History:
As far as I know, this bus spent a few years as a proposed project at a garage / shop in New York State. The previous owner purchased it and drove it to California and Florida. I purchased it in September, 1997.

Basics:
It is registered and inspected.   The true mileage is unknown. My guess is around 160,000.

Here is the complete M-plate:
05 7
425 042 025 108
UK2312 523907 7000597

Note that it is chassis number 597 manufactured July 5th, 1966.  M025 = lap belt anchors.  M108 = S0-42 camper kit.

There is no original documentation.

Body:
The previous owner repaired rust damage by replacing sheet metal on the lower exterior panels and along the outside edges of the cargo floor. It looks like a fairly good repair job, although there are some ripples in the side cargo doors. There is surface rust on the bottom of the floor pans. The rubber on the passenger and driver's door windows were recently replaced. The rear bumper is missing. The original roof rack is gone (stolen in CA). The body is straight as though it has never been in an accident, but I don't know that for sure. The main left frame member was repaired with a weld job at it's intersection with the rear torsion tube. It looks solid. Door close good except cargo door which requires slight push with knee typical for splitties. Hubcaps are chrome so I don't know if they are original.

Interior: The interior is in good shape with the following exceptions: The driver and passenger seats were reupholstered fairly well, but in black not the original mesh gray. The screws holding on the plywood veneer panels are phillips sheet metal screws (not hex head), and they don't look original. It is doubtful that the interior cab panels are original, but the headliner and cabinets are. The flooring in the cargo area is non-original black carpet in okay but not great shape.

Pop-top:
The pop-top canvas, seal, and hold down straps were recently replaced although I have noticed some wrinkle cracking in the hold down straps.

Misc.:
The original washer squirt bottle is missing and the previous owner installed a after market bottle with an electric pump. The lights work

Engine:
The engine is a recently rebuilt 1776cc which is not original. It has a two barrel Weber Progressive carburetor. I have intended to replace the engine with a stock engine, so have not paid too much attention to it. It ran very well from CT to Vermont when I bought it up in September, 1997 and ran great on a trip to Ohio in the Summer of 1998. No noticeable smoke from exhaust. Unknown gas mileage.   I took Westy out to Minneapolis in 1999 and blew the engine on the way back.  It is a long story which I may post some day.  Write me if you really want to know.  Basic stupidity.  As of November 2005 it has a nice engine which I need to keep but is available for test drives.   (Come before the snow).  I am flexible on trasprotation or transplant help.

Tranny and Clutch: The clutch works but it needs adjusted. The lever plate where the cable connects at the front broke on me on the trip from CT, and I had to turn the plate around to get home. I welded it up, and it works okay (but not great) now.  I first thought that it was hard to shift into second gear, but found that by pulling the stick at a back and out angle instead of straight back it did okay. The previous owner replaced the stick due to a worn out ball at the base.

Suspension, Brakes, Tires:
The shocks were recently replaced. The brakes were recently worked on and seem to work well. They do not pull or lock up.The tires are new, but I don't know the brand or size. The king pins have recently been replaced. There is some play in the steering, probably due to a worn out lever bushing.

November 2005 Photographs to show rust condition:

Click to show larger image

Front

Showing repair and missing crossbeam on left bottom.  Rust condition exemplary of overall underside condition.

Right Cab Floor

Left cab Floor

Left Rear Corner

Cargo Door Sill

More November, 16 2005 Photographs - click to see big: