For the love of Rust & Restoration dreams.

A few days ago, I went to meet a gentleman who informed me that he has a 1966 Volkswagen bus for sale. I saw pictures of his bus in the internet but the size of the pictures were just too small for me to see the details of the body of the bus.

I drove to the man’s house and saw the bus parked on the driveway at the owner’s house. I immediately noticed that there were a lot of problems in the body of the bus. Behind the front bumper of the bus there were a number of spots that has rust bubbling. Both the left and right side rockers are rusted out. A section of the floor area near the driver side has rust holes. Windshield frame has small rust bubbling. When I lifted the wood boards off of the floor area in the back, the whole floor is covered with rust. Lower part of the rear body corners has rust cancer. The roof area above the back hatch has rust bubbling and has a quarter size rust hole also. The battery tray is gone due to rust. The owner claims that the engine starts but the transmission may need some repair.

When I was checking on the nose of the bus, it seems to be fine but a closer look on the surface showed that it is partly covered by bondo. The dash seemed fine and the pair of 40/60 seats on the front are in good shape but needs new covers and cushion.

One thing I noticed in the bus is the thick insulation foam that covered the interior part of the roof, walls and floor areas of the bus. When I checked under the floor of the driver area, I also found 6-inch thick foam that covers that area. The foam I found on the bus is the same kind that is used to insulate walls inside homes. The foam comes in a liquid form and when it is sprayed in an area, it thickens forming a layer of insulation. I am guessing that the former owner of this bus saw the foam product and had the bright (or dumb) idea of using it on his VW bus. Since the weather temperature in the state of Oregon is freezing during winter, using the foam product on the VW bus seemed ideal. What the owner did not realize is that the foam traps moisture. Since salt is used to clear the roads from snow buildups, when this bus drove through the roads of Oregon, the foam trapped water and salt in it. Rust spread like a cancer and ate away parts of the body of the bus.

When I asked the owner what is the story of his bus, he told me that he found the bus in ebay. He contacted the owner who lives in Oregon. He paid $4000 for the bus plus $700 for shipping the bus from Oregon to Southern California. I don’t know exactly what transpired during their negotiation but it sounds like the new owner did not get a good picture of the real condition of the bus. It also appears that the previous owner withheld the horrible rust condition of the bus.

When I asked the new owner how much is he asking for the bus, he said that he is thinking about $5600. When I pointed to him that the bus has a lot of rust, he then lowered the price to $4500. Recognizing the huge amount of restoration cost that the bus needs, I told him that the bus is not for me. He then asked me what would it take for me to buy the bus. I politely told him that I am at $2500 on the bus. This kind of disappointed him but he was not annoyed because he was the one who popped out the question regarding what I will pay for the bus.

I found the owner to be a very nice guy and felt sorry that he made a bad deal on this VW bus. He is in contact with the previous owner whom he believes misled him regarding the real condition of the bus. Hopefully he can get some of his money back from the previous owner.

I listed a few suggestions when buying a VW bus from an out-of-state seller:

1. Always ask if the bus has a title and what state issued the title. Ask under whose name appears on the title. Deal with the owner of the vehicle, not the friend of the owner. If the bus does not have a title, try as much as you can to get the history about the bus. If the history is kind of blurry, get the VIN number then check with the Department of Motor Vehicles. You don’t want to end up with a stolen vehicle. Ask that a picture of the title be sent to you.
2. Have the seller send you pictures of all sides of the bus including ALL the floor areas inside and underneath the bus. Be sure to have a picture taken behind the nose of the bus for you to determine if there were restorations made on it.
3. If there are rust or damaged spots, ask that close-up pictures of those areas be e-mailed to you. This will help you assess the potential cost it will take to restore that particular area.
4. If you are purchasing an out-of-state VW bus for a large amount of money, it is best that you fly or take that long drive to see the bus first before purchasing it. Believe me, it is worth the cost to travel 1000 miles to check the bus before paying $10,000 to $15,000 for it. You can always back out if you think that the bus is not for you. It is better to spend $400 for making the trip than have a $10K to $15K loss on your purchase.

There are a lot of people out there who desires to have a restoration project. The common ones that are always excited to jump into a restoration projects are:

• Fathers who want to do a father-and-son car projects.
• Guys who want a restore a vintage vehicles to fulfill their handyman dreams
• Young guys who just want to restore their very own cool “oldie vehicle”
•  People who are being nostalgic and wants to relive the glorious decades of the 1950’s and 60’s.

Before you start jumping into the world of vintage vehicle restoration, you may want to do some deep reflection and reality checks.

How much are you willing to spend on restoring or owning a vintage vehicle?

This is a big deal because it determines if you have the funds to finish a project. There had been a lot of excited amateur restorers who would just jump into a restoration project believing that it is cheap and easy to restore cars. After being involved in their project for a while, cost starts to pile up and frustration settles in. They discover that their project is not as simple as it seems. A number of them just loose interest or gives up on their project causing it to stand idle. Some that have given up would try to sell their vehicle to recoup their cost. It is then that more bad news is thrown on their lap when they discover that they would not be able to recoup their cost because nobody wants to pay the price that they are asking. The project that started in good spirits has now turned into an ordeal.

About two weeks ago, I received two separate calls: one from a lady on her mid to late 50s and another from a guy who is on his mid-30s. Both of them asked me if I am selling a VW bus. I asked them what kind of bus they are looking for. The lady told me that she is looking for a running pre-1967 Westfalia bus while the guy wants just a fixer-upper pre-67 bus that runs with no major mechanical problems. When I asked each of them how much is their budget, both of them told me their budget is between $5000 to $6000.

The lady shared to me that she has been searching for her bus for years now and has not found one. I hesitated a little bit but I had to tell both of them that their budget will buy them a bay window bus that were made during the 1970s. I explained to the lady that a pre-1967 Westfalia could run her $12,000 or more. To the gentleman caller, I told him that he might be able to find a fixer-upper for $6000 if he broadens his search area to include other states outside California. I made him aware of the shipping cost and the other risks involved in buying out-of-state vehicles. When I asked him if he knows how to do auto body repair, he said he does not have any experience on that area. He also has limited skill in doing mechanical repairs on Volkswagens. I suggested to him to bring his budget to $12,000 so that he can buy a decent VW bus that is already mechanically sound.

Both people decided to just save some more or wait for the prices of vintage VW buses to come down. I wished them luck on their restoration plans and encourage them to keep their plans of owning & restoring a pre-1967 VW bus alive.

How much of the restoration are you capable of doing yourself?

Majority of first time restorers would claim that they would do everything on their own like assembling a replacement engine, rewiring the whole vehicle, welding body panels to repair rust areas, painting, etc. This is one of the major reason why a lot of projects do not get finished because restorers just load too much task on their hands without realizing that each task requires a certain level of skill to do it right. Assembling an engine the right way is achievable if you have a strong desire and patience for it. Doing body repair is harder, in my personal opinion, because the techniques on welding and metal work/fabrication needed to do a good restoration work takes a lot of practice to get it right. I am not saying that a beginner is incapable of learning it. It’s just that it takes a lot of practice to get these techniques right.

My suggestion when doing a restoration is to delegate some of the task in your project to someone who is skilled enough to do the job. It might cost you more but in the long run, it will speed up the completion of your project and even save you money down the road. Remember, if you do it yourself and you did not do it right, there is a possibility that you might have to go back to do repairs on it.

Last year, I met a guy who was driving a 1969 VW bus. He sold me the middle seat of his bus because he wanted to have more space in his bus. When he saw the pre-1967 bus that I was driving, he immediately told me that he wants to own one. I told him to be cautious in his purchases when it comes to split window bus. Three months after our meeting, he informed me that he bought a 21-window bus from a guy in northern California. He sent me pictures of the bus and I saw that it was a shell. The bus has primer paint all over it and I can not tell if there had been rust repairs done on it. The bus came with a complete set of seats which included a rare middle seat. They all needed new upholstery. The engine was out of the bus and needed to be rebuilt. When I asked him how he plans to restore it, he told me that he plans to get a book on how to restore a VW engine, install a new complete wiring harness and also he wants to have it repainted at a cost of around $5000. I sensed that this guy does not know what he is getting himself into. He does not have any experience repairing engines or wiring installation; does not know how to do interior work on a vehicle; no experience in VW body repair, and all of a sudden he wants to take a full bus restoration project?! Well, at least he is motivated to do it…Bless his soul!

During our conversation, I can sense that this guy is experiencing buyer’s remorse because he paid $20,000 for it. He asked me, “Do you think I paid too much?. I told him that he got a little excited and threw the voice of caution out the window when he bought his bus. But I added that the resell value on his bus will all depend on the quality of restoration craftsmanship that is done to it.

When he asked me about what I think about his overall project, I told him, “You have a big project here. Don’t give up on this bus, man. Good luck”.

Are you sure you have the unwavering patience & drive to learn a restoration skill?

Before taking a restoration project, make sure that you are taking the project because you love the art of vintage restoration. Without establishing this in your heart, chances are you will not survive the hurdles of the restoration process. It will also push you to learn the art of fixing the engine, welding, upholstery, wiring installation, etc. You may not be able to learn all these skills but being good in one or two of them will help you reduce your restoration cost.

You will hear a number of snobbish big headed VW restorers who will degrade you saying that you are incapable of taking a restoration project just because you are a beginner. Please do not believe on the boastful talk of these jerks. All highly skilled restorers started with zero knowledge when they first loosen their first bolt in their very first automobile restoration project.

The problem with these arrogant restorers is they think that they have risen in skill “rank” making them superior to the novice restorers telling them that they are incapable of achieving their level of craftsmanship. They would say things like, “I have been doing this for years and it would take you a long time to learn it”. What these bigheaded dumbells do not know is each and everyone has a different learning curve. That jerk might have taken years to learn while another self starter might take only weeks to learn the same thing. The will of the heart and the dedication to learn affects the length of the learning curve. Arrogant jerks have a longer learning curve.

Buy a bus that is easier and cheaper to restore.

Experienced restorers tend to buy VW bugs and buses that are easier to restore. They only take big projects if the bus is made during the years 1950 thru 1961. For bugs, pre-1957 oval windows are a favorite restoration projects even if their bodies have lots of rust issues. But for bugs and buses that are for quick flips at a good price, restorers look for limited rust and easy restoration repairs.

Since vintage VWs that are in good or excellent condition are hard to come by nowadays, whenever one is place out in the market, there is always a mad dash from a crowd of fanatic buyers to purchase it. The key to successfully grabbing these rare opportunities is to always be in the lookout for good buys. Advertise yourself as a serious buyer by putting up wanted ads out there. Do anything that can put you a few steps ahead of the rest of the VW buyers.

Remember, when the right VW project comes, do not hesitate because it only takes a few seconds of hesitation to lose a rare find. Keeping on digging through rust.

For the love of rust and Volkswagen restoration—Peace!