Congratulations. She a lovely bus and as you said looks to be quite straight. Did the farmer have any of the running gear? Reminds me of my trip to collect Bobbie. You have to meet up with Jurgen, Esme and the boys at GrandSlam if you are in Somerset West as they will, I'm sure, be able to help you source parts. Good luck and I'll be watching the project thread with great interest.
Let me know if you get stuck with getting parts in SA or from other forum members as I'm happy to look in the UK.
Re: 1959 Bus
Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 11:56 am
by splitbusahollic
Nice one !!
this must be one of the most difficult bus recoveries in SA to date...awesome find.!
and no wheels !...boer maak n plan
imagine if you got there and she was a samba !!!
a true find !
Good luck with the resto !
Re: 1959 Bus
Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:16 pm
by sean
Dappermuis wrote:If it took you guys 2hours in a 4WD, how did that bus get there?
It was 20 years ago, but i doubt the roads have changed much in that area since then. A bus would still be able to make it there but will be very difficult without low range to climb the rocks up some of the very steep embankments. What was strange is that there was no road or even signs of an old road where the bus was standing.
Re: 1959 Bus
Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:23 pm
by sean
Plans for the moment is just get the chassis rolling. After that it will go into storage as I am still busy with my fleetline and hope to finish soon. I really have to finish my fleetline, so I don't want other projects till I am done with it.
I do like the idea of a rat look though. The sills definitely need structural work as well as the cab floor on the drivers side, the drivers side still had it's half of the original vw rubber mat and had appeared to have rusted underneath, the passenger side with it's half missing is still perfect.
Re: 1959 Bus
Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 1:44 pm
by splitfan
Great find i am impressed on how straight the bus is ! And so lucky finding the tailgate ! Congrats and enjoy !!
Re: 1959 Bus
Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 7:40 pm
by fig
Great find and awesome recovery!
Love the rat's ear vents!
Just shows where an old bus can take you!
Re: 1959 Bus
Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 11:03 pm
by lowlight
Nice find, Front bench and all. We had a 1960 bus with those ears for clean air to the engin bay, was done for dusty conditions in SWA(Namibia)
Re: 1959 Bus
Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 11:49 pm
by Klaus
Tony Z wrote:awesome!!! Good find.
no roads or trails leading to it... makes me wonder how it got there in the first place.
what are your plans for it?
Was thinking the same thing - maybe it was a Kaapse Kombi Kamp out from many years that got adventurous !
Re: 1959 Bus
Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 12:22 pm
by jolas
Hey Sean, I wish I could have gone with, well done with the salvage mission ! Fantastic pics and story - hope you keep it
Re: 1959 Bus
Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 12:06 am
by forcecooled
What an adventure!
Well done All
Those mouse ears were probably pretty good at getting cooler air to the motor -They must have used stove pipes, by the look of it!
Re: 1959 Bus
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 10:45 pm
by sean
Here's another clip uploaded, sorry about the quality, but it is very bouncy.
Re: 1959 Bus
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 7:59 am
by Warren G
Congrats on the nice find
You guys do know the bus is the best 4x4 by far that how it got there
Re: 1959 Bus
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 8:35 am
by van Zyl
Sean, you’re a good man. To thing the bus was left there to die, and to see it again on your video, moving towards a new life. Long live the VW BUS!!
Re: 1959 Bus
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 6:40 pm
by Bugger
Now that was a serious Extraction effort
Re: 1959 Bus
Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 8:12 pm
by fig
This bus was just found in Namibia; same rat's ear air scoops:
Was thinking the same thing - maybe it was a Kaapse Kombi Kamp out from many years that got adventurous !
