Front panel conversion kits

[damo]

Hi all

Due to a rather unfortunate collision with a cow in the New Forest on Fri eve, I now find myself in need of a replacement front panel! And don't worry all you animal lovers, I think the cow fared much better than my bus did, I'd say I was down to about 10-15mph at time of collision, I hit him side on and he rolled over, and he got back up immediately and strolled off nonchalantly as if to say "Is that he best you can do?" Police and local agister informed, so hopefully all well with the beast.

And yes, if I had disc brakes I probably would have stopped in time! (Mind you I also would have stopped in time if the 3 cars coming the other way less than 20 secs beforehand had flashed or put hazards on to give a warning of it's presence.)

Thankfully damage to van isn't too severe, but a new replacement panel is required. It appears that you can't buy early bay front panels, just kits comprising of late bay panels plus blanking plates for indicators, and a separate low indicator panel. Does anyone have experience of using these, and are they are good quality product, or is it better to try and source a good second hand original panel? The fix will be an insurance job anyway, so will be carried out by a reputable body shop, but I didn't know whether I should try and steer him in a particular direction.

Thanks
Damo

 

[mattyd72]

Best getting a cut off an import, that way you get proper metal rather than Brazilian monkey metal

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

[ozziedog]

Same as ^^^^ :mrgreen:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,, :mrgreen:

 

[Fortunate Son]

Mark at MCJ had a few front panels at Busfest

[email protected]

07773451674

He's based around Oxford area

Won't be cheap but good front panels are really hard to find now

 

[damo]

Thanks for your suggestions, and thanks for the contact details Fortunate Son. Just spoken to Mark, and he has one available so he is going to send me some pics of it tmw.

 

[Clem]

Busfest was awash with front clips

 

[Fortunate Son]

Damo - there were definitely rust free early front clips on Marks stall on the Saturday afternoon.

Good Luck in your search

 

[mattyd72]

Busfest was awash with front clips

The definition of rust free cuts has definitely dropped in recent years :lol:

 

[Fortunate Son]

Damo - did you get one sorted? Just in case it's of any interest I spotted this on eBay that Karmann Konnection have -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-T2-EARLY-BAYWINDOW-BUS-FRONT-CLIP-NOSE-PANEL-68-72-US-IMPORT-/281779230834?hash=item419b59d872" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like it needs some work but it's a good price

HTH

Andy

 

[ozziedog]

If you did want a new one, there is one for sale over on the latebay and it don`t have the bulge on the front for the raised badge, it is new but is much older than the new ones that are available today. Looks like it`s been in someones workshop for a good while.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,,, :mrgreen:

 

[Trikky2]

The definition of rust free cuts has definitely dropped in recent years :lol:

These days the term means you don't get charged for it.

 

[Pete B]

You say you need a new front panel. Badly bent steel does not always need replacing. May I suggest contacting a good 'old school' body shop to see if a repair is feasible? If you can find a proper sheet metal man, then it is amazing what can be done! I personally would rather a repair, even with a load of filler used, to cutting out original steel and welding in a replacement. Having been involved in body shell repair many years ago, that's the route I would persue first. Obviously I've not seen the damage, could be it's a new panel needed.
Just my two pen'oth, others will have a different opinion. But if you do need a panel, my preference would be a cut rather than repro, again, just my view.
Good luck,

 

[Little_Nav]

I'm midway through converting a late bay to early spec so I'm doing something similar to what you're looking at doing. I can make the following observations....

The indicator blank in panels for the top need a lot of trimming down to get a nice fit, so much so that you could probably knock a pair up from flat steel and give yourself less work. The only saving grace with them is they have the grill closing fold bent into them, but even that needs a bit of fettling to seat right.
I cut out the badge plinth and welded it up, but even just tickling it with the mig on low amps causes a fair bit of distortion so might be better getting one of the smooth panels instead, unless you love the smell of filler and your sanding arm needs a workout.
The lowlight panels......bottom of the pressing is pretty good....the top around the headlight bowls however is shite so best to cut it along just under the pressing line below and lose the join in the along the pressing where the eye expects to see a line. All the repro stuff is a bit flimsy but its workable if you go into it expecting to have to do a fair bit of trimming and making good after

 

[damo]

Thanks for the tips & advice.

I contacted Mark at MCJ but never got a response. Not gonna chase it further.

Had a look over on late bay, but couldn't see any front panels for sale I'm afraid. Perhaps you could direct me to the ad?

I did ask whether my panel could be saved, even if it has to be cut off first, repaired, and then put back in place, but was told it was beyond saving. And that is from someone who has spent a lifetime doing classic vehicle bodywork, so I have to bow to that experience.

The body shop I have chosen is also a very reputable one, and he did great work on a previous van of mine. Still waiting for a plan of action, but he suggested that possibly the low indictor section may be salvageable, and that can be welded to a new smooth front panel. We shall see. Am incl pic of the damaged area for those interested.

 

[Alex VW Heritage]

also worth noting if you use a new front panel rather than a cut of an original bus you will need to swap the grill to a late bay grill as they are different shapes,

Our earlies have curved cormners but the lates have a squarer profile.

Hope that helps,

Cheers

Alex

 

[damo]

Blimey, never thought of that (diff shape grill), thanks for the heads up Alex.

Now I'm sure this must have been mentioned before, but I have never seen an explanation and my searches don't show it up. Why, oh why, is it possible to buy splitty front panels, and late bay front panels, but not early ones? WTF is that all about ?

I'm sure that VW Heritage would supply them if they are available, Alex, so why are they not being manufactured? And if there is a niche, why doesn't someone fill it and produce good ones? Can they only be produced by a VW-approved manufacturer or something?

Very frustrating and puzzling.

 

[Clem]

Blimey, never thought of that (diff shape grill), thanks for the heads up Alex.

Now I'm sure this must have been mentioned before, but I have never seen an explanation and my searches don't show it up. Why, oh why, is it possible to buy splitty front panels, and late bay front panels, but not early ones? WTF is that all about ?

I'm sure that VW Heritage would supply them if they are available, Alex, so why are they not being manufactured? And if there is a niche, why doesn't someone fill it and produce good ones? Can they only be produced by a VW-approved manufacturer or something?

Very frustrating and puzzling.

Its all down to demand and profit, I guess. Splits have been being restored for many years now and the fronts are 'essentially' similar across all models.
From a numbers perspective later vans are by far in the majority and had the bonus of being in production in South America up until recently. Up till now its been deemed acceptable to modify what was available. I would guess that the amount of people who would reject a repro late panel would be about the same as those that could source an og early front end, so maybe the real demand hasnt been there.
Now, as the og availabilty dries up someone will tool up and make a good front panel? Finger crossed.

Interestingly, my my brother and I have been to a few dent removal type places regarding dings and dents in our front panels .... no one is interested! They just want it off to a body shop to fill and paint :roll:

 

[Fortunate Son]

I had a chat with Nigel from Autocraft at Busfest and he was saying that they will finally be getting around to looking at doing more early bay and late bay panels. I guess making tooling and getting them spot on will take time but sounds like they are coming. As I keep thinking; "all the splits must have been restored by now!!"

Damo - you can get adaptor plates to cover late indicator holes which create a radius to match an early grill (if you did end up going that route)

Schofields do em:

http://www.alanhschofield.com/ourparts/prod_2641946-Front-Panel-Indicator-Blanking-Plates-Pair-6872-211805031B.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As do VWH:

https://www.vwheritage.com/shop/bay-bus/211805050/indicator-block-off-plates-pair-t2-68-79/?crumbStartPage=1&crumbStartRow=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Possibly a long way for you but did you speak to Alan at Creative Coachworks in Shropshire. He is a proper old school panel beater.

 

[Alex VW Heritage]

I had a chat with Nigel from Autocraft at Busfest and he was saying that they will finally be getting around to looking at doing more early bay and late bay panels. I guess making tooling and getting them spot on will take time but sounds like they are coming. As I keep thinking; "all the splits must have been restored by now!!"

Damo - you can get adaptor plates to cover late indicator holes which create a radius to match an early grill (if you did end up going that route)

Schofields do em:

http://www.alanhschofield.com/ourparts/prod_2641946-Front-Panel-Indicator-Blanking-Plates-Pair-6872-211805031B.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As do VWH:

https://www.vwheritage.com/shop/bay-bus/211805050/indicator-block-off-plates-pair-t2-68-79/?crumbStartPage=1&crumbStartRow=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Possibly a long way for you but did you speak to Alan at Creative Coachworks in Shropshire. He is a proper old school panel beater.

:lol:

Doh!

I stand corrected!

 

[ozziedog]

FOR SALE Brand new unused smooth (no badge plinth) front panel

There you go, it`s over on the LateBay in LateBay parts for sale about page three I think, I hope the linky thingy works :shock: :? :shock:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Technology :roll: :roll: :roll: