1977 Westy - Colonel Mustard

Thanks, Im really happy with it. The only issue is I would eventually like to go back to a stock exhaust set up with the heat exchangers and muffler, and I'm not sure how they will fit together, but Ill cross that bridge when I get to it.

Now that the reciever was done, I had to work out the actual hitch. I went through a few design ideas for the trailer and eventually settled on having a seperate bike rack, rather than mounting the bikes on the trailer. There are a few reasons for that. The bikes would probably take a beating being mounted to the trailer, I wanted to be able to take the bikes without taking the trailer and wanted everything compact and easy to get at.

To do this, I needed to get creative haha.

Bought a hitch:





Then got this bike carrier, can hold up to 4 bikes and can tilt down so I can still get into the engine and back:







Of course, we dont leave anything as is. The base of the carrier was way too long and as a result was very loose and tended to bend down, so we cut off some of the bottom:



New shorter arm welded on. Keeps the rack closer to the bus.



Now that I have a way to carry my bikes, I needed a way to attach the trailer, you can see that we cut one of the balls off and also shortened it to save weight:



Now I can put the carrier on when I want to take my bikes without the trailer.

 

Way to go. Your Van looks great. Makes me want to go to the garage and work on mine. Oil leaks can be a challenge but seems you've over come yours. Hope you have a great summer in yours.

 

Thanks. I was lucky that the oil leak was a pretty simple fix this time and I had a spare oil cooler on hand. Having two parts buses on hand is great.

Next is the trailer build. Again, we tried to do this on a tight budget.

First, I bought a luggage carrier on sale that will be the main part of the trailer:





found these boxes for $25 so I picked one up for some more storage:



Cut some hubs out of an old car, rims off an old neon, and some old tires that were in great shape:



Next was to make the frame. I purchased some square tube for the main part and the axle, the rest is scrap metal we had. My brother fabbed this up for me:



Laying out the carrier and tool box:



Next was on to the axle, used a piece of square tube and my brother attached the salvaged hub:



Mounted the leaf springs that I purchased:







Got the axle finished and had the tires mounted:



Receiver attached, bolted and welded:



Trailer wasnt sitting level when attached to the bus so we added an offset in the bar:





My brother fabricated some frames for the fender from some salvaged 1x1 tube:





Testing:

 

Good work on the trailer, get it Galved, it will last for ever then.

 

Thanks,
Here is the rest of the build.

Welded some rings on to accept some chains:



Brackets to mount the lights:



Stripping paint from the metal:



Stripped and waiting for some surface rust to help the POR15 process.



Removed the POs wiring:



New connector in, still have to finish up a few things.



Idea of how it will look when done:





Got the trailer ready for paint:



After some POR15, unfortunately some rain got it before it was dry, but still worked out ok. Kinda has a textured look now haha, might try to smooth it out:



Added some safety chain:



Fenders sheeted with some stainless steel that used to be kick plates on doors:



Cut some plywood to fit:



Quick spray of black:



Added a few reflectors:



Screwed down the boxes:



Ran the wiring:



Cleaned up the wheels for paint:



Painted:



Mounted and wired the lights:



Almost done:







Made up a bracket for the plate today. Pretty crude and simple job:



Fits ok under the tail, which also has a little window in it to illuminate the plate:



Also finished the wiring in the bus and tidied it up a little, everything works fine.



Had the bro make up some clips to hold the caps while he was in this weekend:

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BAM:



Then I gave the Colonel a little outside cleaning and took the trailer for a test run:









The bike rack/ball was a little loose so we did some modifications to that as well to make it a better fit.

Bus looks so much better without all the rust along the bottom in this pic. This is what its all about, loading up the bus and going on an adventure:

 

Looking great! Adventures are a must, one thing we realized is the need for a "log book" on board so we don't forget all the places and people we come across. Hope you can get out for a few days before winter catches us here in Atlantic Canada.

 

That's a great idea for a trailer and a nice 'how to' thread (K+ your way). The 'Colonel' is looking good.

 

Thanks. It is great for camping to keep some of the supplies out of the bus and organized. I still could use more room but like how compact it is. Really dont notice any difference in the bus when towing it. The canoe on top makes a bit of difference in the wind, but when the wind is calm the bus can handle the canoe, bikes, and trailer just fine.

 

Got to enjoy the bus a little over the summer, never have time to use it as much as I want.

My cousin wanted to get some grad photos with the Colonel:



Checked out the local A&W meets a few times:



Got to put the trailer and canoe to good use:







Made it to the Dub Show, a VW show I put off every summer, the colonel never made it last year:



And entered it in a small local show in my home community:



Got a few camping trips in, first to Malady Head in Terra Nova Park:



And next to Kilmory Resort in Swift Current:

 

Nice pics,,a few more of your cousin ?

 

youre an inspiration mate! really a quality thread! read it all and i plan to move over there and place myself smack bang in the middle of you and your brother so you guys can help me with mine! HAHA! keep it coming dude! Youre doing a great job!

 

Where did you order the Colonels replacement tin? We're going to need some here in N.S. for our '73 and was wondering the best place to order it here in the Maritimes.
Really enjoy your thread. Keep you the work, it's all worth while once you set up camp once and get to sit and look over your handy work.

 

Great thread and good idea on the trailer, can you explain how your number/licence plates work? don't you have to show a front one? and why does the trailer have a different one to the van?

 

Well I have not been on here in a long time. I see the site has gone through some updates, nice. Ill have to take a look around again.

Here is some updates on the Colonel from this past summer.

Well the hopes of getting some metal work done over the winter fell through. This summer I did a few little projects on the bus but spent most of my time just driving it. Not enough camping, but lots of kms logged.

Pulling it out of storage, looking sad:



Had the interior stripped hoping for some metal work:





Bought another MK1 Rabbit for parts, and tidied up the front end of the Colonel:





Got my interior back in and started using it: