A 72 westy rebuild - The early days

[cotswoldiver]

Couple of the finishing touches now in place. Managed to fit the remodeled underdash oak shelf, works well with the unit between the front seats

Another job now finished is the gas connections, this has been the devils own job to find someone to work on this for me, ut have now manged to get the propex heater fitted that will keep any H&S guy happy (and the kids safe, which is more important) the unit you see in the cupboard means it can be used whilst driving as it has an additional safety valve.
All three gas appliances are fed from the same lightweight gas bottle - makes up for the weight of the oak :lol:

 

[gninnam]

Looks fantastic - well worth the wait and hard work 8)

 

[easy]

Really quality! me likey!

 

[the irv]

very nice i like the interior panels

 

[cotswoldiver]

very nice i like the interior panels

Thanks, I'm really pleased with how they have worked out and the cloth carries over to the R&R bed - its more good work from Bromsgrove Auto Interiors. Since that photo was taken I've managed to find a better metal ring (think its based on an early beetle winder) to fit behind the window winder so instead of black plastic it now matches the handle better. Same sort of problem many people get as these made to measure door cards nearly always seem to be thicker

 

[Cali_bay]

Hi David,

Nice write up in VW Camper and Comercial. Looking great 8)

Hope you had a good Christmas

 

[cotswoldiver]

Thanks Simon
Tried to make it more of a story than just replaced this bit, sprayed that bit. But my westy trailer has just arrived from Germany & it will just finish it off nicely & be very useful

 

[creationblue]

Thanks Simon
Tried to make it more of a story than just replaced this bit, sprayed that bit. But my westy trailer has just arrived from Germany & it will just finish it off nicely & be very useful

It sure will be a nice addition, lovely van!

Just

 

[sparkywig]

Hi David,

Nice write up in VW Camper and Comercial. Looking great 8)

Hope you had a good Christmas

Top feature David.

 

[toffo24]

Wow , hope to be seeing this bus in the flesh this year!

 

[sparkywig]

Wow , hope to be seeing this bus in the flesh this year!

You could've seen it this year, he was camped along from me at DATC. :lol:

 

[toffo24]

Doh.!

 

[cotswoldiver]

Funny how the smallest thing finally working can bring a smile to your face. Although during the rebuild a new sender was fitted and wiring checked the gauge itself never worked accurately, so in the end Rocker Ron managed to track down a NOS gauge and this was fitted during the new engine rebuild. So at long last a working gauge

Jason at Interpro worked his magic building a new 1776 for me trying to use as many of the old 'new' components as possible, its run up about 750 miles now and settling nicely. Definitively better on the torque and third gear is now really useful. All nice and tidy and early signs are showing better fuel consumption figures with the new 40's twin carbs against the old 34's

But also this week finally got round to picking up my westy trailer which has been in store ever since I had it shipped over from germany late last year. This was my german ebay bargain 179 euros .... so there are still out there, I was just lucky in that I wasn't in a hurry for it and pulled in a few favours with our international moving partners and so had it shipped back to the UK at no cost other wise commercially it would have still been around the £500 -600 mark.

It's in really good condition with just a small amount of paint work to finish off

I think this is all the major work completed now, anything else is just fine tuning. I've stopped adding up what I've spent and now its all down to enjoying it. French approved breathalyzer kits already bought and in the bus so if I can arrange a second mortgage to buy the fuel it looks like a trip to france may be possible later in the summer/early autumn - but plenty of trips and festivals lined up in the UK anyway ....

 

[dubdubz]

very nice interior superbly built by the looks - what does the gas safety valve do ?

 

[cotswoldiver]

very nice interior superbly built by the looks - what does the gas safety valve do ?

It complies with the 'regulations' for new builds, but also allows you to use the propex heater whilst the bus is moving not just when its parked up. Could be viewed as OTT but with on going confusion as to what should be in place to comply with current regulations I just took the view that safety is still top of the list. That combined with a 'detector' is the best I can get

 

[sparkywig]

Coming together really nicely now David.
If you find another "bargain" trailer can I have 1st dibs please.

 

[cotswoldiver]

Coming together really nicely now David.
If you find another "bargain" trailer can I have 1st dibs please.

Really pleased wig, but daft when I add it all up ...

How many trailer projects does a man need? :lol:
I'd given up on the trailer front, but a bit of time searching on german ebay does find the odd trailer that the germans don't want to keep tested and on the road, but only a bargain if you can get it back and trust the photos and google translate!!!

 

[sparkywig]

How many trailer projects does a man need? :lol:
I'd given up on the trailer front, but a bit of time searching on german ebay does find the odd trailer that the germans don't want to keep tested and on the road, but only a bargain if you can get it back and trust the photos and google translate!!!

This one's finished now, and I wouldn't mind a Westfalia trailer at the right price.

 

[cotswoldiver]

Couple of the finishing touches now in place. Managed to fit the remodeled underdash oak shelf, works well with the unit between the front seats

Another job now finished is the gas connections, this has been the devils own job to find someone to work on this for me, ut have now manged to get the propex heater fitted that will keep any H&S guy happy (and the kids safe, which is more important) the unit you see in the cupboard means it can be used whilst driving as it has an additional safety valve.
All three gas appliances are fed from the same lightweight gas bottle - makes up for the weight of the oak :lol:

So now that it is in the middle of the third year of being back on the road, finally got round to getting the weight checked yesterday on a public weighbridge. Partly brought about by the shock coming away from its rubber, I'm always going to run it at stock height but I was wondering if the good quality stock shocks need beefing up a bit?

So end result, the westy now weighs fully laden with a typical set of camping gear and me in it 1860kg or 4100 lbs in old money.

I guess with the 1776 engine, half an oak tree on board and this total weight I'm never going to get 40mpg :lol:

The original unladen weight according to the manuals was 3296 lbs or 1495kg so a weight gain of 804 lbs or 364 kg on the road

Forgot to say, the only other change has been a rather nice cosmetic one where I change the door winders to Marks (MCJ Products) the 56 delux ones were OK, but these are wonderfully made and now finish the doors off beautifully ... I think that is all the 'pretty' tinkering finished with now - so apart from sorted out the shocks over the next few weeks that is probably it for a while

 

[dubdubz]

this is one of my favourite bespoke build interiors - one q if I may?
how much weight could you put on the hob -we sometimes have quite a big heavy pan of chilli cooking - I suppose a telescopic rod could be deployed and easily stored somewhere?