Uberkoolhippievagon!!!!!!
thanks red rabbit! there are more pics of it in
this thread, near the bottom...as well as a description and 80-pg owner's manual.
What are the long term plans for it?.......
its a kombi, which means its basically a panel bus (cargo bus with no interior panels, side windows or seats behind the driver), but with 3 pop-out windows on each side behind the driver.
i bought a kombi because i would like to attempt to fit it with a mix of camper and standard bus interior, sort of a customization using mainly OE and camper parts. a lot of the old campers and standard buses that are within my price range have trashed interiors anyway, so starting with essentially no rear interior at all isn't far off from where i would have been if i had bought a well-used standard or camper. i'll pick the desired interior pieces here and there from parts buses as i find them, there are a few local ones with rotted out bodies due to the salt issues in ontario.
in order to make this project cost-feasible, i focused on the most important factor: super SOLID BODY, with other key 'desirables' being walk-thru front seats (allowing passengers to move from the driver compartment to the rear without going outside), the wide rear 'hatch' (bus will also be a parts/furniture/building supplies hauler), at least an 11-window model (which kombis are), and 'nice to haves' were healthy running motor and fresh brakes (which the kombi has, allowing it to be road-driven immediately).
so the big obstacle before me for this winter is finding, rebuilding, and installing the entire interior. the other main obstacle is rust repair. although minor, the small rust issues are daunting to someone like me who has very little experience in body work. i'm more leary of messing it up than anything but i hope this will be a good opportunity for me to improve on those abilities.
after that is all taken care of, it would be real nice to put a fresh coat of DIY paint on... but coming back to reality, i will likely be pressed for time as it is getting the bus ready from spring camping trips, so paint will wait... or maybe never happen.
i'm still very undecided about the motor situation... if the bus came with no motor i would almost certainly be putting in a 1.6L TD with a KEP adaptor plate. however, since the OE motor is recently rebuilt and by all unbiased reports runs very strong, i will likely leave it in the bus until it gives me reason to do otherwise.
as always, 'OE+' is the 'theme'