Hello all, Firstly thanks for this site and everybody who contributes, Ive had plenty to read up on and a wealth of information. This is my first VW bus and new to this world So a few months back I did the classic move of buying the first van I saw, no research, nothing It was mostly original, having a quick peep underneath all I saw was surface rust, no rot, had an engine rebuild at some point and the same owner kept it garaged for the past 20 years Engine bay was in a state, flakey paint, oil and gunk everywhere Wouldn’t idle properly, etc, etc But being love at first sight and no rot, I took the plunge… Drove it home with heel on the accelerator and toes on the brake to stop it from stalling at lights First time in one of these things, wrestling the wheel, swaying like a boat, spluttering down the streets, bricking my my pants, needless to say I had a big smile on my face For now I’m just looking to get it mechanically sound. In the near future tackle the body work, find out what’s really lurking under there and refresh the interior.
Progress photos The past rebuilder thought it was a great idea to spray everything badly in green? Why!? Inside the oil breather too?
Done my best to clean off most of it I have replaced the front and rear seals and that’s mostly it for now Will keep on top of updating… Couple questions: Keep the twin air filters which were on the engine or get an original second hand box filter (so I can at least plumb the breather hose into something) Feel like I read somewhere that twin filters are useless. Regarding heating which it doesn’t have, should I get an aftermarket system (heat exchangers, squirrel fan, the lot basically) Or spend that money on a Webasto petrol heater and plumb it into the old system (money wise would be the same plus get heating with the engine off) Thanks!
If anyone says you only need a 3ft breaker bar to tighten it up, they are lying...it's a 4ft breaker bar. Oh, and watch out for @snotty - he's a bit of a troublemaker.
Welcome to the forum fella, enjoy your stay. If you have any questions, no matter how trivial, ask away and one of these sage old rum un's will help Good luck with the spruce up!
Welcome to the joys of aircooled VW ownership Btw, you can upload photos with your posts - helpful if people want to zoom in while giving you advice and assistance. You don't need to use a third party host
Hello and welcome to the forum. Not sure where you are in the country, but if you look for the 'techenders' thread in the Shows section, there will be a few of us meeting in a field in a couple of weeks time - and so you'd be most welcome to join us and ask as many questions as you like, in the company of random strangers, with a beer. There's plenty that bring a tent if their vans aren't on the road at the moment....
Hi and welcome, they’re very receptive bunch on here. No doubt you’ll have a million questions which is good plus you might get a million mickey takes in response but usually there’ll be a little gem or nugget of info in there..I’ve got a slightly earlier bay but exactly the same pop top as I think it’s the smartest looking top you can get , some look like a turtle humping the van. Ozziedog,,,,,,,enjoy your resto.