Buddy 1970 Early Bay

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So far as I am aware, an ignition warning buzzer (buzzes if the ignition is on with the driver's door open or ajar) was only fitted to North American specification, 1968~79 VW Type 2s. Details of the wiring colours for that model-year, should be available in the Robert Bentley manual, wiring-diagram excerpts from which, are accessible on-line, on The Samba website.

www.thesamba.com
 
Bus looks great from the picture. But it isn't a Westfalia. Wrong roof, and unless it's a SA import they never came in RHD. That looks more like a Devon conversion by the roof and the fact it's RHD.

The M Plate will tell you if it's a factory Westfalia, it should have at least one of these M Codes 517, 518 and D67.
 
Bus looks great from the picture. But it isn't a Westfalia. Wrong roof, and unless it's a SA import they never came in RHD. That looks more like a Devon conversion by the roof and the fact it's RHD.

The M Plate will tell you if it's a factory Westfalia, it should have at least one of these M Codes 517, 518 and D67.
Hi I know it's not a Westphalia. I owned one in the 80's. Mine was originally fitted out as an ambulance.
 
Buddy is my third Bay. I previously owned a 1969 Bay then a 1977 Westy. Buddy was purchased on Auction from Mathewson's, Thornton Le Dale. I was not able to get up to Yorkshire so I bid online. I was told by Mathewson's that the steering needed sorting out so I had the van brought down to London on a low loader courtesy of Thomas Hanson of T H Automotive Ltd, a great bloke who I'd recommend if you need a vehicle moved from that area.

When the van arrived I was very pleased with what I'd bid blindly for. The bodywork was fairly good, apart from a couple of spots. The interior needed work and the rock and roll bed had been welded so that it no longer rocked, I don't know why. Included in the sale were four Empi alloys with good tyres and a brand-new Khyam Motordome Classic awning, a bonus I did not expect.

A year later I've had a new steering box and Litesteer fitted. Front brakes are now CSP Discs. The interior has been lined with beige carpet, a Chinese diesel heater is installed under a purpose-made unit, and A Rusty Lee RR Bed is now fitted, and very comfortable it is. I did not want to cook inside the van so I designed and fitted a pull-out unit which houses a 2 burner stove. A CSP gear lever is now fitted and has dramatically improved gear selection.

The latest work carried out was the fitting of a Tacho, Oil pressure gauge, oil temperature gauge and a volt meter. The Tacho is fitted in the original instrument housing and the other three gauges are in a purpose-built addition to the dashboard. A new Wolfsburg steering wheel looks good and makes access to the instrument panel for removal easy.

On the way to Busfest, I suffered a gear lever malfunction which stopped me from finding any gear. Pulling up on the M5 hard shoulder was not a pleasant thing to experience, not helped when an accompanying friend was spotted reversing down the hard shoulder to assist. Thanks to a chance conversation with Lynda my wife, Paul Vera offered to assist me with fitting a new CSP gear shift. A day later this was accomplished for the grand cost of a few cups of tea and Garibaldi biscuits. Many thanks, Paul.

So I'm now just under a year and a half of my ownership of Buddy. I'll do some work on him on most days of the week and love every minute of it.

Grant (Granite) Kinnaird
 

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Great pics Granite, glad you got fixed up, I remember your post when you were looking for your old van 👍 That pullout stove is a brilliant idea, we have a toilet there (wouldn’t want that on a pullout for obvious reasons 🤣) … and you bought it off Bangers & Cash, I wonder if it’ll make the Telly.
Keep the updates coming they’re a good read 👍
 
Great pics Granite, glad you got fixed up, I remember your post when you were looking for your old van 👍 That pullout stove is a brilliant idea, we have a toilet there (wouldn’t want that on a pullout for obvious reasons 🤣) … and you bought it off Bangers & Cash, I wonder if it’ll make the Telly.
Keep the updates coming they’re a good read 👍
Hi,
Thanks for the feedback. I've just seen your rebuild pics. Awesome! Obviously, a labour of love, makes my efforts insignificant in comparison. I was interested to see your comments regarding the reversing light. That's a future job I'm planning to do. It would be great to know what problems you faced.

Regards,

Granite
 
Hi,
Thanks for the feedback. I've just seen your rebuild pics. Awesome! Obviously, a labour of love, makes my efforts insignificant in comparison. I was interested to see your comments regarding the reversing light. That's a future job I'm planning to do. It would be great to know what problems you faced.

Regards,

Granite
Thanks Granite, you’re right it is a labour of love but the end result always outweighs the effort.
From memory, the only thing I recall was not to over-tighten the switch. I think the original supply side of the switch was taken from + side of the coil. I wired it via a spare ignition feed that I had in the engine bay as I didn’t want multiple wires at the coil. I also added a foglight for aesthetics at the rear.
 

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