Word to the SSVC. Me and my wife are now the proud owners of a 15 window Brazillian split.

The story
I am a wood monkey by trade but have always loved cars (especially VW's) always dreamed from a young age of owning a splitty. I moved permanently to Oxfordshire 4 years ago to be with my now wife, i did not know many people. On an off chance I stumbled into a world of custom vw's....... and have never looked back since!

My wife and I have been together for 9 years and got married 5 months ago, we didn't need anything material so asked for donations too our camper fund if our guests wanted to give us a gift. On Tuesday 27th October Myself, Ross and Ginga took a road trip after work to collect and pay (pretty much every penny we had) for a Brazillian 15 window split I got off-a Ebay. Un-seen by the way!

With a little guidance from my mentor and a little help from my friends i'm going to turn this bus into something real nice.

What i need
I'm pretty good with the old metal now; after helping other people out and customing my caddy so i think i got that side covered. But i could do with some advice on finding out a bit more on my van. And has anyone got any insider info on restoring Brazillian vans?

Cheers

Hola senor!

Welcome to the Brazilian owners club!
I have been restoring mine for 2 years now. If I can help answer any of your questions I surely will. Just ask away!

Take a look at my resto thread (there is a link in my signature)

Do you have some pictures you can put up so we can see what you have to do?

Nice to know there's another splitty not too far away (i'm neary Moreton on Marsh).

Look forward to seeing some pictures of the bus soon.

cool intro, I have a 15 window fleetline (Brazil built and shipped to S.A) what ever you do enjoy your bus and carry out your resto stage by stage, don't expect to much to soon just plod with it and enjoy it and make sure you do your research. You should find most parts are easy to get from Alain schofield for panels and mech parts from vw hertiage.

If this is your first aircooled vw you should look to get john muirs book how to keep your vw alive. this is a really good place to start. be lucky

Ahhh, Thanks for makin me feel welcome.

Tridau -Your link is most interesting and i think will be much use to me. Seems like everything i need to do you have already done.
Bulliboy - Chiz for the heads up and i will most deffinately be finding that book out.

Here are some photo's - I hope. This is my first venture into forums and threads and ting so please hold tight.

I realise this van needs a full resto, i'll be doing the jobs to get it MOT'd and registered then having it as a rolling resto. I have no garage of my own but use the club's HQ on wednesday evenings and Saturday afternoons.

This poor old vans been used as a propper off road transit van in Brazil- for muchos years! The chassis rails were full of compacted dust. The outriggers have rotted and not been repaired so pillars have started to drop effecting door shuts and the gutters. The floor looks like its had 1000 engines transported thousands of miles on it. And it has had a front and rear shunt affecting the off side front door shuts and also the curvature on the o/s rear quater.

To get it to the MOT.

rear lenses.
Top hats all round
Outriggers all round
inner cills
Floor.
Brakes all round

As this will be a rolling project i'm planning to save money the do a few jobs which are connected at the same time. Seems like the smart thing to do. I'll try keep updated as much as possible.

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This jaking point actually came off in my hand!

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Bit of my metal work, top hat- not bad for a cabinet maker eh.

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Chiz people
I'll be here all week, try the veal.

All looks pretty familiar!

One thing to look out for is that a lot of the Brazilian parts are pressed using equipment from the old Hanover factory. This means that the parts you need are not always specific to the year of manufacture.

For example, the B-pillars in my bus (and probably yours too!) are much earlier barn door pillars. You will probably have early cab doors and old high hinge cargo doors.... the list is endless. Finding the correct part is not always very easy. There are plenty of helpful folk around though!

Look forward to following your story. If you start a thread in the rides and projects section we can all follow the build.

Which reminds me.... I really must update mine.

cheers,tridau for sorting pictures for josh,most of the brazillian buses i've seen through the workshop have all suffered a similar fate,minimal or no repairs,and very hard use,I guess its to be expected from a country minimal road regs and even fewer roads!!!
The bus needs lots of T.L.C.but will stand up straight again with a bit of gentle massage
taking josh shopping to slough swapmeet,so he's in safe hands

Welcome to the club

I used to have a Brazilian 15 winda, and as the others on here have said they are a real mix of years (but that's quite nice, and always a talking point at shows).

I found where possible, it was best to take the old part with me to ensure I bought the right year

If you every need a hand, just let me know

wondered how long it would be for you to open a rides and projects thread. saw this bus on wed its gonna be a great bus josh, dont rush it do it properly there is still space in my lockup for the old girl if you are stuck for somewhere to store it
until she is on the road and the erb has your name on it

Man thats nearly a twin for my fleetline even the colour! except mine rhd

Someone should create a guide detailing what year Bus parts work for the Brazilian buses.

Off too slough with the boys on Sunday with a shopping list!

good luck mate with the parts quest this weekend - hope yr wallet dont take too much hammering!