68 Westy Resto

[Cookieson]

After having such a great time in a hired late Bay Westy back in 2010 we decided that a VW campervan was something which we would love to own. The van was to be something that would be loved by both us and the children. We started the usual research and soon realised that we loved the look of the Early Bays, and an Early Westy would be our ideal van. We decided that we would buy a van to restore and learnt of a USA Import 68 Westy. I visited Chatham Docks twice to view the van, taking many pictures and once again researching before purchasing the Van in September of 2011. At this time we were well aware that a 2nd Bambino was on the way so decided to store the van for the next year or so before pushing ahead with the resto.

Here she is, sat at Chatham Docks.



I will push ahead with the updates over the next few days as so much has happened since this picture was taken.

 

[Cookieson]

Here's some images of the areas that would require repair.






















So these were the initial areas that were of concern to me. The front panel had seen some accident damage at some time. It was huge concern of mine as I was reading horror stories of good replacement front panels becoming hard to find and the panels that were available were not a great fit. The cab floors and battery tray would need replacing, possibly cab door steps and cab doors. The gutters around the rear of the vehicle were also corroded, again a concern of mine as various people had told me that these would take many hours to repair correctly if needbe.
The lower windscreen aperture had been subjected to water damage due to a perished windscreen seal. I would require the power hook up mounting to be blanked off too.

Not sure if this sticker would be allowed to stay either!



We collected the van. I was able to rent an area in my mates workshop, which is where the full strip of all mechanical parts would take place before the van heading off for weld and body work repairs and then paint. It was now time for me to contact various restorers and place a booking. We were already hearing that most reputable specialists were booking for at least a year in advance. I had read and heard many good stories about Midland Paintwerks, Drew and Stu were getting a lot of praise on this forum too. It was time to call and speak to them. They had already received images of the van and a booking was soon made! My slot was to be around Sept 2013. Unfortunately Drew and Stu were too busy to take on the panel repairs and welding.
The strip was to begin soon, the search for a good panel repair / welder was on too. I had also carried out an Mcode search and was happy to find out that the van came off of the production line in Oct 67.

 

[Resto-raider]

Looks like it's not too bad. These are the usual places.
There are good fitting replacement front panels out there. At first only with an embossed logo, but now also without. And there's always the option of buying a rust free front from a donor. That's the harder and more expensive option.

Good luck with the resto and keep the pics coming

 

[gninnam]

Nice story so far

 

[Lee C]

Looks quite similar to the one I've just bought!!! :shock:
Good luck with your resto, I'll be doing mine at the same time as you!!

 

[Cookieson]

Time for an update, although all of this happened a while ago now!

The strip of the bus continued during early to Mid 2013. I was amazed how well the van came apart. There was no real struggles with any areas. I guess the most difficult items to remove were the handbrake lever due to a badly corroded pivot pin and possibly pulling the Wiring loom through the chassis rails as they were full of road grime build up.













The van was now stripped and a frame was required to mount it too. We used the suspension mounts and made a basic frame which eases transporting and also helps moving her around the workshop.





Whilst the strip was gathering pace, I booked a slot with a specialist VW restoration/repair company to carry out any repairs that were required prior to paint prep. The list was reasonably long and a few things added once the repairs had started in September of 2013. Unfortunately things did not seem to go to smoothly. The work was dragging on and I soon missed my original slot with Drew and Stu at Midland Paintwerks. They were very understanding and were able to juggle their bookings whilst patiently waiting for my van. The van was still being repaired and finally left the restoration specialist in Feb 2014. Stu and Drew were finishing off Poppy for MarriedBlonde. My Van arrived at MPW shortly after Poppy leaving.

The repairs carried out by the restoration company that I used are far from the standard that was expected. I am not in a position to name and shame this company. Drew and Stu have once again been a huge help and have cracked on with reworking the repairs carried out elsewhere.