Up to the neck in it... again!

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We bought a 71 microbus on a whim from this site back in August from Malta.

After many phone calls to and from Malta, we paid the money and took our chance!

It arrived yesterday after a 12 hour round trip from Sheffield to Southampton.

Although we are pleased with our purchase, there is more work required than what we first anticipated.

A familiar story to some on here I'm sure...

Oh well, the winter working starts here!!

These are just general photos from purchase to journey to collection. Will upload more pics of work to be done - and believe me, there will be more.........

The pics from the original advert:

In the port in Malta ready to board ship:

In Southampton and the journey home:

 

[easy]

Nice van dood, what sort of work does it need? 8)

 

[mcvw]

It drove onto the transporter - that's gotta be a good start

 

[Guest]

It drove onto the transporter - that's gotta be a good start

that just means its not low enough :wink: 8)

 

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Just been up to the garage today to have a look at what's what and it seems things aren't as bad as we thought they might be. It needs a bit of welding behind both wheels on the front, a little bit on the floor inside and the sunroof is broken, but the chassis, outriggers, jacking points and all usual areas seem to be in good original solid condition, which is great news!

Will post more pics on here after Sunday when we have a really in-depth look.

mcvw - it only JUST drove onto the trailer - some engine bits are missing! Gonna get rebuilt before long...

Johnny - yes, it definitely needs lowering at some point in the near future!! :mrgreen:

 

[T2-Nate]

Looks pretty damn good in my humble opinion 8)

 

[Camperdan]

Same colour and year as mine...... so you can count on me for my appreciation!

Love it!

 

[AxlFoley]

looking good, i reccon the UK must have more campers here now than we have ever had before lol

 

[ground hugger]

Hi nice microbus you have there.If you are interested I have a middle
bench seat .Seats three with the fold down back looks like the same colour as your interior. Im in Rotherham pick it up and its yours FREE

 

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Hi nice microbus you have there.If you are interested I have a middle
bench seat .Seats three with the fold down back looks like the same colour as your interior. Im in Rotherham pick it up and its yours FREE

ground hugger - that would be ace if we could take that off your hands! Any chance we could pick it up tomorrow sometime? Could you PM me your phone no. and I'll give you a ring to arrange collection?
Cheers

 

[ground hugger]

pm sent

 

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Cheers, see you tomorrow.

 

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Right, we've been working up at the garage all day today and here is what we found...

The cargo floor looked a bit bent in places so we decided to have a little tap and unfortunately there was filler in various places... after much digging, we decided to replace the whole floor so started cutting. This also has given us a good opportunity to check out the chassis behind the belly pans and although the floor has gone, the chassis appears to be excellent - phew!

Also at the back of the walkthrough section where the heater vent is, this was solid with filler and stuffed with various varieties of rags, cardboard and paper - as was the front nose panel just above the wiper motor (see pics). The glove box when removed had been repaired with the original for sale sign...???

A HUGE THANK YOU to groundhugger for giving us the middle seat this morning, which is going to look ace!! I believe right hand drive middle seats aren't that common(?)

Just out of interest, how common are right hand drive sunroof deluxe buses... anyone??

Also, does anyone know the best place to buy floor sections from? And does anyone have any photos of this work being done?

Overall, I'm VERY pleased with how solid this vehicle is for the price we paid (all in all £3,500 inc shipping and transport, etc). Yes, you heard right £3,500!!!

 

[T2-Nate]

Well, how appearances can be deceiving :shock:
It'll give you countless ours of cutting, welding & grinding!
Join our select group 8)

 

[58herbie]

so what was the original colour as there seems to be a lot of orange creeping through in some pics.. what codes are on the m plate

jon

 

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so what was the original colour as there seems to be a lot of orange creeping through in some pics.. what codes are on the m plate

jon

We're guessing it was Sierra Yellow (according to thesamba.com it's the only colour it could be). Haven't taken note of the M codes yet but will do it over the weekend.

 

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More pics... the other side seemed much worse - more rags, cardboard and filler to contend with!!

More to come after the weekend...

 

[ground hugger]

A HUGE THANK YOU to groundhugger for giving us the middle seat this morning, which is going to look ace!! I believe right hand drive middle seats aren't that common(?)
Nice to meet you and help you out .Theres one for sale on vzi £150.00 :lol:
no worries "one mans shit is another mans treasure" an all that :lol: :lol:

GSF do the universal floor repair panels £17.50 each but they only fit upto the front of the rear wheelarch.You can buy full floor panels but when I was replacing mine you could only get Lhd ones.Dont throw the seat bolting plates I dont think you can buy them :wink:

Oh and I have some photos just like yours.Keep digging my hole got a lot bigger than yours but its all replaceable and worth it in the end :wink:

 

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There is still some more digging to do on ours so it could get bigger :lol:
Nice to meet you. One day when they are both on the road, we should go for a pint - looks like we owe you a fair few now!!! :lol: :lol:

 

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Right, we've finally got round to checking out the M codes and here we have it:


22 010 914
508
040652 A34 008 240 248
36 5 7479 NY 2440 11


If we're not mistaken, this means:

2 = 1972 (so not actually a '71)
2 = Type 2
010914 = chassis no.

508 = with vent wings (rear opening quarters) - currently trying to find some as they've been removed at some point

0406 = Sierra Yellow over Pastel White (originally)
52 = leatherette alabaster (grey)
A34 = ?? white front turn signals, side mounted turn signals (these have been welded up unfortunately)
008 = ?? rear heater outlet OR sunroof (not sure about this one really)
240 = recessed crown pistons for low octane fuel
248 = without steering lock

36 5 = Week 36 Day 5 (Friday 8th September)
7479 = ???
MY = Italy (original country of shipping)
2 = Type 2
4 = Microbus Deluxe 8 Seater
4 = RHD
011 = Type 1 50bhp engine, 4 speed gearbox (manual)


Phew - that took us about an hour and a half to work it all out!!