1971 Bus - 1st Car Need Advice

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Hello Samba,
So here is my story. My cousin gave me a 1966 Baja that needed some work. My dad and I ripped out the old wiring harness and replaced it with a new harness (front and rear). We got the Baja running and were looking at what it would take to make it a daily driver for me. My mom did not like the Baja, however she does like the VW buses, so she found a 1971 Bay window for sale for 1500.00. The Engine in the Bus is seized and we are not sure what the condition of the Transmission is. We purchased the Bus and have started dismantling the Bus. No one in my immediate family has ever owned a VW or worked on one, so we have a large learning curve ahead of us.
Skill Level:
Welding = didn’t know what a wire feed welder was. We are now trying to figure out which one to buy.
Body Work = P90X?
Paint = Helped paint my bedroom once.

Motor:
The 1600 motor in the Bus is seized
I have a 1600 professionally built engine Built for Baja. All I know about it is that it is a new motor with a 10 to 1 compression.

Carb:
Have no Idea what to use for the fuel delivery system. Can you convert a 1600 to fuel Injection?

Nicolas Ray

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[curtis4085]

Man the compression ratio on the new engine super high for a bus. That could be a problem to cool pushing that loaf of bread.

I would sell the new longblock and buy the correct engine for your bus. 71 had a 1600cc. Going to a 1776 would be a nice upgrade. Looks like you have a decent core and OG cooling tins,,

As for learning paint and body. Boy I would leave that up to the professionals. Or if you don't mind learning on your bus have at it. Plenty of threads on here to research.

When doing body work makes sure you use donor metal. Stay away from Chinese metal. Klassicfab, autocraft, or Alan Scholfield are the standard for replacement panels.
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Special Thanks to:
Headflow Masters - Vista, CA
www.headflowmasters.com

[array]

What is the long block worth?

As for the paint and body, I would like to learn as much as I can. I still have at least six months until I get my license.

Thanks for the heads up on the metal.

[curtis4085]

Never owned a Baja before so couldn't tell you what it's worth. Put it in the Baja and sell the whole thing this way you can pay for the bus resto.
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Special Thanks to:
Headflow Masters - Vista, CA
www.headflowmasters.com

[Westy Steve]

I hope I can keep you from making a mistake I've made many times. I've sold perfectly good, running, driving, VWs in favor of "cooler" projects that took forever to get back on the road.

Keep the baja, and make it a reliable driver. You have a good engine in it. Make it comfortable and your Mom may change her mind about it over time as you use it to do family milk runs, pick up siblings, etc...all on the cheap without a car payment. Make sure it has seat belts in it for you and siblings. Let Mom know that that Baja is temporary until you get the bus on the road.

Now that you've bought yourself some time, do the bus right. Take your time on it and fix the rust issues, make it all reliable and beautiful. Six months come and go before you know it, and it will suck to not have anything to drive...nor do you want to just slap the bus together.

Enjoy the beetle and take your time on the bus, then some day sell the beetle....Mom need to undertand the beetle is temporary. She may appreciate the maturity of the long term plan.
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Have nice 914, want nice Bug

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Baja is not an option at this point. The PO did not put a nonopp on it and the DMV fees are high to say the least. Mom is on board with the Bus and so money will flow a lot easier to the bus.

Here is my dad’s plan:
My dad is good friends with a guy who owns a very high end hotrod shop here in town. So we will get help from them on the welding and metal work. We don’t want them to do it just help us not screw it up
My Dad is going to find a good body guy to hire as a consultant to come over to show and teach us how to do the body work.
We will paint or maybe coat the undercarriage and interior, but leave the exterior to the pros.
Yes I realize that this may take longer than 6 months, however it would be cool to drive a bus that you had a hand in building.

[Westy Steve]

It'd be very cool driving a bus you had a hand in building. Not trying to discourage that at all.

Sounds like you have the people to put the project together and parental approval too. Go for it..and post pix here along the way.

Steve
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Have nice 914, want nice Bug

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Ordered:
Lower nose replacement Panel
Lower Windshield replacement Panel
Driver side floor panel

Thanks Klassicfab and curtis4085

Talked with Wagenwest today and have a parts list to replace front suspension. Once we have the old stuff out we will be ordering

[morymob]

My 1st was a '70 same color also locked eng. did re-build eng,updated to DP's. late doghse cooling, 87's, header and 2bbl carb. This was cheapest as i had all except cyls and it did have satisfactory pwr but if mine i would have the 1776 compression dropped and keep as it would be a big boost over your stock one, my 2-cts.

[ablakely]

So this is what my 71 would of looked like... It's even the same color! But mine looks nothing like this currently, too much rust in mine and not to mention we cut the bottom half of the nose off this morning.
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My '71 Bus

[williamM]

Back to the baja for just a second- see if DMV will drop the fees for any reason- ie= documentation about how long it might have been sitting Just a thought
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some days I get up and just sit and think. Some days I just sit.

opinion untempered by fact is ignorance.

Don't step in any!

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@ablakelyy How much of your nose did you cut off? We considered doing more than just the lower nose (bottom 6") and the lower window seal, however since there is really no rust we felt like we could get the rest straight (at least good enough for me).

"see if DMV will drop the fees for any reason" - I considered looking into a lien sale, however We don't have room for two projects here at the house. So the Baja will go to make room for the Bus.

By the way this is Nicolas' Dad.

[CoastalAirCooledVW]

FYI the DMV has what is called a historical vehicle fee waiver. My 68 had $650 worth of back fees and all I had to do was write a paragraph for the DMV explaining why it was a historical vehicle that needed preserving. All the fees were waived

[ablakely]

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Well we are somewhat disappointed. The panels we bought from Klassicfab not only have not shown up, I can’t get Gerson to respond to my emails, phone calls, or PM's. I have read a lot about his product and trust that it is quality.

I gave the Baja to Iron works speed and Kustom here in Bakersfield. The owner is a good friend of mine and is going to let me use his tools and one of his guys to do the body panels.

Here is some of the work that comes out of his shop.

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@ablakely your bus is coming along great. Look forward to seeing it completed. Looks like you are going down the same road as me and my son. Make sure you stay a step ahead of us so we can learn from your work.

[babysnakes]

Have you never heard that patience is a virt... Oh to hell with the crap! Just shut up and wait for Gerson to come through. If anyone here knows it's me,
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=474277
Most of the time in my project was waiting for green metal. BUT... it is the best quality you will find. I know you are eager to get on with your ride, but the green stuff is unpredictable with it's delivery time. Work on other aspects of the bus, sourcing out parts etc....

[ablakely]

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Got the heads, Cylinders, and Pistons out. Need to buy a 30mm impact socket to remove crankshaft pulley. The PO welder the Flywheel onto shaft. Is that common?

[busdaddy]