1972 Microbus

[mattyd72]

My 1972 bay, fresh off the boat with a kippered type 4 engine weighing it down, all the lovely deluxe trim is all present but the interior is trashed, just going to rip it all out and set fire to it lol

Sweeeeeet

after a quick wash and a bit of spit and polish it looks better

 

[gninnam]

Welcome

Looks very nice, especially once you start working on the engine & the interior!

 

[Scampi]

welcome welcome.

Very nice indeed

 

[8ballbug]

hello der

sweet bus love the tyres

 

[mattyd72]

Thanks Guys, the interior is on its way as I've been doing it since the summer, hence the glorious sunshine! I've chucked a AS 1600 engine in for now which came out of my old bay, which my girlfriend and I drove round Europe for a year in 2002 so I know its reliable.

 

[mattyd72]

After lots of fiddling, I finally got the High Beam and Indicators working as they should, Then I ground the surface rust off the front floor and gave it a good dose of anti rust paint.

New Kick panels should be better than the old chipboard ones

Sweet!

 

[dubberdaz]

Nice Van! I love de-lux vans, if you are looking for a 1700 type 4 engine i have one here going cheep (complete), Daz

 

[mattyd72]

After two bottles of cillit bang! my headliner is white again. I have to recommend it highly it really does clean anything

Back door stripped and cleaned, there really is no rust on this Van

 

[slammedkustom]

that is a really nice bus, look after it dude!

 

[mattyd72]

Thanks Mate, I will.
Its my fifth bay now and easily the most solid, it's an Ex San Francisco Bus with 100% OG paint, a little sunburn under the front window but no rot whatsoever. Ideally it will be a weekend van for us to go round Britain in and for jaunts into Europe, once you've travelled in a Bay there is really no other way to go. Everyone wants to talk to you no matter where you are in Europe, everyone loves a good bus

 

[mattyd72]

Front door cards replaced and fitted

drivers side

 

[mattyd72]

Side Panels in place but not secured, but I found that they had to be put in place before the bed went in.
And the new full width Bluebird rock and roll seat in place, expensive but very well made and easy to fit.

 

[mattyd72]

After a lot of swearing and cursing I finally got it to line up, just a piece of beading to fit along the bottom on the floor to neaten things up, looks pretty smart, not bad for a novice at interiors. I'm not quite happy with the big panel opposite the sliding door, I feel it could be neater but it will do for now and it will probably be hidden by the cooker/sink unit i'm going to build for it.

 

[mattyd72]

Not much else to do , apart from Re trimming the front seats, cutting the foam and trimming the bed, sorting the stereo (which is half done I just need to install the hardware as the cables are in already) putting the new curtains up, getting the MOT, registering it and getting some plates done, oh shit not much then, still it WILL be at the Voksworld show in March, Luckily I live 10 mins away from Sandown!!!

mmm opening 1/4 s

 

[gninnam]

Very nice - well done with the interior 8)
Where did you get the door panels from as I will be after some - preferably already with the vinyl on?

Cheers and well done with a nice looking bus

 

[easy]

Welcome dude, strong oldd bus there, nice one on the work so far.

Looking good! 8)

 

[delux]

Nice looking bus!!

 

[Airtime]

Nice bus. The interior looks superb! Great job 8)

 

[mattyd72]

Very nice - well done with the interior 8)
Where did you get the door panels from as I will be after some - preferably already with the vinyl on?

Cheers and well done with a nice looking bus

Thanks for the kind words, The Door panels were all hand made by myself out of wax treated ply, I simply stripped the old ones and drew round them and cut out the new ones, then I got some 2mm foam and glued that down to the board then covered it with vinyl so it has a nice squidgy feel to it now, a little like the original I suppose, all in it came to under £60 for the whole van to be done. I'm pretty pleased with the results considering I've never done an interior before.

 

[mattyd72]

Right an update! After Santa had kindly left me some Seat Covers in the the exact colours I wanted (strange that) I spent boxing day morning having a look at how they went on, undaunted I leapt in and stripped the old sunburnt covers off and was pleasantly suprised at the condition underneath.

I sat and had a look and to be honest they looked like they would never go on

before
After 5 mins it was on what a result, they look superb just the correct green as well, didnt santa do well!!I haven't pulled them tight and secured them yet, hence the slightly wobbly look but they look pretty damn good I reckon

I'll do the other one tomorrow and then finish the tightening and hopefully have a quality set of seats ready to go in with my new carpets!!!!