Bay newbie questions

[ecvwfan]

Morning folks. New to bays (saw one at a show and decided I want one) I'm the type of guy that will research the hell out of something so be forewarned there will be a shite load of questions.

And here they start:
I noticed that some bays have a grille on the front and some don't. Is that a custom thing or did VW stop putting them on? If so when did they make the switch

Next does anyone make a safari kit for the bay front and rear windows? Does anyone make popouts for the side windows?

What bolt pattern are the early bays? (wide five?)

 

[Doris]

Morning folks. New to bays (saw one at a show and decided I want one) I'm the type of guy that will research the hell out of something so be forewarned there will be a shite load of questions.

And here they start:
I noticed that some bays have a grille on the front and some don't. Is that a custom thing or did VW stop putting them on? If so when did they make the switch

Next does anyone make a safari kit for the bay front and rear windows? Does anyone make popouts for the side windows?

What bolt pattern are the early bays? (wide five?)

OK,here we go..WELCOME!!
Grilles - all Bays had grilles,the early's had a more rounded grille at the corners than the later type. Some people had the grille plated over,mostly in the late 80's/early 90's for a 'custom' look,you may have seen one of the residual abominations from that era.

Safari's - never seen one for the front or sides however there is a kit for the rear,but its not a cheap doo & even the top quality ones have occasionally been known to leak.Wolfgang International are supposed to be good,in fact 'slammedresto' on here had one for sale for around the £350 mark not so long back.try the likes of Karman Connection.

Bolt pattern - spot on, wide five for very early, think it went to small 5 for 1971,but someone will be along to correct me if I'm wrong.

hope this helps! Cheers - Rob

 

[Marvel]

ECVW, welcome along.

Some people had the grille plated over,mostly in the late 80's/early 90's for a 'custom' look,you may have seen one of the residual abominations from that era.

Oo Doris! That'll open up a can of worms!!

Bolt pattern - spot on, wide five for very early, think it went to small 5 for 1971,but someone will be along to correct me if I'm wrong.

And yes the narrow came along because of the switch to calipers up front.

 

[ecvwfan]

Thanks fellas. Just trying to gather information. Won't be buying for couple of years (made a deal with the wife to build her a bug first in exchange for her Harley!

Was wondering about the rims as I am looking at the 17 x 7” smoothies from Airkewld.

 

[sparkywig]

Early buses up to August 1970 (1971 model year) have 5x205 pcd hubs and later buses have the 5x112 pcd.

 

[ecvwfan]

Ok another series of questions:


What is the difference between bay suspension and splitty suspension? Basically would I be able to use a splitty air ride system in a bay?

 

[bananacustard]

Some people had the grille plated over,mostly in the late 80's/early 90's for a 'custom' look,you may have seen one of the residual abominations from that era.

Furthermore Doris you might get duffed up by Slammedkustom and Easy, or a chinese burn at the very least :shock:

 

[Doris]

Some people had the grille plated over,mostly in the late 80's/early 90's for a 'custom' look,you may have seen one of the residual abominations from that era.

Furthermore Doris you might get duffed up by Slammedkustom and Easy, or a chinese burn at the very least :shock:

:shock: oh dear,me & my big mouth! nothing personal I'm sure they know I just have a picture in my mind of a gaudy metallic painted early bay with all the body lines & grill full of filler & smoothed out,maybe with the indicators plated over & replaced with generic Motor World lights and stick on black windows - thats what I'm thinking of ! (Can you tell I'm a stock jockey? )

 

[sparkywig]

Ok another series of questions:


What is the difference between bay suspension and splitty suspension? Basically would I be able to use a splitty air ride system in a bay?

Only if the bay was built before August 1969, up to this date early bays had the same beam fixing bolt pattern as split vans.