Chug Chug the 1977 Westfalia Helsinki

Today I've checked the level on my Gearbox oil & all is fine, WD40'd all of the exterior bolts, handles joins etc, also I done all of the latches wiper motor & spindles, round my lights & the dashboard.
Quick wipe off & they look real clean & they are rust proofed.
I have realighned my tailgate so the gaps are more even.
I've also put some glue on a couple of the rubbers that keep poping out of the gaps namely the pasinger door bottom & the tailgate corners.

 

Been doing more fussing, tweeking & adjusting.
Tried to get my auxillary power sorted ready for my leasure battery.
Finished wiring my split chargeing circuit & ran a new live wire to the front under the bus, just need to hook it up to a new fuse box now.
I want to wire a few new cuircuits into this the rear interior light I want to be able to turn this on at the dash as well as from the switch so it has two circuits.
I want to wire up my westy tap & fridge to another circuit. I want to run an inverter so we can have mains power on the move to recharge batteries for the camera, mobile phones etc. also the kids can play video games etc.
I am also going to split the radio circuit so I can play it when camping with out runing the main battery flat.

Got my pump working for the water today but its leaking & the old pipes are all kinked so its afecting the pressure. That will be a job for next week to sort out.
Removed my step cover & some of the interior again so I could glue the floor covering down, I didn't think I needed to but it kept moving around so I have now & its right. Refitted the step & packed up the middle of the floor as it was dipping down. Now I'm 100% happy with it.


Fitted my popers for the Westy fly net that I have the holes were there already so it was a simple job.


Not happy with the apparently genuine quality indicator front seals especially as the original ones weren't to bad after 30 years & these have lasted 10 moths. I bought them from Custom & Comercial so I hope they change them for me.

 

Left for work at 5.30Am on Friday to go to work for my last Morning shift of the week. Put £20.00 in J47 services & the robbing Barstewards charged me £124.9 per Litre at least Dick Turpin wore a mask, had a gun & was honest about robbing you.

Really nice day all day untill it was time to leave then the dark rain clouds came. It was OK driving up & Chug Chug drove nice all the way to Malvern hills I filled up in Morrisons near work & met my M8 Simon (Bay Boy) on the A449 in a truck layby.

Got to BVF & paid to get in no que & we went straigt in. Parked in the familly camping area with other friends of ours. My M8 Gerry (Divey) gave me an old retro style awning which took us ages to figure out how to fit (I just got to fit an alarm to his boys Golf)

It's not to bad a couple of tweeks & mods & it will be purfect for us.

Here are a few pics of the awning the camp area my Missus & Jamie a little visitor we had:-













The rest of the pics I took can be seen here:-
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=306346




Went to bed early on the Friday after a few ciders because of the rain. & woke up to more rain Saturday morn.

I'll contiunue the story tommorow as I'm off now for my last night shift of the week then I'm off for 5 days.

 

The rain onsaturday was on & off, one minuite it was real nice with the sun blazing down, the next there would be a really heavy shower lasting only a few minuits everytime I seemed to dry off it rained again. Washed Chug Chug in the rain while the misus cooked bacon & eggs, then we went off looking at trade stands.
I had a Just Kampers auxillary fuse box bought for me for Christmas & only last week when I went to use it I discovered the lid was broken, saw the guys at the show & to my surprize they agreed to replace it for me FOC which is real good service.
I also went to see the guys @ Custom & Comercial about the broken indicator seal & fair play they gave me a new one.
I bought from Allan Schofield a new spring for my Accelerator cable & two rubber boots for my gear change linkage conduit from Custom & Commercial.
Saw some great cars through out the day & we finished the night getting drunk in the main hall.

 

Got up Sunday morning & decided to enter Chug Chug in the Concourse & Custom show, on entry the marshal informed me becaue of the lowered front, the clear indicators & the USA plate on the rear I'd have to go in the custom category. When I entered I done so with the intention of just showing off my camper after all the work I had done to it I had no illusions of winning anything. There was also a pink & white bay in the category A real nice T25 with all dragons airbrushed on it & a T5 with remo roof. Realistically I had no chance og getting anywhere with these two cos they were awsome.
At the end of the show I realised that in the Bay window section there were only two Bays entered both had custom additons, both were lowered, one had a home made interior & the other had a blue & white dash.
I wa not pleased about this but I didn't want to make a fuss so I said nothing.
I think the fairest thing to have done was to put my bus & the pink/white one in the same category as the other 2. I'm not saying I would have won anything but it would have been fairer. The T5 & T25 would have coome 1st & 2nd even if there had been another 20 busses there they were that good.
Still enjoied the show though & it was nice to get a few +ve comments from people even though the bus is unfinished. Nice to see the guys from Retro Waggen & also Birmingham bay said hello.

I also seen a few friends from Airdiction; Dai, Gareth & Jo.
Finished the weekend by going straight to my first 12 hr night shift of the week so by Monday morn I was knackered.
I'm off the next 5 days so look out for some updates & pics I got through the post yesterday a new thermostat cable so that will be fitted today.

 

]This is a pic that a VAI forum member took of Chug Chug @ BVF08

 

My M8 Ben (Tawraste) came up this afternoon to give me a hand, got a few niggly jobs done:-
Stripped the throttle pedal off to see why there was play in it, fitted my new spring & found out that the shaft end & linkage is worn by about 1mm on each this equates to about 15mm the other end so I will weld them both & file them so they fit snugly together.
Fitted the seals to my brake pedal & my hand brake leaver. Cab looks a bit beter now, I can't belive how much dust gets under the rubber mat, the waxoyl coating seems to atract the dirt & make it look scruffy, at least it wont rust.
Fitted my new thermostat cable too. now the flaps work lovely. I can't belive how dirty the engine is already & the heat proof paint has burned off the heaty exchanger pipes completly.
Fitted my heater leavers, one is faded so will need replacing (I'll probably replace all 3 with new ones) I got to get some screws & clips to hold the pod in too.








I have also fitted my new indicator seal but will need to replace the other one too as its cracked badly.

 

Been raining here all day, got a bit done report on it all later but look at the water outside, lucky I live on the top of a hill. When it dry's I'll have to get out there & weed the path:-

 

My M8 darren tig welded my throtle shaft & bracket today to fill in the worn away material & I'm having a break from filing at the moment. I basically want them to be a snug fit together so the trotle will be more responsive & have no play in the pedal.
I moved my linkage a bit today & adjusted it over so it is now straigter & moves more freely. hopefully the bus will be just a little faster now & it will be slightly nicer to dive. 31 years of wear takes its toll on everything & a little care can reverse the process, so thats my goal.

Another good job I've done today was to drop the oil as it is starting to turn black after 1,500 miles, changed the oil filter & cleaned out the strainer, surprising how much crap was in there. Fitted new gaskets & cleaned the underside of the engine I can't get over how dirty its got in just 2 months.
I am hoping to get the throtle back together tomorrow & take it for a spin. I've only got untill midday because thats when the insurance runs out & I can't afford to renew it untill Tuesday when I get paid.
£218.00 fully comp with 90 European breakdown cover 12mth UK breakdown cover, free legal cover & an agreed value of £14,000. not a bad price at all.

 

Got this info off Blacksmith on The Samba
Remember, these brackets are "handed", one for left, one for right. Front brackets are the same dimensions as rear brackets. Stock is 1" x 1/8" flat bar stock, space between "fingers" is 1/2".

 

Right then, yesterday & today I been helping My M8 ben remove his trailing arms take them up to my M8 Darren's to get new ball joints fitted & then we refitted them. We also replaced all the brake lines with copper/nickel ones & the flexies with Goodridge ones, we also replaced the drag link. Now it drives superb & it was a job well worth Doing. Then I had to replace the discs & pads on my Mothers Mercedes C180 & tonight I finally had some time between helping my M8 Kevin put his Beetle trailing arms back on to work on my over riders.
Done some work on them today useing an angle grinder & a power file as well as a hand file & I've made the Front right & Rear right fit, they are not fixed on yet but are just balanced, I know how I'm going to fit the front but I haven't worked out a plan for the rear yet:-









The Rear left is a bit battered & will need some panel beeting & rust treatment while I've realised my 2 front ones are both for the right hand side so I'll have to swap one of them with someone.

 

I also got my throtle linkage back on today & now the bus fires & runs first time like a dream, I'm well happy.
painted it all first though obviously & here is a pic of it & a few of the stickers on my bus of shows I've been to in it. I also fitted a new sticker on the back window.

 

Found out that someone had posted pics of my Bus on another forum in Volksfest Wales last year:-







Called up Malcolm's yard today to get a bit for the bus, took a load of pics of his stuff:-

 

That last door had the bit I was looking for. The galv rail at the top which holds the wood panel on, I got the clips too.
Now it is fitted to my sliding door cos the panel on there kept falling off & scratching my paint.


Here it is fitted to my bus.

I also got this sticker:-


While my sliding door was off I shimmed it up a bit & adjusted it & now it fits & operates better than it has ever done before.

Malcolm has loads of usefull bits there & he is reasonable with his prices, some of the bays are for sale as good running projects so if you feel like give him a call on 07837154038 or 01792 845030.
Tell him Chrisradioman sent you.

Hands off the chrome bumper with over riders though cos thats mine for my 1303S

 

Fitted my Hunter can Transducer from Sailes Marketing.

Its a small generator it goes in line with the speedo cable. You connect an ignition live (+15) to it & an earth & it puts out a pulse this can be connected to the Gala or speed pulse of a sat nav unit.

Now my Becker Sat Nav works.

 

See you all in Bug Jam.

Just printed off a few things quickly what do you think?


Chug Chug



We bought Chug Chug in April 2007 as a project vehicle. He is a 1977 Westfalia Helsinki Campervan.

With a 2.0L air-cooled engine.



Chug Chug was built in Hanover at VW’s commercial vehicle factory on date & was then sold in Germany.



He was imported to the UK in 1981 & converted to RHD he has subsequently had 8 owners in the UK myself

being the 8th.I am currently tracing all of the previous owners & so far have met 2 of them the guy I bought him off

& the guy before him, eventually I’ll trace them all even the ones in Germany.



The previous owner had new wheel arches fitted to a high standard then ran out of cash so had to sell it.

I purchased it in a sorry state with no MOT. So my first job was to get it on the road.



By the end of May I had the bus MOT’d & road legal. I attended Bug Jam 07 with the front cab area painted &

entered it in the show as a Rat look vehicle. It has come a long way since then.



After the engine packed in on the way home from Vanfest 07 I took Chug Chug off the road, removed the

engine & fuel tank & all of the belly pans. The engine was sent off to Laurie Pettitt for rebuilding. The underside

& engine bay has been completely shot blasted & eradicated of any rust. It was then etch primed & returned to my

garage where it was extensively welded taking about 3 months. Once welded it had 2 litres of high build primer

applied then 2 litres of stone guard followed by over 4 litres of top coat.



Unfortunately this work spoiled the paintwork that I ad done previously on the top side & so we gave the bus a

quick blow-over just to get it respectable looking for Big Bang.



The MOT was due again in May & the shot blasting had revealed some pretty poor welding of the front beam

so the decision was made to replace it with a Creative Engineering Weedeater unit which is adjustable & 4”

narrower, at the same time I replaced the front wheel bearings & all of the ball joints on the bus. The whole braking

system is new also using a nickel copper alloy for the hard lines & Goodridge flexy hoses for the 4 corners.

Suspension work left includes 4 spax shocks & a pair of Red9 lowered spring plates for the rear & some painting &

detailing of the various underside components.



There is currently no heating system on the bus as I had to cut out the rear y-piece due to bad rust, this will be

replaced shortly followed by all the other underside heater pipes. I have already replaced all of the heater cables.

This will ensure I have a good heating system for the winter months.



I could tell you more info on the bus but I’m sure you haven’t got all day. So that’s it for now & check the bus

out at the next show Volksfest Wales where hopefully it will be a little bit nearer to completion. The bus will also

be appearing at Vanfest, VW action & Brighton Breeze. & Chug Chug will be visiting the Hanover factory at the end

of August on our European road trip for 10 days.






Thanks for reading






This is an unfinished project so please don’t be too critical.

It will be repainted shortly to a much higher standard & over the next few weeks all of the head lining will be replaced, the missing plaid cushions fitted & all of the laminate re covered.

Also the underside painting & detailing will be competed.



In a few months the glass & mirrors will also be replaced.

 

I had a brilliant time in Bug Jam, met everyone at J43 Llandarcy about 8 campers in total.
This is us setting off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMm3OJ5FcVI&feature=player_embedded#!
Our M8 Alan broke down because his fuel pump leaver on his T25 diesil broke but fortunatly he managed to get it welded.

Got to the A449 lorry pull in & had to stop again Alans fuel pipe broke on one of the injectors & was spraying diesil everywhere, he had to plug the pipe with a self tapper & drive the rest of the way on 3 cylinders.

35 miles from our destination Chug Chug started sounding a bit strange & then it cut out.
I pulled in to the hard shoulder & was fearing the worst I discovered it was firing on 2 cylinders one spark plug lead had come off because it was clipped to the one on cylinder 2. On cylinder 2 the spark plug had some how worked its way loose. Luckinly I found it & there was no damage. Popped it back in & we were away (note to self torque them up on Saturday)

My M8 Dean told us how he saw a couple of joyriders take a roundabout & about 100 MPH & roll the car into a field. As they got out & ran away he didn't bother ringing the pigs cos they would have delayed us even further cos they are too buisy catching motorists for speeding. If I hadn't broken down I would have seen the crash.

Got to Tescos in Welingborough at about 4AM & decided to camp in the car park.

Got woken about 4.30AM by an arsehole wheel spinning off, turns out he tried to break into the petrol station & my M8 Richard shouted & scared them off, they couldn't have picked a worse day the car park was full of campers. (note to crooks next time do it on a Wednesday)


Got up at about 9AM & decided to have a breakfast in Tesco. My eldest daughter found what looked like a pubic hair stuck to the inside of the egg white. She went & complained & the cheaky gits refunded her 39p (the price of the egg) even it put us all off & no one finished their breakfast, as I was tired I decided not to complain there but I'll write to head office to complain.


Anyway pictures of the event can be found here & I'll put up some pics in a bit.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=308860

 

Drove into Bug Jam about 10AM on Friday much less stressfull driving up the day before, there was a small que to get in & was quite busy in side. We got a good dry flat spot in the family camping area & set our pitch & awning.

Loads of entertainment all day, the stunt shows were impressive with Terry Grant demonstrating his amazing skill. Podzilla was good & I was pleased to learn it was made in Wales.
Zero Gravity & FMX were awsome too as was the dragstrip action with Team Jagabug looking good as usuall. I was going to say hello but I never actually seen any of the team apart from racing the car.

The just Kampers display was impressive to. I was a bit dissapointed that they didn't have a trade stand there, neither did Allan schofield or VW herritage.

I bought a temperature switch & adaptor off Stateside Tuning & here are a few pics of it fitted yoi can see in the first pic the difference in length of my old pressure releaf spring & my new one too:-




One of the boys stuck this on my M8 Alans T4 van roof & I think its still there:-



Some more pics of Chug Chug:-


one in the distance with the blue canvas:-

 

Yvonne with a jelly baby man:-


My display board which is not finished yet:-


Pics of us in Tesco car park:-





Pics of us in silly hats:-