72' VW Bus

I'm not sure when the Type 4 was introduced and I've never drive a bay bus with one but I'd imagine it was a big
improvement ...it deffo needs more poke . 2nd hills are a real chore.
It's goes well enough most of the time but loaded up with gear on a hot day and it starts to get problematic, you need closely monitor the oil temps and slow down till it get to where you want to be .

It was certainly in by '76, and maybe as early as 1974. My 1970 Dormobile had a CU-code 2 litre from an early T25, and that went pretty well. Used to tow my drag bug and trailer about without a problem!
After I wrote that off, I kept the engine and bought a T25 with a 2 litre already fitted. That also went reasonably well, although it was heavier. Did swap the other engine into it at some point, just in case it was a better engine, but it was pretty much the same.
We've now got another T25, a Devon Moonraker that's been fitted with a fixed high top. It was originally a 1600 but now has another CU-code 2 litre in it. It's slower than ever, but that might be due to the 1600 gearbox not matching the power band of the engine. I've got a 2 litre gearbox to rebuild, but if that doesn't sort it, I've got most of the bits for a 2276 type 1 motor, which I reckon would work with type 3 tin. I'd like to go electric, but the wife won't have it!

Love these! Early bays next one the list for me!

You had much to do to it since you bought it?

Any future plans for it?

This is a crossover bay. still very cool in its own right. not early not late.

After a year or so though it deserved a freshen up (about 2003).
A pal of mine was working in a body shop and agreed to paint it if I did all the prep .
It need a couple of bit of welding- battery tray,arch lips and a couple of floor patches .
I rubbed it all down and got it painted .




I though I'd go for a bit of a german look so bought a set of repro Porsche cups for it and lowered it a bit .



In hindsight they were a bad idea .the tyre profile was way too small and it drove dreadfully used more fuel and was super heavy on the steering but I was young (ish) and didn't care about those kind of things !!!
It looked quite cool I think.....for the early 2000's anyway !!

I used the van a bit over the next few years but it stayed in the barn for months at the time and around 2015 didn't get used at all..
When it needed yet another set of those stupid low profile tyres I decide to get rid of them and go back to the original 14" steels and fatty
van tyres ......wow !! I'd forgotten how nice it drove before I ruined it with those wheels !! it was considerably faster,noticeably better on fuel and the
steering was transformed.
When our little boy was about 3 (a couple of years ago) he really started loving going in the van so it started getting a lot more use and I started mountain biking a lot more so it got used for bike trips as well . It ended up staying out side a lot more which had a big effect on the rust .
The drivers front wheel arch looked dreadful and there were a few other bits that made it look rough. The lower screen surround has gone and leaks water into the cab ....Folks even started saying it was looking rough !!!
I'm not having that !!
So about 2 months ago I decided to give it some love .



It's tuned out to be much worse than I thought ...........

Likewise!

I've always found the 14s to be a bit floaty. I didn't do anything with my bay before I wrote it off, but I did put 15" Audi Ronals on my T25, and it was a nicer drive. 
I've mentioned to Em about going for 15" steelies off a T4 for her T25. She said she doesn't care as long as she can put her hubcaps on... 

I decide to tackle the drivers side wheel arch first . The replacement panel was a genuine VW one .
First a tried to unbolt the seat belt  as it right next to the arch.


I've been strapping myself to that for years . You can see it's already been plated before , must have been done  years ago ....I've  had it 20 years.
 Check out the sticker next to it   I might add a "does not" to that with a sharpie.
There's a strengthening plate underneath that's just a muck trap in the wheel arch .
All I could do was cut the old plate out and put another in . I bought a couple of these and welded it on underneath .


Then I chopped out the wheel arch.
I should probably mention as this point that I am not a welder .....I work for an electronic company and I've never really done any big body work welding jobs on any of my cars before.I did the floor pans on the ghia but that's hidden away .........there's no where to hide with this one .

You can see another hole in the side closing plate in that pic ....I'll come back to that .

I mentioned earlier that my bus is a cross over year, that means the wheel arch is one year only . It has an early step with a late arch flare. The correct arches are over £400 each ! the late ones are about 250 I think . My cab step is good so I decided to get a late arch and make it fit my step .
Turned out ok I think.

This is what I did to merge the late arch into my early step 
Bit of  choppy choppy  zap zap ......




Here a shot of my seam weld :


Not too bad for me .....it ground down nicely with no holes so jobs a good'un.

Love Choppy-choppy-zap-zap!

Can't wait to see how you progress!
I've found a few welding jobs on my Cortez that I wasn't aware of until we stripped the inside! Gotta get practicing!

Looking forward to the updates!