Kaspar is the third in succession of three VW buses I have owned over the years, and my first pop top campervan version. Each has been unique in its role played in my life. Kaspar has come to mean more to me than simply being a 1970 VW Westfalia (campervan). At this time of my life, I needed a spirit animal, soulmate, confidante, sidekick, and beach buddy, and Kaspar has easily assumed each of those roles effortlessly.
When first acquired, he resembled one of those sad, abused puppies depicted in the horribly heartbreaking TV ads. His eyes begged me to take him home. His rescue cost me far more than his market value considering his long neglected, rundown condition. Once home, a serious bumper to bumper inspection quickly disclosed just how neglected he had been. With no exaggeration, it became painfully clear that every inch of him needed attention. Though I named him Kaspar, I began referring to him as Frankenbus (Not to his face, mind you!).
Frankenbus was a patchwork quilt of panels and parts, with many not those of a VW bus. Kaspar had missing or wrong parts, wrong or missing hardware, as well as bastardized, rerouted wiring. He didn't even have a genuine VW bus engine! He came powered by a barely held together 1973 VW beetle engine that was missing most of its cowling pieces, and what was there was incorrect, or installed incorrectly. The list goes on and on, but I'm sure you’ve gotten the picture by now. In short, Kaspar was a hot mess!
The first step toward restoration was tearing out his entire interior and scrubbing it down a couple times. I then rust-treated and painted everything metal, replaced the flooring, and refurbished all the removed cabinetry. After much sweat and elbow grease, his interior went from utterly disgusting to looking nearly new. And, of course, it all now smells so wonderfully pleasant.
The mechanical work was more extensive than a hobbyist like me could ever hope to tackle on their own, so I outsourced it to a highly reputed VW mechanical wizard. For a handsome sum, he worked his magic on the pathetic engine, transmission, CV joints, shifter, the entire braking system, the whole front end, gas tank and all venting, and to replace missing stuff, like cowling pieces, heater boxes, ducting, and whatever was needed to make Kaspar whole again and dependably operational. The magic took months to complete.
Once back at home, again, I removed Kaspar's pop top, ripped off the old canvas, cleaned all surfaces, replaced rotted wood, and repainted the two fiberglass halves. After that, I installed a new canvas tent and replaced the canvas on the fold down cot. In the process, I also redid the luggage top carrier, replacing the rusted, pitted, iron cross bars with oak slats. By now, he was beaming with pride.
Restoration/renovation of Kaspar continues to be an ongoing, meticulous labor of love. Hey, what can I say? I’m a hopeless vintage VW bus lover, and by no means a level-headed, profit-driven, businessman.