72 westy tin top, slammed NOW WITH COOKIE CUTTERS !!

[Justin & Muttley]

^^^WHS - looks brilliant! 8)

 

[aircoolerej]

Glad you're still with us, Chris.

Relax and remember "The Wayof the Bay"...Ohmmmmmmmmmm....ohmmmmmmmm.

You have a beautiful bus and you'll enjoy many miles with a quirky story to tell. Man, I'm glad you're still here to tell it. You must have awesome kharma!

 

[Chris]

Thanks for all the positive comments guys, it seems to have taken an age to get it to where it is now, and still needs more work on the interior and lowering etc when money allows. lost a little motivation just after the accident and didn't even look at it for a few days but then the curtain material, that my other half chose, arrived from Hawaii (via Canada !, but thats another story ). She has now made all the curtains, I'll post a pic when we get the van back and have fitted them and will also take some better pics of the body, as when we first got it back i was so keen to get it fitted out i forgot to take any pics!
here's some pics when we were away for the weekend just before the accident including one of some friends van with ours in the mist on Blackrock sands.

my other half with friends dog (our dog seems to be camera shy and runs off when she sees the camera !)

with our friends van on a very misty Blackrock sands

have done a few more jobs since. fitted cd player with ipod connector and front and rear speakers, new bamboo parcel shelf.
i have also had the origional front grill sand blasted. its come out totally clean and solid and is now with the van to be sprayed and refitted in place of the stainless one that i origionaly fitted after the respray.
oh sorry MMMC, nearly forgot, yes it is a bluebird RnR bed. not cheap but excellent quality and well worth the cash. easy to fit aswell as long as you ignore the crap and misleading fitting instructions !!

 

[easy]

Looking good dude, nice van you have there.

 

[Chris]

here's a few picks post accident. Doesn't look as bad as when it first happened cos these were taken after the body shop had pulled the wheel arch off the wheel and straightened it out as best they could as a temporary measure.

shows where bumper bracket ripped strsight out and new running light smashed.

luckily these vee dub vans are made of quality thick tin !

new fibreglass bumper smashed off (the other peice is still somewhere on the M6 !)

suspension is bent and needs replacing but can't be seen from these pics, and luckily the damage stopped just short of the sliding door. just a releif that it didn't end up a lot worse as i origionaly feared, as i was spinning out of control across all 3 lanes of a very wet and busy M6.
Now we can't wait to get her back so we can start putting her back together again and stsrt using her as she was intended.

 

[Justin & Muttley]

Glad you're safe - the damage to the van doesn't look too bad although it must have been terrifying! :shock:

I'm sure you'll be back on the road soon...

 

[easy]

Glad you are okay dude, not a prob with the van they can be fixed, but us lesser mortals cant always :wink:

 

[Chris]

well we got the van back the day before we were due to go away for 2 weeks in it. the body shop had made an excellent job on the wheel arch, repairing the damage. didn't get time to take any pics of the repair as the interior needed putting back in before we went away. will take some when its been cleaned (if i remember !). but heres some pics of the new curtains that my other half made with the fabric from Hawaii.

also matching cushions

spent 2 weeks on north west Wales coast clocking up lots of trouble free miles except for a dodgy battery connection which was easily sorted, and a second speeding ticket just a mile or 2 away from where i got the last one a few months ago !! Welsh police must like taking pics of my van !!
Didn't think to take any pics myself but my other half took some "arty" shots during a rainy sunset on our last night.

took it in for MOT today...failed ! only on 2 minor points though , so should hopefuly get it sorted in next few days.
am just about to order Foksy axle adjuster so should be able to get it lowered in the next couple of weeks aswell and then fit some KYB shocks. will post more as it gets done

 

[Chris]

Hooray, passed its MOT retest yesterday. brakes actually work properly now, didn't realise just how bad they were before!
fitted new window winder mechanism after i got it back. easy to fit according to the workshop manual. ended up using a crow bar to force the opening quarterlight bar/window channel away from the bracket to pass the mechanism through!! works fine now, no more wind and rain in my face when driving !
just need to fit new rear bumper and she will look as good as new again.
went to VW Extravaganza today at Oswestry to pick up some bits and peices. came home empty handed. no trade stands there just a few food stalls, clothing stalls and auto jumble. came away after an hour and a bacon sandwich!

 

[jabbo]

Glad to see things are looking up dude.

Love that material! 8)

 

[Nellybus]

Did you make that rear overhead unit yourself? coulld do with something like that myself look's well nice!

 

[Chris]

thanks Jabbo, interior colour and material all down to my other half who has a better eye than me for these things.

Nellybus, yes I made the overhead locker myself . pretty easy really. used an old Westy one as a template. used marine ply to make it but looked a little rough around the edges so i stuck some thin padding to it and covered it in cream vinyl to match the seat inserts. (doesn't hurt your head as much when banged against it) then sunk adjustable spotlights into it.

 

[Chris]

well finally got chance to take a couple of pics of the repaired wheel arch today, although they look a little pink from the reflection of the gravel on the drive. Also got round to fitting new JBL speakers in the rear to match the ones in the front doors. Still not got the new rear bumper fitted yet, hopefully get chance to get it done before V festival in a couple of weeks.

Before

after

Also front with the old refubished grill back on to replace the stainless steel one

[new speakers fitted in interior

 

[Justin & Muttley]

Looks like they've done a tidy job - it's great to see it restored to it's former glory!

8) 8) 8)

 

[Camperdan]

Flawless repair to the arch...... who did it as it's excellent work!?

 

[easy]

nice work there 8)

 

[Chris]

thanks for the positive comments guys, i'm realy pleased with how it's turned out. was a little worried it may look like an obvious repair but the guys at K&G in Cannock have done a great job. thanks to Neil for getting the panel straight and Simon for the paintwork. They are the guys that did the origional resto/respray for me.

Well finally got hold of this Foksy adjustor today

Unfortunately the guy thats fitting it is on holiday for a couple of weeks, so the van is going to have to continue to wallow around with its roof brushing the clouds for a couple more weeks.

 

[Chris]

Had some bad news yesterday, van is still in the body shop waiting to have the new bumper sprayed and fitted. also having bits of the paint touched up and the roof resprayed after some faults appeared on the roof. was hoping to get it back and lowered before vanfest but looks like going in the car. it seems to be taking forever.
Still, on the bright side managed to use it for the weekend at V festival, where we managed to stay nice and dry. hooked up a tarpaulin between ours and our friends van, so were able to barbecue and sit outside and drink while it was raining !! some great bands playing, saw full sets by Editors, Sophie Ellis-Bextor (not my choice but it was inside and warm and dry !) Goo Goo Dolls, Kasabian, Killers, Snow Patrol, Foo Fighters (brilliant!), also parts of sets of Proclaimers, KT Tunstall, the Fray, Jet, Pink.
also saw quite a few Bays in the camper van field including a few early bays.
enjoyed it so much we've already bought tickets for next year !
here's a couple of pics of ours and our friends van in the rain complete with fairy lights as we celebrated my other half's birthday !

and a couple from underneath our improvised awning

Anyway, hoping to bump into some of you guys at vanfest over the weekend and have a closer look at some of your superb vans !

PS decided to change the title as the resto is pretty much complete, but will continue to update as more gets done to the van

 

[Chris]

Well just got back from hospital yesterday after an op on my leg. can't drive for at least a week or go back to work for at least 2 weeks. thank god for tinternet and earlybay.com, atleast i'll be able to keep myself occupied checking ou the tasty buses on here !
made it to vanfest but only for part of the Sunday. had a look to see if i could see any of you guys, saw some early bays in one of the halls but nobody with them. not sure if this was the earlybay display ?

picked up a deluxe trim for the front grill, needs a little straightening and a good clean but should come out ok.

also picked up a stainless and aluminium mesh visor for the front, bargain @ £100 from a stall close to the entrance

should be fit enough to start fitting these in a week or so, also going to start making the cabinets for the interior.
will post more pics as it progresses

 

[Chris]

well after a long long wait finally got the bus back a few days ago. but guess what ? yes, the newly resprayed roof has reacted again with the paint, bubbling in a small area, and the rear bumper not fitted due to brackets needing altering. so it's going back in again tomorrow ! but only for the bumper to be altered and fitted. roof can wait till winter. need to get some use out of it before really bad weather kicks in.

managed to get a few jobs done in the few days since i got it back. new laminate floor fitted.
new interior made in my garage from some rough drawings and measurements i made...

and a pile of MDF from B&Q...

eventualy started to take shape..

wardrobe unit after first coat of preservative

main unit before doors made

finally all finished and fitted into van when i got it back..

didn't wan't/need a sink, as washing up easier at camping site facilities
( or in the dishwasher at home if just away for the weekend ! ).
also decided against built in cooker. the single burner fits in one of the drawers. we can also put the twin burner/grill in the awning if we are away for longer than a couple of days.
portaloo hidden away in small unit next to main unit. not in the above picture as i took this before it was fitted, but can be seen in the 2 previous.
not sure wether we like the colour of the units after sealing them so we may paint them cream to match the seat inserts over the winter.