Ben's 72 Bay

[Ben72Bay]

Coming on nicely

What seats have you fitted? I am considering switching from original to something with a little more comfort.
Sounds like you have not driven it much yet, but how did the freeway flyer perform with your engine? Is 1776 underpowered? Is a steady 70MPH possible or do you have to drop it down a gear on hills?

Mat

Thank you!
I’ve done several 3-4 hour drives and it’s now going well.
The FF pairs well with the 1776.
About 85mph on the Speedo is 70 in real life.
Sits at that speed quite happily, at about 3.5k rpm.

My seats are Porsche 996.
Comfy enough, but not 100% ideal as I’m a bit lanky and my head nearly hits the roof!
But they’ll do for now!

 

[Journey]

About 85mph on the Speedo is 70 in real life.

Pretty cool! Why the big difference?

 

[sparkywig]

Pretty cool! Why the big difference?

Front tyres smaller than stock 185R14, and bus speedos are notoriously over optimistic anyway.

 

[Ben72Bay]

Front tyres smaller than stock 185R14, and bus speedos are notoriously over optimistic anyway.

Yep.
I’m running:
175/55/15 front
195/65/15 rear.

 

[Journey]

Front tyres smaller than stock 185R14, and bus speedos are notoriously over optimistic anyway.

Yep.
I’m running:
175/55/15 front
195/65/15 rear.

Thanks. Got it.

 

[Ben72Bay]

Just back from a 4 hour motorway epic return trip from Spaceroofs.
Pleased with their work and the bus ran really well all the way back.
(@Journey - really can’t remember why the difference! Perhaps a bit more contact patch at the rear. It’s not that noticeable in real life I think. )







Next job is to neaten up the roof where the old Devon top used to cover - will do that at the same time as spraying the bumpers!

And then back to the trimmers for the headlining later in the year…..

The list goes on!

 

[Journey]

Beautiful pop top! How long can you have it done?

 

[Ben72Bay]

Beautiful pop top! How long can you have it done?

Thank you! I’m really pleased with it!
I left it there for 2 weeks while I was on holiday in Cornwall.
I think they do a ‘single day turnaround’ service.
https://www.spaceroofs.co.uk/roofs/t2-baywindow-straight-lift-roof

 

[Journey]

Fantastic! It really looks cool creates nice space inside. Wow, that fast?

 

[gagvanman]

Yep.
I’m running:
175/55/15 front
195/65/15 rear.

I'm running 185/70/R15 all round. My speedo is a couple of miles out at low speeds but spot on at 50/60 according the the Satnav.

 

[Ben72Bay]

I'm running 185/70/R15 all round. My speedo is a couple of miles out at low speeds but spot on at 50/60 according the the Satnav.

I’ve been using a speedo app to measure against. But I’m keeping up with traffic and the readings seem a bit out to me.
Think I’ll try a satnav as well

 

[Ben72Bay]

Fantastic! It really looks cool creates nice space inside. Wow, that fast?

It’s a nice space inside even if the roof is down! And it seals really well so no additional noise when driving around.

If you’re interested give them a call. Both Pete and Sam were super helpful and lovely to deal with


m: 07970 868059
e: [email protected]
Office
m: 07970 926872
e: [email protected]

 

[Journey]

Thanks for the info. Enjoy your camper!

 

[Ben72Bay]

Thanks for the info. Enjoy your camper!

Happy to help!

 

[matty74]

Looks great Ben, adding the pop top is a game changer when camping, we did ours during the restoration phase and it still looks great 6yrs later

 

[Ben72Bay]

Looks great Ben, adding the pop top is a game changer when camping, we did ours during the restoration phase and it still looks great 6yrs later

View attachment 3159

Looks great!

 

[Ben72Bay]

Thanks to @Wannabay we now have a space for the kids to sleep
What a great community this is!

 

[matty74]

Brilliant

it really is great use of that space and it’s surprising what you can store on the boards when in transit with the roof down.

 

[Ben72Bay]

Have to say again how greatful I am to @Wannabay, aka Gerry.
He drove a 2 hour round trip so I could meet him at a services and collect the bed boards which he very generously gave us for free.

His bus is gorgeous and certainly something to aspire to!!

Thanks again Gerry - I can’t get the kids out of the pop top now as they love it so much!!!

Ben

 

[Ben72Bay]

trying to make the most of what's left of the summer! we took the bus to a localist meet over the other side of Aylesbury a few weekends ago. always nice to see other VWs out and about!

few jobs to tackle over the coming weeks before the weather turns. Get the diesel heater installed and the heated screens in - although I'm particularly nervous about installing the front screen!