new aircooled guy, bringing home the 68

[mk3junk]

Hi! ive been an mk1 guy for a bit now, realized over the past year or so that i really enjoy old metal. So my hunt began. After finding handfuls of buses i was interested in, and being declined by sellers because i didnt have all the cash up front for it and they didnt want to work out a payment plan, or they dodged out of the deal.

In October i was searching the samba, not even planning on anything because i was bummed out of losing the options, i found this 1968 bay window. i got a hold of the seller and they where very kind and setup a really good deal. so every few weeks i sent out 100$ until she was all payed for. Which worked out perfect since there was no way i was able to pay all money up front. (im 23, live with my gf, who is a tattoo apprentice.. meaning i pay for everything)

well today i sent out the last 100$ for her and I am going to pick her up in 2 weeks,

my goal is to bring her back to a almost stock finish, change the ride height a tad, and just learn about aircooled, I got the bentley manual for xmas, as well as a new front emblem. already bought new sheet metal for what needs to be replaced, new fuel lines and seals and gaskets, teh motor is solid, and the people im buying it off of start it up a few times a week.even text/ call me when they do so, and update me with any hickups or if they notice anything that im going to have to change out.

but anyways, im sure your tired of my ranting story. (very excited about this)

here is some pictures.

[barryf1fan]

Man!! Nice find. I bet you're excited, I sure as hell would be. Good luck with it.

[mk3junk]

thanks man! you have no idea how happy i am about it. there is just something about aircooled that just pulls my heart strings, and to actually have one now i cant even explain how insanely happy i am.

more pictures will be updated as the progress comes along as well as the 4 hr drive out to get it.

[Schell R32]

seeing your from Ma..i have a couple busses for sale if your interested...a 78 slide sunroof and a wasted parts 73....the sunroof is gutted with no interior,motor etc but in very nice shape with a maaco respray on it from 1983,i have all the service records including the window sticker ...the motor blew and the owner took it out and never put another in.


let me know if your into it///pm me.


anyhoo nice find on the current one too!

[zzzdanz]

tattoo apprentice.. meaning i pay for everything

I can relate man, my 19yr old daughter is in college and doing a tattoo apprentice gig also....and I pay for everything.

Bus looks very clean for a New England bus. Enjoy

[mk3junk]

I can relate man, my 19yr old daughter is in college and doing a tattoo apprentice gig also....and I pay for everything.

Bus looks very clean for a New England bus. Enjoy

thanks man. yeah she only has a few months left until she can fully work in a shop. my area requires 2 years of an apprenticeship as well as all the health certification. but alot of good artist have seen her work so far and say that she will be one of those people who will be able to charge higher than shop price (100$ an hour here) and people will pay it. so in return im sure me paying for everything will give me some pluses.

[Antihero983]

Thats an awesome find dude!


Subscribed.

[AircooledKevin]

Nice.

[mk3junk]

thanks guys. i will keep everything updated with photos as soon as i pick her up.

[cam's68]

Yeaaahhh!! Rep'n the 68, all the way!

[A1steaksauce]

first up, nice score. it looks like you have a great base to start from i keep thinking of adding a deluxe bay to my stable.

change the ride height a tad

feel free to hit me up with questions...i know a little about this

I got the bentley manual for xmas

that's what i'm talkin bout willis!!!!

when does she come home?

[mk3junk]

it will either be before march 8th or after march 20th. between there i will be on vacation. she currently sits in new york pretty close to the MA boarder, so it wont be as harsh of a trip as it was to get my gf's 82 rabbit. which was in Oswego NY (trip out there we hit 106 degrees last summer)

on the ride height im not looking to slam it, i have a mk1 is really low, and sometimes that is mind hurting to drive, i just want to lower it enough that its a more secure drive and a little less sail boat like.

oh maybe i should add that i picked this up for 800$, the owner had it listed for 2,000$ and it was a daily driver until the brakes went out. apparently i was the only one who had any interest in the bus.
...im guessing maybe because of location.

[mk3junk]

just got back from vacation, picking her up saturday the 7th. big big smile on my face.

[A1steaksauce]

just got back from vacation, picking her up saturday the 7th. big big smile on my face.

nice!

oh and keep in mind that a slammed MK1 is night and day different than a slammed air cooled. i daily drive my laid out beetle just fine, but my rabbit that was tucking 13's on low pros was another story...hated driving that car anywhere i didn't know the roads.

[TRSuper75]

congrats, good luck, enjoy

[mk3junk]

nice!

oh and keep in mind that a slammed MK1 is night and day different than a slammed air cooled. i daily drive my laid out beetle just fine, but my rabbit that was tucking 13's on low pros was another story...hated driving that car anywhere i didn't know the roads.

imnot sure how low i want to go with the bus, i have a friend who does metal work fabricate a set of 4 inch drop plates for the rear and im going to pick up a second front beam and have him narrow that down also. i plan on doing everything right with this build from engine work to paint, so we will see where time takes me with it.

thanks for the positive feedback though

[A1steaksauce]

imnot sure how low i want to go with the bus, i have a friend who does metal work fabricate a set of 4 inch drop plates for the rear and im going to pick up a second front beam and have him narrow that down also. i plan on doing everything right with this build from engine work to paint, so we will see where time takes me with it.

thanks for the positive feedback though

read up on my 73 build thread on narrowing beams or this thread:

http://www.kustomcoachwerks.com/foru...pic.php?t=1974

that will cover the basics and then some.

if you want to get her down there drop spindles and adjustable beam are a must. adjustable beam by itself really doesn't get you anywhere on a bay, you have to throw a combination of both things at it to get her down

[mk3junk]

awesome thanks again!

i bookmarked that to show my friend, im not a welder to say the least so stuff like that i have to outsource.

3 more full days until i take the trip out to pick her up

[mk3junk]

brought her home!



she has some rough spots, its going to cost me roughly 150$ in floor panels to repair, (passenger seat floor panel, 28 inches along the edge behind the drivers side is worn through, the frame itself is really solid. except for one part behind the front wheel on the drivers side has a pretty bad spot that im going to have cut out, and made sturdy again.

obviously needs new front lower panels "dog legs" i believe they are called and some rockor work on the drivers side

but one thing that really makes me happy about the whole thing, is that everything that came original is pretty much there, from the original spare wheel cover to the original rubber pedal covers that have the vw emblem on them.

today/tomorrow will just consist of doing a deep cleaning of rats nest, moss spores, and dirt and grime. this coming week i will start cutting out what needs replacing on the floor panels. followed by the body itself as stuff comes in. im not touching the motor yet, because i know i will have an urge to drive it. and i was told by a friend to not start it until its been given a good cleaning and a look through.

additional picture of the girlfriend and my dog,



we are both mk1 drivers and she is saving up to purchase a aircooled beetle.

[germanlook72]

glad to see it made it home, good luck with the build!

[mk3junk]

glad to see it made it home, good luck with the build!

thanks it was hidden away in the little village of Millbrook NY, so far in the cleaning process i have found a handful of change, roughly 3$ a mouse nest in the glovebox, spare wheel compartment, door vent, 2 willie nelson cassette tapes, a greatful dead/jerry garcia 1969 ticket stub (previous owner kept all the good condition ones)
the bowl end of a wooden pipe tucked behind the door panel, as well as a very worn out paper envelope that had some old brand of rolling papers.

i cant wait to search for more.

[A1steaksauce]

that's a nice score for sure my next bay is going to be a kombi

honestly, wolfsburg west is going to be your best place for cheap replacement metal. funky green panels are the best of the best, but pricey. the stuff coming out of WW is first rate nowadays and their pricing is very reasonable. stay away from the klockerholm stuff for busses. doesn't fit worth a darn and is thinner gauge than stock.

also check out your wiring. hippies were notorious for hippy rigging the piss out of wiring in old busses. the more grateful dead crap you find the worse the wiring might be. i hate seeing grateful dead crap on busses that have been sitting, sure tell tale sign that the wiring is going to be questionable and other repairs have been sort cut and/or rigged together. however, on the flip side of the coin if those stupid hippies actually knew how to work on their vehicles they might have kept on driving them till they rotted away...so perhaps its good that they were car stupid and abandoned them in a field at the first major mechanical beak down

[mk3junk]

that's a nice score for sure my next bay is going to be a kombi

honestly, wolfsburg west is going to be your best place for cheap replacement metal. funky green panels are the best of the best, but pricey. the stuff coming out of WW is first rate nowadays and their pricing is very reasonable. stay away from the klockerholm stuff for busses. doesn't fit worth a darn and is thinner gauge than stock.

also check out your wiring. hippies were notorious for hippy rigging the piss out of wiring in old busses. the more grateful dead crap you find the worse the wiring might be. i hate seeing grateful dead crap on busses that have been sitting, sure tell tale sign that the wiring is going to be questionable and other repairs have been sort cut and/or rigged together. however, on the flip side of the coin if those stupid hippies actually knew how to work on their vehicles they might have kept on driving them till they rotted away...so perhaps its good that they were car stupid and abandoned them in a field at the first major mechanical beak down

...you should see the windows. the back window and passenger side have some flowers etched into them... and not pro etching, just looks like razor work.

for parts i was told to go through bus depot. because they are awesome on pricing, but for the panels im going to check the place you mentioned to see what the price difference is,

as for the wiring, i looked through it with my bently in hand yesterday and it seems all good.

worst part so far was ripping down the old head liner, it was a mouse nest monastery.

[mk3junk]

did some cleaning today, finished pulling down the headliner. it was so corroded that it didnt rip but actually broke apart. and under that headliner was a mouse house mansion which then sent little mouse turds everywhere. but after doing some real deep cleaning got it looking like this, when the time comes and the panels are welded in i will be coating the floor with por-15


the motor 1600cc single port, was also home to some mouse temples, the airbox was clogged with whatever mice brought into there, so i will just be running a filter right on top for the time being.
battery tray, rear lower quater panel, and parts of the wheel wells will be replaced.


and of course the body, with the obvious panels that will be replaced.



doing all the work myself, im HOPING to have the whole thing finished by this time next year. but at least driving around safely by the end of next month

[A1steaksauce]

...you should see the windows. the back window and passenger side have some flowers etched into them... and not pro etching, just looks like razor work.

for parts i was told to go through bus depot. because they are awesome on pricing, but for the panels im going to check the place you mentioned to see what the price difference is,

as for the wiring, i looked through it with my bently in hand yesterday and it seems all good.

worst part so far was ripping down the old head liner, it was a mouse nest monastery.

that's hilarious about the windows.

also check out cip1 for parts. only drawback to them is their help department is anything but, so you really have to know what you're after when you're ordering parts...but their prices are great and i haven't had a single problem with anything i've bought off them. shipping is very reasonable as well, regardless of the fact that it's coming out of california.

consider yourself lucky on the wiring. i tend to judge a bus's wiring by the amount of "dead" stickers i find....the more the worse it is hell my bus has like 8 or so stickers and the wiring is just a disaster. you'll see it in my build thread when i get to the wiring

yeah it's nasty what creatures do to vehicles...simple green is a great cleaner for cleaning up messes left behind

[mk3junk]

update, update and update. took the trusty grinder, and grinded down the rust and gross paint off of the roof. primed it and coated it. figure id get this done to prevent any holes from happening.
eventually i will get a good paint job but this will have to do for now.



second on the update list, i decided to remove the valve covers and sand them down and coat them since i read up about valve covers rusting through. and this is what i found..



after a quick text to the previous owner (who said that the engine was solid) i asked him if he had any work done, and he told me that a few weeks or so before the brakes went he had the motor rebuilt. then the brakes went and he really didnt have time and effort to really want to do anymore work to it. gave me the number of the mechanic who rebuilt it, called up the shop and low and behold the engine was rebuilt using its original case and covers, im now removing the motor to clean out the engine bay of rust and what not. but this made me feel a whole lot better about driving her when the time comes.


onto the next, here is my dog! he likes to chill out behind the seat, especially when its nice and sunny out and i open up the back lid.

waiting for fedex now to bring me some body panels.

[DurtyDaily]

Awesome news on the motor. I just cleaned out my interior. It was like a mouse time-share.

[mk3junk]

body panels came in, now just waiting to buy a new welder.

pulled my motor yesterday to do some cleaning and adjusting, and then noticed my carb stuck. so doing a rebuild on that.

timed myself between jacking up the rear, taking out all the screws and labeling every nut, bolt and wire. entire pull was 41 minutes 23 seconds. that included trying to figure out how i was going to lift the motor into the bus so i could work on it.

i didnt have a proper jack to pull the motor out. but using the seat part of a adjustable rolling computer chair worked awesome.

[A1steaksauce]

[TheAmazingDave]

Awesome! This makes me miss my 74

[phill0046]

Love it, glad someone worked with you so you could get it

[mk3junk]

thanks guys! today i did some carb work. and got it moving properly then i sanded down some of my engine tins, and painted them. and put them back on to see how they looked. really dig this color so prob sticking with it and doing the rest.



and here is some motivational shots. ...enjoy!

[DurtyDaily]

Yummm. Love the emblem instead of the spare tire bracket!!! Dropping my motor on Wednesday night! doin work!

[mk3junk]

did some work over the past 2 weeks on my days off.

rebuilt carb
new valves (took heads off and found that my valves where decent, but pretty crusty from)
valve guides
push rods
push rod tubes
all seals and gasket
new oil cooler (didnt know condition of old one. so replaced it)
painted tins
fixed holes in heat exchangers (not running heat but going to use them to divert hot air)
new throw out bearing

degreased the entire motor a clean motor is a happy motor

just waiting on new valve covers and a fan belt then putting her back in and doing a compression test.

[Antihero983]

Coming along nicely!!