'73 Westy 'Lucy'

Bought our first Late Bay.. started with a '64 Split which we have been re-storing for the last 3 years and still never driven lol then bought a '70 Californian Westy Weekender which we sold in Jan.. family missed it so badly we bought another Bay yesterday. Set out to buy a RHD Westy and ended up with one

Bought the Westy from a lovely couple in their 60's in Suffolk who owned it 8 years, they had taken it all over the UK and as far as Rome! they are going to send me the pictures.. can't wait!

Lucy came with extensive service history as far back as '78. Was originally Pastel White over Sumatra Green from the factory, then was painted yellow under white and finally the colour it is now.

The interior was originally the Westfalia Continental walk through with full width rock and rock bed, stool, ice box unit with sink above, and tall wardrobe with drop down cooker and middle side seat with folding table on the rotating pole.

It has now been modified.. the veneer of the whole original interior has been painted white, the ice box/sink unit was removed (he pulled it out of the garage and gave it to me) and replaced with a interesting home made storage cupboard. The cooker/wardrobe unit was cut in half! and had a gas cooker fitted to the top and a recently installed Dometic threeway fridge. The headbanger has been hand painted with pictures of the previous owners family members in different bay/split campers. All the cloth and seats have been covered and early signs show the original gold cloth is underneath going to removed these later to see what they are like. 240v hook up was installed at some point along with plug sockets, a battery monitor and leisure battery.

Pics

 

Very nice

 

Looks like they enjoyed the off cuts sales in Dunelm, it's like the inside of a laundry bin



Nice bus, shame the interior was messed with but it's 40 after all. At least you have the conti bed, most comfortable bed ever made IMO

 

Nice bus -

tbh if only Westfalia had thought to do a light melamine veneer their interiors would be more appealing IMHO, as you can see from yours despite being hand painted the inside is bright and airy not the usual westy coffin feel

 

That's exactly why the PO did it, the lady said it was too dark. My old Westy had the light wood veneer and I loved that.

I agree with joker, the conti bed's are the most comfortable beds going! in fact it was one of the main reasons for wanting a Westy again.. this time I have a full size bed and no Wardrobe to contend with..

The roof bed came separately as it had been removed as they didn't use it. Having two young kids we needed it so I installed it again on my lunch break.. (still got to attach the folding end) The two long pads are the for the sides of the bed or either end? make more sense on the side to me.




To combat condensation the PO had installed bubble wrap to the roof with duck tape and hide it with material and mini wooden battens.. turns out the roof won't shut properly with the bed and the battens in place so I removed it all now it shuts.

First question for you guys.. there are no hold don't straps bar a belt which I suspect isn't original lol.. there are black rubber toggles which with hold the bed up (at a stretch) but they have nothing to attach to the brackets on the roof to hold it down. looking at my set up are these the toggles I need to hold the roof down x3 ?

 

They are the toggles you need, they hold the roof down or the bed up (at a stretch)
The bus looks in great condition, if it was me I,d return the interior to stock (maybe I just like the coffin feel) my bus is black after all maybe I have a hidden goth inside trying to get out

 

The thin cushions are shaped to the roof. AFAIK there should be just one for the head end and among other things it stops your hair getting caught in the works if you have long hair.

 

Two things.. does anyone have a pic of the stock flooring. Can someone also tell me when the curtains switched from plaid to plane curtains?

 

Had a good think about it now and I've decided I'm going to move her on as I've had a change of heart and want something a little more original.. instead of spending loads on this van I might as well up my budget and get a better one in the first place before I get sentimental about it as I have no attachment to her yet.

I really love original Westy's and whilst there is nothing wrong with this van its not as good as the very original Westy I sold earlier this year.. probably never be happy unless I got my old van back.. oh well