'74 bay resto in Surrey

Hi guys! My name is Lee, and this October just gone I became the new owner of a bay from a friend who I did not even know had it stashed away.....

I have always loved VWs since a friend took me to a VW event back in about 1991 at Santa Pod. The Ferrai F40 had just been launced, and all I knew about drag racing was it could do 1/4 mile in 13.5 seconds. Then in front of my eyes a German road legal beetle that looked very stock, but a definate sleeper with a 911 engine in it did 12.9.......

However in the 20 odd years in between, despite owning lots of cool cars my only VW history includes a MK1 Golf cabrio and a Passat estate.

Back in May '14 I competed in my '71 mini cooper S at The Apex Festival Lydden Hill, a big weekend VW event. I camped over with my friends and realised what I have been missing in those 20 odd years, so started looking into getting a bay. Back in 2006 I did go to a show near Portsmouth with £10k to buy a splittie, but came back empty handed as I realised even then I had missed the boat on them. So I bought a nice sensible Subaru as a family car instead for the same money. Today I still have it and its only worth about £900!

A chance conversation led to my bus. I had just sold a Pug 205 Gti ( my guilty pleasure is I adore old French hot hatches and have a few stashed away I bought for pennies years ago ) and was telling a friend from whom I buy equipment from. He is into restoring classics too, and asked what I was going to buy next. I replied nothing, but he said there MUST be something I would like. I mentioned maybe I wouldnt mind an old VW camper to do up with my wife and daughter as a family, but they are way too expensive for a resto project, I had glancingly looked at a few and 6, 7, 8k were still busses that needed welding, a paintjob and interior!!! Too dear for me. Then he just replied "I have one, do you want to buy it? I said i'd love to but cannot afford that sort of money right now. He siad he had taken it to clear a debt a while back of £4k, and provided it was for me and my family it would be his pleasure to let me have it for what it owed him!! Result, £4k.

Could not believe my luck when I saw it , was way better than I could ever dreamed of . The previous owner last used it for a trip in 2013 to the south of Italy, and prior had spent apparently £5k on it. Including a tuned 2.0 type 4 based on an AN code type 4 motor that was originally used in the Porsche 914 and VW 412. The main difference is the dipstick location, mine is the 412 version. It supposedly though makes over 100bhp. It had new Empi 5's and tyres, new dampers ( they don't seem to do much to be honest but I have never driven another so need to look into it )
and apart from a gear change linkage vaguer than something very vague indeed it pulls like a train and hit 70mph easily ( not treid any more! ) on the way to Brighton Breeze. It needs lots doing, but it is one hell of a solid base. I have built a couple of kitcars and have restored a few classics, I am really looking forward to doing this.

I worked out it was cheaper to pre book an MOT, drive it there, fail and drive it home than it would be to get it recovered home. £55 v £130. BUT it only bloody passed!!!!!! advisory on sharp rusty wheel arches, but I can drive it. Supposedly it was a German fire engine once. think the doors may have been once, but not the rest of the bus!!

 

Welcome to the forum, I'm afraid one picture just isn't enough , cool project

 

Lovely story, welcome.

 

OK, so this car is the sole inspiration for my build visually. One of my fave Porsches in my fave colour. What I want is if you parked my bus right next to this actual car you would have to do a double take! it will be that colour, those wheels, those graphics and even the front bumper will look similar...I am colour coding the bumpers and setting in 911 indicators along with delux bumper trim.
Inside it will be a riot of quilted tan leather and colour coded blue retro furniture. It will have a full camping kitchen and all electronic gadgets and quality sound system, but all retro and stealthily hidden hopefully. Because I have not been bang into the VW scene, hopefully I will not be folloeing trends and should end up with something a little different. The rear hinged pop top for instance, will be black fibreglass not the usual white, and the canopy fabric will be proper chequered flag material which I have never seen done. Maybe matching curtains and floor, so I can take it racing and sleep in it. I am also toying with the idea of grafting an air-cooled Porsche 911 dashboard into it, but that at the moment looks horiffically expensive unless I can get a fibreglass mould from somewhere. so thereyou have it! What do you think?

 

This is as far as I have got with the interior. I bought an interior panel set from JK camping £150 , and my mother in law, who is clever with a sewing machine, is helping me. I bought from ebay 10m of tan leatherette on a roll £60 and 6m of 12mm scrim foam for another £60. With a bit of cuttin, glueing, drawing in it with felt tip pens and a bit of 2x2, some sewing and a hot glue gun, these kick panels are the first ones finished. I like......

 

Welcime
look forward to seeimg yoor work on it

 

i see what you did...

Hello

 

Welcome aboard sounds a great project, I look forward to following this one.

 

Great story and a great find looking forward to seeing the finished "ensemble".

 

Hello & Welcome from The Colonial Contingent

 

Cheers, will add a few more pics of my bodywork repairs so far too

 

Welcome from West Lancashire

 

Hi there and welcome from Surrey too. Great looking bus and love the way it found you. Where are you in Surrey?

 

Evening from Hayling Island

 

Hi Steve I am in Oxted !

 

Great introduction hello and welcome

 

Started the front bumper to Porsche 911 indicator conversion. Located the lenses over the bumper mounting bolts for easy future removal. Welded in some strips to seal on lens gasket, and spot welded some M5 nuts to mount them to. There is no room behind the bumper for the proper Porsche reflectors and bulbs ( plus they are stupidly expensive ) so I am using warm white 12v LED strips. The Lenses themselves were £20 on eBay. Once filled, smoothed and flatted the bumpers will be painted body colour blue and deluxe rubber inserts added to look as much like Porsche bumpers as possible.