VW Bat Transporter Restoration Manual The Step-by-Step Guide to the Entire Restoration Process

Fletcher Gillett runs a small business repairing and restoring VW Transporters and other vehicles, with bodywork and structural repairs a speciality. He has contributed magazine articles and maintains a presence on VW forums where fellow enthusiasts can follow his restoration work. He lives in Brighton.

Buying a suitable project van - what to look for and what to avoid, originality and paperwork. Planning a project - working space, time-scales, tools, safety considerations. Strip-down and refit - removing and refitting panels and trim covered in a single chapter for easy reference, including cab doors and dash. Structural repairs - chassis, floors and underside. Inner, middle and outer sills, jacking points and outriggers, front end, including replacing the front panel and converting a late front panel to fit an early van. Front arches/steps, rear arches, rear end, and roof and gutter repairs. Recovering seats and door cards, and fitting a headliner. Bodywork and trim repairs - door reskinning and window aperture repairs, panel repair, preparation, paint options and painting, rustproofing. Mechanical – Gear-shift overhaul to cure those gear selection problems, carb rebuild, exhaust/heat exchangers, overhaul of front beam, ball joints, bearings, brake pipe and hose replacement, caliper overhaul, steering box, CV joints, lowering (and un-lowering!), including fitting beam adjusters, fuel tank and breather pipes, fuel sender and fuel lines (does not cover engine and gearbox rebuilds).

The VW Transporter is one of the most iconic vehicles on the roads today. Introduced in 1967, and continuing in production until October 1979, the Bay was the successor to the legendary ‘split-screen’ Transporter, and is the second of five generations of van so far given the Transporter name by VW. Even the poorest examples of the ‘Bay’ now fetch significant money, and imports from drier climes continue to appear on British roads, so the case for restoring one of these hugely popular vehicles is increasingly attractive. Using the trusted Haynes practical step-by-step approach, this all-colour manual follows the restoration of a 1979 Devon camper from beginning to end, and provides expert advice on the problems likely to be encountered when working on vehicles that have seen over 35 years of use and, in Britain, as many years of rain, salt and mud. This is the only guide to restoring (or part-restoring) a ‘Bay’ you will ever need.