Vw Bus 1960 Vw Double Door Panel Volkswagen Panel on 2040-cars

VIN: 581357 Year: 1960
Interior Color: Gray
Make: Volkswagen
Number of Cylinders: 4
Model: Bus/Vanagon
Trim: Double Door Panel
Drive Type: Manual 4spd
Mileage: 28,422
Exterior Color: Many

Condition: Used: A vehicle is considered used if it has been registered and issued a title. Used vehicles have had at least one previous owner. The condition of the exterior, interior and engine can vary depending on the vehicle's history. See the seller's listing for full details and description of any imperfections. ... 

 Up for auction is the Seward Speed Shop's 1960 Double Door Panel known as (MISS AMERICA) which was added to my collection in the mid 90s. It was purchased in Georgia where I believe it spent most of its life. The shop is usually slow in the winters, so I pull one or two vehicles out of my collection and get them up and rolling again. The plan for this Bus was a quick and easy clean-up for resale. Needless to say it ended up taking a full 3 months and cost me half of my life savings to build.

 The original plan was to strip the white house paint that was applied with a roller, and repaint the Bus original Dove Blue. I started with 2 gallons of paint stripper and some 80 grit. Everyone that stopped in the shop spent more time admiring this Bus than any of my other prestinely restored VWs. So I decided to go ahead and just sand it back to the current look and apply 2 coats of flat clear. This Bus has 11 coats of paint from original. I thought, if it takes 53 years to create this look, why would I screw it up in 2 weeks with a single color? I have seen so many people try to create this look by painting 5-6 colors and sanding it back. Negative! 53 years and how many owners and ideas this Bus saw was too much to give up and it could never be duplicated. So with the new look on the outside, It needed a whole new look all around. This is when it started to get expensive. Listed bellow is the new parts the Bus got to bring it up to speed. I have been in and around the VW business for long enough to know that factory original parts, though they are much more expensive are worth every dime you spend on them in the long run.

Braking -

new ATE master cylinder

6 new ATE wheel cylinders

new ATE rubber brake hoses

new ATE brake hardware kits front and rear

Powdercoated backing plates with modified rear bus backing plates. Not type 3 conversion in the rear. So if you ever have to do brakes again, they are 1960 VW bus brakes all around.

Turned, blasted and painted drums all around

New Euromax shaped shoes front and rear.

The only brake component that is original are the e-brake cables which have the grease zerk in line that work perfectly and are far better than the aftermarkets. 

Transmission_

New Seward Speed Shop built

1970 Ghia trans, 4.12:1 ring and pinion with a stock Ghia gear stack. I installed a 68 diff with new spider gears,new falcrom plates, 68 axles and new wheel bearings.

Axle tubes were powdercoated silver vein

Also installed on the tranny was all new seals and gaskets, throw out arm bushings, new sachs throw out bearing and new axle boots.

Engine - 

The engine has only 3 miles of drive time due to our bad weather here or I would be out driving it every day, and 40 minutes of bench run and tune time. It is a 1223cc HI-PO 40hp. I drove the Bus with the original 40 horse and had a blast with it... even with gear reduction boxes. So I decided to add a little nut to the 40 horse. I started with a factory VW Replacement block that I pulled out of a 66 Beetle. The case had little to no miles on it with a little corossion from sitting. Case was hot tanked and inspected and recieved the following parts.

NOS cam and lifters

NOS VW oil pump

Balanced and turned .02 crankshaft

Balanced 40 HP rods

Kolbenschmidt main, rod and cam bearings

NOS set of 78mm Kolbenschmidt pistons and cylinders... YES 78, hence the 1223cc. Not stock 77s. Try to find a set of those again... It wont happen.  

SSS Chromoly pushrods

1.25:1 rocker arms

Square boss 40 HP heads that have new guides new TRW 35.5mm 32mm valves installed. These are the larger 1600cc valves. Heads were lightly ported and polished and than Berg hemi cut and fly cut to achieve 7.7:1 compression.

Carburetors are custom made by me. Seward Speed Shop dual solex 30 pict 1. Custom manifolds, custom linkage and it all works great. Electric chokes are still there and functioning so it starts in the cold perfectly. It is tempermental if you try to drive it before it warms up as it should be. They are air-cooled... let them warm up. If your in that much of a hurry, drive your watercooled car... if you own one.

New 12volt alternator installed as well.

ALL tins are original VW 36hp tins that were powdercoated silver vein and the green accents are olive drab powdercoat.

Exhaust is an old 40hp extractor coupled up to a Kawasaki ZX-10 muffler. It was the lowest profile muffler I could find in the shop. It thumps! The neighbors will know when your leaving.

Front suspension -

Original beam, cleaned, blasted Wagens West adjusters installed and powdercoated silver vein

Beam has new OEM phonelic bushings installed... no urethane in this bus

New beam seals installed

New Wagens West 3.5 drop spindles with new king pins installed

New German link pins

Blasted and powdercoated control arms with all new beam seals to hold in the 3 tubes of new grease

New Fibi center pin and bronze bushings

New Empi lowered shocks

Steering -

New Rebuilt steering box... box was raised almost 2 inches and the drag link clears the floor with no sheet metal modifications done

New drag link

New tie rods and tie rod ends. late Bus outer tie rods. Tie rods were custom made with a swoop to add more clearance at the frame if you wanted to go lower. The Bus currently sits 5.5 inches off the ground. That is measured at the steering box and the rear frame hoop. The front beam pin and muffler sit about 5 inches off the ground. The rear tires are sitting at negative 0 to -.5 degrees which is perfect for tire wear and outer bearing oiling.

Rear suspension -

New Wagens West shock mount-offset springplates powdercoated silver vein

New springplate bushings inner and outer

New Empi lowered shocks

Interior -

Everything that is not re-upholstered was stripped back and clear coated. I was able to bring the original Dove Blue back in the driving compartment. The front has

New TMI seat upholstery

New TMI kick panels

New TMI door panels

The rear and top panels are all custom hand made at the shop

All panels are constructed of 1/8th inch true masonite hardboard and upholstered in dark gray marine vinyl.

The carpeting is all hand made, foam backed and is cut to fit. It is not glued down to hide anything! The only panels that are glued down are the wheel well covers because they wouldnt stay put.

The front has a new original style rubber floor mat as well as new Wolfsburg West under seat pads

Steering wheel, dash knobs and door handles are all painter dark gray. Steering wheel has no cracks

All black parts inside were powdercoated... such as pedals, shifter, turn signal switch and ash tray.

The overhead light is also new and functioning

Other new components -

New shift rod bushings installed on polished and powdercoated shift rods

New shift coupler - front and rear

New front windows

New wipers, wiper pivots, wiper arms and 12 volt armature installed into original motor

New window seals - All windows, front rear, sides and vent windows

New door seals - Front doors, both cargo doors, rear hatch and engine lid

New Original Huff side mirrors on custom stainless 90 degree mounts

New halogen H4 headlights with new inner and outter seals. CIP1 lights that came with a low beam not working on the passenger side. I will get a new one before the bus leaves.

New rear lights - aftermarket. sorry, I couldnt afford originals at the end of the build

New engine compartment seals

New accelerator pedal repair kit

New cables - clutch and accelerator

New Empi 15x5 Sprintstars with Pirelli 135-15 up front and 165-15 metrics in the back. The tires are not new. They are just a decent set of tires that I took off my Double Cab when I went to 17s

New 12 volt horn

New 6 volt starter

And this list probably goes on and on. I will update the listing later with the other stuff I am sure I forgot.

Back to the body. The Bus was 95% rust free. There were two small pieces of rust in the Bus. One was in the drivers side rear quarter panel and a 4 inch section in the floor above that quarter panel rust and a rust hole in the drivers side floor that you could cover with a dollar bill. There were two old betteries stacked up in the back of the Bus that tipped over causing the rust in the floor and quarter I am sure. I replaced the inner floor with an original piece of floor sheet metal and I pop riveted a small section of sheet metal on the body after I cut out the cancer. The outer repair fits the Bus well! I replaced a small section of the front floor with an original floor pan I had here at the shop. You will also see a few small holes in the rockers and lower section of one of the cargo doors but I see no point in addressing them as they are small and un-noticable. The battery tray is the original tray. It does have a bit of rust but I wanted to leave it in to show the true original condition. The belly pans are 100% original! The heat ducts are original. The wheel wells are original as well... all rust free. The entire undercariage of the bus was cleaned, etched and painted satin oregano.

 The fuel tank has been cleaned, blasted and professionally sealed. New lines and filters were installed as well. The only thing fuel related I did not do was add the fuel reserve tap and new cable. I simply installed a straight out feed. The brackets and old cable are all there. The new owner will have to purchase and install a new reserve tap and cable, thus having a fuel gage of sorts. Until than... Know how much gas you have or run out on a regular basis as many of us VW owners do!  

 What you are getting with this Bus is one of the fewest production Buses made. A true Double Door Panel. One that runs flawlessly, drives incredibly well and is 100% ready to hit the streets. This is not a project Bus. I spent the last 3 months doing that for you. I own to many VWs to list and of all of them, this is the fan favorite. I have only driven it 3 miles at the most... to the gas station and back. That trip took close to an hour. This Bus attracts attention and people everywhere it is seen. You do just as much talking as driving when you have it out. 

 I have many more pictures of the Bus and can take a few driving videos this weekend as well. If you send an email directly to adamkottke at hotmail dot com

I would be more than happy to send you all of the pics plus any other specific pictures you would like. I have no problem assisting in the shipping but I do not set up shipping. I only make myself availible at any time to load the vehicle onto the carrier of your choice. Anyone close enough to come look at the Bus in person is more than welcome to contact me to set up a viewing time. Feel free to call Adam Kottke with any questions. 815-222-0644

Here is a quick cost to build - Original purchase price $6200, Engine parts $2192, Trannsmission and brake parts $1126 Suspension Steering and wheels - $1974

Paint and interior upholstery - $1688 Misc. new parts - $1444 Powdercoating - $750.  Shop labor 427 hrs @ $55HR $23,485. I clocked in on this project just as if I were working on a customers car and yes, I have 427 hours tied up in this one, but who's counting when your having fun. Add all of this up and dont be frightened into thinking this is my reserve price, or even close to my reserve. I dedicate my winter time to keeping this VW hobby alive and to put another piece of history back on the road. I am not into VWs to get rich, I am into them because I still believe that they were the best vehicle manufactured. Period. 

 If you like my Bus and have the cash in hand to buy it... Great. If you like my Bus and think you can get the money together to buy it... not so great. Please understand that I am working to feed a large family and cant afford to wait while you contact your bank or friends or sell your car. In other words. Dont bid if you dont have the cash or plan to complete this transaction. I am as honest as they come, please give me the same courtesy.