Gwynnie, our new 1974 Westy

Discussion in 'Show Us Your Ride' started by Martin Jones, Feb 19, 2015.

  1. Martin Jones likes this.
  2. I've just read your whole thread - love it! Your interior is just like my 1974 campmobile :) Any more progress?
     
  3. Will update on Sunday progress has been slow since last year due to family illness and the weather but now back on track.
     
    DriftingBear likes this.
  4. Time to update our thread. Works ground to a halt at the end of last summer due to family circumstances and then later on the weather. It would make such a difference if we had a garage to keep her in, but at least we're making progress again.
    Have spent hours sucking dust out of the chassis with a hoover - about 90% has now been removed, ready for waxoiling and rust prevention treatment.
    We took off the front roof cap and found - surprise surprise - a bit more dust...
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    We used Cif to scrub the roof cap inside and out. There were some weird insect nests inside the roof cap but no insects, fortunately.
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    We also cleaned the roof (not with Cif!) - it has lovely original paint.
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    We replaced the rotten seal with a nice new one.
     
    Buddy Hawks likes this.
  5. Interior next. We had tried to buff up the interior panels with boot polish but the effect didn't last. EDE77 had the genius idea of painting them with mahogany stain which looks great.
    We replaced the old insulation with new and then refitted the panels, which look so much better - still with patina but they have smartened up a treat.

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    The next challenge will be to reassemble the rock and roll bed. We haven't finished fitting the electrics yet, either.
    After this we tackled the bumper. Tried to remove the front one and the clouds of Colorado dust coming out warned us of what was to come...
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    Once all the mud was cleaned off the metal on the van was found to be immaculate so was thoroughly waxoiled before refitting the bumper (I waxoiled this inside too).
    The rear bumper wasn't fitting correctly and the angle of the towbar worried us. On removal of the bumper we found that the towbar was only attached with two bolts to the bumper itself, not the chassis of the van! As you can see from the pics it appears to be a home made job. We won't be using it to tow our trailer!
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    The bar basically fitted in between the two bumper brackets but wasn't attached to them either.
    With the towbar removed and a bit of fettling the bumper now fits reasonably well. Not perfect, but then this is part of the character of the van. The stickers are staying (our teenage son hates them which adds to the charm lol).
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    Hopefully we'll have a bit more dry weather this week to carry on with some waxoiling and more refitting. Will aim to give another update soon.
     
  6. Merlin Cat

    Merlin Cat Moderator

    Looking good :)

    My towing thing was the same. I stood on it to look on the roof and wondered why it moved! On closer inspection it had a weight limit of about my weight and is attached to the bumper!
     
    EDE77 likes this.
  7. We didn't manage to get much done last week due to the weather, the rock and roll bed was partially dismantled when we got the van with most of the brackets that hold the base together missing.We managed to source replacements from B+Q which were the correct size and just needed the holes enlarging to fit.The springs on the hinges are also broken so new ones were ordered from NLAVW via Ebay and are waiting to be fitted.The number plate is covering a large speaker hole and we have ordered a black surround to go around it as its not quite big enough to cover the hole.

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    After the deluge of rain we had on Saturday we have been able to crack on with protecting the underside of the van from the elements.Some surface rust has started to appear so we have been cleaning it off and treating it with rust converter
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    We have been considering the options of what to do with regards to protecting it, we had pretty much decided on waxoiling it black as she is not going to be a show bus but when we started to remove the old underseal from the wheel arches we were greeted with this
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    This is the n/s/r, not sure if it was underseal or old engine oil its been painted with but its certainly done its job
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    So we have now decided that we can't cover up that lovely original paint so will use clear waxoil instead
     
    Buddy Hawks likes this.
  8. Tonight we started on the n/s/f wheel arch, found a small rust hole but considering her age she is as solid as as rock, this may have been caused by the home made mudflaps that are fitted.
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    However removing the rest of the underseal from the wheel arch revealed even better paint than the rear one.
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    Weather permitting hope to get all the wheel arches cleaned this week and then start on the floor, its a horrible dirty job but well worth the hard work.
     
    Buddy Hawks and Cov1987 like this.
  9. Looking good!!
     
  10. @Martin Jones that's very similar to ours (ex califormia) only a few minor rust points to address but very solid otherwise - unlike similar age uk vans :)
     
  11. Be aware that clear waxoyl is intended for the inside of cavities and as such won't stand up to the harshness wheel arches are subjected to
    Just keep an eye on it and reapply as needed


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
    Cov1987 and EDE77 like this.
  12. I didn't realize that, any ideas for how best to protect it but keep the original paint showing.
     
  13. Clear waxoyl is about the best you can do I'm afraid if you want to retain the original paint
    You could spray it with thinned down stone chip protector like upol gravitex then paint over that in the original colour paint
    The reason it looks so good after all these years is because it was protected by underseal
    My bus was the same under the dried out and cracking underseal so I scraped it all off and sprayed hammerite underbody seal with added waxoyl back on to keep it good for more years to come
    A good dose of cavity waxing would also be a good idea
    I use bilthamber dynax but dinitrol is also good stuff


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  14. Main work done on Gwynnie during the autumn was waxoiling and dirt removal from the chassis, didn't have the time or weather for much else. Having nowhere dry to work on her, and a miniscule garage, hasn't made it easy :(
    Did a bit of work on her this week, though. Filled in the holes where the oil cooler was with some stainless steel screws. Replaced the rear lights and side reflectors. Cleaned up the exhaust and fuel tank. Replaced the seal on the engine compartment lock. Found lots more dirt underneath the gear stick and in the gear knob, under the gear selector... it really does get everywhere (even inside the reflectors and rear lights- see photo below)!
    Having realised that realistically we are not going to get her on the road as quickly as we want, we have booked her in with a local specialist to get her roadworthy and MOTed. We will refit the interior ourselves and also any little jobs we can do, time and weather permitting. She'll be going in at the end of April and we can't wait for our first camping trip. We will deliver the engine to him in the next few weeks so it can be stripped and checked as we've never heard it running. If it works, we'll continue our quest to find a 6 rib gearbox as the van came with a 3 rib (again, condition unknown). If the engine is going to be too expensive to rebuild, we'll probably go down the Type 1 route which will match the gearbox we have - although not factory original, it would do us for a few years until we can get the correct engine/gearbox.
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    Forgot to mention that I've also rebuilt the back brakes with shoes, cylinders, back plate, handbrake cables. We had a battle to get the castle nuts off and ended up cutting them off with a grinder.
    We plan to sell our T25 in the spring and will use our T4 Caravelle and driveaway awning for festivals and the summer holidays if Gwynnie isn't ready to use by then.
    Thanks are due again to EDE77 for all his help and literally blood and sweat!
     
    Buddy Hawks, EDE77, Valveandy and 2 others like this.
  15. what a great bus, some much mud though! keep at it your doing a great job!

    take that gear stick off though with those 2 bolts and give it a good clean out and regrease! also the quick shift kits cost about a fiver and reduce the effort required to change gear!
     
    Scorched_earth likes this.
  16. Thanks Chrisselby - yes, I have done that. Got more mud out of there too :D

    Have made more progress in recent weeks, with a lot of help from my mate EDE77 - mainly working towards getting the interior back in.
    Put the Mad Matz front carpet in, replaced the door cards and membranes, also new interior door handles. Battled to re-cover the seats after splurging on some replacement covers from NLAVW at Dubfreeze... managed to get the passenger side done but it was a hell of a task to stretch them over the brand new foam, so have decided to leave the driver's seat to settle for a bit before doing that one (hopefully the foam will squish down a bit once we can drive her!). Meantime the driver's seat has a nice VW t-shirt bought from our local Tesco...
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    Outer door seals have been replaced all round, also the roof seal. Lots of other little seals e.g. around door locks etc. The front door keys have been replaced from the codes as we had to purchase replacement handles a while ago which didn't come with keys. One works fine, the other needs a bit of fettling still.
    Windscreen washers have been fixed and now work (ish). Pedal rubbers have been replaced.
    Interior electrics haven't been finished yet but the rock and roll bed is now back in.
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    The front of the rock and roll bed has a nasty great hole in it where the previous owner had installed a speaker. This has been covered with a sign we found in our local branch of The Range - we think it goes really well with the colours of the Westy plaid.
    We've put the carpet back in and edged it along the sliding door with new strips from NLAVW.
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    The wheels have been painted and fitted with new Hankook tyres, hub caps and pretty rings.
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    We've fitted an interior light as there wasn't one when we bought the bus.
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    Next, we bought new hinges from NLAVW so that we could fit the table Restore & More NE had given us with the van. A bit of furniture polish to make it slide and she's working a treat... although there's no button on the leg so it has to be wedged in place until we find a better way!
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    Buddy Hawks and EDE77 like this.
  17. It's been a tough year as my Mum was critically ill in January and unfortunately she passed away early February. It makes you realise how precious the time we have is, and that we have to make the most of it. Hence getting Gwynnie ready to use has become even more important. It has also spurred us on to put our house on the market and move to a house with an extra bedroom and a better garage so we can put Gwynnie away in the dry and protect her. It has been awful to see our lovely rust-free van getting wet out on the driveway, even under a van cover :( Fingers crossed our house move will go smoothly and she will be safe in the dry before next winter.

    Anyway, on with the resto. As I mentioned above, all door frame seals have now been replaced. Here are the dead ones...
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    ... and a new one. We bought the best we could so hopefully they'll last.
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    Here you can see why we need a bigger garage. The roof canvas has yet to be replaced - the plan is to take the roof off once she's at Dai's VWs having her engine and gearbox sorted. Here they are ready - we were fortunate enough (after a lot of searching) to find a 5 rib gearbox from Graham at FBI VW in Swansea. Should be a perfect match for our engine. If not, we still have the 3 rib as a spare!
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    We also managed to get the tinware we needed from Dan (21windows) on here. It's in great condition, just plan to clean and paint it before it goes in.
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    Have cleaned up the original exhaust, which seems to be ok. It's a genuine VW. Will probably paint this too.
    Also replaced the breather pipes - as you can see below the old ones were a bit of a mess.
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    Have done a bit of polishing today and hope to be able to update a bit more regularly! Thanks for reading :thumbsup:
     
    rob.e, JamesLey and EDE77 like this.
  18. Time for an update - things have progressed a lot since the last time we posted here.
    Back in April work continued apace due to the good weather as we tried to get as much as we could done before Gwynnie went off to Dai's V-Dubs in Raglan. Once again EDE77 was a huge help.
    We removed the jalousies and cleaned around the apertures - very pleased to find only light minimal surface rust, which we cleaned and treated before refitting. [​IMG]
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    We removed and cleaned the kick panels and they came up a treat. A bit wrinkly but they'll be fine. As you can see they were filthy, like the rest of the bus. Before and after pics:
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    We fitted the fuel tank with new hoses and clips etc. After unsuccessfully trying to fit the new fuel sender we bought, which was poor quality and wouldn't seal tightly, we tested the old sender and found it was working. We will go with that as it fits properly.
    As the weather got warmer, we turned our attention to the bodywork. I cut it back lightly with a cutting compound, then clayed the whole van. Then I gave it a good coat of Autoglym Ultimate and finally Collinite sealing wax. After the many hours of back-breaking work, we are rather pleased with the results. :)
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    I cleaned the outside of the roof, had the bottom of the sink unit repaired and cleaned the inside of the roof. We refitted the sink unit and connected up the pipework - had to hunt around a fair bit in the garage but got there in the end. There is a small leak which we will rectify when she comes back from Dai's V-Ws.
    Also fixed the table leg so it now works properly - no allen key required to hold it up!
     
    EDE77 likes this.
  19. Finally Gwynnie's big day arrived and Dai came to collect her and take her off to get her up and running. Saying goodbye and leaving her at the garage was like leaving one of our kids in the hands of a surgeon to perform a major op! Very nerve-racking even though we knew she was in excellent hands.
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    Dai started work on the engine immediately. Push rod tubes, seals etc were replaced. Engine was fully serviced and checked, and valve clearances etc checked. He has sent us a daily update of all works carried out, with plenty of pictures - we will share some of these with you below. Overall impressions of the engine were good - which was a relief as it was an unknown quantity, not being original to the van. It appears to have been well maintained, although there were plenty of little problems for Dai to sort out, including stripped threads for tinware etc.
    It didn't take long until the engine was complete and ready to be fitted into the van with all her tinware in place, new clutch and new starter motor. We want the bus to be as reliable as possible so gave Dai the go-ahead to replace anything that may cause us problems in the future. Some of the parts which we had got for the bus turned out to be incorrect (e.g. engine mounts) so Dai sourced these for us, getting the best that he possibly could.
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    We've been really impressed with Dai's attention to detail - he has cleaned and painted components before fitting them when necessary, e.g. the rocker covers and push rod tubes.
    Rocker cover before:
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    Push rod tubes painted, straightened and refitted:
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    Next he fitted the tinware, which we had painted before sending it to Dai.
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    Dai repaired the original exhaust and heat exchangers, then painted them and fitted them to the engine.
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    Dai then replaced the worn rear wheel bearings, rebuilt the drive shafts and replaced the rather manky brake master cylinder as well as replacing the throttle and clutch cables, which were a job in themselves as the conduits were full of Colorado dust!
    The brakes were bled and found to be good. Unfortunately the steering box seals were found to be leaking badly so the steering box was stripped and the seals replaced before it was refitted. He also replaced the centre pin and bearings on the front axle, as we felt that this was pretty worn. It made sense to do it now.
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    Pickles likes this.
  20. Work continued to refit the engine and gearbox to the van. We fitted a new clutch while the engine was out, as it would have been a false economy not to change it.
    Here's an example of some of the parts that needed to be replaced: this was well past its sell-by date!
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    It was great to see her finally coming together. The amount of work that has been done in just a couple of weeks would have taken us a long, long time - especially as we'd have had to work on the driveway, not under cover.
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    Finally came a milestone moment... We were having lunch in our favourite cafe on a day off when Dai sent us a very exciting video.

    She was running! She coughed out some kind of nest from her exhaust but she was running and sounding sweet :thumbsup:
    However, she didn't run for long as the carburettor was leaking fuel badly and was found to be quite worn and in need of a rebuild. We opted to replace it with a brand new one as this seemed the best option in the long run.
    She then sounded even sweeter.
     

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