Razzle Dazzle in all his brown go faster stripe glory

[biddy2101]

So after being a member for 2 years +, I'm now getting round to loading up some pictures of our Razzle Dazzle (Razzle for short) :shock:.

So how did we come about Razzle, i had a beetle about 15 years ago & absolutely loved her (named BB, stood for Biddy's Beetle), got made redundant from Courage the brewery and bought my first VW. I have always loved beetles & campervans & it was a dream come true. Sadly i had to sell BB about 4 years later as i got married, bought a house & there was £1000 worth of welding work needing to be done.

My husband John has always loved classic cars & i just nurtured his love for all things VW, when I had BB. We would often talk about having a campervan but we were never in a financial position to buy one

Then I was made redundant again & had £5000 spare. So we did a bit of research & saw a nice looking bus in Camper Van & Bus & we bought Razzle as a US import from John who lives in Bristol in 2008. He is a 1970's tintop LHD westy and he has remained very original (although we're not sure about the stripes), or so we think

We have done a few bits & pieces to him; a CSP very expensive break conversion thingy & John, has a very long WISH list of things that Razzle REALLY needs :lol:

John with the help of his dad have sorted out the front panel, i.e. stripped it back & painted it (i know it was a lot more involved than that) & he is currently doing the same on the back of the van.

Razzle has taken us all camping (2 kids & 1 dog) on a lot of camping trips but due to painting work & a wedding in Tuscany, probably won't be taking us this year

So below is our little story so far...

[img]http://img689.imageshack.us/im...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-03[/url]

Coming home September 2008

[img]http://img844.imageshack.us/im...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-03[/url]

[img]http://img842.imageshack.us/im...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-03[/url]

[img]http://img716.imageshack.us/im...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-03[/url]

[img]http://img9.imageshack.us/img9...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-03[/url]

Loving the stripes, so retro, so sticker...

[img]http://img851.imageshack.us/im...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-03[/url]

Razzle's official photo - stunning in shabby/ratty kinda way

 

[justcruzin]

I like the stipes!! Very nice bus!

 

[creationblue]

That is 1 cool bus, don't paint it and keep the stripes they look great! Jonno does find some cool buses

Just

 

[OLIVE-BAY]

I agree dont paint it, buff it up wax it and run with it 8) I'd be inclined to paint the bumpers brown :msn4: think it would tie in the stripes 8) cool bus tho

 

[Rosie]

Those stripes are fab! So retro!

 

[aogrady]

Hi!

Cool bus, The stripes set it off so well! :mrgreen:

Any more pics?

Cheers!

Alistair

 

[68_early_bay]

Nice bus 8)
Definite keeper those stripes 8) 8) 8)
Any interior pics :?:

 

[dubscum]

don't you dare touch them stripes love it! 8)

 

[sparkywig]

don't you dare touch them stripes love it! 8)

+1

 

[LeeZee]

Love it, yip keep stripes and buff up the old paint!

Then slam it :mrgreen:

 

[petegee56]

Love it, yip keep stripes and buff up the old paint!

Then slam it :mrgreen:

+1

 

[Lee C]

8) bus mind!!!!!

 

[biddy2101]

So here are some pictures of the interior when we bought it...

[img]http://img713.imageshack.us/im...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-04[/url]

[img]http://img163.imageshack.us/im...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-04[/url]

[img]http://img3.imageshack.us/img3...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-04[/url]

[img]http://img18.imageshack.us/img...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-04[/url]

[img]http://img696.imageshack.us/im...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-04[/url]

[img]http://img816.imageshack.us/im...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-04[/url]

So when we went to see Razzle this all looked good, for its age, he had definitely been used to camp in & believe that it had been used by a surfer, everything interior wise was there apart from the hammock & the stool & all was working in VW stylee

What we didn't know was that it was rusting from the inside out!! This was mainly due to a bad fitted sliding side door & a flappy louver window. And after a bit of indepth investigation we found a small problem of rust holes in the cargo floor. So what to do? The very first job we really wanted to do with Razzle was to get him lowered, as we were all suffering from vertigo when we went out in him.

So after a small amount of deliberating we sent him off to Mark Walker at The Bus Station, in SouthSea at the time. John bought the adjusters & thought he may be able to do the lowering himself but this just wasn't going to happen, so Mark very kindly said he would lower Razzle using our bits & pieces (top bloke). We asked him to do the welding as well while Razzle was there, thinking it wouldn't be that complicated, WRONG!!

 

[biddy2101]

Here is the small amount of welding that needed to be done...

[img]http://img859.imageshack.us/im...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-04[/url]

[img]http://img853.imageshack.us/im...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-04[/url]

[img]http://img194.imageshack.us/im...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-04[/url]

[img]http://img826.imageshack.us/im...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-04[/url]

[img]http://img825.imageshack.us/im...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-04[/url]

[img]http://img85.imageshack.us/img...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-04[/url]

[img]http://img191.imageshack.us/im...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-04[/url]

[img]http://img850.imageshack.us/im...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-04[/url]

[img]http://img827.imageshack.us/im...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-04[/url]

[img]http://img835.imageshack.us/im...rofile.imageshack.us/user/biddy2101]biddy2101 at 2012-04-04[/url]

So Mark completely did us proud 1. with the lowering & 2. with the welding (he even gave us a discount). We even made it onto Marks blog...

http://slamkingsuspensions.blogspot.co.uk/2008_12_29_archive.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[biddy2101]

STRIPE ALERT, STRIPE ALERT - please do not panic about the stripes, they will be staying!! All of them!!

I am a child of the 70's & I love all things retro, so a campervan with brown go faster stripes, was a natural choice!!

Once again, the stripes will be & are staying

 

[Rosie]

The amount of lowering you've gone for looks perfect, really suits the stripes. Good call!