New to EarlyBay ? Say Hi here ...

Welcome, sounds like a great project and setup. I've got a 1776 and hills are no problem, they say that it's the engine it should have had in from the factory!

As for the gearbox, I too am looking for a recon as mine jumps out of reverse constantly. As for the taller ratios, I'm undecided. 60mph is at about 3200rpm, and it'll do 70 all day long at about 3800rpm. I guess it depends on how much motorway your likely to do?

Make sure you get the correct size rear tyres, as I found out with my old setup from the previous owner, smaller rear tyres make it noisy at 60mph!

You could start a thread in the gallery section so we can see your progress.

Any pictures?

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Hiya and welcome Mark. Sounds like you’re after something doable. Stock ish cam sounds the biz for the torque required for a bus and to get a tad more gearing, you could go a little larger on your rear tyres until you’re ready to fund a more compatible gearset to your new motor. Where about s are you? If you’re any where near Abel at Afonso motors, he’s one to talk to about what to run and where to get it. 70 on the motorway is doable but these are old beasties and doing it continually ain’t gonna make a 1776 last too long. Anyway, your bus your rules. There’s a few on here that run all sorts in that rear noisey cupboard and make them ponies work hard for their keep :mrgreen:

Ozziedog,,,,,,welcome again

Hi all!

Quite active on Club80-90 with my early aircooled westaflia which is my daily driver but time has come to start on my long forgotten project.

I aquired a 1971 original Irish minibus earlybay. And so begins the long process of refining her. It has the usual 6 inch of rust bit chassis wise looks solid. I have started at rebuilding the 1600 engine and purchased a gearbox for her too.

Would be great to get some support along the way.

Cheers,

Darragh

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As soon as I saw your name I thought of Ireland, mainly because of I’ve only ever met one Darragh before and I thought the name came from there :mrgreen: That bus looks fairly complete but from what you say, you’re starting off with the noisey cupboard and working out. Sounds like a grand plan and maybe the sort of thing that I would be doing as well because I would want it mobile as quickly as possible or start to lose interest fairly quick :roll:

Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,maybe start a resto thread on here toooo

Hi, I can't offer any support with cutting and welding, but good luck with the resto!

Hi, and welcome DarraghK94.

Are you going to keep the patina?

Hi,

I'm trying to make a post tried a few times but it's not appearing.

Looking for some help on best places to get replacement panels and what manufacturer to buy.

Thanks

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Your posts have to be approved by the moderation team due to you being a new user, just be patient please.

Hi, I’m new to early bay. This is Ruby, she’s a 69 Westy and I have been working my way through adding a brand new 1776 engine, updating correct year interior parts, along with finishing the cab interior. Next will be a new suspension set up, my dilemma is whether to narrow the beam or to leave stock(with adjusters). Any positives and negatives others have had which might help in my decision would be greatly appreciated!

Ps. Apologies for anyone that saw the 1st photo uploads, attached a couple of irrelevant photos by mistake!

Welcome butty. Someone will be along sone to give some advice. Nice looking van by the way

Welcome, you won't be disappointed with the 1776, I have one and it's great, pulling about 90bhp. I also have a narrowed beam, not sure of the advantages, I had it put on as a normal width wasn't available. No real issues with it, but I'm not too low.

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Cheers guys, I’m thinking of 4 inch narrowed. I already have a set of Bilstein shocks to fit but want to know if a narrowed beam will give me any additional clearance / chances of reduced tyre rub?

I’ve had the bud almost 2 year, slowly making my way through the jobs. Another big job I’d like to get don’t is to Raptor Spray the underneath the same colour as the body. Any tips / details on this would also be a great help!



Lovely tin top you have there Baytripper!

Hi Aaron , love the dash .
and love the banjo wheel , any issues with it on a bus ?

No issues, I think it’s a little smaller than the usual so a little more work on the arms but not so much that it bothers me

Evening,
Just picked this up yesterday, before we were thrown into tier 4!! Ive had a T25 and a 64 bug, but always wanted a bay and ideally an early one. This popped up on fleabay and the fella offered me a great deal.
So after 150 miles on the motorway it runs perfectly. Mechanics and bodywork seem fine, but I'll be putting a new interior into it over the coming months. Still trying to figure out how the heaters work, got the 4 levers, but the blue and red bits are missing!!
I'm sure I'll be pestering you all for help and advice.
Cheers and have a great New Year.

Welcome, great looking bus, looks like it's in great condition, are you doing the interior yourself?

Hi fallingoffalot, not sure on whether I’ll do the interior myself. I have a plan in my head, but not sure I’ll be able to pull it off.
There’s a westy rnr bed and a small kitchenette unit which will work for the time being whilst I save up. Newest discovery is 2 doors do t lock and the drivers locks, but doesn’t unlock. Going to investigate that this afternoon.

Hi gang, my first post - we're hoping to buy a T2 split in the next few months, doing some homework before doing so!

What kind of maintenance costs should we be anticipating, assuming we're going to be doing long journeys, hopefully doing the British coastal tour we've always dreamed of! arty0009:

How often do you get yours serviced? I'm sure that changes due to the age of your van of course.

Have you had to find a special mechanic or do you do a lot of servicing yourself?

Thanks!

Hello all, I joined the forum just before Christmas. I've recently bought this 1968 pick up, previously owned by Chris Aspro, who is a member on here I believe. He had it lowered and narrowed, very nicely done and it drove brilliantly, but I have had it all returned completely to stock (apart from the 15" split wheels) - thanks Chris for keeping the original suspension parts with the truck. It drives, dare I say it, even better, and is great fun. I can see raising a bay up is the opposite direction to what most people go in, and a few of my mates have quite rightly taken the piss for my newly-acquired 'old man status', but I always wanted a stock single cab as a daily (albeit 'nice weather only') runaround. There are a still few little things that I want/need to do on it, but other than that the plan is just to pootle around in it and do a few big road trips, I love it already.

I know a little about bugs and type 3s, having a '65 bug and a '62 notch for a good few years, but I'm a complete novice in the world of type 2s. I can see there's a lot of knowledge and expertise on here. Nice to meet you all. Cheers, Vic.

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Hi! Lovely truck and lucky to have such a good run of careful owners.
Great pics on the ‘gram too.