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William's 1972 Devon Moonraker
I
bought the Bus in September 2004 with a
seized engine and when I got her home and
had a thorough inspection I realized she
would need a new front panel and quite a
bit of welding.
The van was completely stripped out and
all new panels were welded in. She was lowered
at the rear and an adjuster was fitted to
the front beam so I could adjust the ride
height at the front. There was a big hole
in the roof were the original sliding sunroof
went but that had long gone so I found another
sunroof and fitted that in. A new headlining
was purchased and fitted and all new window
rubbers all round. A sliding window was
fitted to the side cargo door and louvered
one on the opposite for extra ventilation
and a new roof vent. I had cracked two windscreens
trying to get them fitted so had to get
a third. The Devon roof cap was broken so
was rebuilt and finished with a solid polymer
sheet over the top to keep out the water.
Two Californian cab doors were bought as
the originals had perished beyond economical
repair and a new engine lid from a French
van. Luckily the original Devon interior
was mostly intact so I just put some edging
strips over the bad bits and put it back
together. The original Easicool unit (fridge)
was there but not working so was replaced
with a new electric fridge and the electrics
were updated including a Bosch alternator
running two batteries via a split charge
relay.
A CD/DVD player and 10" drop down screen
was fitted to entertain the kids and a new
gas cooker was plumbed in (to keep the wife
happy). She was then painted in VW aquamarine
blue and pastel white. I sourced some 16"
Audi 5 spoke alloys and fitted them with
low profile tires. I then hid the front
indicators inside the headlamps and put
on American style rear lenses. My mate's
sister Joanne did all the cushions and curtains
(bless her).
I
have a 1776 twin port Type 1 engine in
an AS21 magnesium case with an Engle 110
cam and balanced crankshaft/flywheel fitted
with high rev springs and Scat cam followers.
This is fed buy a pair of IDF Weber carbs
with a stainless steel quiet pack exhaust
and a full flow oil system. This is all
charged by a blue coil and Pertronix ignitor
ignition. Unfortunately that engine needs
work now so I am just running a stock
1600 till it gets mended. It was a long
old slog but now she's on the road and
we're out in her every weekend.
Cheers.
Bill Cook
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