TheSamba.com :: View topic - 78 Westy restoration project!! Taller Los Panchos (Lots of PIX)

Mon Dec 13, 2021 4:00 pm

Hello and Happy Holidays everyone!

I've been a VW bus owner my whole life and have used this forum to learn so much about these vans and restoring them so I wanted to share my process with you guys. My father bought this bus in 1983 a few year before I was born and it's been in the family ever since! My father being a mechanic for 30 + years took great care of it over the years, rebuilding the engine multiple times and keeping it running well. As you may assume this bus means so much to us. I've taken it on so many adventures in recent years and decided it was time to bite the bullet and do a full restore. My father did a minor restore maybe 15/20 yrs ago, changing the upholstery and doing an exterior paint job and it seems that now is time to bring it back to its original glory.
I've been scouring this forum for years and have heard so much about Taller Los Panchos and body shops in Mexico. I knew this was the path I wanted to take.
So I got in touch with Ramiro at Los panchos a few months ago and discussed what I wanted to get done on my van. He seemed very eager to get started so in Nov I head down to TJ with the van and dropped it off.

Ill also be creating a post for the custom cabinet build that Im currently doing with a cabinet shop in Oxnard CA. I will be replicating the original cabinets.

As for the paint and body I'll be updating photos on here as I get updates from Ramiro and I plan to head down to Mexico in a few weeks to check on the progress in person. I look forward to hearing feedback and sharing more of the process with everyone.
Thank you!

Here are a few photos of the bus before sending it to TJ.
My dad and the bus

Crusin through Oregon

Yosemite

Valley of Fire

Pismo Beach

Descend on Bend

Sequoia adventure

Crusin in Baja

Interior before we stripped it down.
The bus never had the kitchen unit so we will be building that from scratch.

After stripping the interior

Mon Dec 13, 2021 4:01 pm

some exterior close ups

Mon Dec 13, 2021 5:51 pm

First progress photos from Los Panchos
According to Ramiro the bus had very little rust damage. Paint taken down to the metal.

Tue Dec 14, 2021 11:22 am

So I have a rusty bus. I live 20 minutes from the border and have considered using a Tijuana paint shop for years. Most everyone I have met who has done this (as well as many accounts here on TS) has experienced very similar frustrations. Jobs that were more expensive than the bid, took much longer than expected, the materials were less than satisfactory, communication was spotty, etc.
Soooo, I am anxious to hear about your paint job.
Are they doing the entire bus, inside and out and down to bare metal?
What kind of timeframe did they quote you?
What brand and type of paint are they using?
Being very nosy and bold, what price they quote you?
Thanks so much and I will be following this thread.

Tue Dec 14, 2021 1:58 pm

OB Bus wrote: So I have a rusty bus. I live 20 minutes from the border and have considered using a Tijuana paint shop for years. Most everyone I have met who has done this (as well as many accounts here on TS) has experienced very similar frustrations. Jobs that were more expensive than the bid, took much longer than expected, the materials were less than satisfactory, communication was spotty, etc.
Soooo, I am anxious to hear about your paint job.
Are they doing the entire bus, inside and out and down to bare metal?
What kind of timeframe did they quote you?
What brand and type of paint are they using?
Being very nosy and bold, what price they quote you?
Thanks so much and I will be following this thread.

Hey! I appreciate your reply.
I've also heard many of the same frustrations about TJ body shops but I've also seen some good outcomes as well. I have a budget so I knew I wasn't going to have it done here in California. Im ok with getting what I pay for and not getting "show bus quality". But for some, TJ might not be the right fit.
Originally Ramiro told me to give him at least 3 months time which I'm ok with because I'm in no rush but its looking like he will be done in less then 3 months.
They are doing the entire bus inside and out. He is taking it down to the bare metal on the exterior. They are also going to replace my pop top canvas, upholster all the seats and cushions with fabric I provided, doing the headliner, replacing all the seals with seals I provided, getting a new windshield and powder coating my rims.
As for paint they are using Dupont(axalta) cromax pro 4 stage and clearcoat.
As for price I know it's gone up over the years and I had to talk him down a little but we agreed on 7500$ for everything I mentioned. Again I am providing all the parts and seals on my own.
I hope my experience is helpful for you making your decision. I'll be adding more photos to this thread as I receive them, cheers!

Thu Dec 16, 2021 9:01 pm

photo update.

First two photos are a stain they use to detect any flaws or pours in the body

Thu Dec 16, 2021 9:09 pm

Thu Dec 16, 2021 11:23 pm

Looking good! Best of luck with the project.

Fri Dec 17, 2021 5:53 am

Seems to me that if they have it stripped down as far as they do, its going to be pretty hard for them to mess that up.

Might want to ask them to mask off the wheel wells so they dont get overspray all over those things in there.

Fri Dec 17, 2021 10:27 am

BUSBOSS wrote: Looking good! Best of luck with the project.
Thank you for that!

Fri Dec 17, 2021 11:02 am

RalphWiggam wrote: Seems to me that if they have it stripped down as far as they do, its going to be pretty hard for them to mess that up.

Might want to ask them to mask off the wheel wells so they dont get overspray all over those things in there.

Yea they stripped it down pretty well. Thanks for the tip! I’ll be sure to let them know.

Sun Dec 26, 2021 3:36 pm

Got alil update on the bus! Hopefully more real soon.

Mon Dec 27, 2021 6:20 am

RalphWiggam wrote: Seems to me that if they have it stripped down as far as they do, its going to be pretty hard for them to mess that up.
This made me laugh. My double cab was stripped to the max, and the paint is the only thing that is messed up.

Mon Dec 27, 2021 8:42 am

Awesome! I have 2X cars done by them now (1968 BMW 1600, and a 1970 Alfa Romeo 1300TI). I brought them both in as stripped down as I could. I trailered them in from LA to San Ysidro, parked in the shopping center there right on the border, then drove off the trailer and across to his shop. Both cars were totally stripped down to the bare metal, and all rust cut away, new metal welded in, and all previous shoddy, bondo ridden repairs done with new metal. They fabbed up most of the metal themselves, but for big pieces, I had repair panels shipped right to them. The results were great. The BMW has been finished for 5 years now, and the work has held up well. The Alfa has been finished for over a year, and also, holding up well. Im taking my bus next!

Tue Jan 04, 2022 2:20 pm

My '78 riviera is down there and I've become just a bit anxious about how long it has been taking. They originally quoted me 3 months and it's going on 4 now and they've been unresponsive over the last month. Reading some of the above, I'm relieved to know that's not too far off the norm.

You might have seen mine - it was the red/white camper. I am getting mine painted Dakota Beige, so it will look similar to yours!

Would love to chat about your experience, if you're open to exchanging numbers?
-John

Sat Jan 08, 2022 9:50 pm

jrstew2 wrote: My '78 riviera is down there and I've become just a bit anxious about how long it has been taking. They originally quoted me 3 months and it's going on 4 now and they've been unresponsive over the last month. Reading some of the above, I'm relieved to know that's not too far off the norm.

You might have seen mine - it was the red/white camper. I am getting mine painted Dakota Beige, so it will look similar to yours!

Would love to chat about your experience, if you're open to exchanging numbers?
-John

Sent you a DM my frined!

Wed Jan 12, 2022 4:51 pm

So I wanted to give a little update on the bus.
After only 2 months in Mexico I was able to pick the Bus up on January 5th! Its been a relatively stress free journey and Im very satisfied with How it all came out! The biggest issue I had was the the pop top being stapled from the inside instead and not from the outside like the original. I brought this to Ramiros attention and they were able to fix the issue. they took the Pop top completely off and back on the correct way. Other then that no other major issues.
Here are some photos of the bus after I picked it up!

Wed Jan 12, 2022 7:45 pm

I want to say "wow".That looks great!
Couple of questions...
Did they rebuild the driver's and passenger door with all the new seals and the scrapers?
I have heard of people having a problem crossing the border with a freshly painted car. Apparently Customs wanted duty on the value of the body work. Did you have any problems crossing back?
Finally...will you share the contact information for Los Panchos?
Thanks..

Larry

Wed Jan 12, 2022 8:03 pm

OB Bus wrote: I want to say "wow".That looks great!
Couple of questions...
Did they rebuild the driver's and passenger door with all the new seals and the scrapers?
I have heard of people having a problem crossing the border with a freshly painted car. Apparently Customs wanted duty on the value of the body work. Did you have any problems crossing back?
Finally...will you share the contact information for Los Panchos?
Thanks..

Larry

Thank You so much!
Yes I provided all the seals for the whole bus and they installed them all including the scrapers.
As for crossing the boarder Ramiro wrote me a receipt for Upholstery, polish and pop top instal just in case the boarder agent asked. They did ask I thats what I told them, I didn't have to show the receipt

Here is Ramiros whats app phone number. Just know he's pretty backed up at the moment. He told me has has 3 vans lined up but Goodluck!
+526648177180

Mon Nov 07, 2022 10:18 pm

Its been a while since Ive done any updates on the bus but after a long year, lots of mock ups and trail runs we finally completed the interior! I decided to work closely with my uncle who is a cabinet maker specializing in kitchen cabinets so for him this project was a learning process. He was able to get the dimensions from my original 1978 westy cabinets and replicate them using new plywood and the formica of my choice. I bought hardware online and the original handles. we also had to build the stove top unit from scratch because when my dad bought the bus 40yrs ago the original stove unit was already ripped out. Im excited to share some pix of the process and the finished product!