Follow my lead - 1970 Citrus Valley Bay

Owned by Citrus Valley Campground until the late 90s, this survivor Bay has a come a long way to look this good

I remember when not so very long ago, the only Buses anyone thought worth restoring were of the pre-’67 variety. My, how times have changed. Nowadays, everything and anything remotely loaf-shaped and wearing a VW badge is deemed worthy. Throw in some grivner in the form of sun-bleached paint, dents, and if you’re super lucky, genuine working livery, and you’ve got yourself a must-save ride. Which is why the owner of this 1970 former Microbus decided to save it.

Dean Bradley is not one of those journeymen just passing through the VW scene because it’s cool to own a Dub. He’s in it for the long haul and has gone to extraordinary lengths to get this Bus back on the road and rolling in his own inimitable style. To date, he’s owned an array of cool VWs.

This killer Bay took a monumental amount of work to get it looking like this. But exactly how much will surprise anyone who thought this was just another slammed rat ride on a set of shiny wheels. 

That’s definitely not the case here. Deano had invested a serious amount of man-hours into getting it right and is one of the finest examples to date of "Patina’d Rustoration" (Dean hates the term "Rat look").

Lured in by those amazing and very genuine logos, Dean bought a very rough project and set his sights on getting it shipshape and hunky-dory.

The list of repairs reads as follows: both lower inner and outer front steps, complete front floors, Slamwerks front wheel arch tubs, both outer sills [fortunately the inners were mint] and a sliding door guide made by the man himself, both front lower wheel arch panels, passenger rear short wheel arch panel, passenger rear arch splash panel, both battery trays, both rear corners, the engine lid hanger panel, a fair few repairs to the interior ribbed floor [mainly the keyhole seat fastening plates], various minor body repairs and several others to the rear window apertures. All of these repairs were painted in zinc primer then high build primer, then L610 Delta Green that Deano spent hours flatting back with wet-and-dry and aging. He says, “There’s a day in just painting and blending the windscreen scuttle alone.”

Is that all? No, not by a long chalk, because the entire roof section had to replaced too. The mind boggles at the amount of work that went into replacing the grotty original but Dean told us, “I bought a complete roof, cut from a California Bus and drilled out 460 spot-welds to remove the old section. Welding the new roof on took another 460 spot-welds and I had numb fingers for three weeks from angle grinding the roof welds down.” 

Dean told us if it wasn’t for the logos he wouldn’t have put himself through so much hardship, but with the body done it was time to get the Bus low – properly low. The front end was tubbed to accommodate the 5’’ narrowed Slamwerks king- and link- front beam and dropped spindles. The front also has two 125mm solid rings welded into the chassis and gusseted for extra strength, so the track rods can pass through the holes. The rear has a 100mm x 50mm heavy box section welded above the rear chassis and welded to the chassis/rear shock mounts. The rear chassis has been notched 35mm for clearance of the rear driveshafts and trailing arms, and this required the removal of the rear inner chassis braces which later Bay Windows didn’t have anyway.

There’s also some Slamwerks rear adjustable spring plates turned three splines, so with the kick on the plates it’s actually down four splines in total.

To take the sting out of the extreme lowness, Dean told us, “I got some Monroe air shocks from Evil Ben in Truro that lift it 30mm and cushion the ride. Some say it’s cheating but I drive my Buses a lot and I like to be comfortable as well as being über low. I’d certainly recommend them to anyone.”

It’s easier to just restore than preserve an old warhorse like this, and the upkeep would be less on a shiny Bus, but we think you’ll agree it’s been well worth Dean’s efforts. We’ll let him have the last word [as he so often does].  “I’ve always loved Bay Window Buses and on every project I do I have to outdo myself. There’s detailed and painted suspension and brakes that are hidden away that no one will ever see, but I know it’s built right and more importantly, safely.”