Shiplee' s 1969 California westy
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shiplee123
Well-known member
Thanks trebor
shiplee123
Well-known member
Managed to get a few more jobs done Sunday afternoon
Firstly I made templates of my kick boards . Now I've not only got the headliner templates but kick boards too !
Firstly I made templates of my kick boards . Now I've not only got the headliner templates but kick boards too !
shiplee123
Well-known member
Fitted the westy pop top hole rubber seal.
That was the most crappy job I've done so far ! I used no more nails to glue it in place. I'll have to see tomorrow how well it's stuck !
I used masking tape and clamps to hold it in place whilst pumping glue into about 12 inches of the seal at a time, pushed it into place , clamped / taped it into place then moved on to another 12 inches.
It kept falling off etc etc but got there in the end.
Not 100% happy with it! may go back to this job at a later time
That was the most crappy job I've done so far ! I used no more nails to glue it in place. I'll have to see tomorrow how well it's stuck !
I used masking tape and clamps to hold it in place whilst pumping glue into about 12 inches of the seal at a time, pushed it into place , clamped / taped it into place then moved on to another 12 inches.
It kept falling off etc etc but got there in the end.
Not 100% happy with it! may go back to this job at a later time
shiplee123
Well-known member
I started removing the westy poptop roofrack brackets the previous American owner put on it.
I've done one side and started filling the holes
If anyone won'ts to buy these off me let me know I won't b using them !
I've done one side and started filling the holes
If anyone won'ts to buy these off me let me know I won't b using them !
shiplee123
Well-known member
One of my jobs this weekend was to fit the curtain rails.
Today I started fitting some of the curtains
Today I started fitting some of the curtains
looking nice and well done on reply from previous owner, have a possible address for mine or someone who used it before it was taken of the road in 1994 keep meaning to write to them think i will dig the address out again and try
68_early_bay
Well-known member
Coming along nicely 8)
Supertramp
Well-known member
Looking good James. What's your plan for the interior or just having the rnr bed?
Love the flooring.
Love the flooring.
shiplee123
Well-known member
I'm not sure if I'll get the interior done ready for summer or if it's gonna b a winter job?
I'll see what time I get.
The plan is to have a fixed buddy seat behind the drivers seat (Lhd) I will keep a small porta potti under the seat. I think that's a must have when u have got kids !
table on the wall and a westy sink unit at the sliding door.
Keep it quite simple
I'm not quite ready to buy a sink unit yet but if anyone knows of a nice one let me know!
I'll see what time I get.
The plan is to have a fixed buddy seat behind the drivers seat (Lhd) I will keep a small porta potti under the seat. I think that's a must have when u have got kids !
table on the wall and a westy sink unit at the sliding door.
Keep it quite simple
I'm not quite ready to buy a sink unit yet but if anyone knows of a nice one let me know!
shiplee123
Well-known member
I've had another message from Rachel the previous owner.
She's been really kind sending pics and storeys of when she owned the bus in the states.
I thought I'd post some of her letter , not all as some parts may b personal , but here's a couple of her storeys and adventures -
I would love a link to the forum you are on, although I don't know how much time I will get to check on it. I used to belong to a few forums as well. One was the Itinerant Air Cooled forum (or IAC) which was more technical, straight to the point. The other was LoveMyBus.com- which I see the LMB sticker on the back window in the picture of her on the flatbed!
LMB was actually what sparked the trip north. It started with a random comment about the summer solstice. At it's peak, there were almost 100 buses ready to meet at the Canadian border and "storm the Arctic Circle." ...After a few wives threatened to leave husbands, jobs were not guaranteed to be around upon return, etc., it came down to 3 of us. We planned to meet with a red '70 Westy and a blue '68. The owner of the '68- "Elwood (the blues van....)" turned out to be a crazy old lady. Raging alcoholic with a strong addiction to prescription pain killers- not someone we wanted to be traveling with! We split from her in Vancouver, ironically though, she was the only one to make it to Inuvik.... The red nameless bus- the owner was a guy named Max- started to go through oil at an alarming rate. Max wanted to push on, so we would stop every few hours to fill up the oil. About half way to the Yukon Territories, 1000 km into Canada, in a town called Chetwynd, we decided to camp out and pull the engine. The hairline crack nearly went around the entire block! We used some JB weld, gave it the night to dry, then Max and his crew went back to Sumas, WA. As far as I know, without any trouble either.
We didn't make it simply because we fell in love with the hot springs in Liard, just south of the Yukon.
On that trip, though, Geri Lou had 2 issues. The first, at the end of our first day traveling as a pack, the carb got stuck open! The engine wouldn't turn off! It was kinda funny, but strange. I had to stall it to kill it! All we had to do was clean it with rubbing alcohol and just like new- never another problem in the years to come! The second was the alternator died. But it didn't really die- the contact was just grimy so it didn't get the charge! We cleaned it with rubbing alcohol and there you go! I did have to replace it though- a few years later!
Another fun maintenance adventure was the time the break system failed. I lived in a very small town in Oregon called Waldport. Beautiful town on the coast, but very isolated. Most people didn't even have a car- there was no need! You could walk the town in 10 minutes. I was raised in big cities. So it came as a surprise when I needed parts but couldn't find them. Apparently, drums for a 69 bus are a rare item. None of the shops around me could help, so I expanded my search. I emailed and called every VW shop in the state with no luck. I tried ebay and found ONE drum. I rechecked a shop on the east end of Eugene and, there, in there parts index was a fresh post- everything I needed! I called them and they said they could hold it until the end of the day, but being such a hot item, that was it. I couldn't find anyone with a car that would both be able to make the 100+ mile trip and willing to do so as well. Geri's brakes did NOT work. I mean, maybe, if you stood on the brake (with both feet, I don't weigh much) and if you pulled the hand brake as hard as possible, you could get something.... Well, I convinced a friend (who was either crazy or had a death wish, I still don't know!) to come as my emergency e-brake puller! We took a less traveled road, as all of our routes were twisty mountain roads, so endanger as few other lives as possible right?
Also, I could drive slower, using the engine to better control my speed.
Couldn't tell you how, but we made it safely! So, I go into the shop, and the guy tells me, sorry, the box was marked wrong. He didn't even try to reach me when they realized it!
I risked my life to get there. And he didn't have my parts.
By the time I left, he feared for his life too.
It was a really hard time in my life as it was, and this was so not what I needed. I was about to spend every penny I had- rent and food money- to save my bus. She was the only thing that was mine. The only thing with meaning. I was a traveling hippie, alone, in a new town, a new state even. Very few resources and a not- so- legitimate job (come on- I was a hippie in a VW bus!) which required traveling weekly. I needed my VW to survive! So I called another local shop to see if I could camp in their lot overnight while I figured out what to do next. The shop I called was by far the coolest group of guys in town. No matter when you walk in, guaranteed Grateful Dead music and a tasty herbal scent in the air! I had already asked them about the brakes, naturally, so I really didn't expect his response. He said "come over. I have your brakes." Apparently, being such a hot item, they horde brake drums. They only give them to people they like, not just anyone who calls looking for um! He stayed in the shop all night doing the work for me (though I was usually strongly opposed to anyone else doing the work- after all, that was the biggest motivation for wanting an old Vdub- as a chick I was tired of being screwed by mechanics, I wanted to be self sufficient in that area!)
I attached a few more pictures-
the shirt!,
a flower on her "nose" in the Yukon,
the beginning of our first blizzard,
an LMB- inspired camp out,
moving! not even room for the dog to ride shotgun!,
up in northern CA with my ex (the green one, named Navin after the Steve Martin movie "the jerk") and the crazy old lady's Elmwood,
me driving, going skiing for Christmas 200...8?
the speedometer- 82 MPH! (downhill, with a tailwind, if a moose had gotten in the way, we all would have died!)
and camping, in the rainy Oregon forest. We had built an extra bench seat behind the passenger, it had a folding table for the grill, the top came off for storage, and even had a spice rack! I miss that bus!
She's been really kind sending pics and storeys of when she owned the bus in the states.
I thought I'd post some of her letter , not all as some parts may b personal , but here's a couple of her storeys and adventures -
I would love a link to the forum you are on, although I don't know how much time I will get to check on it. I used to belong to a few forums as well. One was the Itinerant Air Cooled forum (or IAC) which was more technical, straight to the point. The other was LoveMyBus.com- which I see the LMB sticker on the back window in the picture of her on the flatbed!
LMB was actually what sparked the trip north. It started with a random comment about the summer solstice. At it's peak, there were almost 100 buses ready to meet at the Canadian border and "storm the Arctic Circle." ...After a few wives threatened to leave husbands, jobs were not guaranteed to be around upon return, etc., it came down to 3 of us. We planned to meet with a red '70 Westy and a blue '68. The owner of the '68- "Elwood (the blues van....)" turned out to be a crazy old lady. Raging alcoholic with a strong addiction to prescription pain killers- not someone we wanted to be traveling with! We split from her in Vancouver, ironically though, she was the only one to make it to Inuvik.... The red nameless bus- the owner was a guy named Max- started to go through oil at an alarming rate. Max wanted to push on, so we would stop every few hours to fill up the oil. About half way to the Yukon Territories, 1000 km into Canada, in a town called Chetwynd, we decided to camp out and pull the engine. The hairline crack nearly went around the entire block! We used some JB weld, gave it the night to dry, then Max and his crew went back to Sumas, WA. As far as I know, without any trouble either.
We didn't make it simply because we fell in love with the hot springs in Liard, just south of the Yukon.
On that trip, though, Geri Lou had 2 issues. The first, at the end of our first day traveling as a pack, the carb got stuck open! The engine wouldn't turn off! It was kinda funny, but strange. I had to stall it to kill it! All we had to do was clean it with rubbing alcohol and just like new- never another problem in the years to come! The second was the alternator died. But it didn't really die- the contact was just grimy so it didn't get the charge! We cleaned it with rubbing alcohol and there you go! I did have to replace it though- a few years later!
Another fun maintenance adventure was the time the break system failed. I lived in a very small town in Oregon called Waldport. Beautiful town on the coast, but very isolated. Most people didn't even have a car- there was no need! You could walk the town in 10 minutes. I was raised in big cities. So it came as a surprise when I needed parts but couldn't find them. Apparently, drums for a 69 bus are a rare item. None of the shops around me could help, so I expanded my search. I emailed and called every VW shop in the state with no luck. I tried ebay and found ONE drum. I rechecked a shop on the east end of Eugene and, there, in there parts index was a fresh post- everything I needed! I called them and they said they could hold it until the end of the day, but being such a hot item, that was it. I couldn't find anyone with a car that would both be able to make the 100+ mile trip and willing to do so as well. Geri's brakes did NOT work. I mean, maybe, if you stood on the brake (with both feet, I don't weigh much) and if you pulled the hand brake as hard as possible, you could get something.... Well, I convinced a friend (who was either crazy or had a death wish, I still don't know!) to come as my emergency e-brake puller! We took a less traveled road, as all of our routes were twisty mountain roads, so endanger as few other lives as possible right?
Also, I could drive slower, using the engine to better control my speed. Couldn't tell you how, but we made it safely! So, I go into the shop, and the guy tells me, sorry, the box was marked wrong. He didn't even try to reach me when they realized it!
I risked my life to get there. And he didn't have my parts.
By the time I left, he feared for his life too.
It was a really hard time in my life as it was, and this was so not what I needed. I was about to spend every penny I had- rent and food money- to save my bus. She was the only thing that was mine. The only thing with meaning. I was a traveling hippie, alone, in a new town, a new state even. Very few resources and a not- so- legitimate job (come on- I was a hippie in a VW bus!) which required traveling weekly. I needed my VW to survive! So I called another local shop to see if I could camp in their lot overnight while I figured out what to do next. The shop I called was by far the coolest group of guys in town. No matter when you walk in, guaranteed Grateful Dead music and a tasty herbal scent in the air! I had already asked them about the brakes, naturally, so I really didn't expect his response. He said "come over. I have your brakes." Apparently, being such a hot item, they horde brake drums. They only give them to people they like, not just anyone who calls looking for um! He stayed in the shop all night doing the work for me (though I was usually strongly opposed to anyone else doing the work- after all, that was the biggest motivation for wanting an old Vdub- as a chick I was tired of being screwed by mechanics, I wanted to be self sufficient in that area!)
I attached a few more pictures-
the shirt!,
a flower on her "nose" in the Yukon,
the beginning of our first blizzard,
an LMB- inspired camp out,
moving! not even room for the dog to ride shotgun!,
up in northern CA with my ex (the green one, named Navin after the Steve Martin movie "the jerk") and the crazy old lady's Elmwood,
me driving, going skiing for Christmas 200...8?
the speedometer- 82 MPH! (downhill, with a tailwind, if a moose had gotten in the way, we all would have died!)
and camping, in the rainy Oregon forest. We had built an extra bench seat behind the passenger, it had a folding table for the grill, the top came off for storage, and even had a spice rack! I miss that bus!
shiplee123
Well-known member
shiplee123
Well-known member
shiplee123
Well-known member
shiplee123
Well-known member
I've just been looking on the map at one of her road trips
That's along way to go in a bus , and she was just 23 at the time
That's along way to go in a bus , and she was just 23 at the time
shiplee123
Well-known member
Anyway if you have a look on here Rachel I promise it wasn't me who resprayed your bus , I would have left it original esp as it was in good condition.
And I didn't take out the interior it was the first uk owner !
Mind u we will have three kids soon ( mrs shippas has got 6 weeks to go ) we needed a full with seat in the back to carry them all :lol: so it couldn't stay as it was !
Thanks again for the pics and some of your storeys
Hope we keep in contact
James
And I didn't take out the interior it was the first uk owner !
Mind u we will have three kids soon ( mrs shippas has got 6 weeks to go ) we needed a full with seat in the back to carry them all :lol: so it couldn't stay as it was !
Thanks again for the pics and some of your storeys
Hope we keep in contact
James
Foz
Well-known member
Rachel = Legend
Great storys and pics!
--------------------------------------Own a Bay?....... Feel the love!
Great storys and pics!
--------------------------------------Own a Bay?....... Feel the love!
Supertramp
Well-known member
Being able to tell stories like that is the reason I, and no doubt many others got into VW's. Memories to last a lifetime. I'll be nudging my girlfriend in the direction of Rachel's story...she needs to step up :lol:
Fantastic story !
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