New to EarlyBay ? Say Hi here ...

[TJW1970]

Hi,
New to Early Bay and wanted to check if there were any Brazillian buses that I needed to be wary of, as I am going to look at a bus tomorrow and want to go in with my eyes open.
thanks,
Trevor

 

[Clean]

Hi all,

We have taken the plunge and bought ourselves a 1971 Westy in tangerine orange.

Looking forward to enjoying our new Bus, May, and the community she will, no doubt, introduce us too!

Clean.

 

[ozziedog]

Hi,
I am new here and an alcoholic. Sorry, wrong forum.

I am looking at an early tomorrow and wondered if there are any 'imports' I should be wary of, e.g. Brazillian buses, etc. Not had a Bay for about 20 years, as I moved into Splitties for a while. Looking for my fix of VW's again, but stepping in with a little care.

Any comments would be really appreciated.

Thanks,
Trevor

Hi there, I think you'll get mostly the same message from anywhere so sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs. My advise is to get the best condition bus you can afford with as little alteration as is possible and with as little restoration as possible, mainly because the repairs and the welding can rarely match the original. There are completely original busses out there and not restored but they will cost you a pretty penny. If you look at bodywork and welding repairs on one of these old beauties and think that it can be repaired for a thousand or two thousand or whatever , times it by two or three and put a nought on the end and you will amazingly be a lot closer than you think. As to where from, a German one will be a lot betterer than a silly Brazilly one but a Brazilian in good shape would be a better bet than a rusted out German one. RHD ones are getting rarer than rocking horse poo in good shape and the world has been scoured several times over for the best available. But that's the fun of it, so start looking and don't be frightened to put up some pics of anything that catches your eye, sometimes a pic can show some things up. But big big welcome to you and good luck in your search.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,good thing is, they don't go down in value :mrgreen:

 

[TJW1970]

Thanks for the comments Ozziedog. We bought the bus, as it had undertaken a full resto and paint job a few years ago. It is still in good (not perfect) condition and perfect for our needs. See "Our new adventure" thread. M-Codes confirm it to be a UK bus too!

 

[Chrispy]

Hi all, just checking in from Cornwall.
recently picked up a Texas barn find 1970 delux.

 

[Guest]

Hi all, just checking in from Cornwall.
recently picked up a Texas barn find 1970 delux.

nice! would love to see some pictures.

 

[coconutboi]

Hey guys, I'm joining you from Romania! I don't know much about cars, I'm just an enthusiast. Hopefully I am still welcome in the community Cheers!

 

[ozziedog]

Hello to you in Romania. Everyone is more than welcome here. This may be the friendliest forum around so have a real good look at some of the members rebuilds to see what can be achieved. My van is always being changed but very slowly because I'm old and maybe getting a bit lazy. But I have lots of ideas just not too much get up and go.

Ozziedog,,,,,.,..I was young once :roll: :lol:

 

[baggiebus]

Hi All
I have a 1970 camper undergoing full bare metal restoration, and now looking for various parts and I'm sure advice to finish off. Just joined forum and looking forward to engaging with you guys.

 

[Russelljill]

Hi,all just joined and looking forward to you all hopefully helping myself Russell ,Jill my wife and Peggy our 1970 bay.I will post you all a picture of Peggy a bit later.By the way we are in Cannock staffordshire

 

[ozziedog]

Hey Baggiebus, glad you could join us. Get an ad up in parts for sale and post it as wanted, sometimes you can get all sorts of parts and sometimes it's like the supply has dried up, so if there is anything specific you need, whack an ad on here and maybe the latebay too. There's also some brilliant dealers and importers here as well, and without these guys about half these busses would never have got back on the road.

Ozziedog,,,, good luck with the resto

 

[jasper666]

Morning I am a new early bay ownership 1970 dormobile and it has been my dream for over 20 years to own one. Unfortunately she broke down 8 miles after collecting - clutch gone - but looking for all advice I can get. I live near York and looking to replace pop top and have fiberglass renovated new seat covers and door cards so any advice for local to me people greatly appreciated

 

[ozziedog]

Massive welcome to Russell Jill and Peggy, 1970 is the absolute best year for the Early Bay. It`s the best looking and has wide 5s and the sexiest half moon or crescent air vents and the gorgeous little steps coming from the front bumper. It just don`t get any betterer than a 1970, so come on then,, lets see some pictures of this beautiful beasty. And start a resto thread up if you like so we can follow the progress.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,Anyone mentioned pictures Yet !! :mrgreen:

 

[Zerotosixty2]

Hi, sorry I should've introduced myself here prior to posting previously.
We bought our 1971 Dormy 2 months ago from the eBay. it needs some love but was owned by the last owner for 17 years!

Plans are afoot to derust and sympathetically restore and modify her into our family camper, ideal for a family of 3

 

[ozziedog]

Hiya Jasper 666, you are completely over the other side of the UK universe to me so I`m not conversant with too many peeps over there. Bad luck with the clutch, did it just go ? or are we talking about a snapped cable ? Takes a while to find the right bus then you have to make it your own. Don`t just look at places local to yourselves,there are quite a few all around the place. I got my seat covers from Delilah`s and they look the business. Are you staying stock or getting a bit funky with it? So apparently the 1970 model is the creme de la creme of the Early Bays so you seem to have the best of the best. Now hows about some pictures then ? :mrgreen:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,, Guess what year my van is ????? :lol: :roll: :lol:

 

[ozziedog]

Zerotosixty, welcome along and glad you joined us. There is none of this ,, you gotta do this first or you gotta do that on this forum :mrgreen: The only issues we have on here is that most of the Early Bay contingency are photograph junkies, as in we love pictures of all the different busses so crack some piccies up when you can. So you have the more modern version with some of the new ideas on it like brakes and stuff I don`t know if they`ll ever catch on with modern gadgets like that.

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,,,, See you in a field somewhere. :mrgreen:

 

[Zerotosixty2]

is ours. more pics to follow thanks for the welcome

 

[AbiLewSav]

Hi Guys,

New here but an old purchase. I got my 69 Bay (Aggie) in 2009, was using her as a daily runner just after I passed my test and during university. Took her off the road in 2011 as there was some welding and mechanical work to do that I couldn't afford while I was a student. She's been in storage ever since and isn't looking her best. Planning on starting the restoration asap to get her back on the road. But here's a photo of what she is looking like at the moment, you can see more on my blog http://www.wanderlustdaydreaming.co.uk/2017/06/my-1969-vw-restoration-project.html

Abi

 

[ozziedog]

Brilliant, just love a bus with a bit of chequered history. Looks very similar to mine colour wise and I got a picture just like that of the front of mine when I very first got him and my nephew made it into a fridge magnet and it sits on the dash under the radio. I got my bumpers a bit different too. Let's hope it don't take too long for the resto and be good to see you camping innit pronto! :mrgreen:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,, Looks in great shape :mrgreen:

 

[Tibs]

Hello realy enjoying the forum I joined yesterday and getting my bearings and working out how to navigate around :lol: am the owner of two vw bay buses one is a 1969 devon tintop delux all original units ECT and a 1977 devon moonraker with lots of mods pics to follow
I have a good knowledge on the type 2 bays and electrics and running ECT so do my best to help any one in need terry