But here is an article that ran in the NEATO monthly newsletter, please add your comments.
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RESCUING THE ISLAND BUS
By Ken Krol
Every summer in early July it has become a tradition
for my wife, Carolyn, myself and several other
neighborhood couples to spend a relaxing Saturday at
Put-in-Bay. Put-in-Bay is a small summer resort
village on South Bass Island, which is located at the
western end of Lake Erie near the town of Port
Clinton, Ohio.
We take the Miller Ferry from Port Clinton to PIB,
which is about a half hour trip. Once on the island,
we rent golf carts and spend the day visiting the
various wineries, bars, restaurants, shops and other
attractions that the island is famous for.
On one such trip in 2005 we were driving down a
secluded road outside of town. Out of the corner of
my eye I notice what appeared to be a faded out,
broken down old Split Window VW bus parked in
the weeds behind and old dilapidated barn several
hundred feet off the road. Since no one else on the
trip that day has the same passion for VW busses as I
do (in fact most of them think I’m obsessed with
them—imagine that!), I decided not say anything at
the time and just made a mental note of the location.
We got back home about 11:00 that night. The next
morning after breakfast I asked Carolyn if we had
any plans for today and she said “No, why do you
ask?” Then I told her about the treasure I spotted on
the island and said I would like to go back and try to
find the owner. After looking at me a little strange (as
usual) she said “Why didn’t you say something
yesterday”. I told her I was embarrassed in front of
our non-VW friends. She laughed and said she would
like to go back with me. I thought to myself, what a
trooper—I know there was a reason I married that
girl!
A couple hours later we were back on the island,
behind the barn looking at the bus. After talking to
one of the neighbors, I found out the bus used to
belong to a college professor who spent his summers
on the island working at the Ohio State University
Fish Hatchery and Research facility that was located
there. After looking a little more closely at the bus, I
noticed it had expired 1975 Illinois license plates and
a parking sticker from Southern Illinois University. It
also had a plastic engraved tag
hanging from the sun visor that
said “Car Pool Vehicle # 963.”
I asked the neighbor if the
professor was still on the island
and he said he hadn’t seen him
for many years and the bus was
abandoned in the adjacent barn.
The property was then sold and
the new owner pulled the bus out
of the barn several years ago and
it has been setting there ever
since. After checking the bus out
further, it was in pretty rough
shape, sunken up to its axles in
the mud with weeds growing
around it some broken windows,
otherwise fairly complete
including an engine that would
only rotate about three quarters
of a revolution. I thought it might be good for parts
but not worth restoring. I opened the rear hatch and
noticed an old wooden toolbox with some crude rusty
tools and something very strange. There were about a
dozen dried snakeskins in the back storage deck.
Apparently a family of Gardner Snakes had been
living in the bus and used that area as a place to shed
their skins. There were also some interesting murals
painted on the sides: the right side was painted with a
Florida theme with palm trees and sandy beaches, the
left side was painted in a western desert theme with
mountains, cactus and buffalo.
After talking to another neighbor I was able to get the
name and phone number of the property owner. A
few days later I was able to get in touch with him and
was able to get the bus. I told him I would come and
get it later that summer.
Eventually summer became fall and it was time for
our annual LEAKOIL Chapter fall camp out which
takes place the first or second weekend in November
at, of all places, Put-In-Bay!!!. I made up my mind
that this was the time to rescue the island bus. My
good friend and fellow LEAKOILER Regis Doran
and myself
rounded up my
old 1980 Chevy
pick-up, trailer,
come-a-along,
and assorted
chains, straps and
tie downs and
headed for PIB
early that
Saturday
morning. It turned
out to be a
gorgeous fall day
with bright
sunshine, blue
skies and the trees
in peak fall color.
Once we got off
the ferry, we met
up LEAKOILERS
Dan Canalos and
Keith Price and
headed to the
place where the
old bus was last seen. Sure enough it was still there,
just as I remembered it—buried up its axles in the
mud and weeds. Everyone looked at me as though I
was nuts and frankly I was beginning to wonder
about myself as well. Then I thought, what the heck,
we’re here so let’s go for it. First we jacked it up out
of the dirt and blocked it up and put wood planks
under the wheels. The right rear tire was flat so I
changed it with a spare that I brought along. While I
was down on my hands and knees changing the tire,
the rear cargo door suddenly broke loose and fell off
like a huge meat cleaver just missing my head. Of
course everyone, except for me of course, thought
this was hilarious and couldn’t stop laughing. We
didn’t realize that someone had cut the rusted hinges
loose some time ago and the door was just hanging in
place. After that we winched it on the trailer without
a problem and hauled it back to the campsite. The
whole job took about an hour and a half.
Once we hauled it back to the campground, other
LEAKOILERS started to arrive: Bill Webner, Kirk
Berhent, Bob Jursinski, Dale Winfrey, Howie
Snyder, Dennis Mower. As we all studied the bus,
everyone agreed the bus was rusted almost beyond
repair but was about 98% complete. The only major
item that was missing was the middle seat.
We all camped out that night and headed back home
the next morning. I unloaded the bus from the trailer
along side garage where it set for a couple years
while I pondered what I was going to do with it: use
it for parts or mildly restore it as a survivor bus. After
attending the OCTO Show and Classic Weekend in
June 2005 I noticed the trend on the west coast was to
leave the bus pretty much as it was found and just do
the repairs necessary to make it safe and reliable to
drive leaving the body and paint alone and make it a
“survivor.” Many of the LEAKOIL guys thought the
“Hippy Artwork” was way too cool and should be
preserved as a part of Americana. I liked the idea and
decided that was the direction I wanted to go.
The bus sat outside my shop for quite a few more
months while I was busy with my full time job and
maintaining and enjoying the my 6 other busses (’61
Kombi, ’63 Single Cab, ’64 Bowman Camper, ’66
Westy, ’67 Westy, ’68 Single Cab). I just couldn’t
seem to find the time to work on the Island Bus.
Then one day I got
a phone call from
fellow
LEAKOILER Greg
Limber. Greg was
interested in the
Island Bus. After
several discussions
I found out Greg
and I shared the
same ideas on what
the future of the bus
should be and based
on the busses Greg
already owned, I
knew he would
follow through and
it would be a great
home for it. It was a
win/win for both of
us, Greg would get
the project he
wanted and I would
be able to live my dream vicariously through him to
see the Island Bus on the road again as it had been
over thirty years ago. It was a done deal.
Several weeks later, Greg put a post on the
LEAKOIL web page with a video of the bus parked
in his driveway. Then Greg jumped behind the wheel,
started the engine, backed out of the driveway and
drove down the road just the way it did thirty some
years ago. I almost fell out of my chair laughing and
still can’t stop smiling.
I called Greg immediately and asked him if he put a
different engine in it. He said no, he used some
penetrating oil to free it up, cleaned the carburetor,
changed spark plugs and adjusted the points. He also
did a complete brake job. It ran and stopped great!
The crowning moment for me was when Greg
brought the Island Bus to our annual LEAKOIL
Campout on Kelley’s Island this past October and I
got to drive it around the island. It is truly an
awesome time machine and a piece of Americana
that needed to be preserved.
http://picasaweb.google.com/21window/Is ... 8063013682
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