Date:         Sun, 14 Apr 1996 18:24:18 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         tforhan@usa.pipeline.com (Tom Forhan)
Subject:      RE: DC area split window bus--free! (long)

With the generous help of Derek Drew's sister, my wife 
and I went to look at the bus.  I took pictures, because 
I really think I have a candidate for Thom's Hall of Shame. 
 
The facts: 
 
It is not a barndoor :-( 
There is no such thing as a free lunch. 
 
Plate behind right seat: 
 
0 - 5:   (somehow, the build date?) 
 
426:    (unknown to me) 
025:    lap belt anchors 
114:    6 pop-out windows 
 
UN 2213 421781 1308189:    Station Wagon (eight or nine seater, 
with the full width front seat), left hand drive, Blue White over
Turquoise, Como green interior. 
 
Last licensed in 1978. 
 
Opinion: 
 
I don't have sequential build information, and though I took down 
the numbers from behind the seat and  the overhead vent box (22-1308189), I
did not know to also look for a nine digit chassis number per Joel's model
year and VIN pages, and so I am not sure of the year. It does have the
square key locking gas cap AND the push button rear gate (wide, of course)
, so I believe it is a 1966. 
 
Body is grim, between the rust and the dents. Dented nose 
and also left side amidships.  The bus is on flat tires in a 
depression in the ground, so it is difficult to get underneath. 
Rusted floors, totally toasted rockers and jackpoints, transverse support
beams some gone in some places, going in the rest, extensive rot at bottoms
of all doors, door hinges heavily rusted, they all seem sprung which
probably relates to the hinge condition.  
Original paint. 
 
Interior is very heavily mildewed, and the middle seat is missing. 
 
Drive train is all there, and it does not appear that any parts 
have been removed from the bus.  
 
Conclusion: This is a parts vehicle. 
 
Outlook: 
 
This is an estate sale situation,  with a relatively large piece 
of real estate in an urban area being desposed of by a group 
of siblings.  There are numerous other vehicle hulks lying around 
the property, and the family is talking to a scrap metal dealer 
about removing all the cars before putting the property on the 
market.  
 
I suggested to the executor that the VW bus was a goner, 
but that recycling parts would be a better use than just  
going to a crusher. She seemed receptive to this idea,  and 
said she would talk to her sibs and get back to me in a day 
or two.  
 
And I hope in that day or two I can get my thoughts about this 
bus together, too!  As you may know from my postings, I cannot just have
this thing towed to my driveway, or the wreck police will get me. Maybe I
could rent a garage for a month or two.  I'm not 
sure whether this is an opportunity (har-har), obligation, 
or just a situation. 
 
Your ideas, denizens of the list? 
 
Tom F.     tforhan@usa.pipeline.com 
 
90 Syncro Westie 
(and a basement already full of bus parts)