Afternoon. After a strong welcome on the intro thread, I thought I'd throw some pictures up of the 1972 (crossover) bus I've acquired in exchange for doing someone's block driveway It needs welding as expected, but not so much as some on the forum, so will highlight what I can. First up - anticipating motorway miles is the current engine suitable for a modern cruise speed around 65-70mph? I've had approx 50 out of it and its screaming its head off, but does have holes in the air hoses and exhaust is shot to bits. Would a 1776 be a more comfortable fit for purpose option? If i upgrade engine, would the exhaust need upgrading too, or would i get away with a replacement of the current unit? Cheers for any thoughts, will get more pics on once i figure out using a chrome book
Hi Firstly - great trade for doing a driveway and a nice project ahead - you either love them or you don’t and by virtue of the fact you traded it for your sweat a good sign Secondly - get used to slower speeds - 70 mph is like a unicorn in the vw bus world and that’s with a 2l - yes we can all get there but run your engine at 4K revs or more for any period of time and shake hands and say goodbye to it as will be short lived thirdly - before you engage in speeds of that nature I think get it checked out thoroughly or take a good look yourself as this would be running it at its maximum and beyond any comfort zone and looks like from photos it’s in need of some love and attention- check what needs welding underneath and the obvious safety call outs such as brakes!!! good luck and happy times with the restoration.
Speaking from past and present experiences, restoration can be a long process and should be enjoyed. If doing motorway speeds is all you want, then sell it and get a modern van. The van is a project and you should expect many or all systems would need restoration along with rust repairs. Doing most of it yourself with help from the forum will save you a fortune and think about learning to do your own rust repairs as even small jobs will be very expensive. Resist diving in and replacing stuff piecemeal, you should spend time inspecting the van thoroughly and draw up a list of things that obviously need doing and as already said brakes are the number 1 priority and best to replace everything to do with braking.
Making that engine bigger will make it go up hills and accelerate better but not cruise faster - the cooling limits your top cruising speed which IME lies at around 60-62mph. As Damon says driving it faster will limit it's life even if it doesn't overheat and destroy itself. It's not screaming it's head off - that's how they sound, it's air-cooled with no water jacket absorbing the racket. If you want a 70mph cruising air-cooled it's possible but kiss goodbye to £8k and even then it will thank you for driving at 65-70mph with bursts of 75-80mph. Van looks a good one to restore but parts to do it have got rather expensive, I hope you have deep pockets. No, no, no, it's doable for the obsessed among us. Don't be so defeatist.
If the engine actually runs the van at the moment, which means you can move it around as you need to - stick with what you've got until the bodywork is up together.... you've got a fair bit of welding to do there for starters before you're going to be doing those motorway miles. It looks from the condition of the cab, like the previous owner started a restoration: nicely covered seats, painted dash etc. And then parked it under a tree / in a hedge and forgot about it! Do you have any history with it? As said above by far more knowledgeable people than I, get a list together of everything that needs welding, look at restoration threads on here, and work out where to start. There's some epic threads about what can be done with patience and skill. Good luck, and have fun
Swapping hard work for a bus must be one of the coolest ways to acquire one. Imagine in years to come, “how much did you pay for that mate?” “A block driveway”. Worth it just for the confusion. Reminds me of a job I went to years ago. The guy had one sitting on his drive, absolutely rotten, requiring complete resto. Anyway he mentioned that he was considering a new boiler, hmmmm. I thought, maybe could do a deal here. So I casually dropped in about his bus and he went on to tell me it was worth 20k, it was probably worth 5k at most. I didn’t mention the bus again and I never did change the boiler either.
Get a Rev counter to see if it’s actually revving it’s head off or if you think it is , it’s not like a modern car, torque is mostly produced by engine speed
Please tell me where these motorways are that you can cruise at 70 for more than 5 minutes? These things drink fuel for fun, 55 is your friend. I’ve rediscovered many long forgotten and under used A&B roads since owning busses, enjoy the journey as much as the destination!
Cheers for the thoughts. My optimistic and nostalgic side wants to be able to do my first trip in October (50th anniversary of its registration). Previous owners did the engine replacement and upholstery, but little work elsewhere. I have some recent history, but know its been parked on their driveway for 2 years after it was driven from North Wales to Altrincham and left standing since. Was amazed it started with little more than a fresh battery, a litre of fresh fuel and a spray of lynx Ive already had an estimate of £4000 for welding works. Hope to cut that down with some new front floor panels and jacking points instead of patching/plating. Or is this wildly out-of the ball park for expectations? Current plan was to get the engine and exhaust solid, and do a disc brake conversion with an adjustable front beam and new roof and window seals, but if I'm unlikely getting to a motorway speed I may hold off on the brakes for a while. I've no issue pottering about, I spend my days driving at 60 with van and trailer for work (tree surgeon). I just value the ability to go 60ish by the end of an entry slip road. My over heating concern is the volume of 'smart' roads with no hard shoulders in the event of a longer route.. Inside, I've realised the bed doesn't lay flat, with the legs sitting on the speaker board, is this a normal set up or has the previous guy measured the board wrong? Wipers don't work and brake lights are out, but other than that the interior functions all.seem to operate normally, if a little dim on the lights. Anyhow.. I'm off to give it a jet washing now, see what it comes up like Will throw some thoughts up and hunt for opinions as we go along.
Wash down complete and as expected some new patches of rust are now visible, and all seals are definitely knackered, given the state of the interior now Looks like new a new front panel and rear offside quarter needed for certain. How do you paint inside the grille on the rear quarters? Doors should be patchable, so keeping them on the back burner. The distributor cap issue was in fact a loose connection on the fire spitter, so starts first time again So going to sort the new air hoses, exhaust and brake lines order this week. See if can make things a little quieter.
Change your fuel lines and the rubber breather hose pipes too mate, they can give issues down the line (one of the old guys on here lost a bus due to perished fuel pipes. The fuel caught fire & destroyed the bus).
No problem! As for painting inside the rear vents, from memory when ours was done a long stick was used with sandpaper on the end to rough things up then painted with a longish reach paintbrush below upwards and an angled paintbrush through the vent when we treated the rust spots. Colour wise I think we sprayed the rough the vent and did as good a coating as possible. I think they need some attention over winter as we didn’t do a thorough job.
Ive already had an estimate of £4000 for welding works. [/QUOTE] If you are buying in the bodywork, I’d recommend you have Duncan @SundialCamperSpecialists take a look. He knows these vans inside and out and will give you an honest appraisal and quote. Others on here will say the same. He’s fairly local to you. I think you should have discs on the front already on a x-over
My two pennies worth. Which means bugger all. But if I was in your position I wouldn’t be spending a penny on the Interior or the roof or brake conversions or lowering it or any Fat Willys Surf Shack stickers until I had it structurally sound. Me personally if I was in your position I’d be starting from the bottom up. Every penny I was planning to spend on that bus would go on rust. This is a forty year old vehicle. They aren’t exactly known for their crash protection when brand new. Let alone driving around in one with rust holes in you can see through. but like I say I’m talking about me and everyone is different. plus I think I’d get just as much pleasure from learning to repair it myself as I would actually using it.
Yes we think along the same lines. The interior is fine as it is for now. The brakes and fuel lines are purely because the engines sound. Front end and floor panels will be the first major work. Will tap up @SundialCamperSpecialists for sure and get some experienced eyes on it for peace of mind
I have the 1776 and she tops 75 with a knackered exhaust! As she runs fine with said exhaust I'm just going to replace with stock. Doing 75 however was frightening and never to be repeated. I'm pretty sure these vans were not designed to go that fast. I cruise at 65 and she'll do it all day long - unless it's windy then I slow the feck down.
Financial set back survived, I'm now hoping to be getting the bus stripped down next month, and replacing majority of the front end, front floor and arches. Had a little bit more time playing with the engine and thinking I'll stick as it is for now.
