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Date:         Sun, 05 May 1996 03:40:16
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         EXPRES@gnn.com (RON SALMON)
Subject:      '63 Deluxe on the road after 10 yrs.

Just drove my '63 Deluxe for the first time. I bought it a while ago from a guy who towed it with him from Arizona and then ran out of money to restore it. Totally solid, but butt-ugly - spray painted out of a can, wheel wells cut, no interior to speak of, no chrome, a few dents. When I got it, it was pretty much a rolling chassis. Got a 1600 d/p motor in it, did some wiring, and it actually drives pretty well - as long as you keep your hand on the shifter for the first couple of minutes that you're in 4th (it likes to jump back into neutral.) Next order of business is wipers, mirrors, horn, and turn signals, none of which are exist yet. Then a new transaxle, a little body work and paint and ... well, I figure it may be summer '97 before it even resembles a Deluxe Microbus, but it makes a cool parts- runner in the meantime.

Meanwhile, if anyone has the following at a reasonable price I'd be very happy: rear view mirror, side mirrors, white turn signal lever, one jailbar for the curved window area, four jailbar mounts, the frontmost cover plate for the fresh air vent (just behind the knob), and the piece of metal that the engine lid latches onto (not just the striker but the whole piece).

By the way, I registered the bus as a Historic Vehicle (antique) at tremendous cost savings. I'm paying $59/yr. for Comp, Collision, AND Liability Insurance with NO deductable, plus no state inspection! Catch is that I can't drive it more than 3000 miles a year - supposedly just to and from club meetings, shows (they think to display the bus, but I plan on filling it with parts to vend), etc. I had to send pictures of it to both the state and the insurance company to qualify it for Historic status. I couldn't believe they approved it - guess they have no clue what a '63 Deluxe is _supposed_ to look like!

Well, at least now when my water-cooled Westy breaks down, I'll have a trusty air-cooled bus to drive around in. :)

-Ron Salmon


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