Been promising a thread for a long time, so here goes! This is my 1972 tin top imported from Buffalo, New York state. After selling my Mk1 Golf to fund a Bay, and seeing a few basket cases in my limited price point, after browsing on The Samba forum one evening I came across this one, and with the favourable exchange rate at the time I decided to take the plunge to purchase and import it. The background I was given by the previous owner was that a guy had dropped it off at a body shop minus glass interior etc. and saw it after it was stripped and primed and decided not to go ahead and abandoned it. The guy I bought it from had rescued it from the body shop, but it sat in his garden as it was behind his other van in the pecking order for attention. For a van from the east coast, it is remarkably solid, with the underneath and sliding door channel especially so. The worst areas the right rear battery tray area, front floor drivers side, an area just in front of the rear wheel, and the rear arch lips. The nose looks like it might have had a little filler, but the rest of the bodywork is pretty straight, with some great patina. Inside the vehicle, there are small repairs on the wheel arches which aren't amazing, but all else looks pretty good. There was no engine in the van, and I was looking around for a Type 4 engine when a trip to pick up a cross over rear bumper from @Pickles and seeing his Subaru conversion, inspired me to look into it. Its been my mission collecting parts over a couple of years but pretty much there in terms of the big conversion items: EJ20 engine; engine inspection hatch body cut from a late bay; RJES bellhousing, crossmember and clutch kit; RJES radpack from @Bluebayscooby; and an exhaust from @pgtips . I already had some Porsche tombstone seats, Teledials and adapters from the T25 I previously owned, and have also been working my way through getting things like a dash, headlights, door cards, etc. Will also be teaching myself how to weld so I can attempt the repairs myself. Don't have any power at my garage but will be moving in the summer to somewhere with at least a driveway (and hopefully a garage), so the work will start in earnest then, and be a long term project which I aim to keep track of on here.
Send your loom to nick tune for conversion. Find him on Facebook, VW Subaru hybrid club Loads of threads on here to look at.
Good luck with the Subaru conversion, still loving mine and glad to have been assistance with the bumper.
An update, of sorts. Move didn't happen until October last year but have a garage with power that will fit the van once I change the up-and-over door to side hung. Garage is currently full of our new kitchen which should have been fitted last month as part of reworking the downstairs of the house but builder stopped all works due to coronavirus so is running 6 weeks behind. Fingers crossed can make a start on this in late summer!
