May 19, 2015

1959 VW T1 Double Door Panel


1959 VW T1 Double Door Panel

This first generation of Volkswagen Type 2 commonly known as T1 Bus, as the picture is Double Door Panel bus was released in 1959 with dove blue color recently totally restored ready to auction.






Detail about this bus by owner
I'm selling my 1959 Volkswagen Double Door Camper bus. Everything works, recently restored. Not a rotisserie, bare metal restoration, but everything has been replaced and gone through.

I bought this bus in 1998. Was a very solid and fairly rust free bus from the beginning. At that time I replaced the front doglegs (thin lipped ones were only available for me at the time), repaired the front floor with solid sections, new rockers below the cargo doors, cut out and patched a few areas in the wheel wells that had some pin holes. Painted it and then it sat in my shop for the next 15 years.

Last year I dug it out to make it a nice, solid camper bus for road trips. Here is a quick list of what was done:

  • New belly pans from Grumpy's metal installed. Old ones were solid, just beat up. Looked like someone kept using them to jack the bus up. Perfect now.
  • Rust at the bottom of the doors was repaired with Gerson and Autocraft panels.
  • Repainted it with PPG Concept Dove Blue paint.
  • Transmission rebuilt by Ranchero Performance with freeway flyer 4th gear for reduction boxes.
  • Reduction boxes rebuilt with all new bearings.
  • 1600CC Engine rebuilt. Case split with all new bearings, engle 110 cam, Mahale pistons, new 0 mile heads, rebuilt 34PICT carb, NEW: alternator, fuel pump, muffler, coil, plugs and wires.
  • New clutch and pressure plate.
  • All new shift linkage and bushings.
  • All new brakes, every line, cylinder, spring - entire system.
  • New tires + new spare behind the front seat.
  • Rims media blasted and painted.
  • New bumpers.
  • New Wolfsburg West wiring loom - converted to 12 volt
  • New battery
  • Front seat frame sandblasted, all new coconut hair pad, material and TMI seat cover.
  • Fuel reserve switch rebuilt
  • New gas tank
  • New headlights, signals, taillights from Wolfsburg West. All new bulbs.
  • Modified Westfalia interior. All new Birch wood, small back side cabinet and reverse seat with storage custom made. All new plaid upholstery and hardwood floors. Headliner is also new Birch.
  • Original VW full length roof rack included.
  • All pedals, steering column, e-brake handle media blasted and painted in PPG Concept black.
  • Sound deadener material added on engine firewall, doors, roof.
  • The original, solid interior floors and back area was sanded, POR15 protected, sanded, primed and painted.
  • New dome light covers, LED dome lights.
  • All new door and window seals all around. Every seal replaced. Door stoppers, seat stopper pads etc..
  • Speedometer cleaned up, new gels (colors over lights) installed. New bulbs.
  • New Creative Engineering front safari’s.
  • New clutch, accelerator and speedometer cables.
  • Fresh air vent in roof restored, taken apart, media blasted, assembled with all new rubber flaps.
  • Added glove box material lining like the deluxes had. Used the later bus mesh grey vinyl material. Also added Speedo trim ring.
  • New mirrors and arms.
  • New gas pedal and all components for it.
  • New polished stainless steel hub caps.
  • Front original VW emblem media blasted and painted, has rubber spacers between it and the body.
  • All new door handles, interior knobs, window latches and strike plates, blinker switch assembly. All from Wolfsburg West.
  • New Shocks


This bus has been thoroughly gone through and nothing needs to be done, unless you want to add accessories for yourself. All of the small things have been replaced or rebuilt. The dove blue paint was matched from an original part that was not exposed to sun or the elements.

This bus was not built as a concourse/trailer queen show car and has a few minor imperfections. You really need to be crawling around the bus, looking for these imperfections, to find them. This bus is ready for your camping adventures!

Although I didn't take this panel down to bare metal and do a rotisserie perfect restoration on it, it is a very solid, rust free bus that gets a ton of attention and is fun to drive.

NO LONGER AVAILABLE