It drives like a new 1970 VW Bay Window Transporter would. Warranty is still active on the engine and tires (See Below for more details). I have a clean Colorado Title in hand for the next lucky owner.
Get ready to start your #vanlife now
This listing is long, there is a lot to mention. When I mention that things are new, mind you; that I am referring to the fact there is only 3000 plus miles on the equipment.
Engine:
· This restored 1970 VW Bus has a rebuilt 1973 1600cc air cooled, dual port single carbonated engine. The engine only has 3000 plus miles on it. The engine also comes with a warranty of 33000 miles or a half a year left on it. The motor has a Bosh alternator with a lifetime warranty. All warranties are transferable and I have the registration for everything.
· Engine has had valve adjustments after break in period
· The exhaust is aftermarket and California complaint, though you don’t have to get it smogged since it is a 1970 vehicle. The style of exhaust is nice because it exhausts to the side of the van and not directly behind it like the old ones did. If you ever worked on a VW engine while it was running, you would appreciate the new exhaust system.
· There is a custom LED light in the engine compartment.
· The oil drain plug is upgraded to the type that has a magnet on the end. This helps reduce engine wear by removing any tiny pieces of metal that inevitably are present in the oil system.
· New gas tank and sending unit
Drive Train:
· The transmission is the heavy duty style with Lucus Oil heavy duty oil in it (3000 miles on the oil).
· The brake system had been rebuilt 3000 miles ago. All cyclinders, springs and pads are new. The master cylinder is new as well.
· The steering system has been rebuilt and the steering is tight. All bushings and steering damper are new too.
· All shocks are new and are the heavy duty models for this van.
· Tires are like new with only 3000 miles on them. They are the correct and heavy duty models for this van. They too come with a warranty with 2 years left on them or 80000 miles. The spare is of the same type of tire and is full size mounted to the front on a custom built tire rack.
· New speedo cable
· Wheel Bearings replaced and recently greased packed
Underside:
· The entire under carriage was originally sealed, so there was little to no rust underneath. I did re-seal the underside. All four wheel wells were also sealed with Raptor vehicle rubber sealant. This adds extra protection and helps reduce road noise while driving.
· All four rims are VW originals with original VW half-moon caps. The half-moon caps are the only things on the van that aren’t totally perfect. But they are original VW equipment and I decided to leave them on. I do have a brand new set of half-moon chrome caps that I will include with the purchase of the van. The new caps don’t have a VW logo on them though.
· All the air stems have custom VW logos on them too. Custom mud flaps on all four wheel wells.
· Does need the heater cables reattached, but I am including two electric heaters that do a better job of defrosting the windows than the van ever would.
Exterior:
· I stripped the outside of the van down to bare steel. Epoxied sealed the steel. Did some light body work to remove any rust I could find. Re-sealed with epoxy. Primed it and then painted it with the two tones you see in the pictures. I have a little bottle of blue touch up paint for any rock damage you may encounter.
There are a couple of "ripples" in the steel. Kind of hard to see in the pictures. The passenger side has the worst of them with three 10 inch long ripples in the door. I could probably arrange a video chat with you if you would like to try and see them that way. I tried to get the camera to pick up all the issues.
· All door seals are new and work well. The front door windows have new seals with new chrome accents.
· The window cranks are new and are of metal material, not like the flimsy plastic ones of old.
· Both front and rear bumpers are new aftermarket chrome and built specifically for this van.
· Front lights are custom with normal low/high beam lights and have LED day time running lights built in. It looks really cool when they are on. I believe it makes this van stand out even more, not like it needed it.
· The rack is aftermarket but is built to the specs of the originals. I will include a water proof travel bag that is made for traveling on the tops of vehicles. It is heavy duty and is about the size of the rack (a little smaller). I was able to put the bag up there with a propane tank and still had room.
Interior:
The interior is very custom.
· The lights for the instrument panel are all LED and are blue, which looks really cool at night. All “dummy” lights work.
· There is also a special dipstick on the engine which will cause the oil light to flicker if you were ever to get the engine too hot
· The light knob pulls out to allow either daytime running lights or night time lights. I put a dimmer switch on the floor next to the clutch. This allows for a quick change of low to high beams with your left foot. I always liked being able to change my high beam lights with my foot and keep both hands on the wheel, so I added this feature to this van.
· The turn signal switch is aftermarket too. It is manual, meaning you have to turn the signal off after you make your turn. I don’t find this to be an issue, but I want you to be aware of it.
· The windshield wipers have a high and low speed. I did install an electric pump motor for the windshield wiper fluid. So now all you have to do is press a button and the fluid sprays. The original equipment used pressurized air that would only last a couple hundred miles, I thought this was lame so I added the electric pump.
· The ignition is pretty cool now too. There are two air craft style switches and a button for the starter. One switch will turn on the stereo (I’ll get to that in a moment), the second brings power to the starter and the button causes the starter to turn. You do need a key still, this keeps the van from being easily stolen. You turn the key to the on position, flip up one switch, flip up the second, push the button and you are ready for takeoff!
· The stereo is a new Pioneer CD/MP3 disc player with detachable face. There is also an AUX input and a USB input. You can customize the color of the display. I currently have it at white and blue to match the outside of the van. I installed four speakers and they sound good. The original system was a single speaker that you could barely hear when driving.
· There is a crack in the middle of the dash. And another strange whole that is about a ½ inch in diameter in the middle of the steel part of the dash. I think someone mounted something to it at some point in this vans life. However, even with the little imperfections of the dash; it still looks to be in good condition.
· There are also custom LED lights installed under the dash that light up the entire front if you need some light to find something at night. Also have installed an extra 12v “cigarette” power plug with two ports.
· Both front seats are actually comfortable now. The original ones of this bus were not comfortable. I put in two Honda Civic seats. Now it is like having some captain’s chairs in a VW van. I find them very comfortable and they adjust like new cars do, not like the very over engineered uncomfortable ones of old.
· Newer style seat belts that retract automatically. The original seatbelt where a nightmare to adjust and made it super inconvenient for different passengers. Not a problem now.
· The side door panels have drink holders installed on both front doors.
· The front has a new rubber mat specific for this VW bus. Also there is a rubber mat for the middle in between the seats. This middle rubber mat is actually rare to find these days, which I find kind of odd.
· There are also custom built pockets on the sides of the seats and behind the seats. With all the engineering that VW put into these things, they didn’t make much for the thought of “catch all’s”. So I created some extra pockets for ease of managing things while driving.
· The back is totally custom. Basically this is a two seater with a double bed in the back. This is all I needed, so this is how it was built.
· But there is so much more storage with my layout than the layouts of old. There are two large storage areas behind the head of the bed. There is a large long storage bin on the side of the bed. The bed area will fold up to allow access to a “tool” area. I have put so much stuff back here, it is crazy.
· Then there is a massive sliding drawer that pulls out from under the bed. I used a Tempopedic mattress cover that was about 3 inches thick for my mattress and found it to be very comfortable. I am not including a mattress for the bed, but it is a standard double bed size and the new owner will easily find an option for the mattress.
· There is a propane ran heater in this van too! It is controlled by a thermostat and heats the van very well. I’m out from Colorado and I needed it out there. I have found it useful here in Cali too. It does require an outside propane tank.
· There is custom LED lighting that runs around the top of the inside of the bed area. This lighting system is controlled by a remote and I will include two of them with the purchase.
· There are a couple of rips and tears in the headliner. They are nothing terrible, but I want to let you know.
· I installed a custom desk behind the driver’s chair. There are multiple charging ports and a light. I built it to work on my laptop and it worked well for me.
· You can also plug the van into a normal 120volt system and then be able to use the household style outlet on the desk.
· Curtains are all custom with heavy duty magnets built in. Two of the side curtains have pockets sewn into them for storage.
· There is also a set of divider curtains to close off the front of the van. It is handy to create a private area in the back bed area.
Extras:
· I am also including a custom heavy duty tent. It attaches to the side of the van, but it can stand alone too. Meaning you can set up the tent to the van, detach it and drive away. It is massive as well. The tent was $500.
· I am also including the solar panels ($200 new). I have installed a separate deep cycle RV battery and the solar panels charge this second battery. The RV battery runs the interior lights and heater. I lived out of the van for about a year and the solar panels kept my battery going the entire time. There is an automatic switch I installed that allows the alternator to charge the RV battery when the engine is running.
· I am including four vehicle stands. These are nice when you have the van parked for a while and they will help level out the van and make it to where it doesn’t rock around when you are inside moving.
· Including two manuals for the van.
· Brand new chrome half-moon hub caps (not installed, the old school VW half-moon are currently on it)
I will transport the van from Nevada City, CA up to the Mississippi River @ $0.70 per mile. We can also arrange for you to have it picked up.
Please feel free to email me with any questions about the listing.