Hi everyone,
I’m new to forums in general but because this seems such a cool one, with loads of members with valuable knowledge about the cars I love and own, I registered in august 2014 to this one. Until now I was just a silent member that peeked around in all the inspirational air-cooled projects that are showcased here. But when I did my first post yesterday (asking for some sliding windows for sale for my 72 kombi) a guy named Fig reminded me to first go through the formalities of introductions and getting to know each other better before asking for the family jewels. Because Fig is absolutely right about this I decided to move out of the shadows of this forum and also share a bit about myself and my air-cooled 72 VW Kombi.
My name is Jeroen and I moved from Holland to South Africa (Cape Town) in 2006. I grew up next to the panel beat shop of my dad in Holland. My love with everything that is old and has two or four wheels started there, in that shop. Because my dad always struggled to find guy’s to clean the spray booths and dust filters after a week’s work (Holland is no SA) as a student I was able to make a deal with him. I cleaned the booths and filters but he allowed me to use the company’s tools and facilities in my weekends to metal repair and spray-paint old mopeds and Vespa scooters I liked so much.
Unfortunately I no longer have access to the awesome facilities I had at my dad’s shop but I still like to work on and ride old vehicles. I now own two iconic air-cooled vehicles I absolutely love and always wanted to own. One is a 1978 Honda CB550 motorcycle and the other one is a1972 VW kombi. I re-builded my motorcycle a few years back and my combi is my current project to keep my automotive family tradition alive.
Grand Slam Air Cooled Services in Somerset West helped me to overhaul the brakes, bushes and suspension of my Kombi. The engine seems fine but I most definitely need to do some rust / paint repair and I need to find some missing windows. I also want to re-upholster the interior of my bus with the industrial sewing machines I use in my company. I’ve never done automotive upholstery work but it seems fun to me so I will give it a try.
I even might consider to post my own project thread on this forum the moment I have something interesting to show about my build. Maybe i also can inspire other people to keep these vehicles on the road. Thanks Fig for inviting me to introduce myself. When can we talk about the family jewels?
