Here we go... Yellow 71 Cali import

[HartyaHarty]

Hi all, I've had my bus a month or so now and been reading a fair few threads on here. I'm gonna start a thread to show my progress and hopefully to get advice from the veterans....
My bus is a 71 Tin top originally from California. It came with a bit of history and is overall solid especially underneath.
I'm an electrical engineer so I have some mechanical skills and I owned an awesome air ride 1960 bug 15 years ago so I know a bit but not a lot, advice will be very well received!

 

[HartyaHarty]

If you haven't seen my into thread, my first journey was no joke, 225 miles from London to Lancashire... I cruised at a steady 58, no real dramas until 7 miles down the road where I stopped for fuel and couldn't restart!
The problem proved to be a faulty voltage regulator, dragging the battery voltage down when the lights were on. I've replaced that and all is well on the charging front now
The van will be a family day trip toy, hopefully good to go to festivals in the next few years, the kids are 1 and 4 so priority one is keeping them safe, comfy and occupied. They both love the bus and will play happily in it for as long as I'll let them at the moment but haven't had a trip yet, until I sort out their car seats. On that front, the way interior has been sold as it wasn't a westy van originally and the jobs list is:

Fit a full width R&R bed, I'm looking at rusty Lee ones at the moment... The rest of the interior I will hopefully make myself.
Inertia seatbelts all around... Already purchased
Sort all the flooring......MadMatz for the cab and I'll see about the back
Dropped spindles to install.... Already purchased. The bus has been lowered via beam adjusters and looks cool but it's too crashy.
A few seals are very dry or broken so they will be replaced to stop water getting in.
There is some concerning rust patches on the roof so they will be sorted before using the bus for more than short journeys.
Front seats need sorting, I have a spare passenger one and hopefully will be able to refurb then myself with foam and pre made covers.
I'll be putting in some decent electrical infrastructure while the interior is out and upgrading to a leisure battery system too but that's once the above is done

All in all I think it'll be easy, cheap to do and without any frustrations .......

 

[sparkywig]

Just for your info, if the window rubbers are perished there's a good chance the more important ones like brake and fuel hoses are as well.

 

[HartyaHarty]

Cheers, the previous owner has done a good bit of work on engine and running gear so these are reasonable. He hasn't done much at all to the exterior, or the inside to be honest which is why I picked the van. I can take my time with the superficial things.

 

[fallingoffalot]

Looks fantastic, restoring it is half the fun!

 

[redgaz54]

If you haven't seen my into thread, my first journey was no joke, 225 miles from London to Lancashire... I cruised at a steady 58, no real dramas until 7 miles down the road where I stopped for fuel and couldn't restart!
The problem proved to be a faulty voltage regulator, dragging the battery voltage down when the lights were on. I've replaced that and all is well on the charging front now
The van will be a family day trip toy, hopefully good to go to festivals in the next few years, the kids are 1 and 4 so priority one is keeping them safe, comfy and occupied. They both love the bus and will play happily in it for as long as I'll let them at the moment but haven't had a trip yet, until I sort out their car seats. On that front, the way interior has been sold as it wasn't a westy van originally and the jobs list is:

Fit a full width R&R bed, I'm looking at rusty Lee ones at the moment... The rest of the interior I will hopefully make myself.
Inertia seatbelts all around... Already purchased
Sort all the flooring......MadMatz for the cab and I'll see about the back
Dropped spindles to install.... Already purchased. The bus has been lowered via beam adjusters and looks cool but it's too crashy.
A few seals are very dry or broken so they will be replaced to stop water getting in.
There is some concerning rust patches on the roof so they will be sorted before using the bus for more than short journeys.
Front seats need sorting, I have a spare passenger one and hopefully will be able to refurb then myself with foam and pre made covers.
I'll be putting in some decent electrical infrastructure while the interior is out and upgrading to a leisure battery system too but that's once the above is done

All in all I think it'll be easy, cheap to do and without any frustrations .......

Let the fun begin