Chug Chug the 1977 Westfalia Helsinki

Wow, what a story!!! its the first time I've heard chug chugs tale.....its take me a while to read.

to have all the hard work and love you put into the van go in an instant must have been devistating. :'(

you posted that you cried when it happened, no shame in that mate, I would have cried like a baby too and I dont mind admitting that.

thanks for sharing with us, I think I'm going to book mark this and re read it on a dark winters night

Double K+ to you

 

it was a good read

so much so Im going to re read it on a long winters night

I'm going to have a read of Milly & Vanillies story too at some point

 

when I started to read your restoration was really interested , you made chug chug really beautifull, and then I started to cry when i saw the pics, burned, I thought it was a bad joke.... :'( I'm really sorry.. wish that , that wouldn't happen to nobody..
still can't believe that those things happen...

 

The whole thread in 3 images

From this ..........


To this ..................


to this ..........

 

Yep bit of a strange before & after init?

 

yeah - it looks a bit like a champagne edition in the after after

 

My brother has now written a song about Chug Chug, I'll post it up as soon as I get a chance.

 

a great thread and a very good lesson for others

K+ for all your posts on the dangers of fire

 

Just read all 23 pages. What a mad ride this resto was. It was some nice work until the fire

 

Thanks pal, it was a sad mad story.

 

I was looking for something that I thought was in here and it occured to me that maybe some of the newer folk hadn't seen Chris' journey.

Well worth a read through these dark nights ...

 

A great read from start to finish except for the fire, glad everybody was safe. Hope you get another bus soon.

 

Considering the tremendous effort you put into restoring Chug Chug, no wonder you felt so devastated. Props to you for navigating all this though. I hope you still have your new bay and it's staying flame free...

Definitely a learning lesson for me to be super vigilant in checking those hose fittings... Will be installing full 100% bio hose when finishing rebuilding my engine which should provide some reassurances.

Fair play for cutting out the salvageable bits too, sod the insurance company!