Aircooled VW South Africa

I must say,im a big s/c fan,just love them,that last pic is awesome,the drop sides made of wood is just cool,''that hight only''.

WOW Diesel, that is a cool single cab, do you still have it? Is it a Brazilian pick-up?
Ja the height of the gates vexed us, how high, how low, the space between the slats, etc, etc. But I reckon
for transporting sheep, which I have, and other od loads, the height is right, I don't know................any sheep farmers on the forum ?
The other thing is that I have a '74 single cab with standard dropgates and it would'nt make sense to have 2
pick-ups with the same loadbed/dropgate height configuration, if that makes sense !

jolas wrote:Hi Louis, engine needs work, running but carb needs attention. Also busy with exhaust issues at the moment. The gearbox
was worked on apparently, but is jumping out of reverse, also "whines" in 2nd and reverse.
The SC did'nt come with the wide-bed when I bought it, although I do have one for another project.
Have balanced the dropgates onto the load bed, will kind of look like this .................


http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/6396/dscn5174d.jpg
http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/6896/dscn5198.jpg

Hi mine jumps out of 1st and whines in 4th. Still need to fix it.

Where did u got hold of that std exuast?

Howzit Louis
Yes, where do you find a reputable gearbox specialist these days, a lot of them say the geabox is the same as the Beetle
gearbox, which it is'nt, very similar apparently (I don't know much about gearboxs)!

The exhaust "mission" will probably warrant a separate thread. In a nutshell, my friend Sean's dad may start making them
shortly, he has made a few prototypes which we have been experimenting with. I've had my bay window and split living at his
workshop over the last few weeks, the idea is to make a Kombi exhaust that will fit onto a 1600 engine, AND it must fit onto
the splits, the bays, pick-ups and busses without any modifications. (quite tricky with different rear bumper, brackets, etc). Most important, it must look like an original Kombi exhaust..........
Will definetly keep you all posted on the progress. I think that when they are ready to produce, the exhausts will be available
from people like Jurgen at Grandslam, Dave Rowley, etc. But lets wait first, they are still busy with a jig .

He is also going to make J pipes. The one in the pic has gone back to the factory for some tweeks.

pierre(bugger) is the guy that i want to use but he is in jhb. Aparently the split or fleetline uses a beetle where the pinion is just put the other way arround for the rgb . Do you know your gearbox sn nr? If u give it to bugger he will be able to tel u what gb u have and he can fix it. Check out http://www.buggertransmissions.co.za/

I love it! And it's fantastic that it's going to be used as intended - a versatile workhorse.

Thanks for the comments guys.

Hey CooP, are you busy with the bus pictured in your avatar? Did you get it like this or did you do the "join"?
I remember as a laaitjie in Durban seeing one, fascinated me, what do you still have to do? Cheers.
Paul

Nice build Paul , good luck and keep the pics coming !
Daniel i also like the small tail lamps and that was the 1st thing i changed on my bus

Cool bus - like the wood idea - I'd probably take the gates off the 74' and put the the wood gates and a sheep ramp on the back. Another option is two/three roll hoops and a Canvas roll top - looks super cool and useful !

Another one saved and back on the road !!!!!

I did the join myself last year. I have been busy with body filler and seemingly endless sand-papering since then. The rear is a 1972 Westfalia from Germany and the front is a local 1971 panelvan. The list of things to do is a long one but, once I have finished the bodywork then re-installing the original interior shouldn't take long. I'm hoping that wifey will help with curtains and upholstery issues, the rest I shall attempt to do myself. Then it's just the lengthening of the wiring and controls and we're ready for a test drive.

I have also had my share of "purists" with a lot of disparaging comments. But the Westy has been in my family since 1976 and I will never sell it so I reckon to make it right for ME and to heck with them.

If you are really bored then you can see the step-by-step process from the beginning on my website at http://www.kombi.co.za, I also post occasional updates on this forum too.

Cool, nice web address ! (and site), will follow your progress with interest, it's been in your family for some time!
Was it ever in Durban?
Cheers. Paul

Ta for the kind words and sorry for the hijack. It was bought in Cape Town and lived there for 6 years before moving to Jhb. During that time we have traveled all over southern Africa, Moz, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Namibia and yes, Durban
Over 130 000 km of travels (she was only used for holidays). I plan to do a lot of the journeys again as my wife has not seen much of SA, and lots of changes have occurred since.

Haven't made much progress, but we fitted the exhaust, just missing a bracket. Wheels and bumpers removed for
sand blasting, hopefully I can start that tommorrow. Dropgates now properly mounted.
On the '56 ambulance alongside, the front wheel bearings have been replaced, so I can at least push it around now. Need
to find 2 reverse thread nuts for the passenger side stub axle and one more for the driver's side.

Think you can use the clamp nut from a baywindow on the front stubaxle. It may actually work better than the two nuts againt each other, where the locking plate can break and may be hard to find.

The nut from a later box-shape kombi may also work. It was designed to be pinched over a groove. This should still be available from the agents.

those wooden dropsides looks better than the orig. ones. looks so good i think vw should have made it an option