>Sure, the 80 and beyond westies and vanagons may be
>safer, and act better, run better (?)  But they do not
>have the cult status and the multitude of fans and
>enthusiasts as the 79 and earlier bays.  I have one,
>and I plan on doing the E-81 conversion that Kennedy
>recommends for this van.  He even hand wrote that in
>the catalog he sent me.  Since I am also a pre 85
>subaru nut, the conversion should be ok for me.
>
>We can be positive about both types of VW vans, can't

There was nothing at all wrong with the handling of Bay vans. They
can really be driven hard on twisty roads. Good fun. They don't bite!
But those who don't try won't find out.

Even swingaxle-IRS vans (Splits) can be punted hard. I know... I did
it for years, and always got stuck behind slower traffic. Admittedly
the cornering of the earlier (nonswaybar) Splits such as my 57 Panel
looked wierd, but again, they don't bite. My 66 Kombi (with stock
swaybar) cornered flat and securely. Note that with crossplies (this
includes "bias-plies") they were extremely prone to severe oversteer
and the possibility of spinning, but not with radials (even cheap
ones).
--
Andrew Grebneff
165 Evans St, Dunedin 9001, New Zealand
<andrew.grebneff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz>
Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut
Friends don't let friends do Windows