Date:         Thu, 13 Oct 94 01:45 CDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Danke <JDANKE@macc.wisc.edu>
Subject:      Salvaging busses from 'yards

Maybe this is better considered as a restoration question. I was wondering
about how badly damaged a bus can be and still be considered recoverable.
This is kind of hypothetical, but, darn it, a guy has dreams.
 
The immediate impetus for this is a '60 or a '61 split/panel truck? that I saw
in a yard up in WI. I saw it on a Sunday, and since I don't know when I'll be
back in the area, I took a quick running look at it. I couldn't get the chassis
number, but the engine number puts it between May and Dec '60 by Muir's book.
 
I don't think there is any collision damage; just that omni-present foe of all
vehicles driven in snowy & salty conditions. But even the rust didn't look that
bad. Hey, my first car was a '72 Beetle that I got for $150 because of the a/c
through the "floor vents." My pop has a Model A with tracks which he claims is
restorable and I claim is only a lattice of rust.
 
Anywho, the main prob seems to be that the guy who operates the yard decided
that the roof would be a handy place to store another VW drivetrain, so the
roof has this concave section in the middle. And there is a big rusty corner on
the roof.
 
Is this a big problem? I remember reading pop's hotrod mags and I've seen what
happens to a chopped roof. Good ole pop is pretty handy with welding, so I
thought, hmmmmm...
 
I just think that splits are pretty hard to some by up here and I'd hate to see
one get scrapped out for $25/ton or whatever it is the yard gets. Heck, I'd
hate to see something repairable get scrapped out for, well, I was gonna say
any price, but my econ training stops me. (BTW, Bill@macc.wisc.edu, who the
heck are ya?) I'd rather have that thing sit safely by my '66 squareback that I
vow to someday restore.
 
Three broad question groups:
1) What is a reasonable price for buying such a vehicle from a yard? This is
separate from whether the guy'll actually sell it. I know that in WI there is
a title transfer option for junked vehicles.
 
2) For those of you who are repairing/restoring, or who have ... an old bus,
what kind of condition was it in when you began? Was there some sort of minimum
condition below which you said forget it? I guess this is a function of time,
money and desire.
 
3) What kind of mechanicals are on that era bus? I'd be interested in putting
in a early 70s drivetrain. I'm thinking, basically, of using later model parts
that are sitting around my pop's so I could keep the price down yet still have
an oh-so-sexy split to drive around.
 
I'm sorry for being sketchy about the condition of the bus, but sneaking into
closed yards isn't comfortable for me. The lure of the split was too strong to
resist.
 
J.David
jdanke@macc.wisc.edu