My new project :)

[kevinhall]

Looks like the clio may be on hold for a while as my new project has now arrived:

Broke down on the way home as ran out of battery charge. So first job was to rewire the alternator as the loom was a mess:

Then we picked up a new interior to try and make one good one out of all the bits we had:

Off this weekend to see about getting some welding done and the van resprayed. If we go ahead with it, plan is to bring the engine back with me for a full strip down and rebuild with twin carbs. THen refit the interior and get it all ready for the volkzone show in March

 

[Jason_E]

Awesome! Love these

 

[iimushroomzii]

Awesome

 

[Jon.L]

sweet keep it updated mate

 

[Scrooge]

I love a campervan, iwant one in the green the used to do the old smeg fridges in

 

[Laura]

hell yes.

not quite a splitty but ill roll with it

 

[Vicky.]

Awesome, have a lot of time for these. My dad's got a 1971 bay as a project so far he rebuilt the engine but it seems the welding is the time consuming part. Love the EMPI 5 spokes too, they look really good. Would recommend a short shift EMPI gear lever makes changing gear less like stirring something lol!

 

[kevinhall]

^^ aye short shift is on the wish list although the stirring porridge feel is part of the charm

hell yes.

not quite a splitty but ill roll with it

Always wanted a splitty until i started looking properly. Early bays are just so much more useable and rarer! Unfortunately mines a crossover so not pure EB but it'll do!

 

[Laura]

bringing it to any shows?

my 1st one if deva dubs in june iirc.. thats when the golf will be ready n i need to find someone to drive my camper down lol

 

[Vicky.]

Yeah I know what you mean, they are good fun. Keep us updated!!

My dad's in a sorry state atm...

 

[Bubbles]

Ahh, many evenings spent flicking through the VW parts book making a list

 

[Englebert]

Can't wait to see what happens with this!

 

[Weeman]

Awesome!!! Love these

 

[fUbAr]

I would have one if i had another off road parking space... love them. I would leave the welding, just do the essential to make it safe and then concentrate on the engine, brakes etc... Always wanted a rough as f**k splitty but with renewed mechanicals so keep it ticking over sweet.

 

[Alastair.]

lucky boy, would love one

 

[DannoTheGreat]

lucky c**t, iv been dyin to get my hands on one of them

 

[VeinAST]

i think Im the only one who wouldnt own one. Fun things but just couldn't sit that high up driving something.

 

[jamesybear]

looks good, but not fans of vw's at all really so wouldnt ever own one, but they seem like fun projects

 

[jonnyboy]

Two words for you

Porsche

Engine

 

[paul_h172]

Cool as f**k!!

 

[AlexS]

Mint bang bus!

 

[The Big Yin]

I used to have one of these in Orange many many years ago makes me wish i hadn't got rid of it

Good luck with the resto

 

[Parky]

Very jealous...wanted one of these for so many years now..

 

[sideways danny]

I want another dub That's epic Kevin. I know a bus man if you need any help

 

[kevinhall]

Right, went to see the first resto man at the weekend. Good news is its reasonable solid as i thought, jacking points, outriggers, beam and majority of the body good

List of work goes something like:
- new inner and outer front valance
- new a-posts
- new panel under bottom edge of windscreen
- new front outer arches - ones on are good but not fitted properly
- new panels in front of and behind both rear arches
- new tailgate door or at least bottom edge repair panel
- new sliding door or bottom edge repair panel
- couple of gutter/roof corner repairs
- new cab floor or repair panels
- new rear load area floor and spare wheel well
- new offside battery tray
- remove central belly pans then poss new chassis rails as can't tell until pans are off
- full strip down, respray in neptune blue and pastel white and rebuild with new seals all round

Just waiting for the cost now

On the upside, my first package of new bits arrived with bumpers, grill, and opening quarterlight window ready to go on as part of the resto.

 

[Laura]

Do it yourself boy!

 

[kevinhall]

^^Would love to, but it would take me years and just want to use it! Garage is local though so am going to be free labour for him in the strip down and rebuild plus going to strip and rebuild the engine myself. Just leaving the welding and spraying to the experts.

 

[kevinhall]

So, thought it was high time I did a bit of an update. My father in law got me a book on restoration for Christmas and I thought, how hard can it be? lol. So as the weather warmed up I decided to crack on with it...

Day one. Had the lads round and removed the pop top and started to bare metal the front to see what was what. No progress shots on my camera but left with this…

Day two. Had to work half of it so only had a couple of hours. The missus and I decided to nitromors and strip back the rear quarters.

My glamerous assistant working hard

Some previous repairs

Day 3. My dad came over to give us a hand and we dropped the engine out and stripped the drivers side paint.

Day 4. My father in law came over and we popped out all the windows and the dash. Some more rot :roll: These had been covered in fibreglass resin!

And here he is tucked away at the end of the day.

Aim is to get the whole van stripped back to a solid original paint layer, uncover and dodgy old repairs, redo them myself where I can and otherwise get some help with them and then get him painted and rebuilt in time for my wife’s cousin’s wedding at the end of July.

Will try and keep the updates coming.

 

[nevillemaycry3]

Awesome, eagerly awaiting more updates:approve:

 

[BREMBO]

Kool

You weren't on come dine with me at all ? lol

 

[kevinhall]

^^lol no! Could do with the £1000 tho!

 

[_Tom]

I want a camper in my life..pref a splitty!

 

[kevinhall]

Quick update on the weekend's progress. Spent Saturday over in Norwich with FunkyMunky off here swapping his standard seats for a lovely set of trophy recaros. Only took a couple of hours but traffic was sh!te on the way back and raining when we got home so nothing doing on the van Saturday.

So Sunday, we carried on with the strip back. Neighboor had left her shiny new car on the drieway and we were getting the nitromors out so thought we'd better get the tent up for protection:

Putting on the nitromors:

Rear panel came up great, lovely layer of original primer to work from. Evidence of repairs to the sill and behind the arch again:

Then started on the sliding door - didn't need much nitromors on the top coat, paint just chipped off in sheets:

Knew it was a replacement sliding door but lots of filler.

So we removed it to make it easier to work on and found this under the 3rd layer of paint:

Whole bottom right corner is warped and not connected to the inner strengthening panel anymore. Instead of repair it they have just filled the top part.

Then had a good look around the b post as this didn't look right - now know why, another ton of filler:

Final few moments of the day spent having a look at the A-pillars as the rain channel on these just looked 'heavy'. Seam has come aprt on the back and just been filled and some good evidence of rot at the bottom of the pillar.

By this point it was getting late and had to get the tent down, and cleared up so we called it a day. Some more to look at next weekend though.

 

[The Big Yin]

Good your not loosing faith will be so worth it in the end keep updating

 

[Christopher]

Excellent read. Keep it up.

 

[pritchard182]

love it

 

[Snails]

Good work so far. I'll be keeping an eye on this, as one day i'd love to have a camper of my own.

 

[andybutlers]

I also love this i bought one of these in much worse condition and bought all replacement pannels for it but ended up selling to waste even more money on my cossie. would love another camper one day tho.

 

[Naith]

only just seen this, brilliant stuff. alot of respect for stuff like this.

i actually liked the blue colour too, what colour will it end up?

 

[Gaz.]

i think Im the only one who wouldnt own one.

I wouldn't either.

Should make a good project.