poptop2
Well-known member
Calm down mods , no need to press the close button yet 
After month's of restoring my sept 72 westy i have come to the conclusion that its a late crossover model , Late crossover - is he on drugs ?
Well you try ordering bits for a bay made between aug 72 and feb 73 , the usual question from vwh or others is -" 72 ! is it a crossover - no , must be late then ! " and they then usually send you the wrong bit , it is very frustrating at first , then you realise your van is not a fully fledged high light late bay , just the next stage of production model - a crossover with high indicator front , yes it has larger vents , engine bay and flared front arches but - so too did crossovers .
In Aug 72 they began adding the new front end , inner valance , deformation panel and square bumpers , yet basically it was still exactly the same as the earlier crossovers apart from that .
i wrote this on tlb and hope by posting this on here i might get a little more help re details , it has been a revelation re parts ordering since realising this - 72 high lights are a late crossover .
since owning my latest bay a 1972 westy i have restored her , i have ordered so many bits in the process that i have lost count , what i can remember is the bits i have ordered that have been wrong for my van .
i began to read up on 1972 bays and at first thought i might have a crossover with a late front conversion , i then stumbled across bits of info regarding the production process when vw decided to morph the earlier bay into what we now call the late bay or high light model , This is my understanding of that process
In 1971 the process began , this is when the first crossovers were produced , as we all know by now thanks to people like technohippy and others - The main changes were - they had larger engine bays to take bigger engines , the removable rear valance was replaced with a fixed valance , bigger lights at the back and different shaped larger rear vents to accommodate the air intake required by bigger engines .
It is worth knowing - a lot of these changes to the earlier bay were induced by strict safety regs put in place by the US government and in order to meet these requirements vw had to upgrade the very successful early model .
These ( early crossovers ) were produced until roughly August 72 when vw then began the next stage of the process - high lights all around , deformation panel and disc brakes on the front ( edit - one year only brakes ) , these were the only changes to the crossover model and it was not until early to mid 73 that the late bay as we now know it took its final shape , there were further modifications throughout production ( as brothernumberone has written ) but nothing as radical as the changes in that two year period .
The problem people who own a Aug 72 to feb 73 van have is in ordering parts , the later crossover as i call it does not have a clear definition , parts suppliers regard it as a late bay and as such either send you the wrong bit or simply say they don't know what your part should be , the simple answer is to regard it as a crossover with 72 one year only brakes and a late front end .
i hope this helps people when ordering bits , i know i would have liked to know these things when ordering bits for my resto , it would have saved me a lot of grief , they were not parts bin motors , they are all the same ,from what i can make out it was a staged metamorphosis from early model to later model with two distinct staged upgrades in between - early crossover and later crossover - then late bay .
Bits i can remember that are on our 72 high lights off a early bay are -
Steering column
indicators stalk
Ignition barrel
Steering wheel
steering box
Slider door - lock in handle
early door card rubbers
72 one year only rear brakes
early petrol filler flap
early locking filler cap
early petrol tank
petrol filler rear panel - -- crossover version
headlights
headlight electrical fittings
chrome headlight ring - 3 screw
Doors and hinges
dynamo as apposed to alternator , although most have been upgraded to alternator by now .
-------------------------------------
i then revised that to this as a sort of summary --
I think the 72 high light can be classed as a distinct category , i believe the bays made between August 72 and February 73 were really late crossovers that simply had the first late fronts , from what i can tell the only late features were the deformation panel , inner valance , front panel , high lights at the front and a late front bumper - nothing else is late , Well there are other latebay feature's but crossovers already had bigger rear lights , larger engine bay , larger rear vent ,none removable rear valance and flared front arches .
This is important to know because when you order parts for your 72 late bay you will know most parts apart from those listed above are the same as a crossover and a lot of parts are just early parts , the back end from the A post is crossover , panels , slider , windows , hinges , you can include early crossrover doors and early hinges too , i also think the chassis had not been changed from early spec up until this date as i had trouble fitting later crossmembers etc to my van , as others have said - the switches and controls in the cab area are early and so too is the steering assembly .
If we bear in mind the rear brakes were one year only ( 72 ) and the front disc brakes are two year only 71/72 , then we should all be on the right track re ordering bits .
if you disagree and spot anything wrong in what i am saying please let me know :thinking:
------------------------------------------------------------
Any further info would be much appreciated from you guys , but play nicely its not a late early thing , just might help me make a proper list of bits , which in turn may help others when ordering bits , remember - not everyone who buys a bay knows exactly what they have , so orderring bits for a 72 high light if they have one can be a mare !
ok fire away - not AT me though !
After month's of restoring my sept 72 westy i have come to the conclusion that its a late crossover model , Late crossover - is he on drugs ?
Well you try ordering bits for a bay made between aug 72 and feb 73 , the usual question from vwh or others is -" 72 ! is it a crossover - no , must be late then ! " and they then usually send you the wrong bit , it is very frustrating at first , then you realise your van is not a fully fledged high light late bay , just the next stage of production model - a crossover with high indicator front , yes it has larger vents , engine bay and flared front arches but - so too did crossovers .
In Aug 72 they began adding the new front end , inner valance , deformation panel and square bumpers , yet basically it was still exactly the same as the earlier crossovers apart from that .
i wrote this on tlb and hope by posting this on here i might get a little more help re details , it has been a revelation re parts ordering since realising this - 72 high lights are a late crossover .
since owning my latest bay a 1972 westy i have restored her , i have ordered so many bits in the process that i have lost count , what i can remember is the bits i have ordered that have been wrong for my van .
i began to read up on 1972 bays and at first thought i might have a crossover with a late front conversion , i then stumbled across bits of info regarding the production process when vw decided to morph the earlier bay into what we now call the late bay or high light model , This is my understanding of that process
In 1971 the process began , this is when the first crossovers were produced , as we all know by now thanks to people like technohippy and others - The main changes were - they had larger engine bays to take bigger engines , the removable rear valance was replaced with a fixed valance , bigger lights at the back and different shaped larger rear vents to accommodate the air intake required by bigger engines .
It is worth knowing - a lot of these changes to the earlier bay were induced by strict safety regs put in place by the US government and in order to meet these requirements vw had to upgrade the very successful early model .
These ( early crossovers ) were produced until roughly August 72 when vw then began the next stage of the process - high lights all around , deformation panel and disc brakes on the front ( edit - one year only brakes ) , these were the only changes to the crossover model and it was not until early to mid 73 that the late bay as we now know it took its final shape , there were further modifications throughout production ( as brothernumberone has written ) but nothing as radical as the changes in that two year period .
The problem people who own a Aug 72 to feb 73 van have is in ordering parts , the later crossover as i call it does not have a clear definition , parts suppliers regard it as a late bay and as such either send you the wrong bit or simply say they don't know what your part should be , the simple answer is to regard it as a crossover with 72 one year only brakes and a late front end .
i hope this helps people when ordering bits , i know i would have liked to know these things when ordering bits for my resto , it would have saved me a lot of grief , they were not parts bin motors , they are all the same ,from what i can make out it was a staged metamorphosis from early model to later model with two distinct staged upgrades in between - early crossover and later crossover - then late bay .
Bits i can remember that are on our 72 high lights off a early bay are -
Steering column
indicators stalk
Ignition barrel
Steering wheel
steering box
Slider door - lock in handle
early door card rubbers
72 one year only rear brakes
early petrol filler flap
early locking filler cap
early petrol tank
petrol filler rear panel - -- crossover version
headlights
headlight electrical fittings
chrome headlight ring - 3 screw
Doors and hinges
dynamo as apposed to alternator , although most have been upgraded to alternator by now .
-------------------------------------
i then revised that to this as a sort of summary --
I think the 72 high light can be classed as a distinct category , i believe the bays made between August 72 and February 73 were really late crossovers that simply had the first late fronts , from what i can tell the only late features were the deformation panel , inner valance , front panel , high lights at the front and a late front bumper - nothing else is late , Well there are other latebay feature's but crossovers already had bigger rear lights , larger engine bay , larger rear vent ,none removable rear valance and flared front arches .
This is important to know because when you order parts for your 72 late bay you will know most parts apart from those listed above are the same as a crossover and a lot of parts are just early parts , the back end from the A post is crossover , panels , slider , windows , hinges , you can include early crossrover doors and early hinges too , i also think the chassis had not been changed from early spec up until this date as i had trouble fitting later crossmembers etc to my van , as others have said - the switches and controls in the cab area are early and so too is the steering assembly .
If we bear in mind the rear brakes were one year only ( 72 ) and the front disc brakes are two year only 71/72 , then we should all be on the right track re ordering bits .
if you disagree and spot anything wrong in what i am saying please let me know :thinking:
------------------------------------------------------------
Any further info would be much appreciated from you guys , but play nicely its not a late early thing , just might help me make a proper list of bits , which in turn may help others when ordering bits , remember - not everyone who buys a bay knows exactly what they have , so orderring bits for a 72 high light if they have one can be a mare !
ok fire away - not AT me though !
