Dedication just doesn't come close does it?

Best of luck with the resto:)

have you got a second BD to grab the chassis from - or are you building a chassis from scratch?

good luck with it matey

ha ha, great story and trip, I thought I was mad but your up there fella

Best of luck with the rebuild, let me know if you need any repro Barndoor panels

that is a mental story. Looks like you have a fair amount of work to do on that puppy!!

thanks for the kind words.

and no im not delusional i know i have ALOT of work ahead
But a huge part of it is the chassis and this actually suits the plan. You see I have a few tricks planned for this build and I decided it would be nearly as much work to modify a solid chassis as it would to build my own from scratch. Plus this way a beautifully solid chassis doesn't get harmed.
So, next job is order up a large Klassicfab Meccano set and get welding.

Something else cool about the bus that may help me look a tiny bit less insane.
Finland is like Sweden in that a member of the VW community has managed to get a hold of all the old records which show detailed accounts of Volkswagen imports and sales in the country. The records for my bus where included. Here is a bit of what they say.
The bus was built on 25th June 1952
Left the factory on 26th June to a dealership in Tempere, Finland.
The dealership then sold the samba to a private owner on 27th July 1952 who registered it on the 18th August and drove it until 1967 when he parked it in a wood near his house. Here it stayed until I became the new owner.
So yes I am only the 3rd owner from factory. 2nd if you don't count the dealership. Shame the second owner didn't look after it a bit better. But I guess if he had then I doubt I could have afforded it.
The speedo disappeared at some point, stolen as the guy never gave permission for it to go. Shame because the bus seems to have stayed within a very small area its whole life and the mileage I guess could have been very small.
I hope to get a lot more info and cool pictures in the future as at least the second owner is still alive, so if I can finish it before they die i'll take them for a spin and get some more info.

that´s a nice project! i wish you all the best with it.. hope everything works out for you in the end!! i´ll keep watching on this project..

greetings from germany,

ben

p.s. maybe you get yours ready bofore i get my 51kombi back on the road!

Your a brave man, or a very skillful one. Good luck with the project....at least you don't need a back bumper

top man for saving a 52 delux, thats one hell of a mission!!

Great story.
Massive project.

Good luck.

All I can say is RESECT

great project can't wait to see this story pan out

Well Rob you werent kidding huh? I know you told me the story yesterday but only now I have seen the pictures I can really believe it!!!! Your a crazy moe foe for sure fella!!! Gimme a bell as I gotta pop over an see this... Unbelievable... I gotta see it in the flesh...

Top marks for sticking with it through that rough collection!!! Good luck with getting started on it, if I can help in any way just give me a shout.

Good to see another one being saved,top man and good luck!

Top marks for having a go at saving this i will keep a look out for updates
ben

Good luck dude, that's one hell of a mission!