 1971 Niagara blue decklid.

Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

Слава Україні!

[Braukuche]

That's going to be one killer bus when done.
_________________
Go Reds! Smash state!

Retirement is here!
1956 Ghia
1959 SO-23 Westfalia
1960 double cab
1963 stretched double cab
1962 Golde sunroof Ghia
1963 356 B coupe
1963 Ghia coupe
1965 Squareback
1967 Ghia convertible
1967 21 window rust bucket
1970 Ghia convertible
1972 Ghia coupe
1973 Ghia convertible
1974 Ghia convertible x 2

[Huetti_1989]

Nice to see some progress on this one!

Good that Vallentin try to find and save so much of them and find the right Owners!

Happy that it stays in Austria!

Good luck with the build and give me a call if you need somehing...

-Christian
_________________
My 1957 semaphore Single Cab:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=605363&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
MY 1967 Sparsamba:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=757182
My 1954 Deutsche Bundespost Barndoor:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=621802
My 1961 SO34 Flipseat Westfalia:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=716285
My 1991 Westfalia California:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=650751

[Bart57]

WOW!
Another great save!
Congrats to the find and the new home.

I assume there are still many "resting Wolfs" in the Austrian Woods and Barn’s waiting to be discovered by you guys.

ps. No rear pressed bumper around the crime scene

Cheers
Bart

[djfordmanjack]

thx, guys!
unfortunately no rear bumper, Bart, but I got a correct early brakelight engine lid with the bus and the og paint pssgr door is still present and savable. I am going to pick up an early og paint driver's door from a fellow bus enthusiast soon.

I don't know what you guys think about that, but what if I left all the future repairs outside in bare metal? would that look odd? I believe I can save all of those og paint body panels and doors with minor need for outer sheetmetal.

of course the inner structure and chassis will need extensive repairs, so that will have to be primered and painted to a good and clean standard. of course the chassis needs to come out from under the bus shell.
Currently I am also building another barndoor type chassis with a few modern twists and rethinking the floor structure.
I want to build the 55 in a similar manner. I believe that we should not rely on an open profile std chassis with a woodfound, surface rusted and bent body like this.
even though it held up well, I think it lost some of its integral rigidity, so I am going for belly pans on the 55 as well.

@Christian, thx for your offer, I will keep that in mind. Hopefully this summer we can arrange meeting, so I can finally check out your SC in person as well !
I will be in your area in June !
_________________
Hotrods, Fords, Veedubs and Triumph Twins ! ______Barndoor + Kohlruss Coachbuilt DLX afficionado

'52 BD Coachbuild project
'54 Oval Sunroof project with my son, L275 Lichtbeige
'55 Wolfsburg panel project, Taubenblau L31 all original paint
'62 Dickholmer, custom color Seeblau L360, daily driver

[mandraks]

i think the outside paint looks plenty good enough. fix the rot and roll it. custom frame, belly pans and all
_________________
regards

Uli

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

[Manfred58sc]

Gosser ist gut, aber Zipfer ist besser!
_________________
Fat chick owner/operator

[j.pickens]

Damn! Don't sweat the decision to go with the belly pans. For all the work you'll be doing, you can do whatever you want.

Best of luck on the restoration.
_________________
Founder and Chairman Emeritus, ECMSAS
BBX BBXII and BBXXI Long Distance Award Winner

[djfordmanjack]

thx for the backing, guys. I dont' want to use an og chassis center section, for structural reasons obviously. Else I would have to undrill and reweld all the inner body structure, which would destroy the van's og paint and history. that I don't want. it should be kept like that on the outside, imho.

I even plan on putting this 55 body on the Barndoor chassis for realigning (only temporarily). It will also make a good cradle for the 55, while repairing the og 55 chassis remnants ( rear section is very good. RF frame is ok, LF needs quite some attention).

this is the obligatory hinge screw extraction procedure...none would come out as they went in. 23 down 16 to go

narrow gap/long ribbed front bumper is mostly there and should be able to reuse.

pssr dr again is all og paint with fair amount of work needed

this has been discussed a lot over at the BD forum and not sure if this is pure coincidence or not. there is a 1/4 chalk marking inside the door and a stamped 4 on the rear body support.

_________________
Hotrods, Fords, Veedubs and Triumph Twins ! ______Barndoor + Kohlruss Coachbuilt DLX afficionado

'52 BD Coachbuild project
'54 Oval Sunroof project with my son, L275 Lichtbeige
'55 Wolfsburg panel project, Taubenblau L31 all original paint
'62 Dickholmer, custom color Seeblau L360, daily driver

[djfordmanjack]

Not sure about that, but by the time this van is done I will have exhausted both companies' brew production....

[Jim Hunter]

Wow !!!
Another great save !!!

Good luck and keep the pics coming please !!!

Jim

[djfordmanjack]

Jim Hunter, we're living just 50 minutes from each other ! stop bye to get a look !

[djfordmanjack]

bumper hardware saved.
straightened somewhat and the pssgr side buffs out nicely. drvr's is not as nice, but will do.

the battery tray is all there

but the driver's side tray is toast

_________________
Hotrods, Fords, Veedubs and Triumph Twins ! ______Barndoor + Kohlruss Coachbuilt DLX afficionado

'52 BD Coachbuild project
'54 Oval Sunroof project with my son, L275 Lichtbeige
'55 Wolfsburg panel project, Taubenblau L31 all original paint
'62 Dickholmer, custom color Seeblau L360, daily driver

[djfordmanjack]

good LR corner support

bumper hardware

heater lines

steering gear all scrap metal, no ?

not so.

_________________
Hotrods, Fords, Veedubs and Triumph Twins ! ______Barndoor + Kohlruss Coachbuilt DLX afficionado

'52 BD Coachbuild project
'54 Oval Sunroof project with my son, L275 Lichtbeige
'55 Wolfsburg panel project, Taubenblau L31 all original paint
'62 Dickholmer, custom color Seeblau L360, daily driver