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'70 Bay- Ratty.

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238K views 672 replies 125 participants last post by  Happystamps  
#1 · (Edited)
First things first- i bought this at Vanfest 2010 for the princely sum of £200. no pictures or anything, all i knew really was that "the floor's good"- in fairness, the floor isn't bad. it's been off the road since 1992, although suprisingly is still registered.

Gotta be clear- this isn't going to be a show style restoration... but neither is it's going to be rat-look. with any luck it'll become a relatively straight, safe, drivable bus, possibly with a bong in and some snacks. the paintwork can come later.

anyway, here's the story of how i became a sad, lonely, hairy old man.

1. I decided to wear a hat. that is usually the way these things start, isn't it.
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2.picked up a trailer-

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3.And Hurray for roads, off from Worcester to south yorkshire, still having not seen the van.
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4....and here it is. no show winner, but it was £200, which is probably about right, and i'd driven for about three hours to get there.
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5. it'd been living in an old mine for about 10 years, which i found kinda interesting (i'm a very dull person)
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6. From this angle, the chassis looks ok. it's... not.
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7. a large bald man on a forklift.
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8. The anchor- as it'd gotten so rusty, it was necessary to weigh it down with a brick to stop it blowing away.
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9.and we're off. i felt really sorry for the thing, and wanted to save it. maybe it was a bad move on my part, but nuts to it... how else am i going to afford an early bay!
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10. stopped to fill 'er up.
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feel like i should mention tommyhove on here- who i popped by on the way home, and he gave me some doors, a front panel, a tailgate, and a co2 cylinder for nowt. good stuff.​
 
#4 · (Edited)
11. back home, i had arranged for a number of friends to help lift the van off the trailer. i had a few beers and let them get on with it.
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12. and there she is, all ready to be mucked about with.
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13. Internet, meet Keith. Keith, internet.
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14. as i'm sure you've gathered, this shell isn't in particularly good condition. every single panel requires either replacement or repair, and it's going to take a LONG time. as i'm at university for the next year or so, well, not much is happening. but here's a picture of a rotten gutter i'm hoping to tackle next year!
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15. The van is being kept at my parent's house whilst i work on it. my sister, Hannah, doesn't like it, even though she doesn't live there any more, but whatever. anyway, in order to placate her, i decided to chuck a tarpaulin over it. then i realised it'd be funnier if i were a dick.
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16. although it's not obvious from the pictures, somebody had torched off the front chassis rails right where the beam mounts. so i had to find a new set, and they came via Ozziedog- who not only helped me hack apart his van and give me parts for free, but also taught me the correct method of dunking biscuits. awesome bloke. this section lived on the roof of my beetle for a month, until I drove back to Worcester from uni in Swansea- i couldn't get it off, and i had nowhere to put it if i did. i got really sick of scrap metal guys by the end of that month.
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#11 ·
That's in alot better condition than mine was, Mine is slowly taking shape an will defo stand out when fininished, Good luck with the build

This is a picture of how my '69 early bay panel van looked at one point lol!!
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#12 · (Edited)
So, i decided that the rough plan would be...

1. Restore chassis.
2. replace/repair necessary body panels.
3. paint up and wrap in cotton wool until i find a decent donor van (although finding a van more rotten than this one will be difficult)
4. strip donor van, refurbish parts, swap them over
5. go camping with the lady i does like, enjoy some festivals, collect some wild herbs, make some babies and stuff... i dunno. enjoy life.

considering the extent of the chassis repairs, i thought it'd be best if i made myself a roller. £80 of steel and a couple of weekends later, i had this fellow...
1. front cradle, mounted to A and B pillars
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2. rear cradle, mounted to rear valance mounting points and tack-welded tobodywork above engine.
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3. some ruddy triangles! slot them all together and you get this!
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4.
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so it's not pretty. i don't care. it was cheap, and it works.
i must admit that whilst i was jacking the van up to fit the roller together, i was absolutely bricking myself. i had no idea where the centre of gravity was, and was terrified that at some point it was going to just swing over and fall straight on my face. but luckily, it's just about perfect. here's a video of her being rolled over for the first time.

view from the front-
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the back-

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and the full side-on shot.
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pretty rough, eh.​
 
#13 ·
It does look a bit more complete now, as you maybe guessed it's not going to be standard by any means, has a 4" roof chop and 5" body section ;) so it's 9" lower before we even slam the suspension :D
 
#18 · (Edited)
so- plans for the weekend just gone were to replace the centre section of the chassis below the "load bed" area. didn't get it completely done, as i hadn't realised the the front top hat section's knackered- still. here's what i did do den.
removed front o/s outrigger
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said hello to fossilised rat, the only occupant of the van at the moment- say hello to the internet, ratty
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cut the rails off- all the cable conduit and stuff was crackered as well, so that's gone. i'm gonna have to be creative when re-making that... strongly leaning towards diesel power though, as at this stage the conversion is a drop in the ocean...
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one of the old chassis rails
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made up two shiny new chassis rails
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balanced one in place to see how it looks- a little long, but that was deliberate. i can trim down and make it right snug.
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also managed a roast gammon joint, a trip up the malverns with friends,and a couple of nights in the pub. not bad for two days, i reckon.​
 
#21 · (Edited)
this weekend's challenge- replace the front floor support channel "top hat", and pop the chassis rails back in. i wasn't really expecting to do anything at all this weekend but i was offered a lift home from uni, so figured i might as well get started. this is the first time i've actually put new metal into the van, and it felt goooood.
1- remove front support, wasn't too tricky considering how rotten it was.off you come.
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2- have an accident with the welder and get welding wire through your septum. rrr, i'm hardcore, me.
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3-drillage some holes in the floorpan so i can plug-weld the new support channel on. i also put the very first repair patch in- covering the hole in the first picture. kind of a milestone, i suppose.
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4- new channel in- shortened a bit...
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5- pop the chassis rails in... it's amazing how strong a high quality glue can be. (not really- it's all getting welded in properly)
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6- i had a spare can of spray paint with me, thought it's give it *some* protection before i come back and finish it at easter. i kinda ran out, but whatever.
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gotta say, i'm pretty pleased with the progress this weekend- i'd been looking at the van, or pulling parts from the van, and i always figured it was an excercise in futility- but look! there's a good bit!
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lovely.​
 
#25 · (Edited)
it's the hat, isn't it... it's my adventure/molester hat. bargain.

anyway, i've been kind of busy over the last few days, but mostly getting the beetle checked over for the MOT and spraying a new wing. lots of fun.

van wise, it's the turn of the front chassis sections, courtesy of ozziedog. i have no idea why i didn't just offer him some bread for the whole van, it was much better than mine is! still.
so, first job, strip the chassis parts from the floor, and weld a brace in to keep it all dimensional and whatnot. this is the part that was on my car roof way back when. also, daffodils.
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lovely, eh. i started cutting where the new parts will go in... i chose the point over the beam as it has a long join, and the beam mounts either side of the weld line, so in case the world ends, it'll be a bit safer. this isn't something i'm fucking about on, trust me.
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just briefly placing it in for my own satisfaction.
a million miles from being ready so far.
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the floor is going to replaced when the van's on wheels, don't worry.
so i've got this front section lying around in my shed and it needs a bit of work- not much, but it's easier to fix it up before fitting, naturally. this was a big rust hoooooooole.
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horrible early morning welding...
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clean up. it looks like there's a massive gouge in there- there isn't.i'm pretty sure it's just the lines left by the grinder.
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#26 · (Edited)
there are some people in the world who use their roofrack as a fashion accessory, and fill it with retro tat. not so here. that's a camper van roof, on my beetle roof. i'd stopped at lidl to buy a spicy sausage. no lie.
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i've discovered a new diet of spinach, copaslip and iron filings actually turns you into that guy from x men. wolverine. this is just after one week!
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popped the roof on... seemed the best place to put it. hannah is my sister- i love her lots and lots.
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somebody's painted clouds on the inside of my roof. damn hippies :p... free though, well chuffed :D
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i got a spare front panel free from tommyhove. it's kinda mangled, but i like the VW imprint left from years of neglect. might put it on my wall or something.any suggestions?
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free tailgate. looks ok for nowt, eh
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hmm
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i'll fix it if forced at gunpoint, but i'm gonna keep my eyes open for a new one in the meantime.
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