Frankenstein.. Missus calls him Kermit!

[superfunkyfresh]

Hi guys,

I have just been out and purchased my first aircooled wagon. After a few letdowns I have managed to find myself a van. The missus is pretty happy with it too. Its a 1972 1.6 which I managed to pick up with 12 months MOT for 5K. Even better than that was the insurance quote of 154 quid with European and UK breakdown cover.

Below are the pics:

So, now it begins... jobs to get sorted soonest..

The steering wheel movement before you get any feel for the tyres is mental. I can probs turn the wheel from the 11'o'clock to the 1 'o'clock position without any movement from the bus. I assume this is wear in the steering rack?

Gearchanges feel like a c0ck in a sock. I think I will look around for a gear linkage rebuild kit and see if I can sort that out.

Headlining is missing. This really makes the van look scruffy so is a must do job, either by sourcing a kit to fit or if not I will look for some melomine board and cover in perforated white leatherette.

Heating, the dash is pretty rubbish with no heater controls and when you sit in traffic you get fumes coming into the cab. Any ideas on fixes for this??

Long term is:

Lowering it some (lots)
Recovering of the seats
Repair some of the sketchy areas of paintwork
Treat any rust with POR15 and paint
Wheels.. A big sticking point...

 

[Gwar72]

Welcome to EB...!!!

Great to see another '72 sneak in...!!! :lol:

Cool bus..!! And a great buy by the sounds of it..!! Keep the pictures coming..!!!

 

[loweco customs]

hi and welcome to classic vw ownership!!! things will never be the same again. :mrgreen:
the first thing to remember is that these are old buses and things have loosened up a tad over the years, saying that they never drove like modern cars do now so you need to adapt yourself to get used to it.
play in the steering is common but i think there is an adjusting screw on the front of the steering box ( there is on splitties anyway) that can be screwed in but becarefull as this tightens the steering at each end of the steer lock.
gearboxs are usually quite floppy, change the oil and connector at the box, also the plastic thing in the hockey stick under the gear lever but its still gonna be loosey goosey
there should be various levers on the dash for the heating controls, providing they are connected and cables not snapped/ flaps siezed etc but again heating wont be like a golf or sharan. the exhaust smell is a concern tho as breathing the fumes will knock you out which aint good when driving, theres not many vans left it will be a shame to lose another!! replace the heat exchangers as 1 or both have rusted through.

and finally (phew) have you ever been in a lowered bus for a drive as pilot or passenger? if not, stick out your thumb and try it coz the ride quality gets worse the lower you go, unless your gonna spend a ton of cash on airbags or hydraulics. its all down to personal taste. im only saying this as you have concerns with steering/gear change which sound normal for a bus and then wanna alter suspension which was waft when new!!
my bus has wavey boat like steering, a random gear generator for a box and i have to go over speed bumps diagonally at 1/4 mph or the exhaust gets ripped off but i love it!!!
most of all. ENJOY!!!!

 

[Merlydog]

Low = crap ride but cool looks :shock:
Sensibly lowered = affordability and semi cool looks and reasonable ride 8)
Stock = blancmange looks but floaty light ride quality :mrgreen:

All of course personal taste and £££ dependant, its your bus, your choice matey. I've experienced all three and opt for the middle everytime. If you plan on slamming it and camping expect lots of grinding and crunching onto campsites and over speed bumps! Costs about £200 quid for sensibly lowered (less of you do it yourself) and is a happy medium. Unless you have the £££ to go air then stick it on the floor!

All my opinion and ultimately up to you Good luck with whatever you decide mr cross dresser :mrgreen:

 

[superfunkyfresh]

hi and welcome to classic vw ownership!!! things will never be the same again. :mrgreen:
the first thing to remember is that these are old buses and things have loosened up a tad over the years, saying that they never drove like modern cars do now so you need to adapt yourself to get used to it.
play in the steering is common but i think there is an adjusting screw on the front of the steering box ( there is on splitties anyway) that can be screwed in but becarefull as this tightens the steering at each end of the steer lock.
gearboxs are usually quite floppy, change the oil and connector at the box, also the plastic thing in the hockey stick under the gear lever but its still gonna be loosey goosey

I will look into this then, I appreciate there should be some movement but this feels very loose haha

there should be various levers on the dash for the heating controls, providing they are connected and cables not snapped/ flaps siezed etc but again heating wont be like a golf or sharan. the exhaust smell is a concern tho as breathing the fumes will knock you out which aint good when driving, theres not many vans left it will be a shame to lose another!! replace the heat exchangers as 1 or both have rusted through.

Yeah there are no levers on the dash at the moment so I think they have snapped off or are missing. I think the fumes aren't exhaust fumes but more engine smells/fuelly smells, does that make sense. I will look at the heat exchangers then..

and finally (phew) have you ever been in a lowered bus for a drive as pilot or passenger? if not, stick out your thumb and try it coz the ride quality gets worse the lower you go, unless your gonna spend a ton of cash on airbags or hydraulics. its all down to personal taste. im only saying this as you have concerns with steering/gear change which sound normal for a bus and then wanna alter suspension which was waft when new!!
my bus has wavey boat like steering, a random gear generator for a box and i have to go over speed bumps diagonally at 1/4 mph or the exhaust gets ripped off but i love it!!!
most of all. ENJOY!!!!

I have had 3 lowered mk1 golfs so know how a lowered car feels but not a bus. I understand the comments about the lowering and I aint in a rush to lower to if hydraulics are the better option then I will look into it. Shame its raining today.. I wanted to get digging around in the van and seeing what we have to work with.

Will put up more pics laters.

Cheers

 

[superfunkyfresh]

Low = crap ride but cool looks :shock:
Sensibly lowered = affordability and semi cool looks and reasonable ride 8)
Stock = blancmange looks but floaty light ride quality :mrgreen:

All of course personal taste and £££ dependant, its your bus, your choice matey. I've experienced all three and opt for the middle everytime. If you plan on slamming it and camping expect lots of grinding and crunching onto campsites and over speed bumps! Costs about £200 quid for sensibly lowered (less of you do it yourself) and is a happy medium. Unless you have the £££ to go air then stick it on the floor!

All my opinion and ultimately up to you Good luck with whatever you decide mr cross dresser :mrgreen:

Whats required to lower sensibly for £200 quid? The dropped spindles I have been looking at are like 500 quid

 

[Merlydog]

Check out my gallery thread.. Essentially mine is dropped one spline at the back, stock spindles on adjusters welded to the front beam. It's not loooowwwwww but its reasonable. Stock steels (stock tyres) with whitewalls. As it is now...

 

[superfunkyfresh]

Right, got a bit of an issue, I have been looking through all the old bits that came with the van and I have found some restoration pics that show the front grill as a late bay grill. I have checked the v5 and it's registered on 02/73. I thought it would be a late registered 72 but it looks more and more like its a 73 model.

Any ideas? I am struggling to know how to mount the headlining too as it doesn't seem to have anywhere to mount the bows. The front cab area seems to have an area around the doors and rear of the cab to stick it to but the rear cab seems to just be smooth.... Any ideas please?

 

[lobie]

what you have there is a late bay made to look like an earlybay it also looks like someone has removed the gutters on the van i'm guessing its not tax exempt, if it was produce before 31/1/73 it would be exempt from road tax it looks like the shiney paint may be hiding some horrers mate

 

[superfunkyfresh]

All the tax discs I have are tax exempt which is why I cannot understand what model it is ... Hmmm confusing!!

 

[aspro]

V5 and actual make will differ. It may have been manufactured and sat around a while before it was 1st registered.

Best thing to do is put the m plate details into the decoder to see the details.

As for the late bay front in the resto pics, you can't get an early bay front panel. All repro panels come out with the late bay set up, bumper hump and high indicators.

 

[superfunkyfresh]

V5 and actual make will differ. It may have been manufactured and sat around a while before it was 1st registered.

Best thing to do is put the m plate details into the decoder to see the details.

As for the late bay front in the resto pics, you can't get an early bay front panel. All repro panels come out with the late bay set up, bumper hump and high indicators.

Yeah this is what I was thinking, I thought it was a late registered 72 but I suppose the only wayto know is to run the plates like you said.

The bumpers are smoothed in which is a nause but will need sorting at some point. Need to find j channels for the interior as there's no roof lining at present

 

[AGC]

Welcome to the forum mate. Looks to me like this is a later bus made to look early. If its a 72 then the rear lights are not correct. They should be larger and the rear vents suggest its a late bay although 72 cross over had these. One question re the mOT..... how did it get an MOT without front indicators????. If you are getting a petrol smell then check the fuel lines PRONTO. Is the roof smooth inside (can see that the gutters are missing.) If it is smooth inside with no "lip" for headlining hoops it probably has had a relacement roof grafted on

 

[superfunkyfresh]

Welcome to the forum mate. Looks to me like this is a later bus made to look early. If its a 72 then the rear lights are not correct. They should be larger and the rear vents suggest its a late bay although 72 cross over had these. One question re the mOT..... how did it get an MOT without front indicators????. If you are getting a petrol smell then check the fuel lines PRONTO. Is the roof smooth inside (can see that the gutters are missing.) If it is smooth inside with no "lip" for headlining hoops it probably has had a relacement roof grafted on

Hi, thanks for the feedback. The van used to be a hire vehicle for rents dub.com. I think they were looking to "smooth" the wagon. From what I can work out the van is a mishmash of parts. The indicators are mounted on the underside of the bumper, you can see them if you look at the images carefully. The rear lights must be an early bay repair panel, I think the front is a repair panel that has been fitted and smoothed, the roof is a converted pop top that is now a tin roof. I ain't too worried about it being original, just want a nice looking van so I will just work with what I have.

I have checked the fuel lines, I don't like the routing from the solid line onto rubber to the FPR, it runs too close to all the hot bits so this is the first mod I am going to mate. Heating system is pretty dire but I am sure with some work. I will sort it eventually

 

[AGC]

Ah yes can see the indicators now. Im sure you will have great fun with your new toy Good idea to make sure the fuel lines are first priority mate.

 

[Bwuttonmoon]

I used to have a '71 with a late front panel fitted so I wouldn't worry too much, I dont agree that shiny paint will be hiding horrors. Enjoy the free tax and enjoy the van it looks good and unique.. good times

 

[lard]

Certainly means you'll have a one of a kind van! 8) - I love the smoothed front, years ago I was half tempted to de-seam my mini as it is a great look, it's also going to suit a nice lowered euro look bus - look forward to updates

 

[superfunkyfresh]

Off to pick up some fuel line today to move the inline fuel filter from next to the distributor and then off to visiting the family in Derby.

The first job is going to be to sort out the penetrated rust spots on the roof, thermawrap the roof and either ply line or depending on when I hear back from classiccore I might get a vinyl roof lining but that is going to be a windows out job and I don't think I quite fancy that at the moment if I am honest with you. Whether cold which means windows break easily and seals are hard.

I have three weeks off so plenty of time to get cracking, here's hoping the weather will be nice anyways.

 

[superfunkyfresh]

well a bit of progress made today...

I have stripped off the doorcards and now the locks are working well, they have been greased and worked over so they work with no risk of the key snapping.

I have changed the fuel lines and moved the fuel filter but the solid line is quite badly bent so i need to cut and refit.

I looked into fitting the stereo but the wiring is terrible at best, I have cut a load of the crap wiring in the wagon and got it working well, leading on from here I managed to pay for a loom from 67panel. Will have a split system in shortly

I have also managed to get hold of some bits for a Westy interior. I have a spoken with Campmobile70 and I have a sink unit, buddy seat, wardrobe and overhead locker to collect tomorrow.

Thought I would put up some pics of how she looks right now..

(stupid sticker to be removed)

 

[superfunkyfresh]

Well last night I picked up a westfalia wardrobe, overhead locker, sink unit, buddy seat and table. Today I am hoping to get some ply for the headlining, rip out the old interior and have a look at installing the wardrobe. I have just ordered a bed from rusty lee but now I am thinking I maybe should have got a westy bed too.. Oh well, will stick with what I have got for now.