Our 1971 Early Bay Rebuild

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Mont

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Aug 13, 2018
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Hey everyone.

Almost 6 months ago my friend Ivan and I were chatting about buying a modern Caddy Maxi to convert in to a small camper. We spent a few weeks looking at different versions before this 1971 camper appeared on Facebook local to us. It had all the rust repaired and then repainted top and underneath in Inca Orange, which is a colour used on 70s BMW 2002s.

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Figuring the hardest work had been done, but still knowing very little about air-cooled VWs we decided it might be more fun to re-build this van than convert something modern, and so the deal was done.

It has new shocks and brakes, and also comes with the original dash, bumpers and a few other bits and bobs, but no interior at all though. There's also two engines and a gearbox sitting in the back.

The plan is to get it water tight as it needs the louvre window and front cab windows refitted, then get suspension, engine and gearbox sorted, then figure out the interior. At the moment we're thinking as there was no interior at all that we might go for something period looking but using more modern materials and fittings.

We'd also like it finished by March 2019 :lol: It'll certainly be an interesting few months! No doubt I'll be on here quite a bit lol

More pics after a wash.

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Welcome and looks like a good starting point.
Just make sure that the paint isn't hiding anything that will upset you in 6 months time (ask me how I know...)

Good look and will be keeping an eye on your project :)
 
gninnam said:
Welcome and looks like a good starting point.
Just make sure that the paint isn't hiding anything that will upset you in 6 months time (ask me how I know...)

Good luck and will be keeping an eye on your project :)
 
gninnam said:
Welcome and looks like a good starting point.
Just make sure that the paint isn't hiding anything that will upset you in 6 months time (ask me how I know...)

Good look and will be keeping an eye on your project :)


Thanks. Yeah I’m hoping there are no surprises lurking underneath! I’ll have to get some pics of the the van up on the lift.

So a couple of weeks ago 14 of us took a trip from our home in Northern Ireland to the Nürburgring, via Holland. On the way through Holland we figured it would be rude not to stop at Kieft en Klok. It was even better than I expected it to be and we were all blown away by the stuff hey have. Everything from vintage VWs to random bikes and old surf boards. The guys were happy to show us round and I took a ton of pics. Here are just a few.

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We ended up leaving with some cab door trim kits and once home also ordered some good used 1/4 windows, frames and seals which turned up this week.

Tonight we made a start on the cab door window trims. What an absolute pain in the hole they are!
 

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