Milly the 1979 Westfalia Berlin Deluxe Bay Window Camper Van

[chrisradioman]

My worst shock was the state of the battery tray, they have sprayed over the dirt & everything that had accumulated on the tray. Obviously I now need to rub it all down & paint it:-

[chrisradioman]

I think the best course of action is to remove the engine & the back light & prep it all properly, then spray it all in base coat & lacquer. It will be a pain in the arse but worth it.

At least the underside is OK:-

[chrisradioman]

I did ask them to leave the battery out so I could put it on charge. (What I meant is so I could check out their work) but they didn't listen & guess what?

They done this:-




Local welding shop, they are good at welding but not painting, the ham fisted buffoons.

[chrisradioman]

Just got my new binder I ordered from:-
http://www.averybrandandprint.co.uk/
It's a custom designed A4 binder to hold all my reciepts & documents for Milly. I've laminated everything inc. my old MOT's & stuck them in.

[chrisradioman]

Here is a taste of what's inside:-

[chrisradioman]

Just got my Firetec automatic fire suppression system. I already got a JK one but this works in a slightly different way & you can never be too careful when it comes to fire.


This is what happened to my last bus:-
http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread ... ug&page=17

[chrisradioman]

Right I sold my Beetle today so now I can get Milly back in the garage in the dry & crack on with the work on her I got planned.

Just got to tidy the garage first though:-

Milly is now all cwtched up nice & snug like a bug in a rug:-

[chrisradioman]

Everything outside is under big brothers watchful eye:-


Now I've got my garage back this week the engine & box are coming out, quickly followed by the firewall & the petrol tank. Once they are out I'm going for a full strip down & rebuild of the engine.
The gearbox is having a clean down paint & detail followed by new oil & a new clutch.

While all this is going on I'm going to strip the body inside & out for a full inside outside repaint in the same colour. All my M8's think I'm mad but she's not quite perfect & not quite is not good enough I want her to look the part inside & out & there is only one way to do that.
stay tuned for the restoration of a show winning bus.

[chrisradioman]

I've never worked on the gearbox & the clutch sometimes slips slightly with the trailer.
There is some slight rust on 3 seams. Also about 3 years ago Milly had a fight with a traffic cone & did this damage:-









The repairer did an excellent job but there is a slight colour shade difference.
Last year someone dented the rear driver quarter & drove away & again there is a shade difference in the colour.
There are a few small marks & stone chips also which I'd like to address.
Milly is difficult to start when cold so I want to recondition the starter motor.
Milly's oil light stays on a little to long so I want to rebuild the bottom end just for my piece of mind.
The interior has never been out of Milly as far as I can tell so I'd like to take it all out check for any hidden rust, repaint the inside & Wax treat it all.
My petrol tank has a very short outlet for the fuel pipe because it snapped off last year & I'd like to address it.

If I leave it any longer Milly will only deteriorate more & I'd like to keep her mint.
I did have another project but I sold it to help finance Milly's return to her former glory.
I've got till March to get her done for a very special reason that will become clear nearer the time.

I hardly spent any money on Milly from March 2009 till March 2011 because she was at that time mint.
So you see I'm not mad, just very particular & I like having a mint bus that other people admire.
This year I have seen so many better buses than there were around in 2010 so I need to up my game slightly.
To cut a long story short Milly looks better in the pics than she does up close, only just mind.

[chrisradioman]

Started the strip down, I've removed the deluxe trim & the Track covers both sides, good news there, lots of dirt but no rust whatsoever. I'm very very happy about that:-

[chrisradioman]

This window will need attention:-


As will this seam:-


All the parts are going in individual bags that I'll label:-

[chrisradioman]

After a bit of a clean:-



I got to clean the Waxoil off from in the vents:-



All the clips & rivets are now out:-




Overspray like this is just unacceptable & will not be repeated:-


A spider has moved in already:-

[chrisradioman]

[chrisradioman]

[chrisradioman]

Not done anything this weekend as I've bought myself a new project & been collecting parts:-