Aircooled VW South Africa

UKDave wrote:Not sure what the rules and regs say over there, but over here garden hosepipe is not suitable for supplying highly flammable gas - especially when it is attatched to appliances inside a van using jubilee clips

What did I miss on this? Was this how you got the van?

Goosebeak wrote:

UKDave wrote:Not sure what the rules and regs say over there, but over here garden hosepipe is not suitable for supplying highly flammable gas - especially when it is attatched to appliances inside a van using jubilee clips

What did I miss on this? Was this how you got the van?

Yes, there was a metal adapter that connected to the gas cylinder which had a jubille clip holding some garden hose onto it. There was about a foot of hose then a brass adapter that joined the hose to some copper brake line. That went through a hole in the side of the van into the rear of the van. Then it was connected to a regulator which in turn had another peice of garden hose that was connected to the back of the cooker by means of another jubilee clip.



It's all been cut off now.

Dave....it's called "a Boer maak n plan " ...that's what it is.
and i bet it worked extremely well just like that for 20 odd years !

splitbusahollic wrote:Dave....it's called "a Boer maak n plan " ...that's what it is.
and i bet it worked extremely well just like that for 20 odd years !

Exactly, if it did leak it'd either be dispersed into the air outside or you'd smell it pretty quickly in the van. I bet there's thousands of Grandads with similar set ups in their sheds ( sheds might be an English thing - it's where men go to sulk,fix broken stuff that'd be better replaced and make things out of other things - women are STRICTLY not allowed into a mans shed)


My mate worked at NASA on the Space Shuttle programme and he used to bodge all sorts of stuff to keep things on track - you never saw those things blowi........oh wait a minute

Haha down here we don't have sheds for making stuff. We have full blown workshops in our garages! The shed is where we keep unwanted stuff

And no "shed" is complete without a beer fridge...

AHEM

Aren't these SHEDS/WORKSHOPS also referred to as "The MAN CAVE"

The place that the Guys go to to "FIX" stuff that is neither broken nor "Fixable" - a way of making out that you are very busy with REALLY important stuff - and of course having some kind of drink to ensure that they don't dehydrate during the process

whilst the "SWAMBO's or Washing, Ironing, F###ing, Etc's do the things that drive you to your "Man Caves"



Nice bus Dave!!!

Err Ron have you seen the constuction projects the members on here are busy with or completed!! Beer fridges are sooo 2010

You guys crack me up - a fridge outside in the UK


We have paraffin heaters and take a flask of hot tea with a tot ir two of whisky in it - and that's in summer!

So what are the plans for it Dave? Are you going to convert it (back?) to a people carrier or keep it as a camper van. Are you going to reconstruct the camping interior?
I'm afraid you won't get much info from the "birth certificate" you have requested. All you will be told is that the bus was exported to South Africa as a knock down kit and assembled by VWSA. They won't be able to give you the original paint colour, upholstry colour, endine number, etc, etc. I tried the same for my 1965 10 seater bus. A few others on the forum have also tried with dissappointing results.
Did the seller in Pinetown have any other info on previous owners, etc, etc?
Cheers

jolas wrote:So what are the plans for it Dave? Are you going to convert it (back?) to a people carrier or keep it as a camper van. Are you going to reconstruct the camping interior?
I'm afraid you won't get much info from the "birth certificate" you have requested. All you will be told is that the bus was exported to South Africa as a knock down kit and assembled by VWSA. They won't be able to give you the original paint colour, upholstry colour, endine number, etc, etc. I tried the same for my 1965 10 seater bus. A few others on the forum have also tried with dissappointing results.
Did the seller in Pinetown have any other info on previous owners, etc, etc?
Cheers

I keep changing my mind when I see other peoples interiors! The best thing to do is leave it as it is for now and see if I like it or not. I'll be getting rid of the fridge though as it takes up a hell of a lot of room. There's two adults and three kids in our family and that would give us room for some sort of moveable/slide out seat so we can sit comfortably around the table. The interior is a home made one and isn't as good as it may look in the pictures. I don't like the idea of cooking inside the van especially with a three year old bouncing around so I think anything involving a stove will be done outside on a door shelf or in the awning.

I think the original paint is Dove Blue as that's the colour hiden away in the underseat storage. I wish it was still that colour as I'm not really keen on this one! I may have the light blue repainted white or cream once I've settled into it.

To be honest I'll be glad if they only tell me the year it was manufactured - this is all I need to register it then I can drive it instead of it being a £12,000 play house for the kids!

I've asked the previous owner - he said everything he had - receipts, old papers etc - was with the bus when he shipped it over here but all I got was the customs papers and the S.A. registration document. He did say that the engine is not the original, he had the bus painted, the engine serviced, four new tyres and bought some of the new rubbers it needs - but that is about as much as I can get from him.

It's so frustrating that I can't get out and about simply because the VIN is one of a few that were messed up.

is Fig away on holiday ? He could surely help Dave find answers to some of his questions !

It's been confirmed that the bus was made in May 1963. Apparantly the first of January is quite a common date for older vehicles as it doesn't really make any difference - what's four months on a forty eight year old vehicle? It was that original registration date and that there were some errors on VIN plates that was throwing me.

I'll be off to the DVLA tomorrow and hand in the papers to get it registered. Shouldn't take too long to get it sorted and then I'll be able to get a few miles (or kms as it is at the moment) on the clock - once the door and window rubbers are fitted that is - it may be summer but it has hardly stopped raining since I got the van last Thursday.

Thanks for all the help and pointers.

Will keep you informed of my progress

splitbusahollic wrote:is Fig away on holiday ? He could surely help Dave find answers to some of his questions !

fig NEEDS a holiday. I've been a bit scarce lately as very busy at work and on the farm. I won't be on here much until after Ferdi's, which I'm hoping to attend, but have to juggle other commitments.

I have PMed David.

Can anyone understand the logic behind this.....

I took my splitty for an MOT - a yearly test to ensure that a vehicle is roadworthy - brakes, lights, chassis etc - and it passed with a couple of what they call advisories. Basically they are just suggestions or pointers that things may need doing before your next MOT or they were only just passed. Mine were that the brakes needed looking at as they only just met the standard and that the rear light lenses didn't have much colour left in them - he suggested getting new lenses or coloured bulbs and bleeding the brake system again.

You are legally allowed to drive a vehicle to a pre-arranged appointment at an MOT station even if it's 200 miles away as long as the vehicle is insured. The fact that the vehicle could have no brakes, no lights, a rotten chassis and bits of sharp rusty metal sticking out everywhere doesn't matter - as long as it's insured.

Last week I took my MOT certificate, my insurance certificate, a letter from the Split Screen Van Club confirming the age of the vehicle, the document saying that all import duties had been paid and the S.A registration document to the DVLA who will re-register the van with a UK plate. Everything was fine but they pick random vehicles to check the VIN plate and engine numbers match and that the vehicle appears to be the one that is to be regsitered - and mine was one of those

The problem now is that it has to be taken there by either a trader who has an open insurance policy and what are called trade plates - it is a number plate that is displayed on a vehicle so that if it is caught by a speed camera etc. the owner/driver can be traced through the registered owner of the trade plates, or to get it taken on a transporter. It cannot be towed as it is not registered yet it was perfectly legal to take it to an MOT station even though it could have been a death trap. At the time I took mine, the DVLA had no idea who owned the vehicle. Now they have the original S.A. registration documents along with my details so the Police could quite easily ring the DVLA in Manchester and ask if they know of a vehicle with the S.A. plate that they have got on their records and take it from there.

What a load of

On a postive note I 've replaced the cab door and window rubbers as your baking hot sun had turned them to biscuits! Took a bit longer than it should as someone had previoulsy tried hammering the rubbers in and squashed the channels that the rubbers (eventually) slip into. Couldn't believe that a 48 year van had virtually no rust in a door that had no rust proofing (or paint) on the inside. You don't know how lucky you are

Fixed a few bits n pieces but don't want to start anything until I've had it on the road a few times and found out if there's anything important that needs doing!

Few more pics of the van just before I brought it home.

http://s1031.photobucket.com/albums/y37 ... 63Splitty/

Take care eveyone