![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.entfallteiledienst.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/20210406_092927_resized-576x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nYou don\u00b4t have a clue? Let\u00b4s flip it upside down and check the other side:<\/p>\n\n\n\n We see some sealing wax red color, so it can\u00b4t be part of something above the belt line. But neither is it a part of the floor due to its rib structure. Still a miracle? No wonder, there is not that much left over of this panel. In fact Mark, called it the worst panel of the entire bus and even I couldn\u00b4t identify it without the surrounding sections. To give you an idea what panel this post is all about, I will show you a picture of the Samba\u00b4s rear end during the recovery process in May 2017. Can you see it now? It\u00b4s the upper boot floor!<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reason why this panel is in such horrible condition is simple. The Samba\u00b4s rear window was the Samba\u00b4s only window which was broken, so it was exposed to the rain but couldn\u00b4t dry in the sun. Plus there was a moisty carpet covering the boot floor -before it has rotted away. This sped up the rust to eat big bites of the metal so far, that even Mark always called the panel \u201cbeyond repairing\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So you can imagine my delighted surprise when I received a mail from Mark telling me the following: \u201cSo if I’m absolutely honest, I had put this panel to one side both mentally <\/em> Anyway I occasionally like a good test, catch me on the right day, wind blowing in the right direction \ud83d\ude42 .<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I also decided that instead of using our reproduction parts I had a few rusty bits of original I knew were in the scrap bin outside, so I dug those bits out and armed with a few bits of original and the remains of yours started on the long road to repairing the shelf.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u00b4s exactly this way of thinking and working which I love Mark for. The famous German news magazine SPIEGEL wrote: \u201cThe resurrection of this VW bus from fragments sets completely new standards for restoration art.\u201d Correct, it\u00b4s nothing less than that. At some point during this reconstructing process we became hostages of these \u201cnew standards\u201d we have set. Repairing this worst of all panels is so time, money and work consuming, it just is pure nonsense for any normal restorer, but saving every little piece of original metal is the main principle of this whole enterprise. We don\u00b4t want anybody ever saying \u201cThey build a new Samba around an old VIN\u201d, we don\u00b4t even want anybody to just be thinking this way! So let\u00b4s see how artful Mark is wasting his time and my money by repairing a panel nobody else would even think about touching. The following pictures speak for themselves\u2026..<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n This picture above really made my day! This is not just repairing a panel, it\u00b4s art! Did the automotive history ever see something even close to the same? I doubt it. Mark\u00b4s work is indeed setting new standards. I do believe that this process here will be quoted by other \u201cimpossible\u201d projects that will be carried out by the following generations of restorers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now let\u00b4s see how this piece of the puzzle fits in the Samba\u00b4s rear end. Doesn\u00b4t this look great?<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, compare this picture above to the picture in the beginning showing the Samba in his Eifel graveyard. Isn\u00b4t that simply amazing how much of the original metal Mark has saved? (I know there is much more to tell about the picture above than just the boot floor; the roof and the speaker pods for example, but these are worth an own post, be patient…) I know most of the people in the VW-world couldn\u00b4t imagine that this Samba is savable when we started in May 2017 and in fact you need to have a special kind of love affair with rusty cars to dedicate your time and your money in such a project. But most important of all is the absolute belief that any technical problem is solvable if you really want it. This belief (and the love affair with rusty cars) started in 1989 when I found a long time abandoned Oval in the lonely \u201cWesterwald\u201d a mountainous area south-east of Bonn. This Oval is kind of the spiritual father of the whole Samba project and that\u00b4s why I want to share this story with you. It all begun with a small ad in the local newspaper\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n VW BEETLE, 1956, VERY BAD CONDITION, DM 150,–<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also in 1989 an Oval was a rare and quite expensive car. DM 150,– was a suspiciously low price, even if the condition was \u201cvery bad\u201d. Maybe it was a typo? I called the number and a friendly old man confirmed the price and that the car was still available. You better believe I drove there instantly to make sure the Oval won\u00b4t go to somebody else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The friendly old man opened the door, but instead of going to the garage, he called me to follow him in his garden. There the Oval was! Overgrown by a huge blackberry bush and very rusty. \u201cHow long is the beetle sitting there?\u201d I asked. He replied: \u201cSince 1971. It was my young wife\u00b4s car, but she died in 1971 and I couldn\u00b4t give the car to the junkjard emotionally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I checked the Beetle, it was very complete and a good deal for sure -parts wise. Back in those days I stripped a Beetle each week for parts, it was easy money and fun. We begun to cut the blackberry bush and tried to open the door. This was, when the following picture was shot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inside I found some Cologne license plates and tons of nut shells. The Oval was the home for generations of mice! The complete interior was rotten and there was a disgusting smell inside. But also the keys still stuck in the ignition lock! Bingo\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now it was time to push the car out of the garden, but NO WAY! The brake drums were stuck so badly, we couldn\u00b4t move the car a single millimeter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We borrowed a tractor from the neighborhood, but the garden was so wet and muddy that even the tires of the tractor spun. So, what to do? The car was already my property, but I couldn\u00b4t move it away. These damned drums were stuck as they were welded to the brake shoes, no matter how hard I tried. I drove home frustrated and had some beers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like always in life, if something doesn\u00b4t work the ordinary way, it\u00b4s always good to \u201cthink out of the box\u201d. I had an idea as crazy as a 19 year old could possibly be. What about when I try to start the engine and just accelerate really hard, would this be a way to make the drums turn? The next day, I returned to the Oval with a lot of tools, some fuel and the absolute will to make this old baby run for a last time before I\u2019d strip it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, as you can imagine, it wasn\u00b4t that easy to start a car which was abandoned in a garden for nearly 20 years. I pulled the battery out of my \u00b458 and installed it into the Oval. While I was disassembling the fuel line, the Oval\u00b4s old radio begun to play. It was kind of a magic moment, it seemed the car was speaking to me: \u201cI am still alive!\u201d In this moment I decided to not strip this beetle, no matter how rusty it was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To make the long story short, my plan worked and some hours later we could convince one of drums to turn again. This was enough to tow the Oval out of the garden. Here you see the scenario. Check out the rear left drum is obviously still stuck. The towing car was the 1975 \u201cOpel Rekord\u201d of my girlfriends father. Back in those days, just an old car at the end of its life, but I still feel sorry for the Opel\u00b4s clutch which we gave a hard time that certain afternoon. I hope my girlfriend\u00b4s father does not read my blog\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back home, I started my first \u201crusty resto\u201d. I simply didn\u00b4t have the money to do a full restoration job and it would have been crazy, because all the body work, the interior and a proper paint job would have ended up at a sum that could buy you nearly two restored Ovals back in 1989. But doing a brake job, installing a new exhaust and some acceptable tires was OK to my budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the job was done, I borrowed a set of \u201cred dealer license plates\u201d, something I have to explain to all non-German readers. Sure, all cars in Germany have to pass the \u201ctechnical control\u201d (aka T\u00dcV) and with a car as rusty as this Oval there was and there were no way to pass the T\u00dcV and get legal license plates. But there is one way to drive cars without T\u00dcV approval legally: the magic \u201cred license plates\u201d. These plates are for car dealers only to enable them test driving and driving home cars they just bought and similar scenarios. Sure, it is the absolute responsibility of the car dealer that any car driven with \u201cred plates\u201d is at least safe to drive regarding the brakes and the steering. But a rust hole doesn\u00b4t matter. Don\u00b4t get me wrong, \u201cred plates\u201d are not the license to perform some crazy teenage nonsense, joking around with the \u201cred plates\u201d makes you losing them to the police quickly! To put it in Mike Judge\u00b4s words: “Don\u00b4t try this at home!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n So the following picture shows 19-year old Florian with his new rusty love affair ready for a first ride. The destination was nothing less than the N\u00fcrburgring!<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was a classic car meeting at the Ring and I wanted to participate with the Oval. Here is the proof:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you can see, people were not amused by my beautiful Oval! In fact, there were some guys that were truly mad at me: \u201cDon\u00b4t embarrass our meeting with your junk car!\u201d or \u201cYou shame every serious car restorer!\u201d were just two common phrases I heard several times\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, like every teenager, however, I loved to provoke (well, I still do\u2026) and so I attended some more meetings with my lovely rusty Oval. Here you see me, proud as hell, because I just won the third place at a local classic car rally, the famous \u201cKleinwagentreffen in Brenig\u201d near Cologne. This was a very funny Sunday!<\/p>\n\n\n\n As time goes by, a lot of other interesting cars crossed my way and, due to the lack of an own set of \u201cred plates\u201d, I stored the Oval away for 30 years. But there is (or at least there should be) a moment in a car collector\u00b4s life, when you have to do a bitter calculation. Looking at the estimated remaining time you approximately still can stay on earth and dividing this remaining time by the number of car projects you \u201cstill want to finish, ehhhh, \u2026.some day\u2026.\u201d. Let\u00b4s face it, for most of us this calculation ends up with a frustrating conclusion: we don\u00b4t have enough life time anymore for the amount of car projects still on the agenda, isn\u00b4t it this way?<\/p>\n\n\n\n For me, this point was reached when the Samba hit my life. This project, no wonder, is the project of my life. Maybe this one project only is still too big for my remaining life time? So what to do? I learned three important lessons:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. reduce the amount of projects by 50% (still to many cars for sure, but at least a step in the right direction)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. don\u00b4t buy any additional projects anymore, not a single one! No, even not a KdF for 500,– Euro. Hhhhmmm\u2026.or, well, maybe\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. get yourself a damned set of own \u201cred plates\u201d finally, stupid!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank god no KdF came my way so far and painfully I said \u201cgood by\u201d to some projects, but the Oval stayed. By now I have my own set of \u201cred plates\u201d, so it was time to bring the Oval back to daylight, don\u00b4t you think so? I pulled him from a dark corner of my car hall and we spend some weeks working on the old boy. We fixed the huge hole in the floor pan where the battery leaked its acid in the 70s and 80s, we fixed some other rust damages too, but didn\u00b4t touch the rusty graveyard look. We installed a really proper brake system, some old 4,5 Porsche 356 Lemmerz wheels (rusty original ones of course!) with 165 tires and a self made front axle reinforcement (similar to the 181 system).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 30 horse engine received a special tune up. Bernd Riechert\u00b4s cool successor Laszlo delivered an all vintage dual carb system and we removed 5mm out of both cylinder heads which resulted in a compression delivering a downright ruthless pubescent engine performance and we haven\u00b4t talked about the vulgar sound yet. All these (and some more) tuning modifications could have been performed also in 1956, there is no 12 Volt conversion or any other modern BS installed, just to let the purists know!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, the Oval delivers a really safe and truly satisfying ride today. Beside some minor rust holes on the outer skin (which really don\u00b4t affect the safety of the car at all!) we could even pass the T\u00dcV without any problem today. But the inspector has to accept the rotten interior and the \u201cspecial\u201d smell still inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While driving the Oval the first time after all these years, it seemed to me that finding the Oval was the fate\u00b4s challenge, a test if I am the right man for the Samba project to come. There are just so many coincidences! According to my respective stages of life, each of both cars brought me to my respective limits technically, financially and mentally. Both cars provoked kind of a \u201cshitstorm\u201d by the audience when introducing them to the public. The Oval taught teenage Florian how to handle such a treatment in general and that no technical problem will ever stop me from doing it \u201cmy way\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both cars spent their first lives in Cologne, they most likely had seen each other sometimes somewhere at a Cologne traffic light in the late 50s! Both cars ended up as abandoned junk, left behind in the flora, the first in the \u201cWesterwald\u201d, the other in the \u201cEifel\u201d, both German low mountain range areas just divided by the Rhine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Join our party in Hessisch Oldendorf 2022, when the Samba and the Oval will be reunited after 65 years, riding the Autobahn from Bonn to HO side by side! Promised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n stay safe!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Florian<\/p>\n Hits: 0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dear VW-friends, you are into vintage busses, aren\u00b4t you? So what about a little challenge, a test to check your knowledge about Barndoors? Here we go. Have a look at the following picture and just guess what part of the Samba is this? You don\u00b4t have a clue? Let\u00b4s flip it upside down and check […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.entfallteiledienst.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2131"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.entfallteiledienst.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.entfallteiledienst.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.entfallteiledienst.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.entfallteiledienst.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2131"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/blog.entfallteiledienst.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2180,"href":"https:\/\/blog.entfallteiledienst.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2131\/revisions\/2180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.entfallteiledienst.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.entfallteiledienst.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.entfallteiledienst.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.entfallteiledienst.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/20210406_093000_resized-576x1024.jpg\")
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
( should that be metally \ud83d\ude42 ) and physically. It\u00b4s probably the worst panel on the whole van and I was seriously considering not fixing it. We had used one of our in house pressings to pull the van rear to shape so far but it would always have been nicer to have a bit of the original. I’m not sure to be honest that anyone of right mind would try and fix this, however we have come so far and stuck to the principles of the project so I dusted this crusty half missing part off and popped it on the bench to take a look at it. It’s very difficult to know where to start and what to do with something like this. Welding across ribs, aligning them up and straight, just getting the whole thing to shape was going to be a real test.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.entfallteiledienst.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/20210406_100436_resized-576x1024.jpg\")
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.entfallteiledienst.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Westerwald2.png\")
The first day of the Oval\u00b4s second life was ending in a fantastic autumn sunset<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.entfallteiledienst.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Morenhoven.png\")
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<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.entfallteiledienst.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Abrett-1024x768.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.entfallteiledienst.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Riechert-1024x543.png\")
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