1979 Bay window kombi project

Give details and pictures of your ACVW projects here.
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lombruan
Drip
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What model do you have?: 1973 VW Kombi
Location: Pretoria

1979 Bay window kombi project

Post by lombruan »

Hi Everybody

I'm new to this forum and so glad I was told about it. My wife and I started a project and I thought I'll share some info. A while back we decided to go on a road trip through South Africa and the best way to do that would be in a VW kombi. We searched Junkmail and newspapers and ended up realizing that a 'Splitty' would unfortunately be too expensive for us, so we ended up on the next best thing, a 1979 Bay Window Type 2. After looking at a number of bodies, we found one we could repair within our time limit (leaving end of March 2010). The interior was close to spotless, which is a great plus since it even still had it's original radio. But the guy we bought it from tried to install a 3L Ford engine in it. He ended up drilling holes in the front to allow for a radiator to be installed inside the kombi! Well, needless to say, the engine was the first thing we sold as scrap metal. The kombi is now still a work in progress, but I'll keep you updated and post photos as we progress.

The kombi is currently in the workshop to repair the holes that in the front and a respray. We got the colour codes from VW for our model and decided on red instead of the green. Apparently red paint is more expensive than the other colours, don't know why, but we're going red anyway. You'll see from the photo's below she still has her original rims and hubcaps. We're sending the bumpers and rims in to be powder coated white again. We're struggling to find a new windscreen and the original aerial, so if someone has any tips, please contact me. For the interior we decided on a two-tone colour scheme - white and red. I'm receiving all the interior panels today, so then the search for an upholstery shop to do the job for us on our limited budget.

My wife's a photographer, so we played around and took some 'before' photos. I'll post more as we go along!

Image

Image

Image
Chris
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Re: 1979 Bay window kombi project

Post by Chris »

Welcome lombruan.

Apart from the holes in the nose,the Kombi seems very straight and a nice project to work on.

Keep us updated on the progress and when you do the trip around SA,takes lots of pics as I am sure the guys will be following with interest. :P
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Dawie
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Re: 1979 Bay window kombi project

Post by Dawie »

Congratulations with your baywindow.

By the way, it looks like a 1973 or early 74 model.
Staying Aircooled is so much nicer.
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buggyfan
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Re: 1979 Bay window kombi project

Post by buggyfan »

hi ,if youre in the joburg[westrand] area i can recommend an upholsterer

petrus
cell 0835721051

some of his work
http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopi ... &start=105
http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopi ... tt#p269451" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
lombruan
Drip
Posts: 17
Joined: Wed Sep 23, 2009 1:46 pm
What model do you have?: 1973 VW Kombi
Location: Pretoria

Re: 1979 Bay window kombi project

Post by lombruan »

Thanks for the replies!

Dawie, I was told it was 'n 1979 model, but it does not really make a difference to me. I assume there are visible differences between the 73/4 model and 79 model?

Buggyfan, his work looks great! I'll most definitely contact him. I'm in Pretoria, so it's not too far away.
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dsan
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Re: 1979 Bay window kombi project

Post by dsan »

now that is a trip i'd love to do. looks like a good base, got to love it when a man is allowed access to a power tool, those holes are the stuff of legends!
Daniel
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Re: 1979 Bay window kombi project

Post by Blitzkrieg »

For some odd reason, I actually like how those holes were drilled. Better than hanging a giant radiator in front of the car!
If it's too low, you're too old :twisted:
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Dutch_Diver
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Re: 1979 Bay window kombi project

Post by Dutch_Diver »

Welcome and good luck with all the project work...keep the updates and pictures coming and we can maybe help with advice... :LOL:
"MO" - 1965 Splitscreen bus --> http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopi ... =37&t=9305" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"BOBBIE" - 1963 Beetle --> http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopi ... 23&t=11338" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: 1979 Bay window kombi project

Post by brianj »

Blitzkrieg wrote:For some odd reason, I actually like how those holes were drilled. Better than hanging a giant radiator in front of the car!
has holesaw written all over it... but man it must have been hot in the bus when that v6 was running hard..
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