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Spindle

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Sadly the time has come to sell my Bus

Brief history of BouBou the Camper van...

It started life when it rolled out of the factory in 1971 as a mustard colour Danbury camper van, the years between then and 2000 are unknown to me but it had 9 owners before I got hold of it. I brought it off an old lady back in 2000. It had an mot but was a mess so I drove it round in the very damp smelly state it was in until the mot ran out and then the fun began.

First up was to sort out the bodywork, I fitted new panels including a complete front panel, inner and outer lower front valances, left and right front arches, left and right doors, outer sill under the sliding door, inner and outer lower sliding door panels, left and right rear arches, left and right rear corners and a few other small repair sections. I then re-sprayed the inside and outside in two tone green/off white. the green is the colour of the plastic garden chairs you can get (I took one into the paint shop to get the colour made up) although is 99.9% the same as a classic Vauxhall colour which I have the paint code for and the off white is just one I picked out. The interior was all coated in a high zinc content red oxide paint to prevent rust. After painting the bodywork the whole underside and all chassis areas were given a good coating of wax-oil.

The windows were refitted with new seals, along with all other body seals being replaced with new. I also sourced some original chrome opening 1/4 lights for the cab doors. New headlights and rims were fitted. The brakes were all renewed and goodridge flexi lines fitted.

The engine is one I built and it has never let me down. It is a 1641cc with an Engle 110 cam, Shadek oil pump with 30mm gears, chromoly cam followers, chromoly push rods, bolt up rocker shafts, swivel foot adjusters, stainless push rod tubes, silicone seals, ported and polished heads with matched manifolds, twin Kadron carbs (originals NOT Empi reproductions) ceramic four into one header and a ceramic Mondo exhaust. It is running an alternator, 009 distributor with Pertronix electronic ignition and a high voltage Pertronix Flamethrower coil, the tin wear was all new and painted black with a 36hp style Zinc fan housing (painted black). Fueling is via a Facet fuel pump.

I first ran it on a set of 18" wheels with a red9design coilover kit fitted and it's debut was at the Volksworld show back in around 2001/2002 (can't remember what year exactly)

I built an interior using the original 3/4 rock and roll bed frame but all new wooden base and cabinets etc I rolled it round like this for a few years to the shows mainly plus a few trips to the 24 hour Le Mas race in France and a couple of holidays to Devon etc

It looked like this:

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Then it was time to buy a house so I sold it to a guy down in Devon somewhere. Skip forward four years at a time when I had broken up with the ex and lost the house and I find myself answering the phone at work to a customer wanting a Facet fuel pump as he was trying to sell his bus but when someone had come to view it it just wouldn't start to go out for a test drive even though it had driven somewhere with no problems in the morning, I recognised his name and well one thing led to another and I brought my old Bus back :mrgreen:

So now I had it back in my hands I have done a few more bits to it due mainly to the changes he made. The main things that he had done were to raise it back up to standard height and fit some 15" Empi five spokes.

Looked like this (that is mud not rust on the lower side!):

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And at the first show I drove it to after just buying it back:

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Summer 2010 I fitted a complete new/reconditioned front adjustable beam assembly with new torsion leaves, reconditioned trailing arms, new ball joints, new heavy duty front anti roll bar and new tie rods. I adjusted it down to a sensible height and lowered the rear one spline to match. I fitted a servo bracket to the new beam as I planned to fit a brake servo system, if you wanted to fit one you would just need the parts as the bracket is there and ready for use.

This is the front beam and arms etc just before being fitted:

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Here it is just after this work was done:

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Winter 2010 I rebuilt the top end of the engine (now 10 years old) with new stainless push rod tubes with silicone seals, new piston rings, and new seals/gaskets. I have repainted the tin wear satin black and fitted a few more choice parts such as an angled oil filler neck plus a couple of other new items.

I don't have a picture of it fitted but here it is waiting to go back in after the rebuild:

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The guy I sold it to had 'looked after it' by polishing it with that nasty turtle wax colour polish which has taken me forever to remove the traces of! Anyway heres a few pictures of it recently during a good clean up session..

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It is not a mint show car and there are signs of ten years of use on the bodywork in a few places. It does need a new front step on the offside which has unfortunately rusted through I had all intentions of replacing this but just never found the time. There are things that need doing to it but only to tidy it up/finish to how you want it so it is priced to suit this

If I had my way I would keep it as I love it! It really is a reliable Bus that goes through the mot with no advisories and is tax exempt along with being cheap to insure due to it's age and condition.

Tax exempt and MOT till July 7th (passed with no advisories).

This is a sad sale but it has to go, whoever buys it will not be disappointed!

£10,995 ONO

You can either PM me or ping me over an email with any questions at work: [email protected]
Or give me a call on: 07872 960337 or at work if you like: 01322 33 50 50 and ask for Neil (or Spindle if your a nickname kind of guy!)

The Bus is kept near the Dartford/Erith area.

As you can tell from the email address I work at Cool Air and before that was at Big Boys Toys back in the days before it was owned by Heritage so know my air cooled vehicles and how to look after them.... I have not scrimped on looking after this Bus either time of ownership!.

I may have to put this on Ebay if there is no interest on the forums but I really what it to go to an enthusiast who will take care of it as it deserves ;)


Thanks for looking.
 

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