Vintage 1968 VW bus decision and the aftermath pest

Not long ago, a VW bus came out in the market that attracted my attention. It was a 1968 VW bus that was owned by the same guy since it was brand new. Wanting to get ahead of everybody, I frantically searched for the owner.

With the guidance and permission of the Lord, I was able to get a hold of the owner. The owner told me that he is reconsidering the price of the bus because he initially posted it at $1000. For a 1968 bus, that price is very attractive. I tried to convince the owner if I could just buy it from him but he told me that he will get back to me after a few days.

I waited anxiously for a few days with a nagging thought in my mind that a million greedy buyers out there are slugging it out just to get ahead to buy this bus. I finally got a text from the owner asking if I am still interested on buying the bus. I responded saying that I am interested and the owner gave me their address.

After driving for about 40 minutes, I finally arrived at the address. The owner is a nice tall old man who seemed to like sailing because he had a canoe sail boat inside his garage. I immediately worked on checking out the bay window bus parked on his driveway.

The owner told me that he had owned the bus since it was brand new. I believe he said that he bought it about the end of 1967 when the bay windows just started to come out. The body of the bus seemed to be in good condition. Nose is undamaged and the body frame behind the front bumper is in good shape. When I moved the front passenger door, I heard water splashing inside it. I told the owner that the drain holes had been plugged by dirt. After shaking the door a bit, water came through the drain hole. I started thinking then that the area inside the door might not be pretty due to rust. But when I saw that the outside surface of the door does not appear to have any rust bubbling, it is possible that the interior part of the door is still be fine.

All the seats including the middle seat were still present. The middle seat has the ‘hotdog’ shape arm rest, which is very desirable. When I pulled the rubber floor mat on the driver and passenger area, I discovered a rust hole slightly the size of a quarter dollar. There were a few surface rust spots on the floor that indicated that rain water sipped through either the windshield or the side windows were left open during a rainy day. At the edge of the windshield where the dashboard starts, there seemed to be some rust powders which tells me that the rubber seals of the windshield is no longer good.

Overall, the body seemed straight and mostly undamaged. There is some body damage behind the right rear wheel but that can easily be repaired. The engine lid had been replaced but the replacement is original. Paint around the engine compartment is original.

Both the transmission and engine had been taken out. The owner said that the second gear of the bus had been slipping. They tried to restore the bus but kept on putting it off until finally they did not want to deal with it anymore. They took off the engine 25 years ago and it was running then. They are afraid that it might be frozen. In my opinion, it might still be good if they kept it indoors. The owner thinks that there are problems in the electrical system but did not elaborate what these problems were.

The license plate is still the 1963 black plates and it was last registered back in the 1980s or 1990s. (I can no longer remember what the owner told me).  If that is the case, the registration is no longer in the computer system of the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicle).

The bus has lots of potential and is a good find because the original owner still owns the bus. I wanted to buy this bus but when I asked how much is he asking for it, the owner said he wants $2500. Upon hearing the price, the excitement that was revving its engine inside me immediately came down to a low idle. The owner claims that he turned down a $2000 offer already.

Though $2500 is still kind of reasonable considering that it is still owned by the original owner, the trio voices of sense, caution and reason were warning me of the possibility of going into the red if I take over the task of restoring this vehicle.

Let me share with you my non-expert opinion and thoughts regarding the restoration of this bus. If I bought this bus then the following would be my initial cost estimate:

$2500 – price of VW bus

$  150 – towing cost

$  180 – DMV fees & registration

$2830 – Total

The gray areas of cost are the following:

Transmission repair cost estimate - $500 to $750

Engine restoration cost estimate - $850 to $1050

Possible wiring harness replacement - $400

Windshield seat repair plus trimmings $65

Brake system replacement cost estimate - $200

Front driver and passenger seat covers replacement  - $?

Rust repair cost estimate - $?

Miscellaneous costs - $?

Body Paint - $?

Total Cost – A mystery!

Whenever I buy a vintage VW parts, bug or bus with the intent of resell it, I abide by a 3-word rule: Clear Profit Margin. This margin has to be crystal clear before I can become confident that the item or a vehicle I am about to purchase is a worthy investment.

It is normal to feel excited or challenged when viewing a project but both feelings have been known to cause people to jump into a project that turned out to be a money pit. I have been burned before and so I am more cautious now on choosing my purchases. There had been times when I had to pass on a promising VW project because my instincts held me back.

I checked the engine of the 1968 bus and I have a feeling that it will run if I fire it up. It does not appear to have been left outdoors exposed to the elements. I could track down a good transmission and buy it for about $200-$300 and the bus will be ready to run. If I get it running, I could resell it for about $4200-$5000. It seems like a good investment but the gray areas where I could incur restoration expenses are the ones that worries me.

This bus deserves a full restoration because it needs to live on. With that in mind, I have to throw out the window my desires for a quick profit. Before me now is a very expensive restoration project.

I told the 1968 bus owner that I am willing to pay the $2500 price if the engine of the bus and its transmission are functioning. But with its current condition, I am a bit nervous in paying that amount. The owner did not want to budge on his price and so I had to sadly walk away from the deal with a heavy heart knowing that another restorer will have the pleasure of restoring this rare rusty gem.

The following day while I was working on the engine of one of my buses, one of the people I know in the VW community came by my house. To keep his identity confidential, I will just call him Bob.

Bob is a known VW parts and vehicle hustler. Some of his ways are quite questionable but mostly he is harmless if I keep him at a safe distance. Profit is the driving factor to his VW hobby and he does not care if he offends other people as long as he gets what he wants.

When Bob came by, he started boasted that he sold $200 worth of parts at the WolfburgWest car show in Corona. I have gotten used to his boasting and so I just nodded to acknowledge his nonsense. He then asked me if I gotten in contact with the owner of the 1968 bus because the owner did not respond to the repeated emails that he sent. Bob was surprised when I told him that I saw the bus and decided not buy it. He started saying that I did a dumb decision and should have bought it. Bob berated me for my ‘bad’ decision and missed on a project that would have earned no less than $1000. He started saying that my current project is trash compared to the 1968 bus that I ‘should’ have bought. I was quite offended and had to remind Bob that I love my projects and he has no right to discount their value.

After Bob realized his mistake, he tried to change the topic by telling me that it is his birthday that day. I think he was hinting that he wants me to buy him a meal or something. Well, tough luck, buddy. I am not spending a dime on you. He left after that. What a pest!

I believe that all vintage VW restorers have different budgets, styles and goals. They match their approach basing on their personalities. There are those who would buy VWs with the intention of doing the bear minimum of repair just to get the car running and flip them for a quick profit. Some would buy them and do an expensive full restoration and resell them to the high end VW buyers. The hated VW buyers are the ones that buy them and chop them for parts. And there are people who would restore VWs on a mid-range budget with the hopes of keeping the vehicle alive in the market. Though there are many other types of vintage VW restorers, I just would like to identify a handful that I have met during my journey through VW restoration.

I believe that I belong to the group that restores VW bugs and buses with the goal of resurrecting them from the rusty pile of dormancy. Bring the life back to a vintage bug or a bus is very fulfilling to me because all my effort is focused in breathing a new life into an item from a bygone era.

I have seen bugs and buses that were ‘tricked’ by the younger generation to make them look like a vintage vehicle with a modern twist. Personally, the guys that do this should not be given the right to own a vintage vehicle. They are the ones that ruin the value of the vintage vehicles and when they get tired of the vehicle, they would either trash it or sell it to a wrecking yard.

Waiting to bag the right VW project at an affordable price takes a lot of luck. Being at the right place at the right time with the right amount of cash is what it takes. The search for that illusive and hidden VW gem that are still out there waiting to be discovered has become an obsession to many. I am still searching for my 15-window, 21-window, 23-Window, single cab pre-1960 and barn door buses. They are out there still hidden in barns, garages, storage containers waiting to be discovered. Is it my day to find one?

The search continues…