The 1959 Franken Project

[Shoyrtt]

Around four years ago I was itching to start another project. I, for some unknown reason tend to be attracted to the poor, lost and neglected VWs that others have cast aside. This time around, there seemed to be several Bus projects that were listed here on the Samba where the back 2/3rds of the vehicle was intact, but the nose needed some attention. The first purchase back in 2016 led me and my son on a trip to Yuma, Arizona where Mike had the rear 2/3rds of this 1959 panel in his yard along with several other buses. Mike's story about the bus was it had been converted into a shed at some point in its life after a front end collision and a torch was used to eliminate the damaged goods. After a very reasonable negotiation, the transaction was completed and the Bus was loaded on our trailer and we headed home.

On the trailer, we first questioned if the Bus was at some point a plug in hybrid.

Back at the shop, it was put on a pallet and placed into storage.

As you can maybe see the B pillar was in place along with the lower portion of the bulkhead. There was some minor body damage to the driver's side rear corner and some minor rocker rust. About 6 inches of the driver's side frame rail was a little tweaked just to the rear of the B pillar point. Aside from the fact I only had 2/3rds of a Bus, with those minor issues, I thought it was worth saving.

[Shoyrtt]

The next purchase came around a year later. I was looking for the front 1/3, but couldn't find what I was looking for. I figured it would be a Frankenbus, so I didn't need to be picky about the year, just that it was workable. This fried egg nose came up for sale. Located in Oregon, the price was right, but I was hoping for something closer to home. Luckily, the OCTO meets attract a lot of fellow bus owners and the seller just happened to be heading South and agreed to bring it with him.

So now I'm thrilled. I got the rear 2/3rds and the front 1/3rd in hand for less than $1,000, how hard can the rest of the project be? We put the front 1/3 on a pallet and also placed it in the shop. At first I thought this was a walk through bulkhead. I didn't get the back story on this Bus, but I believe this was once a converted trailer camper. It was a solid bulkhead that was hacked and a walk through back rest was screwed together on the passenger side. There were also two steel plates welded and covered with bondo on the doglegs on each side where I think the aftermarket camper was attached. The B pillars were both intact along with the lower bulkhead and the doors opened and closed nicely. The floor suffered from typical rust issues, but the bones of this nose I thought would work.

[LAGrunthaner]

This is going to be a fun thread to watch, I'm happy for you Shoyrt, keep this build coming

Everett please put this one in the builds sticky.

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[Shoyrtt]

And then college happened. My son who went to Yuma with me, just happens to have a twin brother. In fact, the twins and I found this bus in the desert 6 years ago.

They both had VWs in high school (a Baja and a Thing), but the hammer came down that the Franken bus needed to stay on the shelf while the college bills started flooding in. Throughout the years I would buy parts here and there. The beam on craigslist. The steering column at Prado park. A trip to an OCTO meet always had to have a small part of the sheet metal needing to come home with me somehow.

In March of last year, my good friend who allowed me to store the big parts in his shop announced he was moving out of state. I loaded the two pallets on to my trailer for the next step. There was light on the horizon however as the twins were heading into their senior year 2019/2020.

[Shoyrtt]

The light started to shine and I somehow got the go ahead to slowly start working again in the Summer of 2019. For motivation I turned the nose in the correct direction and headed to another friend's shop, WB Custom in Ridgecrest to connect the two into one.

Now to put the pieces of the puzzle together. High hinge rear to a low hinge front. I figured we had to keep it high hinged and we needed the welding on the roof to be hidden by the front support. First step was to brace up the rear.

Next was to clean up the front. It was going to need doglegs and a floor.

[Ceckert64]

Wow! You are taking on a lot! Nice saving it! I'm not sure but it looks like the back 2/3 may have been a camper conversion with the plug-in and the holes for windows, I may be wrong but that is what it looks like it could be to me.
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1964 sunroof Beetle Restoration "Herbie"
“Joann” 1970 Elm Green Squareback
1972 Yellow Tin Top Westfalia -Sold
“Fitz” 1971 Westfalia Poptop
“Rome” 91 Syncro

[Shoyrtt]

As the days are moving along, I paid a visit to nearby Corona for supplies.

And then Gerson had an end of the year sale.

In February 2020, the first OCTO meet of the year was rewarding for some bling.

And then at the end of the morning when everyone was loading up I spied these two and things changed.

[Shoyrtt]

[Shoyrtt]

I promise this will not be a panel conversion into a 23 window thread. But because it is a Franken Bus and I have only owned Deluxe buses in the past, I wanted some light to come in. The plan is to make it a Kombi with the new high hinge doors and metal from Wolfsburg West that I picked up right after the OCTO meet. To that end, the pieces of the puzzle are joined.

And we prepare for bullets.

I also scored this 61 decklid and a license plate frame from my home town growing up.

[Shoyrtt]

I'm still gathering parts in March of 2020 and send off my transmission to Ricky at Wrightgearbox. I sent my slightly bent spring plates to Aaron at Wide Five to work his magic. Then I get the word before any of the Covid 19 concerns that my other project, a 74 Thing, needs to be cleared out before I even think of bringing a Bus into our garage. The Thing sold quick, but now this nice open space I had ready for a bus is now occupied by not two, but three college students' crap from school as all of my kids moved back home along with my oldest daughter. Ricky and Aaron came through and there is enough room in my garage to store those parts for now.

Thankfully the work continues at my buddy's shop. Here are the up to date pictures with the new doglegs fitted, the floor almost ready along with the nose.

[karl h]

wow, this is nice to watch!
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arctic alice (63 ragtop on irs): http://cal-look.no/lounge/index.php/topic,27456.0.html
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[LAGrunthaner]

This build is a fun watch, keep up the great work.
This would be a very cool avatar

_________________
American Red Cross Safe And Well:
https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/...bsite.html
Maui Roadsters
www.mauiroadsters.com
http://www.oacdp.org

[BarryL]

[peecee69]

Looks to be a fun ride!
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1973 Standard Beetle - running maintenance thread - https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=675712&highlight=
1966 Doublecab - Starting resto - https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=668518&highlight=

[SplitBusVanatic]

Cool thread. Looking forward to updates.

[vwuberalles]

What a great build! What will you title it as?
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1973 Superbeetle: 1st car, owned since age 12. Update thread --> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9919140#9919140
1967 Kombi: Owned since age 17, Dad's retirement project.
1966 Beetle: My new project. (SOLD) Build thread--> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=678040

[Shoyrtt]

[Culito]

[Shoyrtt]

A few more progress pictures. Clecos sure come in handy.

[Culito]

Anybody remember this Pimp My Ride episode?
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