1970 Westfalia Rolling Resto

[ChrisG]

Hi

Before I start I might as well confess that progress might be a bit slow because of a few reasons, but that's irrelevant I suppose.
The littlebit of history that I have of it, Fig probably knows more than I do. My intention with this bus is in the next few years restore it to as perfect as I can, not necessarily 100% original but I'm not going exactly rape it either.

I bought this 1970 Westfalia from Fig (Christian) on the 19th Feb '09. Fig got it from an old man in Onrus who had contacted him and asked if he wanted to buy it. Apparently the bus has been standing for quite a while under netting were the previous owner used it as a kind of "spare room" for guests. I'm not sure but I think that the guy Fig got it from was the second owner of the bus. He bought it in Nov '95. A reconditioned engine was fitted in 1999 with 88620miles on the clock, I'm not sure but it has probably been around the clock a few times He has basically kept a record of every sent spent on it since he has had it, a few years ago stuff was somuch cheaper

I have been searching for probably about 6-7 months or more for a bus. This bus is actually the only running one I have looked at out of the 8 or 9 I've physically gone to look at to try buy. This bus is going to be my daily driver and sole car so hopefully it will keep blasting on for many more years to come

Here are the things I have noted just from the few days of having it:

Rust (obviously)- Bad rust under the front bumper, front drivers door, engine lid, bottom left of the windscreen, small pop out side window and just above the boot lid (this one is the worst, it leaks). There are also general little bits of surface rust everywhere.
Oil leak in the oil bath
Minor leak on the sump and possibly another tiny one on the gearbox
Electricals such as the break lights, flickers and cabin light work when they want to
I need to buy a new fuel cap for the tank because I don't want any fools stealing my petrol or throwing rubbish in the tank
There is a funny "humming' noise when I driver fast or take corners ( Probably CV joints or wheel bearings from what I have gathered from my books)
The exhaust end is rusted to bits and there was a fat hole in it (the guys at the wheel place repaired it free of charge for me)
The retread wheels were definitely on their last legs, but they are now replaced with Firestone 195's.
The upholstery is in very good condition but the camping stuff needs a general clean up and I definitely need new curtains because the old ones are not my favorite.


Here are a few pics from earlier:
Side

Back

Random pic lol
The one part has rusted completely off the front of the bus and is like 5-10mm away from it
New wheel and rusted door

Side rust below window

This is the little popout window that is rusted to bits

The leaking back right end that needs attention ASAP

Typical front end rust

"Exhaust" if you can call it that

Oil leak

The guys who align the wheels they said they couldn't align them because this swing lever is lose, I'm not sure exactly what to do. At Shelly's they suggested it could be the ball joint and other mechanics said that the whole axle needs replacing so I'm pretty confused with this, anyone got any suggestions?
Here is another pic

Rust on the bottom of the door

Petrol cap that I want a lock for

Engine bay

Engine bay 2

Leaky oil bath
Anyone have the same problem? How could I stop the leak, I was thinking of just replacing the seal inside it.
And last but not least the fiberglass repair done by the previous owner on the side of the engine bay



Since I've gotten the bus I have done a few minor things:
Tried to fix the oil leak
Got replacement front wheel bearings in the hope that it will stop the funny noise I hear (fitting them tomorrow the 10th Feb)
Replaced the tires
Did a general clean up of the interior and played with the tap for like an hour
Put the roof up every chance I have gotten and also ridden a full tank out in 2 days, what a life
On Saturday was my favorite day with the bus by far, had a good bonding settion with the bus,my girlfriend, 2x pizza's and an awesome lightning storm
Sort of have a name in mind for it, but I want to wait a bit before official naming it
Spent about 2 hours underneath the bus figuring out exactly what every cable is and following them to see where they end up
There are probably more things I cant think of now.

Quick Questions:
1. Is it a good idea to replace the engine lid and front drivers door? or is it cheaper to have it fixed? I went to Shelly's today and they only had doors but no engine lids that fit
2. Are all bay doors the same size?
3. Were would be the best/cheapest place to order my parts from? (today I went to Goldwagen for the wheel bearings)
Thanks in advance

I will keep you updated as much as I can and I am definately trying my hardest to finish this things as soon as possible so If progress isn't being made its probably because of parts I need.

First mission: Get the thing roadworthy so I can transfer it into my name

Cheers,
Chris

[Dawie]

Hi ChrisG,

Congratulations with your Westfalia.

For the front suspension you could look underneath, while someone else moves the steering wheel. Then it's easy to see where the play is.
The swing lever sits on a pin,wich moves on two brass bushes. VW used to sell a kit with new bushes and pin. You could maybe have someone make new brass bushes. Also check tierod ends.

Is there maybe any plan you can make to get it inside the garage? Like adjusting garage door to open right to the top, or cutting two tracks in the garage floor for the wheels?

Glad you eventually found your kombi. Enjoy.

[ChrisG]

Thanks.I'm trying to organise something, the problem is that I live in a complex type area so you have to build the same size etc. as every1 else! I am trying to make a plan asap before the winter. Cutting tracks could be an idea because the garage is about 25cm above the road level.

Thanks for the advice I'm going to take my bus to my friends place tomorrow to replace the wheel bearings and then put it over his pit and then I can check for the play, I will keep you posted

Cheers

[Dutch_Diver]

Chris, I would guess the tie rod ends might be shot especially if the bus has been standing for a long time. Check the play as suggested but you can get new tie rods for around R75 each....

Congrats on the bus and I'll happily help with lessons learnt from MO.

On the panels, I think it depends on the extent of the rust....if there is a frame that's ok then cutting out and rewelding some new metal in might not look the best but it will be the cheapest and you can always replace with new doors / lid when money becomes more available.

[ChrisG]

Thanks, I have been reading up on other bays and most people seem to fit 175/185 wheels. Are my 195's ok? I listened to the advice of the salesman which I suppose is never a good choice

[brianj]

slam it to get it in the garage!

[ChrisG]

Today was a productive day

1. Replaced front right wheel bearings and it took away the horrid noise I was hearing, now its all smooth I'm annoyed at Goldwagen though, I went there and spent R330 for two sets of bearings and I was assured they were the correct size and then I went home and took my wheel off and the seal and bearings were a bit damaged from taking them out so they wouldn't have gone back in and the new ones didn't fit. Anyway to cut a long story short I went to the local hardware store that has EVERYTHING and paid R95 for the exact same bearing at 7pm, if they didn't have it I would have been stuck with a jacked up bus outside for the night. The bearings I got from Goldwagen are full of grease but I am going to take them back and demand my cash back.

2. Replaced an old burnt out headlight, was interesting to find that the whole light came off the body with just one screw. Gotta love the simplicity

3. I also lubricated every mm of the accelerator cable because it was getting stuck often, it doesn't stick now too much but now and then it does. I will have another look at that tomorrow

4. I cleaned up the ash trays inside and wrote down a rough idea of what I want to achieve inside

Pictures will come tomorrow because my camera battery is flat :/ So I could actually only get pictures of the headlight replacement which is kinda boring as the battery ran out before the bearing replacement

I have good news though my dad has a job for me to drive a boat trailer to Mozambique, I will get the same amount of money he would have paid for it so I will be able to hopefully buy the rest of the parts & pay for the body work to be done completely.

Cheers,
Chris

[ChrisG]

Not a good day, I decided for some reason unknown to me to take apart everything I could find in the back. about 2-3 hours later I found myself with an empty bus but nothing actually got achieved by the strip, just a bit of old dust scraped away and an old Benoni Library ticket for 20c (whatever that is).

When it came to putting it back together it wasn't that bad, I just had no clue what was what with the electricals. I managed to do something and not only did the pump in the water tank for the basin stop working, but my lights only work when the brights are on and the light in the cabin is also not working. It is probably a blown fuse, I just decided to pack it in for the night as I blew a fuse 2. A day filled with overpriced quotes, stupid suppliers that can't get their info right and an electricals 101 crash course of how not to wire up a pump. On the bright side I still have a sexy westy parked like 10m from my room

[eben]

Shit happens man
You didn't think its going to be ups all the way did you?
On the upside... you are learning how things work the best way you can.
I fixed the wiring on my(wasn't mine yet then) fastback when i was 16 because I was curious. ACVW's are made of logic.

[MELLO YELLOW]

Hi ChrisG
Nice Camper man
Now if you painted the top (Just below the windows) white we would then have twins
Check out the pics of Norm in the projects section

[Blitzkrieg]

Hey Chris,

Nice to finally see your first aircooled project

All the best with fixing it up - I'm sure that you will learn a lot along the way...

[jmvv]

As to the issue of registering it in your name.

It is possible to register the vehicle in your name without a road worthy certificate.

When you do the change of ownership registration, just mention to the clerk that it does not have a roadworthy certificate. This info get entered on your registration certificate.

When the vehicle gets roadworthied, that certificate is submitted to the registration authorities and the new license disc gets issued.

This is perfectly legal, and is the procedure I follow whenever I buy a "project".

As for using it on the road, as long as the license on the vehicle is still valid, you won't have any problems.

This also allows you to insure the vehicle as your own property.

[ChrisG]

Oh I thought it has to have a RWC, can I still renew the license if it is in my name?
I am definitely going to get it registered on Monday then. Tomorrow I'm off to Wellington to lifeguard at some bike event, not too sure what its going to be like. When it cools down I'm going to have another crack at fixing those pumps because its going to suck being camping without that cool tap So my first camping trip in the bus starts tomorrow I can't wait to load him up.

O ya before I forget, the buses name is Dexter

Mellow did you do all of that work on Norm yourself? It looks great I hope Dexter's body can look as good as that sometime soon

One last question, I want to replace as much of the basic running gear that is obviously now very old, what sort of things should I be looking at replacing? I want to place an order at the end of the month. For this I have about 4-5k. I'm hope some1 has been in the same situation and still remembers what kind of parts they ordered. Thanks again!

[MELLO YELLOW]

Thanks ChrisG but it is not all that good It was a rush job took me about 3 month to do.
Not like my Fleetline that took me 4 years but that was a total strip down and redo.

[ChrisG]

O ok, well I am in no rush I'm planning to keep this bus for the rest of my days.

I am going off to Joburg this week, are there any scrapyards or shops there worth looking for a less rusty engine lid and other misc. spares?