983 Huey
Well-known member
Been lurking here for a while now and decided it's about time to share some pictures of our project bus 'Huey'.
I've been an aircooled VW nut my whole life, yet somehow (mainly other obsessions with RS fords, Toyota Hilux's, motorbikes and other mechanical distractions) it's taken me until way into my 30's before taking the plunge into bay ownership.
Thankfully my good lady wife shares my love of early bay's and the search began quite some time ago to find the perfect project vehicle.
The criteria was fairly simple, something which required enough work to fit into the 'bargain' price bracket but something solid enough to keep welding and fab work to a minimum.
I own a garage in south east Northumberland and have been in the motor trade my whole life, so mechanical work and fabrication/welding are not a problem, but... being self employed and working ridiculous hours meant the project had to be something I could fit into my schedule without taking years to complete, also we want our daughter Gracie (who is 5 years old) to enjoy the camper life sooner rather than later.
2 years into our search, and after numerous viewings we found our perfect vehicle in deepest south Wales, in the foothills of the Brecon Beacons.
I first spotted Huey (or Idris as his previous owners knew him) on one of the aircooled pages on Facebook a couple of months ago, I liked the look of him but he was slightly over budget, I thought nothing of it and the search continued. Fast forward 6 weeks or so and he popped up again, this time on eBay in auction format. i saved him into my watch list to show Emily (my wife) but by the time I arrived home she was showing me the exact same van, that was it, the seed was well and truly planted for both of us. We watched the auction end, reserve nowhere near met (as is often the case right now, nothing is selling). I contacted the owners, Darren and Bobbie who turned out to be the loveliest people, a date was agreed and a viewing arranged.
2 weeks later we made the 350 mile journey, we were met with this lovely lad hiding in the woods, safe to say it was love at first sight...
I've been an aircooled VW nut my whole life, yet somehow (mainly other obsessions with RS fords, Toyota Hilux's, motorbikes and other mechanical distractions) it's taken me until way into my 30's before taking the plunge into bay ownership.
Thankfully my good lady wife shares my love of early bay's and the search began quite some time ago to find the perfect project vehicle.
The criteria was fairly simple, something which required enough work to fit into the 'bargain' price bracket but something solid enough to keep welding and fab work to a minimum.
I own a garage in south east Northumberland and have been in the motor trade my whole life, so mechanical work and fabrication/welding are not a problem, but... being self employed and working ridiculous hours meant the project had to be something I could fit into my schedule without taking years to complete, also we want our daughter Gracie (who is 5 years old) to enjoy the camper life sooner rather than later.
2 years into our search, and after numerous viewings we found our perfect vehicle in deepest south Wales, in the foothills of the Brecon Beacons.
I first spotted Huey (or Idris as his previous owners knew him) on one of the aircooled pages on Facebook a couple of months ago, I liked the look of him but he was slightly over budget, I thought nothing of it and the search continued. Fast forward 6 weeks or so and he popped up again, this time on eBay in auction format. i saved him into my watch list to show Emily (my wife) but by the time I arrived home she was showing me the exact same van, that was it, the seed was well and truly planted for both of us. We watched the auction end, reserve nowhere near met (as is often the case right now, nothing is selling). I contacted the owners, Darren and Bobbie who turned out to be the loveliest people, a date was agreed and a viewing arranged.
2 weeks later we made the 350 mile journey, we were met with this lovely lad hiding in the woods, safe to say it was love at first sight...
