To all you bus lovers,

This is my first thread on SSVC, 2nd, if you count my post in a few months back where I was asking a few tips of how to go about my restoration.

I've been the proud owner of a 1958 Splitty since last September 2014, but let me give you a little background before I start off this thread.

I live in a small island called Malta, if you have got a map... it's that little microscopic dot under Sicily! My dad has owned his 1969 VW Beetle for most of my life, so you can definitely say that it was his enthusiasm and dedication that started me on the road to VW obsessions. I always adored the classic hippy bus and longed to own one one day, thanks to my dad's 2nd restoration 3 years ago I started looking both locally and also through UK websites to see what splitty's the world offered. After almost losing hope finally found one locally. The owner has just just sandblasted her 1958 Splitscreen for a full restoration, but due to other obligations, the van stayed in that condition until it was finally up for sale. When I first saw the bus I knew it needed a lot of work (which almost put me off at first) but then I realised that the restoration is part of the fun and pride of owning these types of vehicles. Therefore to cut the long story short, I went and bought that bus in September 2014.

So, I'd like to introduce to you, my '58:

- Transporting her from where she was stored to her new garage.


- As you can clearly see she was a panel van that was poorly converted to a 15 window by one of her previous owners a long time ago.


- Finally in her new garage.


And from there a story started to unfold.

I will continue to update this thread with progress updates and of course, tons of photos!!

James, Over & Out.

So, some more pictures to get an idea of the state of the bus after the purchase:

Apologies for the poor quality... photos seem to come out with phantom spots when the background is too dark. Nevertheless that won't stop us from posting more pictures

- Wrong rear lights on the bus


- Front valance was wrongly welded with the front nose






Extra guage on the left of the dashboard... not sure what it was used for, as it was empty on the inside.




Small dent on the front


Roof looks pretty solid for its age

Hey James, looks a great project, What's Malta like for spares for the bus, is there a good local source or will you be having to import bits ?

Andy

andy f wrote:Hey James, looks a great project, What's Malta like for spares for the bus, is there a good local source or will you be having to import bits ?

Andy

Thanks Andy!
Spares are a bit hard to find in Malta. Managed to find rims and some 2nd hand electrical parts... but panels and such, being a small island, I'm having to resort to the UK.

So, I just wanted to thank the whole community here. Although we may have not communicated directly, I feel that with each and everyone of your threads, I got to know more than I ever have about how to best restore a splitscreen.

Here is another picture of the rest of the panels that came with the bus... they are all pretty solid thankfully with minimal rust:


And this is me having a bit of fun before retiring the bus to it's new home:


More pictures to come...

One major decision that I had to make before even thinking about the restoration was, what should I do with the 15 poorly cut windows. Should I close it all up and take it back to a panel van (as it originally was many years ago) or ...?

I know that the purists on here might have a minor heart attack, but after around 3months of internet searching and topic hunting I finally decided that I wanted to convert it into a 23 window Samba replica. I knew that the window cut outs were wrong, so from there on I started hunting for repair panels and side window donors which would help me do a decent conversion. I was determined to get it right.

Here are some pictures of the window cut outs, as they were when I originally bought it. I am not sure of the full bus history, but it looked as if the windows have been there for quite some time...

Just a little update to bring you all up to date. All the pictures I've posted were up to the end of 2014.
So something from the first 3 months of 2015:

Finally fund some time to clean up the garage and put up some shelves for parts for the restoration (and storage)


Some good and bad news for 2015:
- In January 2015 I was offered an opportunity to go work abroad for 6 months (April - September) so restoration will undoubtedly have to take longer than expected.
- Good thing that happened was that I found out that a friend of mine's dad works as a panel beater (and a pretty good one at that). So I went over for a chat to see if he would take up this restoration as I have never welded or such before, and I wanted the best for my splitty. To my surprise he got back to me with a definite yes and what's more amazing is that he said that he would be able to start some of the 'straight forward' work while I as abroad working I spent a good while explaining to him what I wanted for my splitty and gave him all the necessary resources to start the work. So here is my splitty before I departed.... off to the panel beater for the remainder of the year :'(















My dad has promised to periodically go over to see how my splitty's doing and email me tons of progress pictures, so that definitely gave me some peace of mind. My dad is as obsessed as me when it comes to his classic babies, so I know that he will be documenting all/any new changes for me.

So that is all I've got before going abroad.
Hope to update you guys when I get a chance with any new developments.

James Over and Out.

So, just a small update:

Side panel has been removed to make way for the new panel








Bare with me... I know that the process has been rather slow... but I promise to upload all/any updates that I get for my splitty.

Let me know your comments so far...

Great looking project , i will be following this thread.. Good luck and keep up the good work..

Reggie wrote:Great looking project , i will be following this thread.. Good luck and keep up the good work..

Thanks Reggie, I can't wait until she's on the road again.
It's gonna be a long road ahead, but I am determined to see it through!

So, I just booked a flight for next week to go back to Malta for a couple of days to celebrate my birthday, and more importantly to check out the progress on my bus Can't wait to see what the progress is like.

I also managed to get a small update last week from my dad.... side panel has been replaced. I know the rules here... no pictures means it didn't happen, so here are some pics of the new side panel. Some work on the rear corner has also started

Let me know what you think















I'm really looking forward to see the progress in person next week. Be ready for a big update as I'll be uploading tons of more pictures once I get to see what's new!!

looks a fab bus buddy

welcome to the split screen world

enjoy

learn

share


and above all have fun and enjoy the resto of your split as it was a life changer for me !!!


Laters


Mark

markp wrote:looks a fab bus buddy

welcome to the split screen world

enjoy

learn

share


and above all have fun and enjoy the resto of your split as it was a life changer for me !!!


Laters


Mark

Thanks Mark, glad to be apart of the Split Screen world. You guy have been extremely welcoming so far... both here and on fb.
I have learnt so much from you guys and you all have helped me in more ways than one, it's definitely a wonderful community.

I will soon be posting an update.
Currently in Malta for the next 2 days so got to see my bus and no words can describe my joy and my astonishment when I saw the progress :O !!

I know the drill and I will be posting pics this weekend or during next week

Hey Guys,

As promised this will be a huge update on my bus' progress I have been in Malta for the last week and first thing I did as soon as I arrived was sleep?.... OF COURSE NOT... I went to take a peek at the current progress

I have collected some photos taken by my dad during my stay in Spain, and also some pictures that I took when I came back.

So here goes:

--> Front Cargo Door... edges have been fixed... correct size shape and all


--> Back Cargo Door... also fixed


--> Right Side... created correct window edges... I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this development... the whole bus was starting to take a whole different shape





--> Now this is the current up-to-date progress while I was in Malta... Roof section has been started.... inserting roof windows... with every progress update the bus seems to be coming to life!





During my visit to the panel beater I couldn't help it, I had one of the biggest smiles on my face... Nothing could take that moment away. Almost 11months from when I bought the bus and almost 6months from the start of the restoration.
I must admit that I never thought that progress had come this far and this good Extremely happy and confident that I left the bus in capable hands while I was away

So far he has been working on the right side of the bus... now during the next couple of weeks he'll be moving on to the left side... to replicate the windows etc... Left side is in better condition, so it will not need any panel replacing apart from window sections and some other small bits here and there.

What do you guys think so far?

I will keep posting as soon as there is the slightest progress!

James - Over and Out

wow

Looks fab

well done ..... and its a feel mile making when you know your bus is in good hands


Thanks for sharing

Ya keeping the picy pervs happy & the resto police too

Mark