VW Splitscreen RHD Microbus

Had this for sale a month ago for £18500. lots of offers and watchers but no genuine interest. £2000 off the start price may entice a few bidders but now I cannot let this go for any less.  I will be at MIVW in the Netherlands until the 8th of August so will not be able to answer any questions until my return. viewings welcome after this date

I have come to the hard decision of putting my camper up for sale. An opportunity to purchase another 15 window project overseas is too tempting for me to turn down as I have always wanted one in original paint. If I could keep them both I would!

I have owned this bus for the past 6 years and am responsible for giving it a new lease of life and getting it back on the road. With this being my first bus I wanted a project which needed no welding and it had to be RHD. I have always loved 15 windows so a South African fleetline was perfect for me. A bit of a stigma attached to the term fleetline. mostly because the majority of people refer to all Brazilian buses as fleetline whereas it is only the RHD one year only model built by VW of South Africa which are actual fleetlines. These were put together as budget vehicles and then later replaced with the split/bay hybrid model (which also is wrongly mislabelled fleetline) Decoding the plate shows that this bus is number 364 out of approximately 5000 to roll off the production line. there is plenty of information on thesamaba if you wish to find out more

I am the first UK registered owner of the bus. I bought it off an importer in 2007. I then proceeded to completely strip it to a shell to find out what needed restoring and more importantly rustproofing from the English weather. I would say 95% of the panels are original. I think the passenger floor tray had been replaced in the past. Other than that it looks all original. I then spent a huge amount of time wire brushing areas with surface rust. slapping on rust treatment goo and then paint. The underneath was sprayed with stone chip paint and the inside was hammerited.

After a while on the road it had to be slammed! This work was undertaken by Slamworks in 2011. Straight axle kit. box raise. 1600 gearbox. 4" narrowed front beam. type 3 brakes. shocks. drop spindles. tie rods shocks etc. spindle body. king pins etc. this got it running sweet.

This bus is far from budget now! After 20k I had to stop keeping track of receipts as it was getting painful!

The drivetrain and underneath has seen less than 3000 miles. Engine has only just gone in and seen less than 500 miles.

The spec is of the current engine is 1776cc turnkey. dual twin choke 40IDF Webers. genuine Billet pertronix ignitor 2 distributor. nbsp;pertronix flamethrower coil. flamefrower leads. brand new alternator. 36hp style "doghouse" fanshroud. bolt on aluminium rocker covers. competition stainless steel merged exhaust header with J tubes. Fat boy old school style stainless steel "Mondo" silencer. which sounds beefy! Lightened flywheel and a new clutch. Apart from the capacity increase. internally the engine is more or less stock. with new crank. rods. bearings etc. which should keep it nice and reliable.

Bad bits

As any bus there is a 'to do list' especially if you want it A1 standard. I have taken photos of the very worst nasties on the bus. but a bit more info may help you decide. I like buses a bit tatty they are supposed to be used and not just looked at! If this project overseas falls through my plan would be to continue to use and enjoy the bus for another 10 years and then give it a partial restoration to some key areas. I will only sell this bus once I have gone around it with the potential buyer showing all the work that will be needed. these being:

The drivers door/passenger side door and boot of the roof guttering started to have little rust holes appear. about the same radius of a pencil. For the time being i have used the unsightly filler to prevent water coming in which can be seen in the pictures. Easily fixed with Autocraft panels.

Both the drivers sill and passenger sill are dented. I quite like some of the dents as it shows the bus is not full of filler! I can also take out the interior if required so you can see if the panels are dented from the inside.

The floor had some rust holes appearing before I rust treated it. I have welded floor patches here. Again if I was to keep the bus I would eventually put an entire new cargo floor in and new outriggers as these are also dented and rusty. But at the moment they have plenty of life.

A new battery tray will be needed in the future as this has a couple of holes in.

Finally a couple of the windows have small rust holes but only at the base where water gets trapped.
Luckily the rest of the panels are in very good condition. no rot and the chassis is completely solid.

Hopefully I have not scared anyone away but I cannot sell something without advising of all of the above. Anyone who thinks buying a split screen which is not going to need work should turn away now as your naivety is going to cost you. They are ALL a labour of love and are ALL going to need work to keep them on the road no matter how much is spent on a restoration. My bus has been kept garaged its entire life in the UK (with the exception of shows/holidays away) and I strongly urge any buyer to do the same as these vehicles do not last long subjected to the English weather. I also believe this vehicle was a barn find in South Africa. It had clearly stood in dry shelter for some time unused. When I took out the engine for the first time I found heaps of animal bones. the last inhabitant of the bus!

I can negotiate parts back off the bus as these can go straight into my next project.

For instance…

If I was to keep the front safaris I can deduct £250 from the price

If I was to keep the sailor jerry panels and interior I can deduct £300 from the price

If I was to keep the 1776 engine I can deduct £3000 from the price

I can also send a link to my photo bucket account with more pictures. As with any vehicle I strongly suggest you view before buying. I can make myself available for genuine interest but my time is valuable so please don't waste it. Vehicle is ready to drive away. taxed and mot'd. with all documents.

I will require a £100 non refundable deposit paid via paypal within 48 hours of end of auction

Credit to some of the above photos to the labelled photographers. please check their company and give them a like.

Also published at eBay.co.uk

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