£12,000
Up for sale is my '64 Kombi. It has served me very well, taking me around the country come rain or shine. It is not perfect, but it makes an excellent, useable van, which will cruise at 60-65, and is practical for weekends out, as it has a rock and roll bed, and a few cupboards for storage.
As far as I'm aware, it was imported from the dry states of America, and when it got here, it had new sills, and the underside was completely overhauled, making for a very solid van. It has been on the road in the UK for 5 years now I think, 2 and a half years under my ownership. It has slight surface rust coming through on the sills and along the seam in between the dogleg and side doors, but overall is a very solid bus. The beam has surface rust on it, but it will come with a replacement adjustable beam.
The bus is lowered on dropped spindles and low profile tyres at the front, and straight axled at the back. The 14" steelies are slightly rusty, but it will come with a spare set, which I was planning on cleaning up and sticking new tyres on, for when I was going to put the adjustable beam on.
The engine is a 1600cc engine, which was pretty much brand new when I got it, having been reconditioned by The Engine Shop. It recently (about 4 months ago) had a slight engine rebuild, with brand new heads. I believe I have new pistons and barrels to go on too, but never got round to fitting them as in the end I didn't have time for a full rebuild. The plan was to put them on at the same time, but as it didn't need them, I didn't bother.
It has 6 factory pop outs, I replaced the rear 2 hinges with repro spoon latches when one of the normal ones snapped in 2.
It currently has a couple of electrical faults, which will be fixed for when I go on holiday to Cornwall in it - But, even now with the electrical faults, it is serving me well as pretty much a daily driver for the past couple of weeks.
ONE KEY FITS ALLLLLL LOCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (EXCEPT CHURCH KEY LOCKS, OBVIOUSLY)
Now the important part:
The bus is for sale for £12,000 and I intend to hold onto it until the 23rd July, as that is the day I'll be coming home from Cornwall in it, but it'd be good to get a deal sorted prior to that.
(No longer has the white walls thanks to a puncture taking the photo across the Derby countryside/hills)
^Belly pan is rusty, underneath it isn't - I'll try and get it up on ramps soon, as I intend to get the rear brakes done before I head off to Cornwall in it.
^I do have the hub cap, but when I got the puncture, I got the new tyre put on what used to be the spare, which I didn't realise didn't have all the clips - The current spare has all the correct clips, and a white wall tyre.
^ Some spares coming with the bus - It was my intention to put the adjustable beam on, and wrap the spare set of steelies in new tyres, and bung them on - but, I imagine it'll be easier to sell a practical but sort of low height bus than a totally slammed one (as was my intention if I was keeping it).
Extensive photo gallery to avoid wasting anybody's time:
https://s602.photobucket.com/albums/tt101/Rigamortiz1/For%20Sale/?start=allLooks to me like it was all done to a good standard, particularly the floors, which have only slight surface rust in the patches shown - the rest was all rust free hence I (stupidly) decided to not take any photos (as I was just trying to look out for any problems at the time of the underside photos). Viewing is encouraged, as to me, it looks better in person than the photos I added yesterday, but not as mint as the arty photos might suggest.
The paintwork buffs up nicely, and presumably if it was full of filler, it would have come through by now, as it has lasted 2 years of driving it in all weathers, come rain snow or shine.
It really is a useable bus, which has been my only car for the past couple of years, taking me everywhere I've needed to go, and has only been home on the back of a recovery truck once, and that was when a wheel bearing collapsed (causing no lasting damage, as the wheel stayed on somehow). It has never left me stranded at the side of the road, and it really does get driven.
The steering is good, with a couple of inches play in the (massive) steering wheel. The brakes are good, I've actually surprised myself with them over the past few weeks, skidding to a halt when I went to fly over a roundabout, but noticed a Golf at the last minute, and then yesterday stopping at a set of traffic lights very suddenly (no skidding this time as I broke properly), as I saw some emergency services vehicles (otherwise I'd have gone through on the amber).
The gearbox from the straight axle conversion means it'll cruise well at around 60mph, and is good for 70mph. Gearbox is top notch, doesn't pop out of gear, and its always easy to find the gears.
The dropped spindles on the front mean almost a stock van's suspension comfort, but around 4-5 inches closer to the ground. It has Spax gas shocks all round, which make for a comfortable ride, even on long journeys(well, as comfortable as can be as a person over 6'2" leaning over the steering wheel in order to see out of the windscreen haha).
The R&R bed in the back has the foam which I spent over £100 on, but will need covering to help complete the interior (I currently have just thrown a bed sheet over it). The foam is really comfortable in both seat and bed form, and as a passenger in the rear seats, the foam soaks up the bumps nicely, I've been told.
The bus was owned by a family before I bought it, and as such has three 3 point safety belts in the front, but none in the back (not a legal requirement as it was built before 1965 (it is actually a 1964 model, being built in June 1964), according to the M Plate (despite the fact it is registered as 1st Jan 1965)).
It would need a bit of work to make it perfect, but as it is, its a very useable van that is good for weekends away camping, or just for driving around and enjoying the sunshine.
My number is 07842171092
All club meets will be held at the Woolpack pub on the second Sunday of every month from 1pm onwards. See you there, *Trouble*
Subject: My 1964 Camper 
Sun Jul 04, 2010 10:04 pm
Might post some teaser shots up tomorrow