Build, buy or restore?

[mcvw]

Hi,

How many others have pondered the same questions when considering their next bus purchase? I'd be interested in hearing from others regarding the pro's and cons of their chosen path.

Here's my take on the three categories - feel free to append/correct.

Build
Usually involving an abandoned project bus/basket-case.
I feel this could possibly be the cheaper option of the three (in the long-term) - but also potentially the longest option (in time). This scenario does allow you to control the exact spec' of your bus.

Buy
Getting a fully restored/customised bus. I'm not really all that keen on buying a bus that's been "completely done" - as a) you tend to pay thru the nose, and b) there'll always be something which you don't quite like or want to change.

Restore
Normally applied to an already running/functional sound bus. Restoration can be "rolling" - and thereby phased to allow for saving of funds , or could even be of the "Build" type (i.e. strip down & start again).


At present I'm torn between the "build" and the "restore" options. What concerns me most about building from a project bus is the "unknown" factor. i.e. how much work (welding) has been done (and hidden?) before and to what standard - and even if welding was completed to a high standard, can all the rot always be elmintated, or will it breakout in other areas at a later date?.

With a restoration bus I'm somewhat wary of spoiling the originality of the bus.

Cheers,


Mike

 

[TexasAirCooler]

Hello Mike.
I guess I'm between Build and Restore.

I've bought a '68 westy hard top (you call tin top) that was abandoned. It's complete but has been sitting out in a pasture over 10 years. The body is in good shape, inside was dry. It will need a gutting and paneling restore.

I would rather do a restore myself than to buy one thats been done already

 

[slammedresto]

cost wise, buy 1 that you know has been restored well

but for piece of mind restore yourself (but will cost more)

im coming to the end of mine, and it has cost loads, as you tend to have things done for yourself, rather than buy one done to someone elses taste

it has also taken a lot of time and effort to do, wich is kind of a reward in itself, once you get to drive it again, depends wether ud rather save a few grand and get one thats been done

before i did mine, i thought some buses where expensive, but after doing it, theres some real bargains out there

 

[currylager]

I aquired my early bay by destiny, after seeing the bus i realised alot of work was involved, so i offered a fair but realistic price for the bus. The seller was inundated with calls from people asking for the bus to be broken and cut up for spares, so they said theyd consider my offer and let me know. A couple of days later the seller decided they were going to try to restore the bus themselves, i congratulated them on this because it's a shame to see a rare early bay being broken.

A day later the seller had a change of heart and offered me the bus at my offered price, i thought this must be destiny calling so i bought the bus. This bus needs a lot of work, so i am destined to spend most weekends climbing over it with a welder and grinder!!!.

I must me mad, but hey, some things are meant to Bay!!

 

[pete nice]

I bought mine from Retro Steve. http://www.eastfalia.com He drove it around in America for a while before shipping it back to the UK.

If you can live with LHD this can be a good option. Mine is very solid underneath, the battery tray had corroded which is quite normal.

I have had to swap the lights for UK spec, weld in the tray & fit another fuse box. the track rod ends were mullered too. It's mot'd with little fuss & registered for £38. I now have a legal buss with little or no rust for around £5500.

I have the choice now to drive the bus as is for the next show season or get stuck in & renovate it.

It's may not the most cost effective route if you are very able, but if you were paying for welding etc, it could work out cheaper in the end.

You need to ask yourself a few questions.
1) Whats you budget now.
2) What incoming funds can you blow on it.
3) Are you able to do the work yourself.
4) Do you have the time & the space/facilities.

Normally the above have a big part to play.

 

[slammedresto]

funnily mine came from retro steve too 8)

 

[lobus]

This is always an interesting topic. I did mine as a rolling resto, simply because it was registered and going when I got it. In hindsight I may have been better off to take it off the road and do a more thorough job on it. Overall though I am very happy with my end result and have had thousands of kilometers of enjoyment in it.
On the budget side of it, I don't think there is a cheap option, if you do the work yourself it costs time and effort, if you get the work done by professionals it costs more per job but is done in a lot less time. I did what I was capable of and paid for the rest to be done and it took about 18 months for the major part of it to be done. It is still going on 4 years later, and who knows for how much longer?

I decided to go at it seriously because I had a bit of money and compared the resto with buying a new or near new car that I would keep for 5 or so years. A new Holden or Ford sedan here doesn't leave much change out of $40,000 and they depreciate at 30% per annum.
I have spent about $20,000 so far on my bus and it is as reliable as a new car. It doesn't have GPS or cupholders but I am coming to terms with that.
It is easy to find in the supermarket car park however so I suppose there is an upside to driving a bus.
I just got back fro driving across Australia from Perth to Sydney, then back home to Melbourne. It was over 40 degrees Celsius every day of the jouney and the bus went like a dream. it used only 1 litre of oil and I carried a new engine in the cargo compartment from Sydney back to Melbourne.
It was a very surreal experience watching al the retired "grey nomads" cruising in their monster truck 4wds with the A/C going full blast cruising along with the windows up insulated completely from the weather. They migh as well have watched it on TV.
Sorry about gettin of topic but I just got on a roll.
David

 

[emerald]

as with the tv show im saying restore....ask me again once we have finished doing ours and ill probably say buy!

 

[mcvw]

Hi,

Thanks for all the replies - some very interesting reading

I think that in summary the most important factor of getting the right bus is patience. i.e not buying an abandoned project even though it may appear to be a bargain (you need to ask yourself why the current owner abandoned the project).

My last bus (a 67 split kombi) was LHD (from Italy) and although it had a few knocks and scrapes it was very rust free (reqd battery tray - dont they all!), so I have no probs with a lefty bus.

I also prefer original buses (original as in unrestored) as they are "honest" and it's usually easy to see how they've been treated and how they've worn over the years.

Regarding budget - I haven't honestly sat down and determined how much I can allocate each month. Two weeks before christmas I was made redundant - and fortunately I have just accepted another job - so with a bit of luck I'll have a small, yet healthy amount of surplus cash to get a bus (if the missus agrees).

I think I'll possibly be heading down the original (imported) LHD route - although these days there appear to be umpteen number of "VW importers" and their prices also seem higher than equivalent RHD buses.

I kind of subscribe to the fate/destiny subject (where VW's are concerned) - and I'm confident that the right bus will find me soon enough

Cheers,


Mike

 

[jabbo]

Think it all depends on the situation really, but at the end of the day I'd much rather restore, unless I know the bus I'm buying inside out and am confident it's a good'un.

I think by restoring you end up with exactly what you want, and you get a sense of achievement form the whole thing.

 

[Grazy]

love your bus Lobus it rocks , want a panel van myself . 8)

 

[pete nice]

Rust is the biggest issue at the end of the day. Even if you cut out & weld in new panels it will always come back. So the cleaner the better to start with.

Replacing mechanical parts is easy enough & need not cost the earth.

sat nav & cup holders have come right down in price now too

 

[67 BAY]

Buy best you can get for your money RHD or LHD unless going kustom the more original the better.Being doing resto/kustom for 6years on 4 jan still not finished,custmers come before mine.

 

[swartie]

i got cup holders and sat nav in my van.

cup holders in under dash tray thingy ma bob and sat nav to find nearest petrol station.

other than that my aircon works certain times of the year, keeps me hot in summer and cold in winter, bit backwards but i get by.

i got central locking, if i stand between the front seats i can reach both front doors and the slider.

my electric windows are a bit iffy, the left one, doesnt seem to do what i want, only what she wants which is mainly up (women huh)

but at the end of the day i would love to do a full build but no space to do that, second to that is the restore route, this is because you are never fully happy with your bus, there is always some other mod you want to do, from fitting a side step, safari rear window, roof rack, alloys, electric ignition, twin carbs, lpg, bigger engine, lower the bus, raise the bus, bigger brake disks, brake disks all round, change the mirrors, stickers, the list goes on and on and you will always change your mind ( and bus), so what i am trying to say i even if you bought a brand new bus or a fully restored one, i am pretty sure with a year or 2 you will start tinkering and making changes to it.

good luck with your search,

 

[popcorn balls]

Buy best you can get for your money RHD or LHD unless going kustom the more original the better.Being doing resto/kustom for 6years on 4 jan still not finished,custmers come before mine.

Yeah but you've got your red wheels looking ever so nice Steve :shock:


I've got a slightly different opinion to most on this thread. My resto was completed this year - which i bought from Steve Walker as a Cali import about 3 years ago. I went down this route as it suited my budget at the time and i thought it was the most cost effective way of getting the bus i wanted - WRONG.
It was a very light resto with very little welding needed - battery tray and a few floor patches mainly - mostly expertly done by '67 BAY, cheers Steve.
However i went the whole hog and fully stripped the bus, blasted any rusty areas, full respray, reupholstered everthing, new door cards, seats, sunroof, alloys, carpets etc etc and the overall cost is more than double my initial purchase price. When i sell it, i WILL definately lose money. I could have bought a completely done bus for less money and saved the time and effort.

However on the upside i'm glad i did it, as it was my first project and has been a steep and rewarding learning curve. I've gone from knowing absolutely nothing to knowing a little bit more than that!! (cue insults from Steve and Ian......) and the bus is how I want it.

My next bus will be something completed or a one that i want to run in it's original condition. I don't really want a half done project in my garage for months and months again. Time is too precious at the moment.


popcorn

 

[easy]

The resore option for me, as you get what you want in the end. Its all that old money thing. If you got tons then it doesn`t matter to much what you buy as you have the cash to do it up.

If you have limited funds then its probably a good idea to go for a driveable solid bus, and just do your mods and restos as and when. The big one is obviously the body work, but if you do a little and often its amazing what you can get done.

I saved up to get all the bodywork done in one go with paint. It still took 9 months though, so no good if you use it daily!

So after that load of flannel, I would say restore, more fun and you get to know your bus and its workings

 

[Gadget Boy]

Restore every Time .You know exactly what youve got . Having been bitten in the Arse when i bought my first shiny beetle 15yrs ago (******* hell 15 yrs ) I have bought a succession of warts and all buses.And my deluxe bay has Always stayed with me . I have toyed with selling her but she will always be mine cus i built it and fitted this and that etc .

No one can take the feeling of I built it away from you dude . You will never be happy settling for some one elses bus .

Get a blank canvas and do your thing.


And when Youve Had the SHITTEST day of your life you get in YOUR bus turn up the music blast round the block for 30 mins and nothing Matters

Cus its yours and YOU built it :wink:

Gadget

 

[mcvw]

Gadget Boy: I couldn't agree with you more!

All that's needed now is to find that reasonably priced and suitable bus.

Needle's and haystacks spring to mind

 

[vwvanman0]

also worth bearing in mind what you want to do with the van,if you spend mega bucks on a full resto theres a danger you will be scared to use it for what you want,sometimes having something scruffy but solid like a good import makes more sense for all year use or carrying bikes and stuff about!

just a thought,as i once spent a fortune on a car(xr2,the shame!) thinking i wanted a minter,then was too scared to use it or park it anywhere!

 

[lobus]

I think we have all made valid points with this thread and it is a credit to us all that no-one is grandstanding that their way is the only way.
I truly believe that to restore would be the best, but that is not always possible. I also personally prefer a non stock resto, my theme has always been to "up speck" like putting discs on a splitty or deluxe trim and bling on a panel (well guilty of that one)
Any one who sets out to do a resto with fear of depreciation in their mind is mistaken in my book, but the driving force (good pun eh?) has to be that in the end you are going to be driving around in YOUR car/bus or whatever.
So I believe that the end justifies the means. Once you are on the road with a smile so wide your face hurts it is of no great import how you got to that stage.
My method was 40/60. I did a lot of the removing and replacing but shopped the jobs out to specialists, I would have loved to have done it all but my ability is far outweighed by my critical eye.
In the end I didn't and still don't give a hoot, I just get a complete blast everytime I drive it.
I think that is the most important thing so keep on enjoying.

I am thinking of a new signature for this forum, it goes like this.

Find it
Restore it
Wear it out
Restore it again!

What do you think?

David

P.S.
Gadget, could you show me some pics of your exhaustplease? I have a new motor for my bus, but it is out of a Karmann Ghia and I dont think it is going to fit very well.