squareweave
Well-known member
Well I have been racking up the miles on the 69 all summer with the sun shining. We have had a stellar summer as far as weather goes over here. A couple of weeks ago I was doing some late night searching online for Earlybay's (not that I need another ) and came across this original paint, very early build 71 that was located in Redmond, Oregon and has been sitting for quite some time. I have been keeping my eye out for an early round rear fender lip 71 to build for the past few years. The rear fenders on these busses are flared allowing easier removal of the rear tire when slammed but still round (vs the latter square type) matching the body lines better. I believe these were only built during the first few months of the 71 model year production. Original paint was a must and Sierra Yellow........ even better
To make a long story short I contacted the owner and made a deal and had it shipped up to the Canadian border last Friday. After the customs paperwork cleared I brought the van home this past Monday and started to dig into it. It is a very solid OG paint bus with a few old touch ups. It has a few pin holes in the front floor and battery tray and thats it. The rockers are mint.
My plans are to keep it as OG as possible with fixing up what needs to be done, clean up the body some, a full interior re trim, slam it on Cosmics and enjoy. I might need a some opinions on what to fix and what to leave og over the next while so feel free to pipe up. After building my sunroof bus it might take a bit of time to get my head back into the patina movement and not overdo it.
Well here are some pictures starting with the original pictures of where it was sitting when I found it:
Much to my surprise when it showed up it had an original vintage Z bed from "Z products"
Finally at home, might have to take a break on the bus to finish up some landscaping that you can see on the edge of my driveway :shock:
Giving its first bath in a long time. This is the oxidization coming off the white roof paint!!!!
Back is washed, left hand side is still oxidized here
Mmmm, patina!! this is the passengers rear air duct with a quick polish.
Look at the black crap coming off this thing, it was very dirty!!
I will clean up the light scale around the seat mounting brackets
Spent about 3 minutes removing the old under seal from the inner fender. I will be removing all of the under seal from all four fenders. I like the look of nice clean og painted fenderwells on a solid bus.
Trial fitting the wheels to measure offset. Plans are a four inch balljoint beam with dropped spindles and Slamwerks spring plates in the rear.
Started removing the horrible touch up and see what was lurking underneith
Not too bad at all. I will fix it up a bit better and blend in the correct color this time. Only minor touch ups to be done.
To make a long story short I contacted the owner and made a deal and had it shipped up to the Canadian border last Friday. After the customs paperwork cleared I brought the van home this past Monday and started to dig into it. It is a very solid OG paint bus with a few old touch ups. It has a few pin holes in the front floor and battery tray and thats it. The rockers are mint.
My plans are to keep it as OG as possible with fixing up what needs to be done, clean up the body some, a full interior re trim, slam it on Cosmics and enjoy. I might need a some opinions on what to fix and what to leave og over the next while so feel free to pipe up. After building my sunroof bus it might take a bit of time to get my head back into the patina movement and not overdo it.
Well here are some pictures starting with the original pictures of where it was sitting when I found it:
Much to my surprise when it showed up it had an original vintage Z bed from "Z products"
Finally at home, might have to take a break on the bus to finish up some landscaping that you can see on the edge of my driveway :shock:
Giving its first bath in a long time. This is the oxidization coming off the white roof paint!!!!
Back is washed, left hand side is still oxidized here
Mmmm, patina!! this is the passengers rear air duct with a quick polish.
Look at the black crap coming off this thing, it was very dirty!!
I will clean up the light scale around the seat mounting brackets
Spent about 3 minutes removing the old under seal from the inner fender. I will be removing all of the under seal from all four fenders. I like the look of nice clean og painted fenderwells on a solid bus.
Trial fitting the wheels to measure offset. Plans are a four inch balljoint beam with dropped spindles and Slamwerks spring plates in the rear.
Started removing the horrible touch up and see what was lurking underneith
Not too bad at all. I will fix it up a bit better and blend in the correct color this time. Only minor touch ups to be done.