Aircooled VW South Africa

I thought it would be interesting to anyone searching for a specific machine like I did to see the progression that led to me being able to post this thread.

First I'd like to thank the members of this forum again for their kind advice and contagious enthusiasm.

I started looking at classic VW kombis early last year. Why? This may seem odd but in general I consider motor cars a very poor investment. As an example I still drive my '94 Kadett that took me through varsity. It just doesn't pay to sell a car. A classic automobile in my opinion is a great way to enjoy motoring and get the best value for your money. It's not all numbers for me I do enjoy the vroom vrooms for what they are. I wouldn't have a '99 R1100GS if I didn't, I do however like to mix my arguably poor choices with a reasonable level of good sense. My "good sense reason" for the GS is that I didn't want to spend big buck on a 4x4 to see some of the less accessible gems our continent has to offer. The motorcycle gets me there quicker and I thoroughly enjoy the whole experience weather and all!

My initial fascination was with Splitty's. I love the look of a standard split window kombi. Two things deterred me. Price and performance. While I don't expect a classic to scoot along like a modern T5 I wasn’t keen on the very slow progress offered by an 1100 Kombi (you do get splittys with more voema). The most practical solution was to get a late bay but my eye was caught by the lovely curves and flash of an early bay at the beginning of 2010. My Dad (a confirmed acvw skeptic) suggested I buy it. It had a true 68000 km on the clock and was offerd at R65K http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopi ... =3&t=17569 . When I called I spoke to the owners wife, a very erudite lady. When I asked if she thought her husband might consider offers I was politely told that he would rather keep the Bus than let it go for less than the asking price. R65K was waaay over my acvw budget so by the time I had persuaded myself to go for the Kombi she was sold. She was Kalahari tan with a white roof and red upholstery and I told myself I’d learned my lesson and wouldn’t hesitate like that again.

Missing out on that bay wasn’t all bad. It gave me a chance to get a feel for the market and continue learning. I’ve learned that there is no set price. These vehicles are worth what a person is willing to pay. That said I was expecting to spend between R20K and R45K depending on condition of the vehicle.

Here are the buys I considered:
Late Bay beautiful Red Executive 2L R30K (owner decided to keep her)
Late Bay Green new 1800 mill R40K (was a bit too rusty for me)
Late Bay Blue 2L R45K (owner stopped communicating, I think I asked for too many pics, last I heard he was going to paint it pink, it looked great in blue)
Eugenes 66 sunroof bug R45K (withdrew sale)
Early Bay ’72 R20K (waiting for reassembly)
Eugenes 66 sunroof bug R40K (who knows what happened)
Early Bay ’72 R20K (still waiting for reassembly)
Bought my ’71 deluxe for R36K

In between all that I considered the merits of speedsters, things and Karmann Ghias. It boiled down to having a classic I could share and buy at a reasonable price.

I know I will end up spending more on the bus. Claimed mileage is 135000km so Im pretty sure I’ll be due for an engine overhaul. The rest of the Kombi looks very neat. Keep in mind I will only see her in steel for the first time later this month. In the meantime my friend has taken photos for me. There is a bit or rust here and there, non of it is holey or very thick and weldworthy, I will post questions regarding how best to deal with it later.

Cosmetic Issues that will be quickly sorted out.

Under the windscreen.

Rear bumper & Front Bumper

Under the trim & Tear in seat

Looks like a GREAT buy that

Glad you've found what you were looking for, I suspect this bus will see plenty road trips

Very nice bus
Glad to hear that you found what you where looking for

Hi andrew i did not paint the bus pink, the pics were not to much but you can only
take so many. Good luck

Never mind Kevi, it was clearly not meant to be. I'm delighted that the blue Namib Queen is still blue though. She's a very nice bus! Is she still in the country?

Three questions while I wait:

• How much of a mission is it to remove the side trim on these Deluxe Kombis without ruining the clips, does anyone have any helpful hints?
• Do repro wheels exist for the Early Bay, the ones on the Deluxe look like like late bay wheels?
• Where can one get replacement rubbers with beading in the event that I have to get rid of rot under a window?

Thanks,
Andrew

If she has disk brakes, those could well be the original rims ..........

Lovely bus, well done a great approach taking your time and not jumping at the first one! Makes a huge difference and I think you ended with the best one by far from the list. Contests

Stunning Bus !!!

Well done

Thanks guys.

Jolas, I'll be quite pleased if she has disk brakes but not too perturbed if she doesn't. A well serviced drum brake system does the job well enough.

Well I've been browsing the Just Kampers site and am quite surprised at the vast number of parts available for the T2. I have found the potential answer to my trim problems if I encounter any. The solution is pricey though!


Belt trim 253.50 Sterling

Window trim 9.50 sterling to complete half a front windscreen


Trim clips at 1.00 sterling each! Can you say ?

I took the afternoon off yesterday and trotted across to Goldwagen to return a faulty "Europart" relay I had bought to replace the tired West German unit on my bus. Boy what a mission! I got an A4 sheet to fill out and was told that I would have to wait until the supplier had analysed the part before I got my money back, R165. My bus is standing in the autoelec's workshop and I am lus to drive it so I grabbed the faulty unit and bought another identical unit thinking I would return with the paperwork and the faulty unit afterwards

It seems they have had a bad batch of these things. Now I had two duds and was not excited at the prospect of going back because there was no way I was going to let them keep my money while they fiddled with their junk
In the meantime I wandered across town to see what I could find at one of the local workshops. I can't remember the name of the place. While I was there I spotted this old splitty, two bays, a late 70s beetle and some spares too. Unfortunately he had no relay for me.




I tried a breaker yard on York street before callling it quits. PE seems to shut down early on a Friday. Back I went to Goldwagen, I don't think they were happy to see me. By now I had a clear understanding of what exactly was wrong with the Europart units and was ready too fight for my right to party. Well, I never got to grab anyone over the counter or even start yelling in an uncouth manner. They announced that the units were faulty and gave me my moolah

All in all the Bus is in good running condition, I will have to sort out her tendency to cut out at low revs once she's hot. Other than the headlights we should be ready for roadworthy. I'm hoping to find a relay early next week so I can get her off to Kenton Auto who will take her through road worthy. Looking under the dash, the wiring looks very clean. I asked Cedric , the Autoelectrician at Cedrics Auto Electrical if he thought she had been rewired. He seems to think not so that's nice. I'm pretty sure the roof has been resprayed though.

Too many pics, let me know if I should make them smaller. Fig, I hope you see I'm trying to host on the Samba. They only allow VW pics though so ride reports will have to be on Photobucket.

These are the front air vent covers, I don't like them and they appear to be held on by those little tabs. They'll be coming off. Next big task after I've driven her for a while will be some rust repair under windows. Front windscreen and both middle side windows must come out. I am thinking I will mosey down to PG glass, have them remove the windows and then mosey home with goggles on to sort her out. Is there a local supplier of window rubbers with trim or should I order overseas now?

I paid R150 to soda blast the front vent panel and what I like to call the nostril covers (they lie beneath the vent)


Then sprayed them with a two-pack under coat that they use on steel hulls of ocean going vessels


The curvy waist of my bus is being patch-painted in an attempt to preserve the og paint. My concern is that the og paint is so brittle it flakes off in places leaving clean bare metal! I may end up having to resray the entire bus in the end.
My method for the sill: Sand off localised rust. Paint with rust converter (this one acts as undercoat too). Smooth the rust pocked surface with a little body filler. Spray on under coat and then lay on the blue. I intend blending my taped off lines with the og paint by using varying grades of burnishing compound and polishing cream.


Bumpers have been removed and will be given some luuurve!

That is such a nice bus. Keep up the good work.