My '82 T3 Bus D

[Malam]

It's far from being your typical Pistonheads car, but someone might be interested in my latest acquisition!?

I've owned this for just over a month now, here are some pics I took when I went to view it..





28 Year old diesel engine- clean!




It's a 1982 T3 Transporter BusD, n/a 1600 diesel engine with 4 speed box. 70k genuine miles, 2 owners from new, the first a German who privately imported it when new in 1982 and owned it right up until 2003. I found the original import documents amongst the service books etc..





Every tax disc from new- it was sorn'd in 2006 and then put into storage until I stumbled across it

The Bus is completely original apart from the 15" Mercedes Steels that are fitted, original wheels were included in the sale though.

It was waxoiled when new, and as a result has never seen a welder or any filler and apart from a patch of rust on the lower front panel it's mint!



Anyway, I bought it and transported it home so I could begin sorting it out for it's MOT.

Machine polished the body, polished the chrome, cleaned the window seals, painted the towbar and rear wiper arm..

Before:


After:


Sanded down the steels and resprayed them satin black, along with the front grilles, rear air vents, door handles etc





Also fitted my roof racks ready to carry mountain bikes, surfboards etc

After being a storage for four years, it failed it's MOT on one thing- torn steering rack gator. Replaced that and the next day had a valid MOT certificate

My original plan was to fit an AFN 1.9tdi from an Audi A4, rebuilt 5 speed box with better ratios etc However, I'm now in two minds about doing this because it's in such amazing original condition .

Next jobs on the list;
Fit an AVO 70mm Kit to get it closer to the ground
Fit 17" Fuchs replicas, black with polished rim

Edited by Malam on Tuesday 1st June 12:52

[rednotdead]

Dunno why but I love that

[soad]

Not bad at all.

[308mate]

One of the best things about it is how high it sits if you ask me. Lowering it will just make it look like every other T4 and 5 surely?

Can you find some wheels of one of the 4WD models?

Just google imaged the Syncro and it doesnt look like they had special wheels, just steelies?

Anyway, thought you might like this:

Edited by 308mate on Tuesday 1st June 13:16

[ross-co]

I like that, i am going to look at a 85 T2 Bay camper tonight, fingers crossed it is even half as clean as your one.

[fabienne]

Hello interestng vehicle I use to drive these a number of years ago for a coach company in the Channel Islands. Great things to drive and good workhorses. Thanks for the post and keep up the good work.

[OnTheOverrun]

I love it, but I'd keep it standard as it's in such great condition personally.

[Dino D]

You want to look up the ones they were selling new in South Africa until a few years ago for some ideas. We had a couple, first with a 2.1l fuel injected boxer engine and then one with a 2,5l Audi 5cyl engine and a dog leg 5 speed gearbox. Would do a 100mph with a quattro soundtrack coming from the rear!
Here's some very old TV commercials showing them in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab1-ZZNXcAQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O82OBH70eFU

[TonyRPH]

Dino D said:

You want to look up the ones they were selling new in South Africa until a few years ago for some ideas. We had a couple, first with a 2.1l fuel injected boxer engine and then one with a 2,5l Audi 5cyl engine and a dog leg 5 speed gearbox. Would do a 100mph with a quattro soundtrack coming from the rear!
Here's some very old TV commercials showing them in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab1-ZZNXcAQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O82OBH70eFU

ha ha! I love those old adverts. Good old David Kramer - I wonder if he still sings?

[E31Shrew]

Great find....

[KenBlocksPants]

Cracking condition, dont think ive seen one as good as that (that hasnt had a rebuild / weld)..... ever!

Do you mind asking how much you paid for it (ball park if you like) just to get an idea?

[Malam]

Thanks for your comments folks

Edited by Malam on Tuesday 15th June 04:29

[Malam]

Couple more pics of the interior..

[jbi]

get rid of those ugly badges on the back... it will look much cleaner

[Malam]

jbi said:

get rid of those ugly badges on the back... it will look much cleaner

Which badges? They're all original apart from the little red Quiksilver sticker

[Libertine]

TonyRPH said:

Dino D said:

You want to look up the ones they were selling new in South Africa until a few years ago for some ideas. We had a couple, first with a 2.1l fuel injected boxer engine and then one with a 2,5l Audi 5cyl engine and a dog leg 5 speed gearbox. Would do a 100mph with a quattro soundtrack coming from the rear!
Here's some very old TV commercials showing them in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab1-ZZNXcAQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O82OBH70eFU

ha ha! I love those old adverts. Good old David Kramer - I wonder if he still sings?

I think anyone who has never spent any time in South Africa, would see those ads and think...what the fk?

Even though I remember seeing them back in the day, I'm think that myself right now

Back on topic, nice Volksie bus, sir!

[Mr.Jimbo]

That looks cool, I'd love a Type 25, especially a syncro one, my mate has had loads of them, I think they're awesome!

The last syncro he had had the 7" wide mercedes steels on, apparently they're quite sought after for these vans?

[308mate]

Am I right in thinking that grey carpeted backing of the rear seats folds down to make a flat bed?

[GTO Scott]

Very nice

I'd be tempted by the 1.9TDi conversion too - good economy and reasonable performance.

[Malam]

308mate said:

Am I right in thinking that grey carpeted backing of the rear seats folds down to make a flat bed?

The seat originally folded forwards, but I have modified it so that the back of the seat is removable. I don't want to screw the interior up by fitting a rock 'n' roll bed, so I'm going to put removable legs on the rear of seat so that I can place it in front of the seat base to form a bed. I'll then get a two piece matress made and trimmed to match the rest of the interior.

Pic to give you an idea...