71 chianti - the best vintage ???

[JohnS]

Given up lurking . Firstly, thanks for a great site 8) - it's about time early bays got their own exclusive perving area. Here's some photos of my 71 bus. Bought her 4 years ago having previously owned a 73 westy which took us all over Europe. Judging from the paperwork she lived most of her previous life in the Bristol area so if any Bristolians recognise her I'd be pleased to hear of some history. Minimal chassis work was required (sills) and she was treated to a respray of chianti red over pastel white. Engine is a stock 1600tp and all ancillaries are stock too apart from the stainless qp exhaust from Bluebird. The original Devon interior was falling apart so I've redone the interior more like a weekender (rock n' roll bed and no cabinets) as I like to save trees and weight and keep the load area free for carrying all our camping paraphenalia. I also replaced the kids bunks and fitted one of JK's roof caps to keep out the Scottish weather. She's taken us on some great road trips down to southern Europe but mostly she's used for weekend trips up the west coast and across to the isles. The pics below are from a trip we made to Ardnamurchan in the summer.

 

[Scampi]

Nice bus dude.

Welcome to the forum

 

[Anonymous]

Welcome aboard -love the pics - I remember going there as a child !

 

[gninnam]

Very nice looking van - welcome 8)

 

[JohnS]

I remember going there as a child !

There's probably been no work done on the roads since you were a child - they're a bit agricultural in places. But 50 miles down a "single track road" cul-de-sac means it keeps out all but the most determined and the whole place still retains a real feeling of wilderness.

 

[easy]

Welcome to the forum! great looking van, I hope that little nipper didn`t steal the bus!? :lol: :lol:

 

[swartie]

that is a sexy looking van,

 

[JohnS]

Thanks for all the comments. Here's another shot from the right side of the Mont Blanc tunnel - the Italian side.

 

[Scampi]

Holy cow!

That's a cool pic! I love pictures with mountains in them.

They're even better with an early bay there as well. :lol: :lol:

 

[Tintop]

Love the van, welcome.

 

[volksnut]

ahh gee.....nothing like those mountains here :? beautiful isn't the word....awsome is more like it, oh bus looks great too....

 

[easy]

Quality pic, loving the bay in the mountains! 8)

 

[jp]

Very nice indeed am liking all the little shiny treats you've added to it... Did you do the tinting yourself ? if so how ? if not how much ?

 

[JohnS]

Did you do the tinting yourself ? if so how ? if not how much ?

Thanks jp and others for the compliments. I only got the rear side windows tinted as it looked a bit naff looking at the inside of the rear cupboard with all the junk stacked up. I was going to tint the middle windows but was persuaded not to by the back seat passengers who prefer a clear vision. I didn't do it myself but it wasn't expensive - it's not the fully blacked out limo tint.

 

[easy]

I went for the limo tint on mine, I love it, still get great vision out of the back and it saves closing the curtains when you need to get changed.

Mind you don`t forget that if you turn a light on inside, they is see through!!! caught out once! :shock: :shock:

 

[jp]

Did you do the tint yourself ?

Where abouts in Bris are you ? I work in Staple Hill

 

[easy]

Hi Jp, no i didn`t do it myself, a guy who is based in the old VW worshop on stocks croft, he is really good, takes the windows out, polishes them etc and vacumn seals the tint on (no Bubbles!) and it looks as though it actuall tinted glass. :wink:

Not sure if he is still there though? :?:

I am sure that there is a few places around bristol, allot are mobile so can come to you. Pnly cost about £150 for all 5 rear windows aswell. 8)

 

[Mike F]

I was told that my van used to be Chianti Red and assumed it had been resprayed a darker colour - the best match at Halfords is Gambia Red. But your Chianti looks very similar to my van's present colour... http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?t=30

... is the link to pics of my van. Do you think it is still Chianti?

If so a lighter red appears inside the driver's door which I always assumed was the chianti, so what could this be?!!

 

[JohnS]

I was told that my van used to be Chianti Red and assumed it had been resprayed a darker colour - the best match at Halfords is Gambia Red. But your Chianti looks very similar to my van's present colour... http://forum.earlybay.com/viewtopic.php?t=30

... is the link to pics of my van. Do you think it is still Chianti?

If so a lighter red appears inside the driver's door which I always assumed was the chianti, so what could this be?!!

I don't really know Mike but I guess a freshly painted vehicle in the same colour will take on a slightly brighter hue than a tired and jaded 35 year old paint job although you say your old paint is lighter :? . All I can say is that in the areas of slight overspray in my own bus there is a very good match between the old and the new paint. Interestingly I got some chianti red paint mixed at a decent paint shop in Edinburgh and that is slightly darker than the respray colour. Nice deluxe you've got there - any plans for it or are you just keeping it the way it is until you've made your way around the entire list of UK footie parks?

 

[VanMan]

Thats a cool lookin bus John, must watch out for you on those West Coast roads.

We must have picked the wrong weekends for camping last summer - rained each time we headed out west, but looks tropical on your photos!

Was wondering where you got your bus lowered, or did you do it yourself?Is there a VW garage in Scotland who can do this, its not a job I would tackle myself !

Are you offshore W.Africa ? I am a bit closer to home on an FPSO in Moray Firth woking 2/3 but I have spent time down there in my MN days.

stay cool 8)
JohnR