Hi, Recently bought a 1972 (first reg June '73) Westfalia as a 30th birthday present for myself. Probably went against all sensible-ness as I'm not mechanically minded nor rich but luckily enough father in law has had a couple in the past and very helpful. Went to see a few before settling on this one which we've called 'Dotty'. She has a recon engine, is rust free and drives really well but I'm unsure if she actually is a Westfalia as all of the original interior is long since replaced. I've got a bit I'd like to do to her for practical purposes such as storage and table but tempted to build rather than buy due to both cost and not being keen on the dark Westfalia wood finish. If anyone can tell me anything about the van from pics I'd be grateful as you lot will no doubt be able to tell which are original design and which bits are add ons. Anyway that's probably enough rambling from me - I'm hoping to learn and improve my mechanics/electrics ability as I go! Thanks, Mike
Hello from Irlam. Yes that has a Westfalia roof and is painted in Neptune blue under white. Nice looking van and quite possibly a crossover given its year. The interior looks like a home made style and the front seats are not original either. The painted dash wasn't standard in '72 either. They were only painted on the earliest if earlies, though a lot have done this since You are quite local so feel free to give us a shout. I may not be able to help with everything but I've been around these things a few years. It'd be great to see your van.
Welcome from another Cheshire owner, looks like Westy roof , Devon swing out cooker, homemade interior, nice looking bus tho, come to Tatton Park on Sunday and say hello on the club stand!
Thanks to all of you - I'll try and get to Tatton on Sunday just need to move some other commitments first! Managed to decode the M plate today and established that my bay was built 04/12/1972 and originally was Orient Blue (upper) and pastel white (bottom) with Dark beige leatherette. Fascinated by the stuff you can find online!
Excellent choice of colour and hello from Chester , cant make Tatton as we are going to sample the wet stuff in Wales but hope to see you around
Ah Orient Blue, well I wasn't too far out, it's close to Neptune Blue but less grey I guess. I think though, the m-plate decoder may have mixed top and bottom up It probably wouldn't have been blue over white, but as it is now
nice van - welcome i'm also a mechanical numpty and relatively new (had the van since march) - never fixed up and old car in my life, but i'm suprising myself with what's possible. they are pretty simple things to work on, plus searching on here or thesamba is very helpful - i bought a couple of manuals but tbh its normally easier to google.
Very nice bus. Welcome to TLB, loads of great advice to be had on here, especially on rarely asked topics such as "what oil should I use" kind of thing
