My 70 Bus!! Wes

[justcruzin]

I got my first BayWindow Bus yesterday! (9-3-11) My hubby (Bob) is friends with the guy that runs a wrecking yard, and he had told Bob about a Bus they had there. So Saturday we went to check it out. I wasn't excited at first because they guy was calling it a van. I figured it was a Vanagon. I figured wrong! LOL It's a 1970 Westy. They had just got it on the 30th of Aug. and we got it before anyone pulled parts off of it. It needs a lot of tlc, but I am willing to give it that. I already got it cleaned up on the outside, and am in the process of getting all the rat turds out of the inside. It will be my winter project to pull all the camping stuff out and clean everything really good and put it back in!!

Here are some pics.!!

How we found it, up on blocks ready to be picked apart.

Getting off the blocks.

It suffered minimal damage by that fork lift. I lucked out!!

The inside!

Rats!

A little mossy!

Outside badges

Top is well ventilated! LOL

The outside is cleaned up. Just need to get the markings off the side.

Not sure on the photo limit so I will stop there for now! I'm currently working on vacuuming the rat turds out of the inside. I will share more pics as I go!!

 

[slammedresto]

nice find congrats

dont worry about the photos, keep em coming, we love em 8)

 

[justcruzin]

nice find congrats

dont worry about the photos, keep em coming, we love em 8)

Thanks!

Ok, you talked me into it! LOL A few more pics!!

Right side of the motor compartment! Ouch!!!

More inside pics!

I thought it was pretty neat how that little sink cover flips over and turns into a table!

Cot for above seats.

Ok, one last one for now. What is that long oblong hole for? I would think it would be hard to store stuff in there!!

 

[Doris]

nice find! keep the pics coming as you progress.She looks like a pretty much complete bus that just needs a deep clean. 8)

 

[justcruzin]

I didn't get much done today. We went to Bug O Rama. That took half the day. Found a few things, but nothing for Wes. I just now named him Wes. LOL Short for Westy! Anyway, it was to hot buy the time we got home, to go out and do anything. When it finally cooled off, I went out and vacuumed the back end of the bus. I only ran into one rat!!

Ok, not really that one, here he is,

The only other thing I got done was removing the markings on the side. After trying a bunch of different chemicals, I got to this point.

You could still see the markings although they were pretty faint. So I found some Maquiers Scratch X and that did the trick. I think. LOL It got to dark to actually really see the results. Doesn't look to bad in the final pic.

Tomorrow I will TR3 the whole side of the bus. That should make things look alot better!!

 

[lynn71]

i would have left the mossy roof that was killer!! i left oak tree grime on my bus for 6 months before i cleaned it off only to find out the paint was coming off with it lol it had sat under the tree for at least an then even longer if you count when the PO drove it from time to time an parked it back

nice find i wish could find nice ones like that here!!

keep up with the pics i like the rat the real one that is lol

 

[moler]

Nice camper, keep the pics coming

 

[gninnam]

As said above - a great find 8)

Loving the pictures so far - take it underneath is pretty solid too

 

[CHILDSEY]

Wow , that cleaned up nicely!
I use the storage hole for maps and other crap
Any other plans?
Cheers Paul.

 

[slammedresto]

cleaned up well dude, the oblong hole in the buddy seat is a magazine/newspaper rack from memory, extra storage basicaly

sink unit looks pretty sound too, looks like a great start :mrgreen:

 

[user 422]

Wow! That bus looks so solid! Why was it at the junkyard?!

We dream of rust-free busses like that in the UK, it looks in very nice condition

Love the dead rat :lol: And yeah, oblong hole for maps/magazines/workshop manual!

Keep the photos coming

 

[john the horse]

go on make us all jealous , how much did Wes cost?


looks great too and a motor to boot :mrgreen:

john the horse

 

[justcruzin]

I don't know why he was in the junkyard. They got him on the 30th and we got him on the 3rd. So luckily he wasn't there very long.

I don't think you guy's want to know what we paid. Long story short, hubby's friend bought a car, hubby paid for registration on that car, $55.00. Friend past away before car could be sold and money be split. Hubby traded said car for bus and a Cushman truck. So he paid 55 bucks for the bus.

As far as plans. I am planning on gutting him, replacing bad parts, then putting back together in the same way he came apart. Then, drive from time to time and use him as a motorhome! No more tent camping for me! Wes is the tent now!!

Ok, today was my last day to get a lot done for this week. I work odd hours so during the week I am pretty tired from lack of sleep.

I got most of that writing off the side and then TR3'd it. It needs another coat of it, but the first pass looks pretty good. Won't get to a second pass till after the insides are done. He got pushed against a wall on that side so it is not accesible for now.

Then I started gutting the insides,

Buddy seat before,

after a Dawn bath, (dragon berry fresh now) LOL

No more buddy seat,

The water filler just disenigrated when I tried to take the cap off. Need to find a new filler tube.

Sinks gone,

Why does the passenger seat lay flat like that?

Pretty well gutted.

I still need to pull the side panel and the last part of the roof panel. Then I can hose out the entire insides. Once that is dry I can start the process of replacing things. I will be buying new panels for the roof and the side. I plan on buying that nice looking wood and staining it.

As far as the cushions, I am planning on just cleaning them really good and using them. The buddy seat is the worst one with a small section missing one one corner. I will still use it, but when it gets to bad I will have to look for replacement vinyl for it.

I will update in a day or 2!!

Kim

 

[justcruzin]

OH, almost forgot! Today I ordered my personalized plates for him!!!!

He is going to have TYEDYE2 for a plate!!! My 64 split bus has TYEDYED. And of course I have all the curtains and stuff tie dyed in the 64. I also plan on tie dyeing curtains for Wes. Wes will just have a different type of curtain. I think I want to go with the kind that run along rods or rope at both top and bottom.

 

[roland]

Great save! love to see busses pulled out of junkyards. And it seems it's cleaning nicely as well...

Oblong hole in the buddy seat is for putting things in it I believe and the passenger seats lays flat for no special reason, it's just built like that!

 

[Mr Brightside]

Just makes you wonder how many buses have not been so lucky over the years

 

[justcruzin]

As said above - a great find 8)

Loving the pictures so far - take it underneath is pretty solid too

Yah, it's in good shape. Only damage was from the forks at the wrecking yard and that is basically the drain for the sink that got snapped.

Broken pipe and a little dent.

At least that pipe will be an easy fix!!

 

[mister]

Hi Kim

Your bus looks like a super solid start to a lot of fun, keep the progress coming.

 

[justcruzin]

Hey, I got some stuff done today!!! I'm kind of excited because with what I got done today, will allow me to now start putting the insides back together!!

He got a good bath today. Everything got the hose. That and Clorox Clean Up!

The door came out great!!

The dash needs a little more attention, but it is alot better then it was!

Everything is nice and white now.

I even hosed off the inside of the pop up and the roof. I eventually will have to figure out how to take the cot off so I can wash it in the machine.

This next part is the fun part for me. Putting it back together! Here is the "fake curtains" for behind the closet.

Before,

After!!

Of course it is tie dyed! After all the license plate is going to be TYEDYE2. LOL That and I really like bus's and tie dye, to me they go hand in hand!

In the bus!

The next step will probably have to wait till this weekend. I need to go buy some paneling and stain. Then the fun part of tracing, cutting, and trying to install the new panels begin. My most dreaded piece is going to be the rear roof panel. I had a hard time getting it out, so I can imagine that it is going to be a pain to put back in!

Will update soon!

 

[sparkywig]

Nice bus Kim.