I will start off with a big thanks to John from Kombi Club I bought his bay in September 2018 Sadly, John had to offload some Kombis, but he wasn’t going to sell to anyone. There was also the condition that you must inspect before sale. Now John lived in Brisbane Qld and I live in Sydney NSW. The price was excellent, so I was prepared to fly my mechanic up. I rang him up and he says - “sorry I’m up in Brisbane” Perfect - just saved some coin. He goes and looks, gives it the thumbs up. Now, I said John wasn’t going to sell to anyone. He had knocked back 2 sales. One was going to turn it into a coffee van and the other said he was going to “respray and do it up”. No you ain’t! Anyway - I had a long chat with John, explaining I just want to drive it as is, bar some maintenance. Deal done and it was shipped to Sydney. But it was a slow process in getting this registered. No dramas - my mechanic believed me when I said “I’m not in a hurry” Anyway- it’s done now and I have been cruising. A bit of work was done - brakes, exhaust, fuel pump, CV’s, hoses, gear box bushes and coupling blah blah blah. This is a very original and complete baby in honest condition. This is a “one key” kombi! I will slowly work my way through so I understand what’s what and fix and adjust. But as you can see, full original seats, un torn head lining, dicky seat for the front, original door cards in the rear, pristine sparewheel cover and on and on. There is adjustment left in the steering box and it drives well. Yes - I’m a T3 nut, but from my previous post, you see I have air cooled in my veins. Yes - it’s not a T3, but is one of the best bays that I have driven. Best of all there is bugger all rust to be found The old adage of “your Kombi finds you” is true for me. I have done some things since purchase A bloody good clean Vintage Speed shifter 123+ dizzy OG sliders Side and rear repo gaol bars Changed all window rubbers A new steering box - waiting to go in. New door cards for the front. All others are original. The fronts were shot. I have some ABS ones on the front at the moment as they are hard wearing and not effected by water. I have some new TMI skins that I have transferred to marine ply boards with a quality water film waiting to go in, but I like the ABS ones. ( one of the best improvements Mr VW did with the T3 was to have a cut out for the vent in the door card. The weak one in the T2 always breaks) and……. A repo 1977 registration sticker from eBay with correct VIN and engine number
Looking at those pictures especially the rego sticker, it is in great condition and has been untouched. You were lucky to pick up such van. Expect rust however don’t go overboard otherwise it will cost you an arm and a leg to finish off like on mine.
Happy days - just got in contact with my long distance mechanic. He use to live around the corner and did all my work. But he moved up to the Sunshine Coast in Qld - 1,000kms away. The hide! He has opened his own shop up there. With Covid he has been difficult to have a conversation with. Anyway, I purchased a 76 2L complete spare motor with matching numbers on block and shroud. The motor in my bay is “ok” but a lot of little problems. Clutch is on its legs. Alternator is doing 13v at best Carbs are in need of a rebuild. Need to change to electric fuel pump. So, I want to do a “warm” 2L CSP exhaust Slight cam A bit of compression A set of Weber’s or Dell’s with CSP bell crank linkage. A bit of ceramic coating Hi torque starter motor 123 dizzy Just got to organise a bit of shipping now. Hopefully in a couple of months I can go for a drive and we do a swap over. Just not sure how I explain all this to the wife.
you may as well get them rebuilt since you are putting in a bit of money therefore, you know they are perfect.
The paint on my bay is poor to say the least. A mixture or original, rattle can and brush. I don’t want a respray as it is still mostly original and you are only original once. On top of that, to spray it properly (and I can’t spray) would cost a motza to get the body work nice on top of the spray. So I need to do something to protect it. I ended up buying a Rupes buffer and gave it a good cut with course and then a going over with fine. Then I finished with a ceramic polish and a couple of coats of sealer. half way with the cutting what I am working with the finished roof. This was my main concern as it needed protection
After 2 days of buffing and polishing and a few beers here and there I’m pretty happy with the results. The water just beads off it now where as before it just soaked right in. I like withe vans but they need something to make them different. My T3/25 has a belt line deep yellow stripe added to make it different. I had some stripes left over so I thought I would see how it looks here.
nice job looks good. just make sure that the rivet plugs for the plastic strip dont let water in as they rust if they haven't been sealed. I don't think they were sealed as on mine, (after layers of, bog, pang, bog, rust, paint, paint), they had rusted around. only one panel at least was like that and it is getting replaced. this was the N/S rear panel behind the sliding door.
I updated my window winders today. They are nice solid chrome ones that came off a 70’s Ford here in Australia. Maybe something similar in UK? Much stronger and about 15mm longer A nice change from the rubbish black plastic covering poor cast handles https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/174109237798?hash=item2889b82226:g:e1cAAOSwo8hTqkUK There is a stick on centre disc that finishes it off
yes - ish The spline is the same. You need to use a 16mm x 6(?)mm thread instead of the stock 5mm You also need to countersink the hole another 1mm so as you can put the seal top on They are a nice bit of kit
OK - it’s play time My mate that used to live 200m away has move to Qld and set up a VW shop. He worked as engine builder at Matt Berry’s Air Cooled Garage in Cooroy A few weeks ago I went on a road trip to deliver my bus to get a new motor. Nothing really wrong with the old one - just tired. I’m going to retire in 18 months or so, so this is my chance to get something nice. Unlike your way, good engine builders are few and definitely far between. So, a fresh 2L has started with the following Mahle P&B’s New heads with 5 angle grind Ceramic coating to above. C25 cam CSP exhaust CSP manifolds and linkage New IDF Webers My 123+ distributor Ew thermostat The bus will also get some other loving. New shocks all round Rebuilt OG alternator New hi torque starter motor One of @rstucke new/rebuilt steering boxes Here are some pics
I know nothing about engines, but I love all the clean shiny bits Looking nice! (for the record, you're right - we probably do have more engine builders over here...... ...it's the 'good' part that we appear to struggle with in a similar way) Also lovin' the stripes you added... dammit I need some stripes
Well, I picked up my bay the other day after it’s holiday on the Sunshine Coast. It was up there since July getting it’s new motor and a heap of other things. Yes, was supposed to get it back before the new year but there are always set backs. Anyway - I am vary happy. Steve Natoli from All Things Volkswagen (Landsborogh QLD) is the bloke that built it for me. The additional care this guy goes to is unbelievable. A leak down test at assembly to check all the compressions Pressurising with oil before start up - not just priming it. Steve gets new exhaust heat shields made up. He also got a new thermostat set up for me. He spent a day with the dyno guy to dial it in properly and it’s making good power. 85 RWHP compared to 70 HP at the flywheel which is about 55 RWHP on a good day. Easily sits on 110km / hr now up hill and down dale. Cam is a Scat C25 Steve spent a fair bit of time getting the cam gear right with “+2” or a “+3” gear Compression was set at 8:0 - 1 Carburettors are Spanish Weber IDF’s Jetting is Vents 28 Airs. Need to check but guessing 200’s Mains 120 Idles. 47.5 Emulsion F7 (I think) If F11 is the common one it’s F7. Could be the other way around. I’m checking. Other improvements / bits include Hi Torque starter new clutch new thermostat new steering box (a @rstucke special) new brake lines all round powder coated tin ware and heater boxes
The trip back was half the fun. Around 1,200 kms over 3 days. Made sure we dropped in at some country pubs for a "freshener" and a chicken schnitzel. Also dropped in at a few "big things" for the obligatory photo
