6-pot Microbus

[StinkBomber]

Well… after a long period of lurking, & dreaming, I’ve bitten the bullet and bought myself a bay! :mrgreen:



I have some friends and work colleagues scattered around the US, so for some time the plan has been to keep an eye out for something decent, a reasonable distance from Phoenix, SF or LA, so they could assist if needed. Did a load of trawling around thesamba and ebay but those sites move pretty quickly… and I don’t! Eventually discovered the joys of Craigslist. It’s a terrible site to navigate, as your searches have to be very localised. First spotted my bus around Christmas time and by mid Feb, had plucked up the courage to contact the seller! I think it was April by the time we worked out a deal and early May before I managed to finalise payment and collection! Fortunately, the previous owner is a great guy and was extremely patient while I dicked about. Once it was collected, things moved pretty fast… Door to door from Arizona to Reading in under 5 weeks!

So, the bus! The PO rescued it from a yard in Albuquerque where it had reportedly been sat since 1982, along with a number of other interesting vehicles. Couple of pics from back then…



It’s covered just under 90k miles and at some point in the 70’s, a full Transvair, Corvair engine & box conversion was carried out. Was a bit nervous about this at first as the engine is such a rarity over here but once the idea of a 2.7 flat 6 had bitten, I couldn’t let it go! They don’t have the best reputation in the states and it seems that there was a pretty bleak period where spares weren’t readily available but Corvairs are now pretty well supported.

Few photos from its home in Flagstaff…








Loaded



At the yard in Houston


And 4 weeks later in Southampton!


Proud new owner...



Temporarily living on my mate’s driveway, until I can get it registered




It’s in good company



So, in pretty good shape but not without a few issues, including a nasty skylight and kippered screen rubber which have both let a bit of water in...

Some rusty patches in the load area and drivers side cab floor.



Have wire-wheeled the load floor back and treated it for now. It’s all very solid.


I have a cut roof section to patch the skylight hole and invested in a nice Klassic Fab panel for the cab floor. Hopefully they should be going in this weekend


This is not a Klassic Fab one… Just to keep the rain out for now



So, that's pretty much it for the minute... Plan is to get it in for an MOT as soon as possible. Sort registration, then get out on the road and see what breaks! I bought it with a truck-load of interesting spare bits that now need to be sold, so I'll get round to listing some of those soon.

Thanks very much to Graham at MEB and dodge6x6 for their advice! Hope to meet some more of you soon!

Sam

 

[gas1man]

8) Love the motor !!!!
Enjoy getting it to where you want it..............NEVER :lol: :lol: :lol:

Nice bus :mrgreen:

J & P

 

[StinkBomber]

Cheers! :mrgreen:
Loads i want to do, just got to get it out on the road and figure out what needs attention first... A fair amount of recommissioning was done in the US, so crossing fingers the MOT won't be too traumatic!

Need to figure out how to handle the paint... it was resprayed at some point in the 70s and the way that's aged looks pretty badass. Would like to get a bit more of a sheen on it and seal it down with something waxy. Not sure if a gentle polish would be a good idea first tho... Suggestions most welcome!

 

[dodge6x6]

nice looking bus,
dry window seals are usual, mine snapped in half it was that brittle,

looks like we will soon be able to have a Corvair engine convention lol,

there nice motors, ive only had two minor problems in nearly 4 years driving it,
if you can work on a VW engine the Corvair engine isnt much differant realy,

what are your plans for the bus.

cheers Peter

 

[creationblue]

Nice bus :msn4:

That's 3 of us running earlybay Corvairs 8) manual or powerglide?

 

[StinkBomber]

Thanks guys!

All the rubbers want replacing eventually, screen is definitely most urgent tho. Then door seals. Want to get a plan of action together for polishing / waxing everything first really.

Tis the 4-speed manual. Not sure i like the sound of a 2-speed auto...

Be great to see both your buses. Hopefuly i'll be out n about for next year's shows! Mr creationblue - Loving your bus & can't wait to see the webers on it (is that still happening?). I actually nearly called you when your vortech 4motion was up for sale
Pete - be really interesting to see the 140 running too. That's a great find!

Plans... Funds are pretty tight so i have to see where money needs spending first. If there are no expensive surprises, then want to sort the suspension. It has an adjustable 72 servo beam on already... It could go lower but already bottoming out. Not sure whether to persevere with that set-up or sell up and start from scratch.

Believe it's currently rolling on early type 3 solids... Not seen these before - wide 5s but with the pressed nipply bits for flat caps, instead of clips. Any value in these?
Would love to get it back on the original 14s & domes , which i also have. Creationblue - do i recall seeing a post from you about grinding calipers down to clear?

Much as i would love to use the original rear seat with z-hinges, i think i'm gonna have to go for a 3/4 rock n roll and some built in storage. Need to be able to use the bus for trips with the Mrs, so have to make the most of the space. Really like the look of this one listed on Hayburner at the moment...



Are either of you guys doing European Bug In?

Sam

 

[Dave.P]

Very ,very nice bus ! Good find :mrgreen:

 

[PSG]

@switch3sixty

 

[StinkBomber]

Very ,very nice bus ! Good find :mrgreen:

Cheers Dave - It did take a while, hunting out the right one Don't have any off-road storage space of my own, so needed to be pretty complete, in the right place and the right money. The stash of parts it came with, really helped make the numbers stack up...

Allstate single wheel trailer, anyone? :mrgreen:

 

[admwllms]

What a great find, love it! Will be interested to hear how it runs on the cool engine once you're fully up and running. I have a similar skylight, though mine's over the boot area, will be tackling that in a couple of months myself.

Liking the single-wheel trailer too.

 

[creationblue]

You'll love the flat 6. Yes mine will be running webers in the very near future, the torque on these motors is idea in a van 8) mine will be a 3.1

Nice trailer

 

[69freedombus]

Nice van dude!!

 

[Andy_sheff]

Nice looking bus! Should come up lovely that paint!

 

[StinkBomber]

Cheers guys. Any thoughts on how to handle the paint? Don't wanna go too shiny or lose the pale bits... but i do need to smooth it out n seal it down :?:

 

[StinkBomber]

You'll love the flat 6. Yes mine will be running webers in the very near future, the torque on these motors is idea in a van 8) mine will be a 3.1

Nice trailer

3.1?! What are you gonna be heading towards in terms of power? :mrgreen:

Think the trailer's gonna have to go. Need to claw back some money to fund bus work. The PO was going to build a teardrop on it!
Looks like it's been done successfully:


Think mine would originally have had a wooden body... A bit like this one

 

[georgeyv]

That's a lovely bus - the trailer is mint too! I'm sure it'll fetch a few quid to the right buyer.

I'm in a similar situation with paint - look forward to seeing what people suggest and what you do. Don't want to lose the patina but don't want to risk letting it get worse or looking proper shabby.

 

[StinkBomber]

Cheers Georgey,
Yours looks great - Really loving the Sierra Yellow!
Yeah - I want to get a plan of action together for the paint ASAP, as have a feeling it will be easier to do properly while I have all the seals n rubbers out...
Off to EBI this weekend so hopefully see some good examples and get some advice there!

Just re-reading your thread - I can't quite get my head round the rear lights either... Did my fronts last week, with the cheapy JK kit. Will take a proper look at wiring to rears when it's on the ramp tomorrow... Going for 1st stab at an MOT after work!! :shock:

 

[69freedombus]

Hey dude!

When i cleaned up the original paint on my 69 i used the following method.

1- Gave the van a good clean, dried it off

2 - Picked up a machine polisher from machine mart , £40 ish, a kit will come with a variety of mop heads.

3 - using a cloth applied G3 compound to one panel at a time, used a squirty bottle to keep the mop wet at all times.
Keeping it on a slow speed, keep adding water to the mop to avoid burning the paint. Slowly go over the while panel in a circular motion.

4 - wash any excess compound off

5 - using another clean cloth, apply G10 compound to pne panel at a time then repeat the buffing process.

6 - wipe off te excess, then apply poloish / wax


Keep your mop wet dude

Hope that helps buddy

 

[StinkBomber]

Thanks for the walk through guide, matey! Excellent work on the blending. Looking awesome. Not sure how shiny i want to go though... Maybe i could stop at one of the coarser grades?

I have a set of Jalousie windows to play with too... They will definitely be shiny. Those videos look really helpful

 

[StinkBomber]

Cab floor sorted... off to try an MOT this evening!
Will be first proper drive today too (on mates trade plates). Fingers crossed for an uneventful run! :msn4: