Our 66, 10 Window Bus called Sid

[onetrackwonder]

Hey guys I thought that its time that I introduce myself, been a long time VW owner and have been a lurker here for a very long time before joining about 4 years ago, always loved the split window busses but have only ever owned a 76 Sopru Camper over the last 40 years, never really expected to be able to afford one but after Easter this year we took a trip from Central Tilba where we live up to Glenbrook in the lower Blue Mountains to pick up Sid the Splitty, its a project bus thats going to sit for a bit before I can start its restoration as I have my wife's 66 Beetle on the build table and in boxes on the racking, i'm going to finish it first before I start stripping the bus, not that there is much left to pull of it but I need to empty those shelves before I empty the bus of its boxes of bits before I get into it, I jumped on it because it looks fairly complete parts wise, it has a few bits missing but not a lot, I cant wait to get stuck into it so I am going to have to crack on with the Beetle so that I can, one side of the bus has been started with the rust repairs by the previous owner, looking at his work I think that I will strip it back and have a good look, he hasn't welded any of the new bits to the inner panels and what welds I can see are like pigeon shite, any way here are a few pics of what we have to start with, cheers Greg

[splitthis]

Welcome mate, looks like a much better starting point than a lot of busses these days. What’s with the rear hatch? Is it an old ambulance or just a previous owner mod? Standing by for progress.

[warb]

mad, joined in 2018 and first post is this, welcome man, post away..

[Beatts]

Fantastic looking project and yeah keen to know more about that rear hatch also.

[VRSenator065]

Welcome mate, looks like an awesome starting point, good score!!

[scotty*85vw]

Nice one Greg

I was looking at this bus, with the trailer and pobjoy motor it was a good buy. Get cracking mate

[scotty*85vw]

Welcome mate, looks like a much better starting point than a lot of busses these days. What’s with the rear hatch? Is it an old ambulance or just a previous owner mod? Standing by for progress.

It was an ambulance, uk import from memory

Keen to hear the full history

[spl65t]

Welcome, Nice bus to work on.
And.... that's how you do shed lighting !!

Cheers
Linz

[onetrackwonder]

Thanks guys, yes it was an Ambulance back in the day in the UK although I don;t think that it was on the road for very long as its so clean underneath and inside hasn't been knocked around much at all, all the Ambulance bits are long gone, from what I can see at the moment the bus is very clean re rust, that opinion may change as I get into it proper, there is a little in the sides at the floor level, lower front and under the front windows,bottoms of all the doors, rust that is the worst is in the body panel under the rear door and the rear door hinges, there are a lot of rust repair panels that came with the sale, everything except under the rear door apart from a standard bus Engine Lid Hinge Panel which is the wrong one for this bus.
As I mentioned in my first post there was lots and lots of bits that came with the bus and that included as already mentioned by Scotty a brand new never started 1904 twin plug Pobjoy engine along with a reconditioned L Bug gearbox to go with the Creative IRS, also driveshafts with new german cv's, also a new front disc brake kit, and yes a brand new dual axle car trailer thats only been used twice, once by the previous owner which he bought new to pick the bus up and he worked on the bus on the trailer and used by me to drag it home, it will be getting sold as I already have one







These Splitty engines are so much easier to fit than the bays



The roof you can see the hole for the Ambulance light is still there and there was some bog up there too that was cracked so I popped it out and treated the rust for now





Cheers Greg

[067DUB]

Solid bus! what a great start, get cutting

[Griffin]

cool bus, the rear hatch would make sleeping in the back easy but a bit of a pain loading it up I guess. Anyway looking forward to follwoing the progress

[red hot bus]

Definitely looks like you got a good deal, and something a little bit different as well is a bonus. Just sell the beetle as a project now and get stuck into the bus. Once the bus is on the rod you won’t drive the beetle anyway.

[morts]

Has anybody seen old Sid, has anybody seen old Sid around....(one to baffle the younger brigade on here...!)

Looks like a great bus mate. Nick, who used to be on here, had one of these motors and was pretty happy with it.

[spl65t]

Being the owner of a rarity bus, not often seen in the local scene. I’ve found your sleeping requirements for such a bus. A few beers and a wine watching the fire then get stretchered in