Original subtitles

This time on Wheel Of Dealers, an iconic bus with profit written all over it.

That was one sweet deal. VW expert Ed has radical ideas.

Seriously? We're not going to change it? No.

But Willy's plans to keep the bus pure backfire.

So is that really how I'm going to actually get this apart?

I deliver a distinctive solution that adds to the VW's wicked style.

What we want to go for is that really cool half moon look.

I hunt down the faded classic cars that need a second chance.

Ed is the mechanical master who turns them around and

when they're done we sell them on, hopefully for a profit.

Write up a list of the top 10 most instantly recognisable

cars in the world and the VW Type 2 will be near the top.

It's brick like yet iconic shape is always in

fashion. Pristine examples can scoop up to £50,000.

The T2 is a family of utterly functional designs from the 1950s that have

charmed 5 million drivers in panel Van, minibus, camper or pick up form.

So isn't it time we had a splitty to call our own?

The West Coast of the USA is a global destination for

splitties because the dry climate keeps rust at bay.

But the prices are high so I'm searching on the East

Coast in hot and humid Florida where prices are 30% lower.

I can't seem to find anything except for when you

move away from the coastline the options do open up.

There are more vehicles out there and they are

a bit cheaper but some of them are so rusty.

Except for this one, it's a 1967 VW bus 13 window which is great.

It's been customed on the outside, it's got no

interior whatsoever and it's for sale for $14,800.

But it's the key word in the advert, it says that this one is rust free.

So I'm going to jump on the phone and find out a bit more about it.

The seller is a girl called Chris who sounds

like she knows a thing or two about VWs.

So a lot of work has been previously done.

And she says the 67 13 window deluxe is rust

free and that's exactly what I need to hear.

Brilliant, see you in a bit. Bye.

Well what a lovely lady and if that vehicle is half as

good as she says it is then that could be a pot of gold.

Now she's in South Carolina, I'm a few hours away, it's time to hit the highway.

I'm heading up north to a town called Greenville.

Now this VW bus I'm going to go and see has been

slightly customised, it's all in black in the pictures.

Chris says it's got a stripped out interior, tinted glass

all the way around it and sort of blacked out wheels.

I know a lot of people would be put off by that.

See a lot of people prefer their campers to look more

traditional, pastel colours, nice frilly interior.

I don't care about any of it to be honest with you

because I know the key to one of these VW buses

is the fact that it's got to have a rust free body.

This is the American dream isn't it, wonderful houses, immaculate lawns,

beautiful properties and some wonderful cars that I've come a long way to see.

Look at this, brilliant. Hey how you doing?

Hi how are you?

Are you Chris?

Yes, nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too, yes.

Very excited about being here actually, looks like you've got quite a collection.

Yes VWs.

This is your passion then?

Yes it is.

What do you know about this one?

It's a 67, 13 window deluxe.

It looks really nice and straight, the paintwork is really good.

Yes I had pretty good work done to it, it was a little rough when I first got it.

Can I have a look underneath?

Yeah sure.

Oh wow, that looks like new.

Yeah it's greyed up under there, no rust or anything.

Okay let's get round the back.

Right now, what have we got here?

It's a 1.6 single port.

Looks in really good order doesn't it, nice and

tidy all the way round the engine compartment.

Well I've got this mechanic who tells me whenever I look at a Volkswagen engine I should always check

the end float which is basically this pulley at the back I should see if there's any movement in it.

And this one looks nice and solid so it's very good, very nice indeed.

Let's have a look round the side.

Now it was the 68 that had the sliding door.

Correct.

This one's got the... The barn doors.

Barn doors, I love that, it's great isn't it?

Now I'm expecting to find in here Chris, a lovely furnished

interior with a sofa, maybe a bed, a little cooker.

Nope, surprise.

It's a surprise is it?

I know what to expect and it's going to be this.

Yes, just like the pictures.

Well the bad news is it's got absolutely no interior whatsoever but the good news is it does

give me a chance to see that there's no signs of rot or rust anywhere, it looks really good.

No I've had that all professionally welded in front and back.

Well that looks alright.

Now let's have a look in what I call the office.

First up these seats, they're not standard are they?

No they're not but they're very comfortable.

Hey look it, headlining's missing, door cards are missing,

half of the dashboard switch gear is missing, there's no radio.

There's a lot missing but like the back you can still

see that there's no rust, there's a lot of potential.

Yeah it needs some work doesn't it?

I like the original speedometer, that's good.

And it's also got the nice steering wheel, lovely old steering wheel.

Well I can see that there's plenty of work to do in there. I suppose the only thing left

for me to do Chris is to get it out on the road and take it for a test drive, is that ok?

Yeah sure, take it for a cruise.

Now when these were new, back in the 60s, one

of these would have cost you about £1,000.

Today they're changing hands for 20 times that and even when you

take into account of inflation, they're still several times more.

So why is that? Well it's the VW Magic that keeps earning them the money.

A bit behind the wheel with this, it's like a glimpse to another world.

I absolutely love the driving position, the view out, you've got the windscreen right in

front of you, this great big steering wheel and it actually gets down the road alright.

The gearbox is a bit, well, hit or miss. There's a lot that's right with this Van.

What's harder to like is the slug-like power and it wanders around a bit.

Let me tell you, you know I'm not doing this for

effect, that's me trying to keep it in a straight line.

This car does rip around on the road, maybe that's an H thing.

So the crunch is, do I want this splitting? Well

the thing is, there's a lot of work involved.

Whether it's going down the standard route to do a retrofit interior,

there's going to be a lot of work to go down the custom route.

But if we do it, we'll end up with a cracking splitting.

The good thing is, it's a really good starting point and you've got

to think that I'm never going to find a cleaner one for the money.

This is a really, really straight Van, so I think I should go back, try and get it

a little bit cheaper and hopefully this splitting will be coming back home with me.

Back in one piece.

So how did it drive?

Yes, it's rather charming actually. It's not the fastest

thing in the world but it sort of just bumbles down the road.

And I can see the appeal, why people love these VW buses.

I really do like it and all the time I'm in the vehicle,

I keep wondering, am I ever going to find a better one?

I don't think so.

I tend to agree with you actually.

It comes down to just the price. So you want how much?

$14,800.

See I was thinking more like $13,000.

No, I can't do that.

I bought cash with me, I'm willing to just drive it away.

I'd just rather keep it here and sell it here in the US.

What would you take for it?

I'd take 14.

So it's $14,000?

Yes.

I'll date you around.

Thank you very much.

I just bought myself a VW Splitty.

I bagged a bus for less than £9,000. That's a breathtaking deal.

A car this good could give me a profit of £5,000.

But this bus isn't a period look and won't deliver that purse the way it is.

Can I change it enough to boost the price?

The VW Type 2 is recognised the world over and this one is rough free to boot.

There's a lot that's right with this Van.

It's got bad boy locks and bad boy driving manners with its slow, imprecise steering.

It wanders around a bit.

Let me tell you, I'm not doing this for effect.

That's me trying to keep it in a straight line.

However, this Splitty has got a lot going for it,

but it needs an awful lot more to make me money.

Ed loves his VWs and he'll be under massive pressure

to get this one right or his reputation will suffer.

Still, I can't wait to see his face when he sees our Splitty.

Well, how about that?

I've got myself a VW bus.

Now I'm in South Carolina heading towards the

port so I can get this car shipped back to the UK

and I've got some really great ideas about what we can do with it.

We can go down that traditional route, make this really period,

you know, do pastel colours, do a proper campervan, insulation inside,

make it look really, really cool.

Or we could carry on with Chris's work.

Maybe go down that SoCal route, you know, slam it to the deck.

But maybe there's a different way.

Maybe there's something we can do that takes the best of both

of those worlds and mix it up together and puts it in one.

One of the things that we will have to address is the way

this car drives because at the moment it's really sloppy.

The steering's a bit all over the place.

The gearbox, well, is sort of hitting home.

I'm heading towards the port.

I can't wait to get this on the boat

and I can't wait to see what Ed makes of our fantastic VW bus.

Oh, look at that.

You beauty.

I recognise that little chirp from the exhaust anywhere.

Oh, you did, son? You alright?

I'm very good now, yeah.

This is great.

Oh, I'm so pleased you're pleased

because I've gone and got just for us, not just any old vehicle,

I've got one of the most legendary, rarest, most iconic vehicles on the planet.

Welcome to our VW Splitty.

You've done very well.

You can tap any part of it and you won't find any rust, any rot anywhere.

Go on, have a look underneath, see how tight it is.

It really is.

I'm impressed.

I mean, either it's been really well repaired or it is just beautifully original.

And the news doesn't stop there.

OK.

I paid less than £10,000 for this vehicle,

so this is a real opportunity for me and you to earn some really good profit.

That is a bargain.

Well, let me give you a guided tour starting down the back.

OK.

Look at that little AE engine there.

It's a 1600 single-port, loads of power.

It's a little bit stuck in the 60s, this engine.

So I was thinking we could put in a modern 2.0-litre turbocharged,

supercharged, something smart to get it down the road really quickly.

Now, the thing is, because you're going to make

us sell this, then it's all about the profit.

Therefore, leave it as it is.

So you just don't want to touch it at all?

No, it's fine.

It works really well.

It works as it was designed for the car.

In fact, it's slightly more powerful than what came out of the factory.

So, yeah, leave it as it is.

OK.

What about the rest of the driving experience?

The steering's a bit wayward.

Yeah.

The gearbox is like stirring a stick in a porridge bowl.

Can you sort those out?

We can have a look at maybe trying to sort

of stiffen that lot up, make it a bit better.

But, you know, that's what you buy into.

Really?

Yeah.

Let me show you inside.

Because I know what you're thinking.

You're thinking it's all going to be fitted out, it's all going to be lovely.

Got a little burner, got a little sink,

got some sofas to sit on.

But you'll see that I've gone for the minimalist approach.

You really have, haven't you?

It's actually not a bad thing because you can see the real fabric of the vehicle.

And, yes, there have been a few little tiny repairs here

and they've been done really well and it's just

really, really solid metal, so it's actually great.

I think it's a fantastic little canvas.

Perfect, yeah.

A nice blank canvas for us.

We can put some carpet in, put a seat at the back.

It'd be really cool.

It's not a camper.

There it is, a microbus.

Just to smarten it up, make sure that it really sings its own praises.

But leave it like that.

Hold on a minute.

Let me get this right.

So you don't want to do the engine.

You don't want to do the interior.

Not much.

What do you want to do?

You've got to think about what we've got here.

We've got this amazing bargain car.

And the thing is,

it doesn't really necessarily need much work.

I mean, sure, looking at the cab, you could do a few little bits and pieces there.

It's not ideal in there.

But I just think the most money we can make on this

is if we don't actually spend any money at all.

So you're saying the least money we spend,

the more money we're going to make.

Trust me, I know Volkswagen's this is going to work a treat.

Okay, hold out your hand.

That's a deal.

Yeah, let's get it in the workshop.

This is so fantastic to finally have one here.

What a car, a VW Splitty.

Now, I'm a huge fan of the Volkswagen anyway,

but with this car's fantastic 60s heritage,

amazing rust-free bodywork,

it is a real honour to have it in the workshop.

But the question is, what are we going to do with it?

I need to make the VW easier to handle without splashing out

or taking away from the Splitty's originality.

I have a plan.

So I've decided to tackle the rather wayward

steering that Splitty buses are often plagued with.

Now, one of the main reasons for that problem is this thing here.

This is the steering box.

Now, the steering wheel goes onto a shaft, which goes down into this box.

There's a gear there, there's another gear on

this side, and effectively that little thing there

actually converts the rotary motion on the steering wheel

to a kind of a linear motion here off this steering arm.

But the movement is translated through a network of rods and bushes

and each stage worsens the feel at the wheel.

The upshot of all of this is,

it doesn't matter how precise the positioning of the steering wheel,

by the time it's gone through all of this system,

the end result is rather woolly and not very pleasant on the open road.

I'm going to swap out this steering box.

for a rack and pinion system, which is much more direct.

It's a tough job, though.

I have to take off the wheel and indicator selector

and now disconnect the old steering box from under the car.

This is the last bolt, so hopefully...

There we go.

Just going to slide off that steering bearing.

Voila!

So, that's our old steering box and column.

Now, despite how old this bitty is

and how rubbish the steering has been for all those years,

there's surprisingly few solutions on the aftermarket scene.

I've actually gone for one that's designed and built in the UK.

It costs £850 and seems really rather comprehensive.

This box is pretty big because there's lots inside.

I'll be re-engineering a significant part of the steering system.

So, this is the entirety of our kit.

First of all, we have this mounting plate.

You can see it's beautifully made.

It's laser-cut, then folded and obviously then plated.

That's going to actually attach to the underside of the Van

and then everything's going to be attached to that.

The next bit we can see here is a brand-new steering column.

So, the bearing at the top of that, of course,

is going to stop the steering wheel actually wobbling around,

but at the other end, you've then got this UJ,

again, very nice and taut and no slack in there.

That goes into a bevel box, which converts that rotary motion through 90 degrees.

and that then goes into our custom-made steering rack.

On the end of that is a ball joint, another brand-new one.

That, of course, then attaches to the existing idler arm,

which then goes through the track rod ends to the steering.

So the whole idea is to remove any slack or backlash

from the system to turning a woolly steering into a lovely, precise steering.

Step one is to cut a template

to help me position the mounting plate.

I use a bit of photo glue to hold it in place.

Now I Mark and cut the cavity.

I test fit before I drill the holes for the bolt

and then use some stone chip to tidy up before I rebuild the rack onto the plate.

Here's a top tip.

Don't tighten any bolts until all of them are in place.

This conversion could set you back £500 in labour fees,

but I think it's definitely doable at home.

But it is always easier with a ramp.

Well, everything's now together, so before I put it into the Van,

the first one I do is just pop this little ruler into position.

This is really important.

To help me line up the system after installation,

I need the rack to be centred just like the wheels.

There we are, smashing it.

So this is now set, ready to go into position on the Van,

but there's one more thing I have to do in the cab.

The new steering column is slightly wider, so before the assembled

plate goes in, I need to enlarge the cavity in the floor.

Now I'm ready to get the new rack onto the car.

It's quite interesting the choice of nuts they've gone for here.

If you think about it, we're playing with the steering,

you don't want any of this new stuff just to fall off the car because of vibrations,

so they've gone for what's called a prevailing torque nut.

Now, you can see the hole is non-circular, it's got this kind of oval shape to it,

and those kind of narrower sides grip hold of the studding,

so you actually have to overcome this prevailing

torque to actually wind it up, the studding,

but, of course, that same grippiness is what stops it falling off under vibration,

so it's a very useful thing to have.

I'm ready to connect everything up.

Add the new steering column,

and finally, give everything a nice tighten-up.

Now, this new steering rack is going to completely transform.

the way this Van handles,

and therefore it's going to make it feel so much better to drive,

but unfortunately I've got a whole load more stuff to do

before I get that wonderful experience on a test drive.

Now, we need to do something with the wheels for our splitty.

I could change and follow the wheels, but that's been done before,

so what we want to go for is that really cool half-moon

look, which is a hubcap that goes on the wheel.

Problem is, with a wheel with this profile,

the hubcap sticks out a little bit too far.

The only way to counteract that is to make the dish

a bit deeper, and that's a process called banding,

and behind this door is a guy called Steve, who can help me out.

Steve has been banding wheels for almost 30 years.

Extending the rim sounds quite simple,

but it's complex and time-consuming.

OK, what's the first job in the process?

Sandblaster. Cool.

As she works for Steve, get stuck into the wheel for me.

The surface needs to be spot on, and after about half an hour, it's looking good.

And now Steve gets the wheel into a jig,

screws it up and then cuts off the rim.

Don't try this at home.

OK, so you've cut the top of the rim off.

Yeah. Where are we at?

We've now got to fill the gap with a steel band for the outer rim to attach to,

which obviously gives you a deeper dish look.

Yeah. What would you recommend?

I would suggest you went with a two-inch band on the rears.

and a one-inch band on the front.

That's cos it's a staggered look.

Yeah, to get the staggered look.

OK, yeah, let's do that. OK, cool.

Steve has the band pre-cut,

but the shaping needs to be done by hand.

My hands.

So just a nice, even motion.

Yeah, Steve, just keep it going.

Is there any tips to doing this?

Not particularly, just turn the handle.

After a couple of turns,

the metal is circular enough to work with.

How's that then, Steve?

Jobs are good and light.

I wouldn't want to do a six-inch one.

Steve spots the band into place.

Once it's secure and he's happy with the position,

he adds the old rim.

Then it's on to the jig for a seam weld all the way round.

Steve cleans up the weld and we get our wheel back, only two inches wider.

That is fantastic.

All the hard work's done there, is it?

Yeah, all done, mate.

Yeah, ready for priming now.

That's exactly what I was hoping for, Steve.

The half-moon isn't going to stick out as far now.

Exactly.

Brilliant.

Our wheel takes three coats of paint plus lacquer,

and that's a whole day to complete a set of four.

Now the wheel's all been painted up, I've got to say I'm happy with that.

Look at that deep dish look.

And I just borrowed this off of Steve

just to see what the finished article will look like when it

goes back on the bus, and I've got to say, it looks fantastic.

This time it was Ed who wanted to do smaller,

cleverer jobs to build our profits.

With much improved steering, we're on top so far.

Now that is a real problem,

I don't really know how I'm actually getting this apart.

But deep down, does our Splitty actually want to be upgraded?

We've got a VW Splitty.

I can't wait to see what Ed makes of our fantastic VW bus.

And we've got a good chance of making five grand on it.

Ed wants to improve the way it drives,

and he's adamant the route to ridges is to do less,

not more than a bus.

Mike and I are trying to maximise the money

we can make out of this fantastic Splitty,

and that means coming up with all kinds of cunning ways

to make our bus better without actually breaking the bank.

And a really good candidate is that rather woolly gear selector.

Mike complained the gear change was a bit of a lucky dip,

and I've got an idea that will drastically improve things for less than £100.

Now, unfortunately, just like the steering out of the factory,

this gear selector was never really a very precise thing.

And when you think about it, it kind of makes sense.

On a front-engine vehicle, your gear selector

will be almost either straight into the gearbox or very, very close.

Whereas in the bus, it's got to go from here all the way to the very back of the Van.

where the gearbox is, of course, attached to the engine.

Let's get Phil in and the bus in the air to see how it can be improved.

Phil, if you could just start moving into different gears.

So, as Phil's going from first to second to third to fourth,

you can actually see an awful lot of kind of sloppiness going on.

If we actually follow this shaft down,

it goes along here to a little join where it goes into a tube here.

There's an awful lot of slack there

that goes through a tube all the way down to the bottom

where it eventually attaches to the gearbox.

There is a bush in the gearbox, which is great,

but you can see there is obviously, again, quite a lot of slack.

My plan is to update the bushes throughout the whole system.

To do that, I need to remove the various shafts running under the car.

Once the gear selector is out of the way, they should unbolt.

But no such luck.

Now, that is a real problem.

I need to actually undo this screw here,

but it should have a hex head or something on there to actually undo it.

That's missing.

It's obviously been sheared off, perhaps,

so I don't really know how I'm going to actually get this apart.

I've got no choice but to cut a slot into the screw head,

but that won't be enough to loosen the rusted nut.

To expand the metal, I use my induction tool to apply

serious heat to the collar and hope for the best.

That's not working either.

It's going to have to be drilled out.

Well, I've tried everything else, and now I need a little bit of drastic action.

If in doubt, a grinder...

..and a hammer are a persuasive combination to remove the troublesome collar.

So at last, I wrestled the shaft from the bus.

This is the first of our gear shifter rods.

It's seen better days, but it's actually OK.

I think it'll be fine once it's cleaned up, and then once I've done that,

I can then replace the various bushes.

I always paint even hidden parts like this

to prevent dirt and corrosion because they look better,

but more importantly, they last longer.

Well, this is my little kit here.

So this little chap goes in the end of our shaft there.

These go down on the shaft in the middle of the Van.

Of course, this goes on the end there,

and this goes at the very, very end right next to the gearbox.

The old bushes have hardened and cracked over time,

and millimetres of play have magnified through

the system, but the new ones should fix that.

Right, now the next thing I need to do

is actually disconnect the rod that's inside of this tube

because there are two more bushes actually inside there,

and I need to do that at this end.

Although the VW is in good Nick overall,

small-scale watches are evident.

This joint is welded, not bolted.

It needs to be cut off.

Once the shaft is out, I replace the bushes,

clean the shaft, and get it back in.

So that should make a big difference.

I could just replace the old gear selector, but I've decided

to update the system and change it for a quick shifter.

Now, although this is actually really simple,

it's quite clever, because what it's doing is moving the fulcrum point of our shifter

just by adding a little bit of aluminium and, of course, the step lower down.

So from this distance here, it's now increased by 25%,

which means that the movement at the other end

is also going to be reduced by 25%.

Very smart.

This is an ideal DIY job,

and you can restore the car to standard later if you want to.

Well, that is so much better.

The combined result of those new bushes

and the quick shifter really is a lovely, lovely

action now, and it only costs just under £70.

So, a real result.

Ed, how are you doing? You all right?

I'm good, sir, yeah. Good to see you.

Now, I remember this, Splitty.

You confounded me when I gave you this vehicle,

because usually you're the one who wants to go a little bit mad,

but on this instance, it was me.

I wanted to change the engine, make it better,

make it more drivable, but you kept saying no.

So how far have we got?

Well, I still think it's a great idea.

So the first thing I've done is concentrate on the driveability,

so we now have a much more precise steering system

and also taken some of the wooliness out of the gear change.

Brilliant. So we're still with our low-cost, high-return strategy,

but how are we going to apply that to the outside,

because it still looks very bad for it, doesn't it?

Well, it really does. It's a bit aggressive at the moment.

We do need to sort something out, but we can do

it, hopefully, with just some details, I think.

Things like removing the tinting film out of the windows,

that kind of stuff, that's all going to make a big difference.

Then why don't we change some of the colour on the Van?

We could just paint it.

Maybe if we did the top white and the V at the

front white, that will lift it in some way.

That would be classic Splitty,

but the thing is, then I think you couldn't have it with the black.

You'd have to paint the lower half as well.

Then, of course, you're looking at a full

respray, you're looking at three, four grand.

And then that falls out of our low-cost, high-return strategy.

And people out there who love their Splittys,

they will let us know if we get this one wrong,

so you've got a very big decision to make.

I have. Oh, thank you.

The Splitty has been to the paint shop.

Mike thought a more extensive paint job would sell well in Europe,

but I stuck to my guns and only painted the interior.

Now it may seem like a really risky strategy, only

painting the inside of a bus, but think about the results.

It now looks really wonderful in here, it's really uplifting,

and it only costs us just under £1,000.

To paint the whole Van would have cost at least four times that.

But this way, hopefully a new buyer is drawn in beautifully,

but we do get to maximise our profit.

So instead of spending my money on paint,

I've splashed half the amount on chrome details,

and the first to get the treatment will be the windows.

Obviously the windows had to be removed

to make sure we could actually paint the interior,

but two things that really bother me about these things.

The first is, you can see this really rather ridiculous tint on here.

Now, in a really hot, sunny country, that kind of makes sense,

but in Europe, I think it would be much nicer

if there was no tint at all and you could see the lovely views outside.

But the other thing is, you can see these kind of brackets and screws and stuff.

That's actually so that the windows can pop open,

and it's a real shame that none of them actually worked,

so it would be really nice to recommission that as well.

Ditching a tinted window can be as easy as simply buying new glass,

but since each pane is £130 and I've got eight to swap,

I'll save a grand and do it my way.

That's just to strip down the rubbers and metal frame to expose the glass beneath.

If you want to do this, try not to damage the rubbers, as they cost £20 each.

So I've now taken the window completely to pieces,

and we're left with a piece of glass.

It's a piece of toughened glass,

and the interesting thing is that if this is slightly more modern,

it might actually be laminated, which means you'd end up with a piece of glass,

a piece of glass and a bit of plastic in the middle,

and the idea is that you can actually change the tint

of your window by changing the tint of that plastic.

But because this is so old,

and because it's an aftermarket job,

somebody's actually put on a sheet of polyester to give this tint on there,

which means all I have to do to get it off is maybe give it a tiny bit of heat,

a little bit of a scrape,

and hopefully I should be able to remove it from

the glass and give the whole lot a lovely clean.

You can also do this to remove unwanted dealer

stickers or go faster stripes on the bodywork.

Now, thankfully, this material is actually quite strong.

Of course, that's one of the reasons it's used for tinting film.

What I'm doing here, I'm just running just a little bit of heat,

nothing too much at all, just along the edge, just to warm the glue up.

And that way, hopefully, the glue will stay

with the polyester rather than on the glass,

because it's just one less thing to clean.

It's actually coming away rather well.

I keep the glass clean, and I'm ready for my new frames.

The old ones were in all right condition,

and they are good enough for a bus, but not ours.

We've gone for polished aluminium ones, which are £80 each.

Fitting them into the rubber is the reverse of the strip down,

except you have to remove ugly-looking snags from

the corners and close stubborn gaps in the frame,

all without shattering the glass.

Now that things get a little bit unconventional,

I'm going to be taking a rubber mallet to our glass,

and the reason for that is I need to try and get.

this little gap here to actually close up, otherwise I

can't get the screws in to keep the whole thing secure.

So here we go.

Now with the frame together,

I can do up the retaining screws and get it into the bus.

So that's the rubber in place.

The next thing is a little chrome catch.

Now, when Mike brought the Van to us,

these windows were just kind of wedged in

just by the force of the rubber.

They could have opened at any time.

OK, you've got the hinge on one end because you've got this open end here.

So now, this time, by putting this latch in

place, we'll be able to open the windows properly

and then keep them open or keep them closed.

With the windows in place at full day's work,

I need to get some more bling onto the VW.

Now, because we haven't re-sprayed the outside of this Van,

it's even more important that it looks its absolute best.

So I'm planning an extravaganza in chrome.

Basically, anything I can replace with a chrome

part, I will, including this front bumper.

But the really cool thing is, because it's in such good Nick,

we should be able to get some money back if we sell it.

MUSIC.

It would cost at least £1,000 to chrome plate a single bumper,

but I've tracked down some polished stainless units,

including over-riders, front and back, for £800.

I have also specced chrome replacement lights,

wipers,

mirrors,

and also some cool deluxe trim

to replace the wonky black one that was on there before.

I'm not doing these tight at first.

I'm just going to make sure I've got all of them in the right position,

make sure the trim's looking happy, and then we tighten up.

In total, I've spent around £1,800,

including the windows, which is a massive uplift for the money.

Last bit of bling.

You couldn't have a split-screen bus.

without this wonderful badge on the front,

and, of course, ours is now very resplendent in chrome.

Now, the question is, have we done the right thing by not painting our bus?

Well, look at that.

All this fantastic chrome has transformed the look of the bus,

but at the same time, we haven't actually broken the bank at all.

Proper result.

This wonderful bus could make us a £5,000 profit.

Mr China's plans for achieving this

are to maximise intelligent choices and to minimise spend.

I like this new business-minded head.

I've got a bit of a problem with our rear lights on the Van.

As they stand right now, they're actually illegal over here in the UK.

But he's still got some major issues to fix.

The VW split-screen is a motoring icon.

The thing with these, the more windows you get, the more they're worth.

And this one has got plenty of windows.

And there's no reason why this fantastic example should earn us some decent dosh.

£5,000 might be possible with Edd China's plans

to do smart fixes that don't cost the earth.

The bus now drives and looks better, but Edd's still got the interior to complete.

When our little spitty first turned up at the workshop,

it seemed a bit dark and gloomy

and didn't really have that kind of optimistic

outlook you expect from a nice little hippie bus.

But now we've removed all that dark tinted film and added lashings of chrome,

the outside of our vehicle looks really rather splendid.

And the interior is also nicely uplifted thanks to that lick of paint.

The thing is, if we're going to sell this, we need even just a little bit of interior.

We need some creature comforts.

I'm starting in the back,

a place where Mike and I have seriously disagreed.

He thinks we should add at least a bench seat or a bed,

but I thought a blank canvas was the best way to go.

We've compromised on a set of cream vinyl door panels.

The door cards were £400, which I think we will see back,

but I left the floor without a mat

as it better shows off how good our VW is structurally.

Up front, a carpet softens the utilitarian origins.

And the same style door cards clip into place.

I ditched the bucket seats that came with our Van

because they weren't really in keeping and they were quite uncomfortable.

But the good news is they're actually in quite good Nick

so hopefully we'll get a few quid for them if we can sell them later on.

Now, I would have been happy with any old bench seat in here

because original VW seats are so hard to get hold of.

But as it happens, we're very lucky and these little chaps popped up online.

So we now have a twin seat for the passenger

side and a single seat for the driver's side.

Now, even with all this brand new upholstery to make the whole thing wonderful,

it actually costs just under £400.

and that is an absolute bargain.

The seats just click into place.

If you use a non-VW kit, you might need a set

of seat runners to attach the driver's side.

The old steering wheel was damaged when I replaced

the column, but it had seen better days anyway.

The new one was £230 in the same VW palette.

When Mike bought the bus,

the dash was stripped out completely and full of holes.

So I fill the gaps with a retro-look radio,

a cool 60s clock.

and a chrome ashtray.

I've got a bit of a problem with our rear lights on the Van.

As they stand right now in American spec,

they're actually illegal over here in the UK so we need

to change them so they actually are legal on the roads.

And the reason for that is they actually use

the stop, tail and indicators all from one bulb,

whereas what we actually need.

is an orange or Amber indicator on a separate bulb

and then stop, tail and another bulb in red.

So I have to run a wire between the light cluster

and the brake switch on the master cylinder.

I crimp on the connector and bring the wire

through the chassis to the front of the Van.

Now our new wire that goes from the brake switch all the way to the back of the Van.

has to be attached to something.

Obviously I want to run it now all the way along the existing wiring limb

but that means it has to go into the chassis.

So a really handy thing is to get hold of one of these.

It's basically a kind of threading device, if you like.

You've got this kind of nylon in the middle there.

You can actually extend them to almost any length you like

and they're fantastic because they're quite stiff

to actually run them through all kinds of nooks and crannies.

I connect my wire to the end of the nylon guide and drag it through.

Easy.

But if you want a specialist to take a USA car and make the

lights legal for Europe you'll need to allow at least 200 pounds.

Side lights, please.

Indicator.

And an undo stop.

Right, well we're nearly there now.

It's now time to fit the replacement wheels that Mike's managed to source for us.

Now you can see when they're all next to each

other how different the new ones really are.

This is our standard offset there and you can see the much

deeper dish on the front and even more so on the rear.

They're just going to make the bust look that little bit different.

And the finishing touch.

I think we're done.

When I bought this Splitty I wasn't sure which direction to take.

Custom or traditional?

But it looks like this VW has found its own niche.

Managing to look utterly gorgeous

yet being easier to drive beneath those timeless lines.

It's a massive success.

I wanted a Ross-free Splitty

and I was prepared to go halfway around the

world to find one and that's exactly what I did.

This bust was so good, I bagged it on the spot.

What would you take for it?

I'd take 14.

Hold out your hand.

Ed knew the money was in making the bust easier to live with

so he improved the way with steering with a rack and pinion setup.

Now this new steering rack is going to completely transform the way this Van handles

and therefore it's going to make it feel so much better to drive.

Then he worked his magic on the gear shift action.

Well that is so much better.

Really is a lovely, lovely action now.

I've provided core wheels to up the style.

I'm happy with that.

Look at that deep dish look.

And rather than splash the cash on new paint

Ed chose to upgrade the bust's look in a different way with flashings of chrome.

And inside it proved Ed really does know what works on a VW.

We're very lucky and these little chaps popped up online.

Well the results are truly amazing.

But what's the cost?

The Splitty was a bargain but dial in the upgrade costs

and we're looking at a total of around 16 and a half grand.

Wicked numbers.

The VW needs a new home and there's one place it deserves to go before it leaves.

And that is here off England's wonderful south coast.

That's looking good isn't it?

Oh yeah.

Look at that.

I just love it.

Wicked.

We're alright aren't we?

Well I am. You're a bit uncouth on occasion.

No.

I mean we're right.

You know we've got it all haven't we?

We've got the sun, we've got the sea, we've got the sand

and we've got the Splitty and it looks phenomenal.

The way this one turned out I'm ecstatic.

It is a wonderful, wonderful machine.

But what's interesting is many other cars just couldn't pull this off.

This car has something of the free spirit about it

which means it fits in anywhere but particularly right here.

Right here on the sand.

Just look at it.

It's so cool.

Come on.

Well the bus looks the part but what's it like on the move?

You are funny.

You really are because you know some vehicles I get down to the workshop

and you can't wait to drop it back to bare metal.

You want to rip the interiors out, go mad on the mechanicals

but with this one you didn't do any of that stuff

but somehow you seem to have just made it better.

Well obviously I was pretty tempted

but the thing is we had to do what was right by the car itself

and this vehicle was so good when you got it

it didn't actually need to have thousands spent on the paint job to transform it.

It didn't need thousands of pounds spent on engineering to make it any better.

It just needed some really tasteful stuff and to maximise our profit

all we had to do was just make it a bit better.

So what you're saying is that thanks to me I did my job right in the first place

and I got us a nice rough, free, decent vehicle.

Yeah, I guess I can handle that.

Well thanks for that.

Well I've got to tell you all the improvements they really have shone through

because not only does it look great but it drives fantastically.

It's nice and slick through the gearbox.

The steering feels so positive, as positive as a 50 year old bus can be

but it feels totally different. You have transformed it.

Well thank you sir.

I guess that then brings us to the question, the

tricky question of what are we selling it for?

Well the Type 2 market is a little bit strange at

the minute because the Internet is awash with them.

There's some really good imports out there and people

are asking strong money but I reckon our one can beat.

It's a very good vehicle for somebody with a

lot of potential and I've already advertised it.

I've been a bit rich, I've asked 25 grand for it.

Okay.

But the good news is I've already had quite a lot

of calls and some of them have been quite serious.

One in particular is deadly serious.

And you know what that means when you've got a lot of interest in something?

No discount.

Yes I'm going to ask 25 grand and not give a penny off.

Nice.

And the person who's shown the most interest is this young lady behind me.

She's called Sue.

Now I've got all the elements in my favour.

I've got the sun, I've got a wonderful looking bus.

Let's just hope she's got the money.

So then Sue, you do like it?

I do.

Yes.

Very nice.

Have you looked at many?

We've looked at quite a few now.

We've been looking for about 12 months.

Have you? Fantastic.

What do you think of this?

This is by far the best we've seen.

Love it.

Oh, thank you very much.

And why do you want one?

We lost my dad recently and we've decided

that now's the time to spend some money on us.

So this is the main reason.

Yeah, good for you.

And you're right, it is time to think about yourself.

Well it puts you in a tricky situation really

with me because I have advertised this.

I've had so much interest.

I put it out there for £25,000.

You've turned up.

I'm pretty confident I am going to get that money for it.

So that's what I want.

What do you reckon?

Well, this is the one for me.

This is definitely it.

So yeah, I'd love to take it off your hands.

Yeah, wonderful.

You just bought yourself a Kraken VW.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

The maths are pretty sweet on the bus.

We've scored a profit of more than £8,000.

I always knew this VW bus was a good one.

But it's actually turned out better than I could have hoped.

And the thought that it's going to live on and give

plenty of years of enjoyment gives me a nice warm glow.

If you want to see more cool vehicles being turned around by me and Ed,

then join us again soon on Wheeler Dealers.

Ta-ta!