1967 SO-42 Campmobile "Klaus" Restoration 2019 thru 2024

[volksbus]

On May 15, 2019, my relative Dale Pierce and lifelong friend Bob Burris, loaded up the bus to take it more than 700 miles away for its first restoration. We were very excited and hopeful. I had saved a little bit from each paycheck for years and sold off all extraneous things to make this happen.

Both Dale and Bob have known this bus since my dad found it and began working on it in 1995-6. Dad, Dale and Bob all worked in auto manufacturing, sales and auctions their entire lives. These were definitely men I could trust to take my bus across the country and to return it after it was restored.

It meant a lot to me that they were involved and that my dad could see this restoration take place.

We sent a running and driving shell to the restoration shop, with the promise that work would begin by July 2019 and be finished before the end of the year.

_________________
"Get in the bus!"
1967 SO-42 "Klaus"
1964 DC Truck
1967 Dodge A-108 CampWagon

[volksbus]

I began ordering parts for the 2nd restoration of this bus today. Work will begin soon to correct all of the mistakes made in the botched restoration in 2019 and 2020. "Retail Therapy"? Sure. Also, these are necessary parts to do the job right.

It is a great time to be doing this, with so many parts available for easy purchase and delivery. A lot of stuff that was not available to us when we first fixed up the bus in the 1990s.
_________________
"Get in the bus!"
1967 SO-42 "Klaus"
1964 DC Truck
1967 Dodge A-108 CampWagon

[j.pickens]

So, you got burned on a restoration, and it is in for a second?
Love to see the pix from the bogus job.
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Founder and Chairman Emeritus, ECMSAS
BBX BBXII and BBXXI Long Distance Award Winner

[volksbus]

Klaus shipped out to be restored on May 15, 2019. It arrived back on Oct. 4, 2020. It was late and over budget but we were glad to get the bus home.

I noticed some defects in the paint here and there but I wasn't concerned until I stuck my head under the driver's side front and saw this view. For a project that was promised to be excellent work, I got a sick feeling when I had this first look.

(Note that the bumpers were not done at all because it was already over time and over budget, and in the interest of returning it sooner rather than later.)

_________________
"Get in the bus!"
1967 SO-42 "Klaus"
1964 DC Truck
1967 Dodge A-108 CampWagon

[BarryL]

Isn't that caulking?

[crofty]

[Malokin Martin]

Already rusting at the seam. Bummer man. I wonder if they’ll make it right and what that means

[BulliBill]

What a great back-story on the Bus and that you know most all of it's history! So sorry to hear that the restoration was a bit sub-par. But any thing "Split-Bus" can be fixed with $'s and the right folks doing the work when you can make it happen.

So right now is your plan to put it together and start using it again, or are you looking to get more work done to get it up to your standards? There are lots of Split-Bus enthusiasts and events not far from you in Chicago in Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri.

I hope that you get that Bus out and camp in it soon this coming Spring to recapture your desire and love for that Campmobile again!

Bill Bowman
St. Charles, MO
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I'm looking for these license plate frames for my fleet:
Coeur D'Alene - Lake Shore Volkswagen
Mission VW - San Fernando
Thornton VW - Stockton

Thanks for any help!

[Malokin Martin]

If you’re going around again, your next work should be local enough to check in on it (physically) weekly. The “right” shop will be ok with this. Once it’s out of their hands, you’re SOL

[volksbus]

Crunching numbers tonight and working on a metal panels order. Before shipping, the rough estimate to replace the panels wrecked in the media blasting last January? $2,600. One of the panels was new in the botched restoration. It, too, is now fubar.

_________________
"Get in the bus!"
1967 SO-42 "Klaus"
1964 DC Truck
1967 Dodge A-108 CampWagon

[steven wardlaw]

Good luck on the second restoration. I hope this one turns out better. I hate to see shops take advantage of people that pay hard earned money to fix their pride and joys and cut corners to either save them money or to just get on to the next project. Keep us posted on the progress.

[volksbus]

A restoration gone wrong 2019-2020

Here is the bad and the ugly. Had this long and costly restoration returned with only bad paint, I would have lived with it. (The paint was thick, dirty, runny and drippy. It was not de-nibbed. There was oodles of seam sealer and places but missing entirely in the drip rail. There was visible dirt and hair.)

But, what we came to see, and three experts found in their reports, was that none of the welding and fabrication had been done to any level of standard. Fitment was bad. Welds were done poorly by any measure. Not only did the welder not achieve enough heat to penetrate and join pieces, welds were contaminated, incomplete and not finished. In some places, welds were missing in structural pieces. In other places, the welder welded on the body AFTER paint.

Additionally, there was new paint over rust, dirt and grease. The prep was very, very poor.

You may recall that this bus looked good from a distance because of the body work we did in the 1990s. What it needed -- and what the stated goal of the project was -- was to have the rusted parts cut out, new metal welded in and everything receive prep, primer, paint and sealing.

As one expert said in his summary: "The overall assessment of the work performed on this bus during its previous restoration/refurbishment was done to a very low/poor level of workmanship that lacks event he lowest basic work ethic."

Hobos welding at night in the alley could have done a better job if they cared about the quality of their work. It was an absolute horror show. These pics tell the tale. The only positive thing to say is that all of this work will be re-done soon.

_________________
"Get in the bus!"
1967 SO-42 "Klaus"
1964 DC Truck
1967 Dodge A-108 CampWagon

[grailoc]

sorry to see you have been fooled by a guignol restoration shop.

you are not the only one dealing with such situation, I am currently redoing the restoration that was done on my bus it back in 2008, but now I have decided to do all of the metal work up to paint all by myself.
I invested in tooling when I restored my 56 cabrio and now using tooling and experience to redo my bus correctly.
here is the thread if it can motivate you:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=341539&start=340

I hope you now have found the correct shop to redo the job as it should be.

happy new year 2024.
_________________
My 59 low light ghia: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=452128
My 56 beetle convertible: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7796259
My 60 SO23 westy: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=341539
My oldspeed 36hp autotechnik express build: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=670827
My garage build: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=199438

[volksbus]

Additional photos of the botched restoration, c. 2020.

_________________
"Get in the bus!"
1967 SO-42 "Klaus"
1964 DC Truck
1967 Dodge A-108 CampWagon

[grailoc]

is the bus going to be sandbasted? if yes you should not do the large surface areas to avoid metal wrapping.
_________________
My 59 low light ghia: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=452128
My 56 beetle convertible: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7796259
My 60 SO23 westy: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=341539
My oldspeed 36hp autotechnik express build: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=670827
My garage build: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=199438

[volksbus]

[volksbus]

Here is a twin to my bus for sale. I wonder how close we were in the production line!

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2656801
_________________
"Get in the bus!"
1967 SO-42 "Klaus"
1964 DC Truck
1967 Dodge A-108 CampWagon

[volksbus]

After receiving Klaus home from the botched restoration shop, we got on the waiting list with Randy Sheridan and Das Kaferhaus in Woodstock, Illinois. Randy was one of three experts who gave us reports on the bad work that was done and we trusted him implicitly.

Klaus was at Randy's shop from July 2022 until February 2023. Despite his many promises, delays and charging us way over his estimates for what little work he did do, Randy only disassembled it and media blasted it (with damage) and let it sit to rust in his shop without any protective coating. (I don't watch car restoration shows but I hear that Restoration 101 preaches that one should treat bare metal immediately after removing finishes.)

In fact, Klaus sat idle at Randy's shop so long that it a. got a marketing gig with a full wrap (for which Randy was paid to remove!) and b. it got a great little writeup in Hemming's (because we thought the project was finally underway with some good, honest folks that we trusted).

In the end, Randy sent me a "dear John" email in which he said he couldn't fit me in before other customers (despite my being on his waiting list) and that he couldn't meet my expectations. And, that's the saddest part because he didn't even begin to try.

In addition to damaging original panels with media blasting, Randy let the bus set for months in bare metal and surface rust began immediately.

I was patient with Randy's delays and upcharges. I begged him to keep to stay on the job and finish it. In the end, we towed Klaus to its 3rd shop, Seward Speed Shop & Adam Kottke in Rockford, Illinois, in April 2023.

Adam said he would begin work on the project in two weeks...

Details:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=780965

_________________
"Get in the bus!"
1967 SO-42 "Klaus"
1964 DC Truck
1967 Dodge A-108 CampWagon

[volksbus]

Work has begun at the fourth and final shop of this restoration project that started with a costly botched restorationin 2019-2020.

The engine was reinstalled by the most recent shop after a damaging media blast.

It was missing one bolt and the nut on the starter.

_________________
"Get in the bus!"
1967 SO-42 "Klaus"
1964 DC Truck
1967 Dodge A-108 CampWagon

[volksbus]

Day One of fixing the botched restoration. Here are pics of the poorly executed patch attempt. The final pic shows the bad work cut out, revealing there was no prep done to the frame section before the repair was attempted.

_________________
"Get in the bus!"
1967 SO-42 "Klaus"
1964 DC Truck
1967 Dodge A-108 CampWagon