Aircooled VW South Africa

Hello from the sunny (today) UK!

I bought this last week from a guy who'd shipped it back to his brother in Blackburn which is 30 miles or so from Manchester. Would appreciate if you could help me a few things I can't get info on over here. These are a few photos.














Nobody I've spoken to has seen the roof hatch before - can someone tell me what it is - I'm guessing a safari hatch?

We don't need te extra vents over here as it's rarely hot enough to worry about overheating!

Not sure about the seats - been told they are not VW.

Don't see many brake servos either - was that a factory option or has the previous owner added it, along with the T25 ignition, at a later date?

The VIN plate states that the vehicle was assembled in S.A. and is a 432 model - can't find that anywhere either.

It also gives the VIN as 1098*** (you never know who's reading these forums ) which samba.com identifies as 1963 yet the van was registered 1/1/1963 - so unless it was built on new years day and them rushed to the showroom before closing the same day there is something wrong with one of those dates!

If there's anything you want to know about the UK scene or anything else PM me and I'll try my best to help.

Best wishes from the UK
David

Very nice bus, a pity it's over there and not here. the hatch looks very interesting, I don't think it was factory build....but let the experts help you with that. The seats looks as if it came out a Toyota Corolla.......

I remember seeing that bus for sale a few months ago. It was still in KwaZulu Natal. NU registration plates means it last drove around in the Hillcrest area (I think!)
The price at the time was ridiculous I thought, I will see if I saved the advert for you.
Does it have the smaller rear hatch ?
My gut feeling is that this was a kombi which has been converted by one of it's past owners. Are there any name tags at all attached to the fittings/furniture?
And is that a petrol heater fitted inside the engine compartment (offside)?
The extra vents are'nt "factory" fitted in SA - I may be wrong and stand to be corrected, but I haven't seen vents like that with my own eyes.
What is the furniture made of - chip board, solid wood, etc? Does it seem correct for 1962?
Cheers !

Sorry, can't find the ad .............

UKDave wrote:The VIN plate states that the vehicle was assembled in S.A. and is a 432 model - can't find that anywhere either.

the 432 was a misprint on a whole lot of vin tags on buses that were assembled in Uitenhage over a certain period.. i think '63 to '64.....and i think your bus is a '64
and the tag should read 234.....if i'm not mistaken.
the best guy to ask is Fig.

What a nice bus. How does that tap and sink work. I like that.

" ... An unusual aftermarket addition is the extra cooling vents, each with a chrome cover. They can be flapped open to allow more cooling forced into the engine bay." - David Eccles on SA assembled busses. - VW Transportation and Microbus Specification Guide 1950-1967

I thought about that, I have the same book, but those vents look very different. The author also writes about SA busses with double skinned roofs for hot conditions and posts a pic - but I've never seen any of these iether. Seen them on the Series 3 Landrovers.
The sink is very neat and gives the impression that this is a factory built camper, but I don't think it is. Is that thing in the back a petrol heater or the brake booster jobey that Dave speaks about?

jolas wrote:The author also writes about SA busses with double skinned roofs for hot conditions and posts a pic - but I've never seen any of these iether.

Not ZA though.

The author also writes about SA busses with double skinned roofs for hot conditions and posts a pic - but I've never seen any of these iether. Seen them on the Series 3 Landrovers.




I had abus like that, think i got an old photograph of it will post whrn i find it


BAB

jolas wrote:I remember seeing that bus for sale a few months ago. It was still in KwaZulu Natal. NU registration plates means it last drove around in the Hillcrest area (I think!)
The price at the time was ridiculous I thought, I will see if I saved the advert for you.
Does it have the smaller rear hatch ?
My gut feeling is that this was a kombi which has been converted by one of it's past owners. Are there any name tags at all attached to the fittings/furniture?
And is that a petrol heater fitted inside the engine compartment (offside)?
The extra vents are'nt "factory" fitted in SA - I may be wrong and stand to be corrected, but I haven't seen vents like that with my own eyes.
What is the furniture made of - chip board, solid wood, etc? Does it seem correct for 1962?
Cheers !

The guy I bought it from was originally asking for £19,000 - 220,000 ZAR but knocked it down - to 140,000 ZAR.
It has got the smaller rear window.
It was last registered in Pinetown and originally as a Kombi on 1/1/63
The plywood interior is a one off.
There is a brake servo on the near side and the off side has a larger air filter.


Thanks for the reply.

splitbusahollic wrote:

UKDave wrote:The VIN plate states that the vehicle was assembled in S.A. and is a 432 model - can't find that anywhere either.

the 432 was a misprint on a whole lot of vin tags on buses that were assembled in Uitenhage over a certain period.. i think '63 to '64.....and i think your bus is a '64
and the tag should read 234.....if i'm not mistaken.
the best guy to ask is Fig.

It was registered 1/1/63 so I'd guess it was a '62 - still waiting for VW to get back to me with the birth certificate they do.

Thanks for the info though.

Splitz wrote:What a nice bus. How does that tap and sink work. I like that.

" ... An unusual aftermarket addition is the extra cooling vents, each with a chrome cover. They can be flapped open to allow more cooling forced into the engine bay." - David Eccles on SA assembled busses. - VW Transportation and Microbus Specification Guide 1950-1967

You can still buy the taps from the US - https://www.makariosrv.com/products/Han ... -Pump.html - the seals on mine are well gone but I'll probably get rid anyway. The sink is just dropped into a hinged shelf and the door is used to prop it up.

I haven't seen those pop-out vents or the extra set cut into the body on anything over here - not yet anyway.

I was going to buy that book once I've finished buying all new rubbers - sun and no rain means no rust and dried rubbers - saying that I'd rathe be spending £300 on rubbers than £3,000 on panels and welding!

Appreciate your comments

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

Not sure I'll be using the gas canister storage facility on the roof - they'd get swiped at the traffic lights at some places over here! The fridge takes up too much room and will probably be going to another home or the tip! The cooker, which was under the unit on top of the fridge, is ok but the cast iron parts make it very heavy and I was going to get a lighter one to attatch to a shelf on the left hand cargo door - I don't like having a cooker on inside the van - smoke and food smells can stay outside.

I've spent a while looking at various vans in various states over here - there are plenty that have had a lot spend on lowering and performance parts but the chassis and bodywork is shoddy and likely to need a lot spending on it in the next few years. This one is not particulalry pretty and could do with a new interior, seats and at least the top half repainting to make a better colour scheme - but it is solid and that's why I bought it. A lot of people are looking to S.A. and Australia for vans - obvioulsy they are RHD and aren't as likely to have been repaired with bits of road signs and coke cans as the Thai ones are! There's an awful lot coming in from the US now as the UK ones are rotten or have had so much spent repairing them they are far too expensive and priced out of most peoples reach.

A few years ago T2/T25 campers were seen as a bit of a joke vehicle - for people who couldn't go on proper holidays or afford, what were then a new type of vehicle and therfore still expensive, an MPV. Splittys were even worse - 30 year old rust buckets owned by old hippies and people living on state benefits! You see photos on Ebay of £10k vans on peoples drives who obvioulsy couldn't afford anything like that - they probably bought it for £200 in 1995. Check out the UK Ebay and see what sort of prices are going on over here. You'll be seeing a lot more vans emigrating over the next few years I reckon. People are more confident in importing vehicles now and there are plenty of people who've done it and can advise them from experience.

Thanks again for your help.

David

That's nice...... Thanks for letting us know....

At least the seller got a realistic price for his vehicle...