life is like a dogsled team. if you ain’t the lead dog the scenery never changes.
Jalopnik has been turning up their fair share of buses, just on walks around their California ‘hood. This tells me I need to move to where ever they are.
Anyway, this ‘64 Split, plus or minus a year, is a rare beast. Double door (two doors both sides), walk through, original safari windows, … this list goes on. One day, busman, one day.
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Fellow bug_pack members Kristen and Mike lost their bus when a recycling truck broadsided them. Mike, who was driving is ok, but many memories are lost.
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Eulogy to a VW Camper:
Buddy’s Buddy (BB) was purchased in 2004 on ebay. I was looking for a pair of front seats in decent shape for Buddy and found a whole bus for $400 in Connecticut. So my friend Owen and I did a road trip to to CT one weekend and towed it back. In was in “fixable” shape and it appeared that somebody had attempted to start restoring it,
BB lived with Underdog and Buddy in our driveway for a year or so, until we got tried of pushing him around - he didn’t have an engine. The greatest thing about having a parts bus is that you can experiment. I had never owned a VW bus before we got Buddy, so BB became my laboratory. Its dash was ripped apart, seats and cabinets removed, windows popped out. I learned how buses were put together and more importantly put back together on BB.
When it came time to find a new home it I offered it to friends for $1. Yes $1. The condition was they had to restore BB. Without an engine and lots of body work to do I didn’t have any takers. So BB left for the German Supply stud farm in Stouffville.
At the farm BB started his next life, donating parts for other buses that came under Scott’s tutelage. Eventually Scott moved the German Supply shop to downtown Toronto. BB remained out to pasture, rusting in peace.
In 2007 we got serious about the Underdog Project and BB become our main source of body metal. He was moved to the German Supply shop in Toronto for convenience. The cutting began and soon BB was full of holes, beyond restoration. It was sad to see him in this shape, but he remained useful donating parts for other Bay window buses.
Fast forward to today, Scott called me to tell me BB was going to meet the cutting torch - the grim reaper of the automotive world. Scott captured BB’s last moments as he was reduced to chunks.
I’ll think of BB every time I stomp the gas peddle or brakes in Underdog, because under my feet is BB’s floor. Here’s to you, you kept so many other buses on the road. I hope you find that great campground in the sky.
RIP Buddy’s Buddy (1976 Volkswagen Westfalia Camper).
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A comment to a posting made me think I haven’t thanked Tony’s Auto Service (Paul specifically) enough for saving our 2004 Cross-Canada road trip. Without him we would have had to turn back at Calgary and maybe even had to be towed home. Paul was one of the most honest mechanics I’ve meet and really knows his way around a Volkswagen.
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A relic from my childhood unearthed in a bag of broken cars. Unfortunately, I think this splittie is unrestorable.
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Short for: Found On the Road Dead. Buddy the Bus didn’t make it to the mechanics as planned today. :( He had to be towed the rest of the way. Poor Buddy.
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Question: If you buy a new speedometer for your bus, how do you set the odometer to the correct KMs reading?
Answer: with an electric drill that goes 100,000 kilometers per hour.
[click the link to see video]
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Thanks to Scott’s Beetle Bar (also a Ghia Bar) I was able to drive both Buddy and Karmella to Toronto for some repairs at the German Supply shop. Karmella is staying for a few weeks until she gets her electrical system sorted out.
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Finally! I found a speedomoter/odometer with the rare trip meter. I can’t wait to install it in my bus. I also go a clock to match, but that hole is already filled with a retro tach (not VDO). More info on Bay Window dash gauges is available from Ratwell.
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Dave, Scott and I worked on Underdog again today. In a few hours we managed to get the front doors stripped and dashboard out. We’re getting close the media blasting. See photos from Part Two.Â
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Guess what happens next? Watch the video and then file under H, for “hoon”.Â
 
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On January 20th, 2006, Barking Dog Studios staff participated in a unique team building workshop - in a real workshop! We headed to the GermanSupply.com garage and began the process of dismantling “Underdog”, a 1970 Volkswagen Transporter Deluxe, which over the next few months will be restored to its original glory. See Photos and Timelapse movie.Â
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Look for it on the streets of Guelph and a VW show near you this summer.Â
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I decided to go gas up Buddy this morning. Thanks to a 9ºC warm spell, there’s no snow. The underdash tray must have filled up with water and frozen some time over the last few weeks. Enough water to overflow it. This is probably why I’m blowing relays and fuses - I have a leak somewhere on long the windsheild or around the fusebox. Anyway I spent 30 minutes de-icing the tray. Luckily the warm weather had loosened things up - ice cubes anyone?Â
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“Buddy’s Buddy” (green) has been put out to pasture at the German Supply warehouse. After spending over a year in our driveway blocking access to the garage it was time for him to move to a new home, one where he’d be in good company. May he rust in peace.Â
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Yes I know, Its been over two weeks of silence on this blog. Sorry, general business at work and life has kept me doing other things.Â
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So lets see… in the past 2 weeks I’ve: done most of my Christmas shopping; flown to New Jersey and back; cut down a fine Douglas Fir, which will be out Christmas tree; moved “Buddy’s Buddy” (the parts bus) from our driveway to the German Supply warehouse in Stouville; attended the annual Rockwood Parade of Lights; visited the dentist for my annual cleaning; watched the Dallas Stars defeat the Maple Leafs 2-1 at the Air Canada Centre; and had our neighbours over for pancake breakfast.Â
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So life as usual.Â
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busman is offline
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