'72 crossdresser microbus / '72 Westy

Discussion in 'Show Us Your Ride' started by Philsn, Apr 16, 2016.

  1. My first experience with camper vans was living in this bad boy for just shy of a year. That was about ten years ago when my only worries were if I had enough money to go to the pub.

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    I've always been into old VW's, mainly water cooled though. Enter the now wife and my first major joint purchase - Hank. This was an absolute belter of a bus we had for about four years and is sorely missed. It was the usual case of a house move and a young kid added up to moving him on.

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    Fast forward a couple of years, a beetle, a T25 and a Subaru powered Westy. I still felt the need for a bus I could keep long term and build upon.

    I started my search meeting a Brazillian guy who was importing split Kombi's. The state of these was unbelievable, I suppose it's to be expected that in a developing country they would carry whatever rudimentary repairs were required to just keep something going. I soon decided we would be better with a bay.

    I'll get to the point leading to where we are today. I headed up to Restore N More to look at a bus requiring a fair bit of work, but with the mindset it could be exactly how I wanted it. It was timescale more than cost that that lead me to the bus I ended up with. Steve happened to mention he had a bus having some MOT prep carried out, so I headed over to have a look at that. As soon as I saw it I was fairly confident I wanted it. It's exactly the colours the Mrs has always wanted, the only snag being it's a micro bus.

    Before I had it delivered I arranged for their mechanic to lower it. Nothing drastic, just a sensible drop.

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    Not the best photo's so far, but I've had a busy weekend with other stuff. I did manage to give it a quick wash.

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    All tucked up, I've just submitted plans to build a double garage so hopefully I'll have some more room around it soon.

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    I picked up a Westy Campmobile interior for it a few weeks ago (just for reference you can fit the whole thing in / on an old 3 series touring. I've the scratches on the roof to prove it). I'm debating about putting this in though, the current interior is awesome and I think I may just get away with some rock n roll hinges. My old man is keen for me to make up my mind though as it's sat in his garage.

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    Merlin Cat, gninnam, Zed and 2 others like this.
  2. I've sold the microbus interior, this is on its way to Belgium next week.

    I still have the Westy Campmobile interior with 3/4 bed, but this is for sale as I've bought a full width to go in.

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    I've been tinkering with it quite a bit recently, but just couldn't get it running quite right. I dropped an electronic ignition in and this seemed to improve things to a point where it was driveable. After a bit headscratching I decided to do a compression test, all cylinders were showing 80-90. I'll be taking the heads off this weekend and delving in, unless someone has a nice type 4 to drop in instead?
     
    Rez, Merlin Cat, rob.e and 1 other person like this.
  3. bernjb56

    bernjb56 Supporter

    Welcome along - looks solid :thumbsup:
     
  4. PIE

    PIE

  5. Great looking bus :)
     
  6. Cheers, it is a rock solid bus with a nice bit of character to it. I wanted something freshly imported that hadn't been messed with too much.

    I'm taking inspiration from yours PIE. I imagine I'll end up with a pop top on it in the next couple of years as the kids grow. We do have an awning, but I always want us all to be able to sleep in it if necessary. This is the main reason for going for a full width bed. This and a cab hammock should see us right for now.

    I've got it UK registered now, YOD676K which was a fairly painless process.

    I was planning on pulling the interior out today and starting the prep to remove the heads. It didn't happen though, my daughter's off school for a training day (teachers want a long weekend) and The Mrs only reminded me last night.
     
    rob.e likes this.
  7. That could be tempting. I think I need to focus on getting it up and running properly for Santa Pod first though. Either that or I'll be sleeping in the back of my estate car again!
     
  8. I've sold the microbus seats so took them out today. I was pleasantly surprised by how solid the floor is.

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    I also added a sticker as a nod to the bus's heritage.

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    Merlin Cat and deano777 like this.
  9. MorkC68

    MorkC68 Administrator

    Nice looking bus fella :D
     
  10. Looks very nice
     
  11. New plate looks gooooood. Where did you get it from? Been looking at Tippers Vintage Plates.
     
  12. The plates are from here

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/291586361578

    Great service and good price. I was very close to getting some 'Back to the future' style Caifornia ones but couldn't bring myself to spend the best part of £60 to get hassled from the 5-0.

    I did buy some from here originally

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/201380399419

    They were so poor I sent the guy an email saying he should be ashamed of himself. I promptly got refunded.
     
    nobayinhell and Merlin Cat like this.
  13. Nice van, is that Savannah Beige?
     
  14. I think it's Nevada from memory, a bit more creamy than Savannah.

    It's been repainted years ago back in the states (80/90's) so the shades may be a bit off. I got some touch up pots mixed for it at Autopaint a few weeks ago, but forgot to ask the fella what shade he started from.

    I'll hopefully get a free day Friday to make some real progress if I can get this contract finished early.
     
  15. Today saw me tackle my demons head on!

    I've been working on a contract recently which has left me with pretty much zero free time. I managed to finish of the last of the work this afternoon, so while the sun was shining got my bus up in the air.

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    Replied to my Dad's text

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    As it happened out of those 'four bolts' mine only had two or three.

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    We then proceeded to strip the rest of the tin off it to get at the heads, which is where I assume the problem lies as the barrels and pistons look great. I'll fit new rings and new gaskets throughout whilst its all out.

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    Is there anywhere recommended for the gasket set or rings?
     
    Merlin Cat likes this.
  16. I've not had a massive amount of progress on this. I've cleaned all the rear end up and stone chipped inside the arches.

    After getting a couple of valves we've got the heads at a point where they're ready to go back on. However I bought a full gasket set and decided to split the block as it was a bit oily.

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    And for reference the block fits in the back of my dads MX5

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  17. Just to bring this a bit more up to date . . .

    We got the engine back in last week after a full rebuild of the original 1700 type 4. Initially we struggled with no spark. As it happens you can't just buy a coil anymore from your local motor factor, but we managed to pick one up when we were down at Dragstalgia. This made no difference, and the culprit was my electronic ignition which had covered approximately 5 miles. We pulled this out and went back to the points and it fired up a dream.

    I stuck the exhaust on it today and warmed it up, I even managed to get it to idle. I just need to tinker with the ignition timing and get all the tin wear and heat pipes bolted up and we should hopefully be good to go.

    I've also got the interior to a usable point, essentially just a full width Westy bed for now. I'm looking to make some kind of removable pod to go across the bulkhead to enable sitting both sides of the table. To celebrate my daughter and I had crackers and cheese and a brew in the bus.

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    Merlin Cat, nobbly, JamesLey and 4 others like this.
  18. Looking good buddy :)
     

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