For the last three years, Jeff and I have been meticulously restoring his fleet of classic German vehicles. The 1977 Volkswagen bus is our main project. Originally a “7-seater” transporter, Jeff and I met when the bus was stripped down to its shell in his garage, awaiting reassembly.
The Reef Blue “Pirate Bus" earned its name the first time we drove it, to the smog shop a day after the registration expired. Since 2017 we have completely reassembled the car using the best available parts, sometimes buying three or more of the same part just to ensure we’re doing our due diligence. We have also been known to spend an entire day re-doing a project just to make the overall project better.
After spending eight months at Jimmy Braxmeyer’s in Vista, CA for a plethora of rust/collision repairs, we are finishing reassembly this month. It has passed the California smog check twice, and it the most powerful stock bus I have ever driven. (See: Best Available Parts.)
Here’s my favorite part: Jeff doesn’t plan on perfecting the cosmetics like he does the mechanical bits. He plans on taking his surfboard to the beach in it, taking the local kids to the skatepark, and loading up equipment/bicycles/younameit into the bus for just about anything. (I am typing this 14 miles from the nearest pavement, in an oak grove between the Luiseño and Kumeyaay lands. Buddy got some scratches on the way in, right after scraping the belly pan on some rocks. Get out there and enjoy your Volkswagens!)
So you can see some brush strokes where we’ve patched the interior paint in places… Big deal; listen to the engine! I’m sure Jeff’s collection will show up again soon. I have hundreds of photos of the process, so if you see a way-too-clean undercarriage used as an example on here, it’s probably one of his cars…
See you on the road!
Robbie
