Just received word that 2 or more people gained access to where my 
2 '63 parts busses were (along with several other splitties) and 
stripped them all.

The busses were behind an acquaintence's mother's house, way out in 
the middle of the woods, along with four other parts splitties that 
belonged to him.  Apparently someone (who must have been there 
before, since you'd never find this place by chance) convinced his 
elderly mother that they know him, and proceeded to spend ALL DAY 
totally stripping every one of his and my busses.  I mean 
EVERYTHING - they cut out metal corner panels, removed all glass, 
jacked up busses, removed bumpers, pulled steering wheels, etc.  
Took everything but engines and trannies.  These people clearly had 
splitties and were in the splittie parts business.  They knew just 
what to take.

My friend lost a ton of stuff.  A couple of his busses were still 
relatively complete.  I was luckier, in that I had already removed 
about 80% of what I needed from my '63's.  However, both had almost 
mint steering wheels which I had been so far unable to remove.  The 
thieves took one and destroyed the other trying to remove it.  They 
also took all of the glass (except for the corner windows, which I 
had removed), destroyed a mint door panel trying to remove the 
window channel, chiseled out body parts, etc. etc.  

This is a real letdown because much of what was taken was to go in 
my running '63 deluxe.  I am unlikely to find another '63 parts bus 
in this area.  Moreover, I am furious because the thieves were 
clearly VW "enthusiasts."  I know my parts will turn up at the 
local VW swap meets, etc., but it will be impossible to tell or 
prove if they are mine.

This is the second time that a VW bus owner has stolen parts from 
my '63.  Once before, when a local VW shop had my bus overnight, 
someone opened the then-unlockable door and removed one jailbar, a 
turn signal lever, two jailbar mounts, an ambulance fan, etc. etc.  
One jailbar?  Come on!  Tell me this guy wasn't taking parts that 
he needed on his own pre-64 Deluxe!  Somehow, I take that more 
personally than if the thief were just a generic "car thief."  You 
meet so many fellow VW enthusiasts who are really nice people, that 
you tend to forget that there are scum among any crowd.

I tend to be a trusting person.  But now I find myself thinking of 
the relatively few people who knew where these busses were, and 
wondering which of them might have stolen from me, or passed the 
location on to a cohort who stole from me. It's not a good feeling 
knowing that there is a thief in your midst.  

Anyway, on the outside chance that anyone here on the east coast 
hears of someone who suddenly came into a ton of splittie parts to 
sell, under unknown circumstances, please let me know.

Oh well, easy come, easy go, I guess...

Ron Salmon