70 deluxe from cali

[roland]

Hey guys,

I've been reading here for a while now, letting my love for early bay come back in me...

I've had this rusty 72 for 4 or 5 years, sold it a couple of years ago:

Was pretty fun!

Eventually i sold it because i blew the engine and I was a little fed up with the bus, the rust and the mud...

So i spent 2 years without a bus, finished the resto of my bug this summer. A friend of mine went to cali in june, spotted a 70 deluxe, bought it and made it come back in europe. As soon as i saw the pics i knew i had to have it...

Just arrived in belgium 2 days ago... Got quite excited when i saw it for the first time!

Plans: Lower, old german sporty wheels, a 1915 engine that i have for it, microbed hinges (thanks dave frost), front over-riders (thanks tim RHR), etc etc... You get the picture

 

[Araon]

Welcome fella and nice first pic.... 8)

some punishment you put that through, anymore action shots?

 

[the councillor]

my favourite part of that is "old german sporty wheels" 8)

care to elaborate further

(great bus by the way)

 

[aogrady]

:shock: :shock: :shock: Bloody Hell! I never knew you could off road a Westy!! I've never seen that before!!

Alistair

 

[leon]

I may be a bit bias, but i likes very much

 

[slammedresto]

welcome to EB, nice find :mrgreen:

 

[Danbury Doug]

Welcome to EB!

Lovely looking deluxe! I very nearly bought an identical colour one to yours.

Looking forward to more pics in due course!

 

[GAS-bus]

Hi Roland,

nice to hear you eventually found a bus.
If you need some help to get it a little lower, just let me know.

Greetz

Wim

 

[roland]

Thanks Guys!

Off roading a bus is great! Each person i took with me in it was quite impressed, and on the outside i've been told it's pretty impressive also, such a big whale being bounced around in small tracks...

Even got a video:

http://www.messy.be/das/bus/DSCN2531.MOV" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The fun part is that most of my off-road mates have bugs with thing pan, locking diffs, huge engines, big suspensions, etc. The bus was just lifted a click at the back, the front beam was cutted and welded to raise the front, some meaty tyres and that's it! I recon i got stuck from times to times (like in the video) but nothing that a rope and 15 people couldn't handle... Anyway, had the best time in that bus, lots of stories..

None of that crazyness with the deluxe though...

Removed the chrome trim yesterday, cleaned and polished under it.. Turns out great, i like the patina!

The sporty german wheels is because i haven't quite decided between fuchs or gas burners... Tough call. My bug already has fuchs so that's why i'm leaning towards GB, but then fuchs are still the most beautifull wheel in the world, right...

 

[the councillor]

but then fuchs are still the most beautifull wheel in the world, right...

well, no... it's actually appliance slotmags but you're entitled to your own opinion of course :lol:

you're right though... on a white over velvet green early bay there's only one choice... fuchs all the way 8)

 

[T2-Nate]

I have a pic of your off-road bus, I was always curious to find more info of your ride, and I shouldav know you'd show up here!

Great ride, and your new one looks promissing too !

Greetz frop a fellow belgian, a bit new to the aircooled VW scene, I'm still working on mine, haven't driven it yet :roll:

:mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[Airtime]

Hi Roland, welcome to these forums! 8)

I've seen your red Westy a number of times and it's really awesome! 8) There's also a raised late bay driving around in Belgium, right? Congrats with your new bay, I love the colour. Keep us posted on the progress! 8)

BTW, the wheels on the Westy were they 14"?

 

[roland]

Thanks guys! the other raised bay is mike's, a fellow club member...

Wheels on both bays are mercedes 15', just look like post 71 bay wheels, but in 15!

 

[roland]

Today i removed the 1600 single port to make some room for the 1915. The engine area is pretty clean, rust free. Just found a little surprise on the inside of the re-painted corner..

Also i started removing the new paint on the engine lid, turns out really well...

 

[roland]

So, lot's going on here...

1st step: Bus is lowered.



Front: Adj. kit with french dropped spindles, temp wheels & 165/70/14 tyres
Back: Adj spring plates + 1 click, stock wheels & tyres.

Been collecting parts for the braking, going the 944 way. I got front & back discs with fitting kits from Oldspeed

The back one is a nice bit of kit! Got CE rear 5*130 hubs too... Should stop well

 

[Guest]

very nice, id love to know more about the running gear

 

[easy]

looking very nice sir 8)

 

[61 stu]

8)

 

[Airtime]

Very nice stance! 8)

 

[Joval]

Thanks guys! the other raised bay is mike's, a fellow club member...

Wheels on both bays are mercedes 15', just look like post 71 bay wheels, but in 15!

That is fantastic. How much work goes into raising a bus like yours? I could go for something like that.