jabbo
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Sept 10, 2007 19:53:27 GMT
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Thought I'd start a little thread on here about my latest vehicle purchase. It's a 1969 one owner from new Italian market VW panel van. Basically the van hadn't been used since 1987, was a non runner, had no brakes or electrics and was located in Milan! I decided to take a chance on it based on the pictures I'd been sent then 4 weeks later this turned up in my road;   |
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jabbo
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Sept 10, 2007 20:01:34 GMT
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So it was off the trailer and onto the drive to assess the damage.  Luckily, as it turned out the van was rock solid (exactly what I needed after numerous day's of welding on my girlfriend's bus). The body work is a bit battered, and has had a respray at some point (albeit not too well), and unfortuntaley the previous owners had deceided an extra side window was needed;    Future plans for the body are to give it a bit of a tidy up (nothing major), and to weld up the extra window. |
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jabbo
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Sept 10, 2007 20:05:18 GMT
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The inside of the van is stock up front;  And empty out back (excluding the parts I had shipped across with the van;  Plans here are to leave the cab as it is, and to build a basic r'n'r bed and chuck some flooring down in the back. |
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Sept 10, 2007 20:07:26 GMT
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OOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooofffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff !!
For bargaining power !!
I used to drive a '68 panel , converted to camper. 1600cc of not much grunt.
Had good times in it though.
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jabbo
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Posts: 1,151
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Sept 10, 2007 20:19:03 GMT
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So down to mechanics. And time to start work on the van. From what I could see the engine appeared good, and how right I was. 20 minutes of tinkering, a new battery, some oil and fuel and it was up and running. ;D It still needs a proper tune up, but it's running ok at the mo.
Next on the list was the electrics. After checking the whole system through it seemed the only working electrical items were one sidelight, and one rear light and brake light. Another two hours of tinkering (and the purchase of a horn) resulted in everything working as it should. Got to admit the wiring was a bit confusing as the bus had been wired so you could only start the engine with the lights on. Much headscratching caused by that one!
Finally onto the brakes. The bus was supplied with a new set of cylinders and some new shoes. On closer inspection it appeared only one of the cylinders needed changing, the rest just needed new flexihoses and a good bleeding.
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Sept 11, 2007 7:49:01 GMT
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nice, looks like you did real well! great to see a double door too.
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Remade In Australia
thereimaginarium.com.au
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Stu
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,913
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Sept 11, 2007 7:55:07 GMT
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Looks excellent Jabbo, great project and well done for taking the risk to get it shipped over! Keep us updated with progress  Can I ask how much it cost for shipping? Everytime I go to Italy I start having thoughts about buying an old Fiat 500 or similar, not sure I'd fancy driving one all the way back to the UK though! |
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'89 BMW E30 325i Sport, '04 MINI Cooper S, '09 Volvo V70 D5
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Sept 11, 2007 8:26:10 GMT
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Nice work Jabbo... Years ago I found a second hand car place in Northern Italy which had some awesome stuff in it,.. posted up some images on here and Volkszone,... then promptly lost the thread and the website... never found it again  ... What was the import experience like?? |
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Last Edit: Sept 11, 2007 10:30:46 GMT by HoTWire
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Sept 11, 2007 9:54:16 GMT
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Nice one, love the delivery truck pic... Piaggio things, Ducati (?), VW and an Exige... odd combination!
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Sept 11, 2007 10:14:53 GMT
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nice, looks like you did real well! great to see a double door too. Not quite seeing the double door, see the channel in rear panel but handle & hinge? |
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jabbo
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Sept 11, 2007 10:16:54 GMT
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Yep, that's a Ducati on there. The transport driver was an absolute madman (but in a good way). Once he'd unloaded the Exige he let me take it for a spin. Absolutely awesome little thing, but a right pain to get in and out of. With regard to shipping the guy I dealt with way really useful, and spoke perfect English. He arranged the transporter, and loaded up everything inside. He then told me the date it would be leaving Milan, and the date it was expected in the country. The van was then delivered to my door for 1000Euros, which equated to about £650 as the exchange rate was then. |
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jabbo
Posted a lot
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Posts: 1,151
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Sept 11, 2007 10:24:47 GMT
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Anyways, having done the bits of work on the camper I knew were necessary, I decided to try my luck and took it for an MOT. It ended up failing on the following things; Both front tyres were split Front brake imbalance One headlight not working on dipped beam One washer jet not working Too many stickers in the window! Thankfully the last three were all easily sorted in a few moments. As for the tyres, that wasn't really a problem as I had some spare wheels laying around which I planned to fit anyways (birthday present form my mum ;D );  That means the front brake imbalance is the only thing left to sort. By the feels of things one of the pistons on the n/s isn't functioning properly, so a strip down and rebuild is in order. |
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jabbo
Posted a lot
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Posts: 1,151
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Sept 11, 2007 10:35:21 GMT
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jabbo
Posted a lot
soy un perdedor
Posts: 1,151
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Sept 11, 2007 10:40:21 GMT
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Hopefully this week if I get chance I'll sort the front brakes so I can get an MOT and get it registered. I'm also toying with the idea of fitting a different exhaust, but I'm not sure which one yet. Choice are the 4 into 1 and muffler off my Ghia;  Or my RX;  |
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Sept 11, 2007 10:46:26 GMT
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Nice old -bus!
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Sept 11, 2007 12:34:27 GMT
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RX looks like it should be on the wall above the fireplace (antler style)!
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