How hard would it be to restore this 1967 VW Bus, and how much would it cost?

Unless you are a mechanic with deep pockets walk away.

This vehicle looks a mess, it's not what you can see but what you can't see.

Every time you remove a rusting body panel there will be more horrors lurking underneath. It may not even be salvageable. Once you have started spending you won't want to stop.

You could probably buy a new Brazillian made VW T2 for less than trying to save this.

1

It depends on how handy you are.

The biggest problem is the rust on the bottom and rocker panels.

You need to cut off the existing rust, seal it with something like Extend and primer, pop rivet or braze over replacement panels or raw sheet metal, dimple down any high spots, and then bondo over the seams.

Fiberglass is also an alternative, but won't look quite as good.

If you can do it all yourself, then the body would only be $1000 in parts.

The brake hydraulics are probably all shot, costing around $200 in parts.

With the engine, transaxle, and front suspension, it is likely at least 1 of the 3 is bad, for about another $500 or so. Around $2000

But if you have to had someone else do it all, the labor would be the big bill.

They could hit you for another $3000 or so.

But there is nothing any average person can not learn how to do quickly, if you have the time, space, tools, and inclination.

Campers like this 64-67 split window, are extremely valuable when done however, going for $6000 to $10000, depending on how it looks.

But I have reservations about if you are the one to take this on, because you comment about the "riveted windows". If you are referring to the louvered windows, I believe they are screwed in, and are not broken should not be a concern. The vent windows are riveted, but don't look broken or a problem. Most window in VW are held in by the rubber only. And you main concern should have been the rust, both in the body and components like brakes, suspension, etc. So you may need to ask for some advice and help from someone who is more handy?

Let me start by saying that bus is in better shape than the 67 I sold last month for $750. Mine was my tree house for the last 10 years. It had no motor, trans or front suspension. It had just as much rust in the body and the interior was gone, but the front end was in great shape.

The windows are not a big deal. That is how they did it back in the day with camper conversions. You could replace the entire door with a new window if you prefer.

You can buy a bunch of different patch panels for split window type II's. Check out thesamba.com

It will be your new favorite site for parts.

To have a shop restore it for you, you would be looking at a minimum of $10,000 in paint and body for a paint job that is about an 8 out of 10

As far as cost to fix, that depends on your skills and where you live. I would cut out all the rust sections and weld in new pieces. Either replacement panels or sheet metal cut and bent to fit

1967 Vw Bus

I can not open the photos but some pointers...

1) Is the frame rusted thru.. that is a major problem which may not be repairable.

2) What is your restoration goal... daily driver or show car.

Rivited windows are easy.. buy a pop-rivet gun and your problem is solved. But most windows are simply held on by rubber seals.. JCWHITNEY.COM can replace those.

Your hard part will be exterior body panels.. those are not modular like a bug..

Your best bet is to look for ANOTHER one with parts you can scavenge (like the bumper). If you are not going for a show car, replace the rear bumper with a piece of 8" iron channel.. Looks pretty good painted and can withstand a small tank I had that on my 59 bus and it was the handiest thing ever.. I could push and be pushed without any worry of damage to the car because of the factory tin bumper.

good luck

A 67 bus, your looking at quite a bit of money, you say you don't need original parts, the problem is there are not many after market body parts for it, as far as it's running condition that's the easy part, I don't know how much money you want to sink in to this project, but it will require a lot of time also, Good Luck

over here (the Netherlands) a restored bus easily costs 50.000 euro. problem is how do you want the quality to be? a properly done restoration could cost you a couple thousand buck but a perfect restoration might cost you over 20000 depending on how extreme you would like to go

Im not that great with cars but i dont think it be that hard it should cost you around 500-2500$ used parts and around 2000-5000$

What experience do you have? major rust problem. This vehicle has a chassis and this is probably also rusted and will need to be replaced.

I would give up the rebuild idea and get a straightforward modern vehicle.