1963 23 Window Bus - Restoration

The owner of this rare 1963 Volkswagen Type 2, 23 Window Bus brought it to us to check it out after another shop did what they called a “full restoration”. Rust was already starting to bubble up under the paint after less than a year. After realizing what had (or rather, hadn’t) been done to it, the customer decided that he would like us to redo the restoration. After stripping the body, we found a lot of body filler covering rust, dents, and improper panel patches – almost an inch thick in some places.

We could tell when this 23 Window Bus came in that there was rust hiding beneath the paint. When we stripped the paint off, we found a lot of body filler covering rust, dents and improper panel patches - nearly an inch thick in some places.

Interesting. Are these posts an advertisement for your company?

No. Mostly, I'm trying the highlight the hidden rust damage and the restoration process. In addition, I'd like to show the process of restoring a vehicle as close to the traditional methods as possible.

This is precisely why am so leery of painted "restored" old cars. They call them "restored" but is it can just be paint over crap.

You can save a LOT of money buying a restored car, but you better make SURE it was restored properly!

I will be curious what sort of horrors you uncover. Fortunately, for the owner, those vans are worth a ridiculous amount of money (compared to what they used to go for) these days.

In reply to aircooled:

That they are! I'll keep this thread updated daily with news and photos of the restoration process. :)

I feel bad for the owner, they probably lost a lot of money at that other shop. I've had a couple cars restored, fortunately by quality shops. One thing they all did (and it appears you're doing here) is provide plenty of photographs showing the progress so there were no hidden secrets.

Didn't one of these sell for around $200 K recently. Obviously better condition than yours, but insane money IMHO.

Of course, this is a terrific and graphic reason why you want complete photo documentation of any restoration whenever you buy a finished car.

More time than you can imagine, cruise night quality cars are always showing poor bodywork under expensive paint jobs. Blistering, wavy flanks, bad prep, all of the mistakes. We call it a "rush to paint" around here.

Understandable if you've been working on something for years and see your own life shortening in front of you, but never correct for an outside job by a professional.

We currently have a very rare six door (three doors per side) walk-through utility VW Van currently under "restoration" that has been stripped and blasted down to the original metal. It's going to be a VERY long haul on this one . . . but we're photographing every nook and cranny as we go along.

In reply to TeamEvil: I was a young buck when these were popular and the Corvair and Falcon versions as well. But I'm not aware I ever saw a six door walk through.

Please enclose a picture or two for my/our education. Don't worry about condition. I'm just curious to see what you are talking about.

I once bought a rusty car that had been tarted up. I should have known the difference, but I fell for it.

Personally, the only VW bus I would own is a Westfalia or Dormobile. I loved the '66 Westfalia I owned as a young man. The car alone would have sucked, but with the camper, it was great.

I never buy a recently painted vehicle any more.

"Please enclose a picture or two for my/our education."

Sure, but it will have to be next week. The yard is four feet deep with show, couldn't get out there if I had to.

Basically a six door utility van has a front (passenger compartment) and two cargo doors on each side, plus the rear door as well. Essentially a seven door van, but the rear door is a gift (as the passenger doors ought to be) and the vehicle is considered as a six door van.

It's really neat to drive them will all four cargo doors open, reminds you of a combat helicopter . . .

In no way condoning what the shop did. However, I am a believer in a person doing due-diligence in any endeavor where a lot of money is going to be spent. I wonder what process was used to select the original shop? For that matter, did he get what he paid for?

To not be aware of the work they were doing was a lapse on the owner's end.

It is possible he "went cheap" on the restoration. As in, only wanting to pay so much. Hopefully he did not pay top dollar for the job.

Here is the Corvair version, and 8 door (two rear doors). I am not sure there is an entirely practical reason for the design, but I always thought it would be cool to have a ping pong table fold out so you can play it through the van.

I don't want to be Debbie Downer, but I hope the owner is OK with you plastering pics of he van on the interwebs.

"I am not sure there is an entirely practical reason for the design . . . "

I don't know about people movers with windows and all, but on a utility van the design makes it easier for loading/unloading when parking on one side of the street or the other. No matter what side, you will have access doors that open towards the sidewalk/loading area.

Entirely practical from a utility standpoint.

TeamEvil wrote: "I am not sure there is an entirely practical reason for the design . . . " I don't know about people movers with windows and all, but on a utility van the design makes it easier for loading/unloading when parking on one side of the street or the other. No matter what side, you will have access doors that open towards the sidewalk/loading area. Entirely practical from a utility standpoint.

My guess is so it would work well in countries that drive on the left as well as countries that drive on the right. One body fits both.

After stripping the paint and body filler and media blasting the body of this 23 Window Bus, we were able to remove most of the surface rust. The roof and interior sections were in decent shape, needing very little repair. However, we did find a lot of rust on the dog legs under the front doors and lower sections of the side doors, which would need to be repaired.

I hate brazed bodywork!

After we completed media blasting the body, it was coated in several layers of epoxy primer to protect it from future corrosion.

Isn't this the ultimate canoe for Classics?

I thought there was a good build forum on this site. Also another for advertising. One or the other forum of those forums is where I would expect this thread to be found.

Moved to the Builds and Project Cars forum. You might find more eyes there. Keep up the good work!

Great work, I'll be watching :) Thanks for sharing.

Nice work!

Wow--the owner must feel great having to pay for the process twice.

Despicable actions on the previous shop's part.