Aircooled VW South Africa

So let me start off by saying that living in the southern suburbs you kinda write off the chances of ever being on the receiving end of the elusive "barn-find" that every petrol head dreams of. But as luck would have it there happened to be just such a thing literally under our noses!

5mins from where I stay, next door to my cousin was a mechanic who's worked on many of his cars.
In a nutshell the important bits are that his dad (an avid and pedantic VW bus owner) passed away some 13 years ago leaving behind his original-owner, fully documented, Original paint, 1971 low light, Delux, bay window bus.

You can imagine how freaking gobsmacked we were, A F******* BARN FIND IN THE BURBS BRU! Lol Who woulda thought right!?

Anyways, we did the checks:
• No rust as it was locked away nice and cozy. Floor and motor was dusty-dry, no holes. Windscreen had some superficial, surface stains but nothing serious.
• Delux trim all there and beautiful, including side step
• Interior trim - All round complete and Amazing, Jailbars all there and intact
• OG spare wheel with OG plastic cover and strapping
• Body is solid and untouched with a few age related parking-lot dings here and there
• Engine complete and runs beautifully (Had a service before being parked all those years ago - Oil was still fairly clean)

On a side-note: A testament to just how pedantic the late owner was is when we took out the power bar to loosen the wheel nuts on a Kombi that stood for 13 years and they easily turned loose?? Only to reveal an even spread of copper-slip applied to each nut! NUTTS!

Sadly Plans are to clean up and sell as there is no space to hold the Bay but not before a proper detail and a few Solid road trips are put under its belt!

Here are some pics for clicks...

How we found it












Gave it a wash




Interior








Thanks for looking

Just got the other pics mailed to me from the resto guys.
Since then it was decided that a cleanup meant a full on strip and repray, lol.
Seeing as the body wasn't in a bad way - clean, strip, spray and assemble was surely going to be an easy task.

So this is where its at, right now:

'72.

Neat find. The respray is a real pity though.

Merlin wrote:'72.

Neat find. The respray is a real pity though.

I know right? In the beginning the plan was to keep it untouched and just "buff it out" but it really did no justice to this beautiful specimen of a bay. And besides, there are detailed pics of every panel showing the honesty and integrity of the bus before respray.
Just look how tasty that new pain looks!

It's all in the details, loving the skinny white walls.

Yeh a lovely bus indeed - but not those blue white-walls.

Pity it must be sold man

Sell me your Mk1, keep the Bay.
Problem solved.

Price when for sale?

Great find. Looks like a very nice bus.

jolas wrote:Yeh a lovely bus indeed - but not those blue white-walls.

Pity it must be sold man

It is a pity ey, at least I'd be able to tick it off the bucket list...
WRT the whit walls, different strokes I guess. Personally I think it works as it is period correct and looks a lot nicer than the broad white wall inserts.

Blitzkrieg wrote:Sell me your Mk1, keep the Bay.
Problem solved.

Lol. Bri that mk1 has been a work in progress for too long now, might consider selling the damn thing if it ever decides to run! Hahaha

Almost done!
Super happy with the outcome. Got a new replacement rubber kit fitted for basically any/all the rubbers that looked worn or perished, also new rubber floor matt front and rear. Still needs final buff and a few more accessories:
•Mudflaps,
•roof rack,
•sound,
•alarm,
•1 missing hubcap
•clean white trim

(NB- we fitted tints to make those road trips more comfy as there's no luxury A/C. It does look ALOT darker in the pics because of the fluorescent lights and flash but they're actually the lightest available film on the market that is also UV resistant which goes a long way in the protection of the original seats (and your skin! Lol)

...then a photo shoot to finish it all off. Can't wait.

For now tho, we're so close I can almost smell that road-trip air!

Netjies, that's all I can say

Like it a lot. Well done!

Lovely, I don't like the blue stripe either but I love that the only mod you have done is to preserve the bus by killing rust and painting over. Down at the sea you have no choice. I prefer fig's view of preserving the bus as it is, rust dings and faded og paint but I painted mine too. It will be destroyed here without good paint.