Hi all, Thanks for the advice so far, " The Late Bay" is now my No 1 hit. I had a 73 Bay in the late 80's and did lots of work on the body and rebuilt the engine, but being in the Military we moved to a house that needed work more than the camper. So I sold the bare van and later we had a newish T25, but I always regretted not finishing the Bay. So 30 years later I bought "Lottie" a 79 basic 1600 Holdsworth conversion. Some will have seen her on the site previously but as with my first Bay life got in the way for the previous custodian and after a brief E-Bay flurry she was mine (unseen). I had to pay over 1/3 the purchase price to recover her from NW Wales to Somerset but so far there have been no significant unpleasant surprises. After 4 weeks I have stripped her to a bare shell and rolled her on to her offside ready for cutting and welding. I am following the advice of Fletcher Gillett; author of the Haynes Bay Restoration Manual and starting with the bottom middle and working out and up. As someone commented in the earlier coverage of Lottie "there is a good van under there" but the jacking points/outriggers/sills and wheel arches are bad and the chassis needs some work at the back end as well as many of the lower outer panels. I have ordered a bundle from CoolAir and should be welding in a week or so. Some bad bits I have noticed so far and would welcome advice: Front Beam towers badly corroded/holed, can these be welded successfully? Gearbox CV drive flanges loose particularly N/S (Crownwheel?) is this common/easy to fix? Thanks in advance Martin
Likewise from Lancashire. Dont know if this will fit a '79 as its off an early but it's cheap (so far) & maybe help you out? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/vw-t2-front-beam-/191599585203?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2c9c39a7b3
Many thanks for the welcome and steer to the beam which might be worth a bid. Have started cutting out rust and when there is something worth showing I will post a few photos.
Cheap, but knackered? And it's been blasted so there will be blasting media mixed in with the grease I would imagine. It could be a lot of trouble. Better a dirty unmolested import IMO.
