Description
i have had the joy of owning this bus since 2018 but time has come to move it on as i have seen another car i'm interested in. I saw this van first on the front cover of camper and bus and fell in love!! Then i was lucky enough to become its owner. Its done many miles and trips to Wales and never missed a beat. Tom the original owner built a rock solid 1904cc stoker which powers the bus along beautifully and i fitted power steering so it drives and maneuvers like a dream. Recently i have raised the bus slightly as the roads in my area have become so bad it was causing issues - this is easily to adjust and put back. As you can see from the photo's the color changes in different light - sometimes appears much darker - last year it was polished and had a ceramic coating applied.
Obviously a van of this patina it has a few rust spots - jacking points replaced this year and a cross beam - it has a super comfy full width rock'n'roll bed - over £40, 000 of receipts from money spent on it over the years!!
Please see original article from Camper and Bus:-
If you want the perfect blend of stance and practicality, the path most often trod is to go for air ride or hydros. But, as tried and tested as these set ups are, they aren’t without their issues. Which is where this super-slammed ’67 Early Bay comes in.
This Bus isn’t just an exercise in thinking outside the box. If we may be allowed to quote a rather famous and yet anonymous Bristol graffiti artist, it’s more a case of: “Think outside the box,
collapse the box and take a f#cking sharp knife to it.” You see, everything on this Bus has been meticulously planned and executed and is a step away from the norm of usual mods synonymous with this type of ride.
A variety of people have played a part in the creation of this slammer, but it has all been the vision of one man - Tom Toms - and yes that really is his actual given name!
It is here that you will find an absolute air-cooled VW mecca mainly based around the up and coming FnL (First and Last) VW club. Although the club caters for all marques, there seems to be a certain penchant for slammed, OG paint Buses and in particular Early Bays and this is partly due to Evil Bens being just up the road. Anyone into low VWs will no doubt be aware of Ben Lewis’ (aka Evil Ben’s) slammed Early bay. It’s one of the most well recognised and sought after buses in the scene, and we’ll come back to him a bit later.
According to the history file Tom has, his ’67 originated from Belgium as a ‘no options’ Microbus coated in some kind of special red VW paint. With no record of paint name or code, it’s Tom’s belief that VW may have used a shade that was only available for the first three months of Bay Window production. Whatever, it doesn’t look like anything we’re familiar with.
Swap shop
The first owner in the UK was based in Yeovil.
The second was from Puddletown, and he had a light resto carried out by The Old Dub Shop in Bristol, along with some mild lowering.
To direct the ’67 where Tom wants it to go, a repro Nardi steering wheel was fitted, and to see where he’s been, he fitted a pair of 1950s Chevystyle truck mirrors.
At this point, Porsche 944 disc brakes were installed up front and redrilled drums were added to the rear, and Tom proceeded to roll
around in the Bus for a while with a suitable slammed static drop and a set of 14-inch Fuchs.
Sure, the Bus looked cool, but it still didn’t quite cut the mustard. Tom needed something that had the über slammed look, but was more drivable and, dare we say it, sensible. Can such a vehicle really exist? It can when you can call on the knowledge and experience of the aforementioned Ben Lewis. It goes without saying that the major engineering changes in Tom’s ’67 can be found dyno’d at 130mph, resulting in a healthy 98bhp at the wheels, but more importantly the motor has proven to be strong and trouble-free.
An unusual choice for a Bus such as this are the 16-inch polished Porsche 928 rims. They’re not something you see very often, but they work a treat and look extra special when tucked right
up inside the arches when this slammer is quite literally laying frame.
The cleverest part of this build, and where Mr. Lewis really comes into his own, are the suspension modifications. They really are
something else. Known as the boomerang setup, the front of this Bus was created by Ben, who took an air ride system that is more commonly used on the load beds of articulated lorries, and has mostly been adopted by Buggy and Baja builders to raise suspension, although he applied it in reverse...
The idea is simple when you look at it, but harder to explain. The front, like many set-ups is raised by the means of Air Ride Tech Shockwave air shocks. The shocks however, are not
mounted in the usual place. On this particular Bus the 4-inch narrowed Transporterhaus beam shock towers are now home to a bracket that holds a pivoting arm known as the boomerang. to be exact, not to mention better clearance
underneath and no need for the raised beam to
intrude in the cab area.
The chassis has had to be notched and huge
Evil Ben tubs were required to accommodate the back wheels on maximum drop.
The rear suspension set-up is a decidedly
more standard Evil Ben affair. Air Bags raise the
back up and adjustable spring plates, married to
horse shoe lowering plates keep the ride quality
by retaining the full suspension travel. Again, a
great deal of chassis notching was required for
clearance, and Ben had to fabricate new tubs for
the rear wheel arches. They’re so large that the
fuel filler neck has had to repositioned on the
rear quarter panel and is now topped off with a
polished Monza-style filler cap. In true Evil Ben
style a stance such as this can’t come without
an engine and gearbox raise, so that’s been
done as well.
Small beer
Tom’s aim with the ’67 was to achieve a body
dropped stance that happily laid frame without
actually performing a body drop on the vehicle.
It also needed to fit in with what has been
termed the FnL Club Look – rims, slammed but a
slightly raked stance, with fat rubber in the rear
and narrow up front -that’s an homage to 70’s
drag look and looks aggressive on the road. On
top of that it still needed to be a usable vehicle.
Being based right at the bottom of Cornwall,
the majority of the club have to travel huge
distances to get to even the closest VW
shows and estimate they each probably cover
10, 000 miles a year in their rides, so a usable
comfortable vehicle is paramount, but it still
needs to look awesome once parked in a field,
whilst enjoying good times and sipping on
Midget Ale. Job done.
