San diego vw restoration

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Many companies were very far from a fire stations. Buses were also converted into Ambulances. Most Bus collectors have one in their collections. The back door drops down instead of up. This alloys the stretcher to load easier. It was from Holland and was one of 50 made for the DeBeer Ice cream business. This was the last remaining one by the original family. It was a blast. I've included a picture of it. Charlie Hamel is one of the biggest Bus nut in California.

His collection consists of Ambulance, Fire bus, Panel bus with original miles, etc. The best of the best! No way to get it out. This is where about buses show up at a high school parking lot to show off they buses. Only and older are allowed in. These run about 6 times a year.

Explain generations of buses and what makes them unique. Inside the big door was a engine, spare tire, and the gas tank. Looks a little weird to see someone at the gas station pouring gas in the engine room.

Probably had a few fires from that. There were pick up trucks made. After there were two models. There were a number of models then. Cheapest was the Kombi. It is a 6 to 9 passenger bus with seats but no fancy stuff like a headliner or inside wall panels. Nice decorative panels through out.

More quiet and comfortable and also warmer. From to there were two deluxe you could get. The other is the same car with out the sunroof and roof windows. This is called a 15 window Deluxe.

In they stopped using the two rear corner windows which made the 23 window to become a 21 window. Same for the 15 window became a 13 window deluxe. The Deluxe model had nice aluminum molding around the body separating the two tome colors. The bumpers also had moldings to dress them up. The deluxe came with a clock. That hardly worked. If your really cool you will have aluminum beauty rings on the wheels. What year or generation do you most often restore in your shop?

Mostly from to We currently are doing a Standard Micro. This bus is unique because it was ordered special with sunroof. No roof windows just the sunroof. This bus lists a sunroof in the option column.

I like them all. For sure older is better for me. Talk about degrees of restoration: Are most people purists? They want the correct parts for the particular model and year of their vehicle Some customers like the older buses but not the performance. So, we offer an updated engine and transmission. This give them the beautiful old look with drivability. Of course there are the purists that want it as it came out of the show room.

I like this because this is how I remember them. I'm 58 and I grew up with these cars so, I know how they should be. When you look at the customer that is buying these cars they're not all collectors. Do you believe authenticity is most important or are you willing to put different parts on a model to make it more functional, beautiful, or safer? I think we covered that. I like both, original and also semi custom. Does the approach depend on the owner you are working with?

Sure they are the customer that is paying me. I only advise and I try not to dictate. I've read that you offer owners a CD of the restoration process. We believe in documentation. This way the customer can be assured that we are doing it correctly. We even put it out there for our competition to see. We have open houses every June for all to come and see our work. You obviously take great pride in your work. What has made West Coast Restorations so successful?

There are allot of great mom and pop restoration shops all over the US. I'm not the only nut case trying to make a living at what I love doing. We are lucky enough to be on our 22nd year.

Do you get buses from all over the country? Do they ship them? Yes, they come from all over. Most customers are right here in the US. How long does a typical restoration take? Well, it can be done in 6 months if that was the only one being worked on. We have 7 people working here. Two in the body shop, three in the upholstery shop and 2 mechanics.

Talk about the order of a restoration: In one photo series, I noticed a bus goes from faded red to silver to light blue to yellow with gray swirls to cream, and then to the final shiny red and white.

What is going on in these stages? The faded red is the original old paint. The silver is the car in bare metal after having all old paint removed. Now we can see what is going on with the body. There no hiding when the car is bare metal. When you see the yellow primer with black speckles that means that area is ready for final block sand and paint. Most popular color for exterior? Original Original Original. VW had the greatest colors and this is one of my biggest thing to tell owners.

It baffles me sometimes. What is the main motivation for people? Most people just want a piece of the past. These are not daily drivers for most. Certainly there are the rare breed hardcore that drive a vintage VW every day and wouldn't have it any other way. These are the real VW people if you ask me. Susie my wife runs the office and has her own line of small tote bags. She makes them out of VW upholstery material.