Project Split.

The Projects

This is an oddball bus & with my love for all things with sliding doors made it a must have. It was built in 1965 for the German water board, that is about as much as I know.

It will be freshened up for the next show season before a major overhall begins. Watch out for this, it's gonna get out of hand!


	This is how I first got the van. It looks ok but not quite how I want it to look. I need to make it my own & have a few bits left over from other projects to make it happen. I wanted to change the wheels as it will run Porsche brakes eventually as the drums are just scary. I have taken the sign writing off now too, I might add some of my own later.
	There was a big red light on the back. I am not sure what that was all about, but it had to go. It is made be Hella, so probably worth something, but doesn't fit in with my style of things. I have removed all of the old stickers that were on the van too.
	The front of the van is all ok apart from 2 holes that must have been drilled for spot lights or something. I will have to plug these up until I get round to welding them properly. The front bumper will be painted black along with the VW badge.
	The back of the van is ok too. The rear corners are a bit moody & will get replaced when the second stage of the resto begins. Hopefully they will hold up for a while. The rear bumper will be painted black. It is a shame it has been cut to fit the exhaust, both may get replaced soon.
	The left hand side is the better side. It has had a small part of the front arch replaced as well as a small section of rear quarter panel. I will blend this in with a touch up gun. I have fitted the Fuchs replica wheels that I had only just fitted to the old Bay Window van, I love the way they look. Quite a few people think the old Sprint Stars were better, but these are here to stay.
	The right hand side will need a little more work. The plan is to blend in the paint with a close colour match just to seal it. It will be prepared properly so it won't need too much work in the second stage of resto. The roof & dash are original paint & I have found a good colour match for them, but the sides are a different shade. I will match the non original colour for now.
	What a cool van! The doors work perfectly which is essential on such a rare model like this.I just love twin sliding door vans. I have had 3 T25's with twin doors, but didn't ever think I would end up with a splitty version. It is just bonkers.
	Just a bit of an update, I haven't really done much to the van since I have had it, I had to put a clutch in it as the wrong one was fitted. I pulled the 1835cc motor out today as it is going to be sold. Eventually the 2007cc I kept from the bay will end up in there.
	I had a 1776 I pulled from a Beetle I bought. It has a counter weighted crank & Engle 110 cam. The top end was letting the engine down abit so I had GAC Engines gas flow the heads for me. I have a pair of Italian Weber 40's I rebuilt & the resto of the engine is detailed to suit. I bought some bolt up rocker shafts too just incase things start flying apart. I have only fitted this engine to test & tune it & to be able to move the bus around while I work on it. The 1776 will be sold later on too.
	The front wheel arch was always a bit iffy since I bought the van. It was only a matter of time before it would need replacing. Not wanting to do this myself, I got Barry at Kult Klassix to help me out. He made short work of cutting out the rust before the fun could begin.
	The A post was a bit nasty too. We cut it all out & replaced it with a repair section. It wasn't to bad a job to do, Barry has done loads of these before so was a simple job for him.
	The inside of the old arch was pretty rusty which is why we decided to replace it.
	We had to replace a section of cab floor too. We cut it out & & cleaned it all back.
	The new arch wasn't the best fit. The worst thing was that the lip was on the wrong side of the panel. We unpicked all of the spot welds to flip it over. This is a pig of a job & it would have been better to buy the best panel available at any price. I bought this from Alan Schofield as I thought it would be the best quality. It arrived & was an IPG one. I should have sent it back but decided to use it anyway.
	After a lot of banging & carefull fitting it finally went on. It isn't the best fit, but it doesn't look too bad. I am pretty sure the painter should be able to get it straight when it goes in for paint. We managed to get it all done in a day & drove it back home that night.
	The 1776 motor was sold & my 2007 was build up again. I had a full set of tinware powder coated in gloss black. I had trouble with a set of Weber carbs & had to replace them. There was a misfire/over fueling on the right hand carb that I just couldn't fix. It is up & running now & runs perfectly.
	I made the bold move to remove the original fish eye indicators. I have never been a lover of these on splits so decided to weld them up. I made some cardboard templates to start with & too my time to get them the right shape.
	If you take plenty of time you can get a plate to fit really well. I managed to bend it to the contours of the van so the welding was easy. A quick flash off with the grinder & a splash of primer & job done until final paint time.
	I have fitted new US spec headlights. I had a spare set of tinted perspex lenses left over from the blue Beetle so have fitted these too.
	The headlights have a little twist, they are crystal clear lamps with angel eye led side lights. The indicators are in the headlight bowl for now but I have another trick lined up to try too.
	Bug Jam was here all too soon. I pick up the front bumper from John at AE Coachworks on the way to the show & we bolted it on. It looks superb & makes the bus look more complete. The bus ran faultless both there & back & a quick change of front shocks has transformed the ride.



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