1968 Savannah Beige Microbus from California

[StinkBomber]

Looking very smart!
Which window seals are you doing first?

 

[wolfgang]

Really enjoyed the read. I did that Northern Spain coastal route years ago in an Early Bay down into Portugal. It brought back memories of oil leaks galore. My early bay and yours were separated at birth. Mine is currently having some lowering work done by Graham at Midland Early Bay. Will post up some pics. Will give you an idea of what a beige 68 bay looks like lowered should you ever go that route.

 

[admwllms]

Really enjoyed the read. I did that Northern Spain coastal route years ago in an Early Bay down into Portugal. It brought back memories of oil leaks galore. My early bay and yours were separated at birth. Mine is currently having some lowering work done by Graham at Midland Early Bay. Will post up some pics. Will give you an idea of what a beige 68 bay looks like lowered should you ever go that route.

Thanks man, that would be really cool. After spending time in his workshop and seeing how good he is, I've decided I'd really like to get Graham to lower mine sometime too when we're in the UK for an extended stay. It's not first on the list of things to do but gotta be done eventually :msn4:

Looking very smart!
Which window seals are you doing first?

Cheers mate, I've only got a few deluxe window seals knocking around so will start on the rear non-opening window and then the middle quarterlight, non-sliding door one. I'd been umming and ahhing over it to be honest but figured I've got to at least try! If they go okay, I'll do the rest.

 

[admwllms]

Started polishing the paint on the roof and the thin layer of spray can white a previous owner gave it just came off. Can't really tell from the pic as it was too bright but looks much better, if a bit sun faded, just that big middle section left - hands are killing me :lol:



Oh also fitted a hot start relay kit - piece off piss to do and finally fixed my starting issue, wohoo!

 

[StinkBomber]

Roof looks awesome! Feeling brave enough to tackle the vent yet?

Still not sure what to do about my wavy patch and no point polishing or touching up til it's sorted

 

[admwllms]

Thanks mate, no not gone near that lol I think I'll just keep the roof rack on and try to forget about it! At least for now.

Hmm.. Could you not get a large-ish piece of roof cut or something? I mean, people replace whole roofs so it can't be that hard.

 

[admwllms]

Took the bus up a big local mountain today, spent a good 20 minutes or so in second gear getting up the bugger but it went great - could have managed third and put my foot down but it was a bit scary and had massive drops on either side and no barrier. In my experience they're not really big on health and safety here ...

Panoramic shot of a stop about a third of the way up.




Close up of the bus at the same place (really need to get those wheels painted!) I swear it sits slightly lower than my other stock bus did, maybe its just wishful thinking or maybe all the crap I put in it

 

[admwllms]

Still too skint after the move (and Christmas!) to do anything too much on the bus but have spent loads of time driving it about and having days on the beach in 20+ degree weather in December 8)

However, I did give it a service and oil change, checked spark plugs etc, only thing I have to do is the tappets still, putting it off as it's my first time but will probably do it tomorrow. Also, my rusty as fook crappy exhaust finally sorta fell apart and started making a horrible noise when my mum visited and got a dog lead stuck on it somehow, ripping the top off. I'd like to buy either a good system or return it to a stock style, but as monies don't allow, I bought the cheapest I could find and will run that for a few months - the difference it made in sound and performance was brilliant, shoulda done it ages ago



Also, throttle cable snapped, but luckily on my drive. It's a piece of piss to do, even for a novice like me, and again pulls much better. Turns out the traders I bought it off somehow did a crap job and as I took the old one out found it was cut and tied in places :x Seemed like two different types/ages of cable? Just realised I'm wearing odd socks on that pic



Beach time :msn4:

 

[admwllms]

No updates in a while as I'd just been using it, taking it to the beach and having a good time. It has been super-reliable all year.


Beach on my birthday.




My boy helping me service it.



I did find out that the doghouse tin was missing and I installed it with the engine in place (it can be done with patience!) and that made a massive difference to the engine temperature. But then I ran out of MOT and tax and needed to get it swapped to Spanish plates. It costs over £2,000 here!! Which wipes out my budget for the bus for the next year or so :shock:

Still, can't complain too much. I've started prepping it for the Spanish version of the MOT which is pretty strict. Got some nice new wheels from a certain stinky forum member and painted them up, just popping down the tire place next week. Also got a new mirror on the way, new wiper, doing some wiring and bits and pieces.

The law is weird here and I'll only have to have it MOT'd every four years because it's a classic - BUT - once it's registered, no changes can be made. Or rather they can but it's a huge pain and makes it require an extra MOT-type test, so if I want a towbar, different wheels, or lowering, it all has to be done now really. I really wanted dropped spindles but might just have to get the garage to weld in adjusters or something, as the bill is quickly creeping up to half of what I paid for the bus in the first place.

Naturally I'm absolutely kicking myself for getting rid of a towbar and cut-and-turn beam in the UK before coming out here...



So its sat like this for weeks. Can't wait to get it back on the road though, starts every time and runs great. Will make sure to update once it's on Spanish plates.

 

[StinkBomber]

Hello matey,

Glad to hear you've been been getting some reliable use out of the bus! I suppose a lot of gallery threads go the same way as ours... The initial flurry of activity, then things go quiet as the problems are ironed out and you just start having fun with it. Just noticed I haven't posted since last October! No dramatic changes since then, just little jobs and an embarrassing lack of progress in some critical areas. Do have a wheel change on the cards for next month though and some adjustable spring plates on the way!

That's a bummer about the restrictions on mods during the 4 year MOT interval... and the cost to register! :shock: I guess you really do need to think carefully about what work is done before pushing the button on that. I wonder if there are any loopholes in the whole thing. Where would you stand if a component failed during that time and you were unable to replace it with like for like... :mrgreen:

 

[admwllms]

Cheers mate, yeah definitely, you read through other people's threads and it just seems so easy to do it all until its you doing it! I've toyed with taking it off the road for a few months and buying a runabout, but then it might not be done in time for the season.

I wonder if there are any loopholes in the whole thing. Where would you stand if a component failed during that time and you were unable to replace it with like for like... :mrgreen:

I wondered that too, the guy that's setting it all up for me is a VW guy, currently restoring his own late bay, so gonna have a chat and see if there's cheeky loopholes. I guess on the plus side, no MOT's for four years at a time

Looking forward to seeing the new wheels :msn4:

 

[admwllms]

So I dropped off the bus last June for the MOT and Spanish plates, thinking it would take three weeks. Then was told it would take up to three months...

Fast forward almost a year and 2.5 k worse off and I have the bus, picked it up today. Turned out to be a nightmare. Apparently historical stuff is different here...

Feel just a bit gutted as I've not had it for a year and spent all that money and all that's different is the plates, got no budget for upgrades this year now but main thing is it's legal and i can always sort out the interior and some changes next year

Was great driving it home, I forgot how slow and loud it is! Also forgot how much fun it is to drive though