Bertie78...here we go..........again!

Hi all,
well, here we go again. being as we all lost our resto threads in the great tlb crash of 2011 i'm having to start all over again but this time its just going to be a photo story as i cant put in the amount of time into it as i did before.
Here's Bertie, needless to say he was in a sorry state and had been raped and piledged? along the way. we decided that he deserved to be given his dignity back.






that beam looks a bit dodgy......well, not just the beam!!!!!!!
little bruv came along to give a hand! with his grinder!!!!!

 

we made a start but it soon became obvious that we would need some proper help and that the idea of doing it up in the background whilst still keeping and using the T25 Ke-Ke was perhaps a l;ittle ambitious, so I became enemy number one...and put Ke-Ke our fab T25 up for sale to fund Bertie's rise to dignity once again....god bless you Ke-Ke you really were fab..

....i now needed a vehicle to get me bak and for work as Ke-Ke was my daily drive, we got a better price than expected so decided to use half the money on a runaround and half to help Bertie......so we got him a little bug buddy....
...
I know its a new beetle...but its a early new beetle! and it's great.

 

my brother did a bit more , as and when he could , but with a house move and new job on the cards, he couldn't help as much as he would have liked but we were very greatful for what he managed to do, cheers Mark.


after spotting an ad on ebay for restoration work etc in south wales, i sent an email and couldn't beleive how close this chap was....about 20 mins drive away...result... a quick phone call and a meeting was arranged.
trying to keep a long story short....Within ten minutes of meeting the chap all my fears were put to rest ...this guy knew his stuff....and not only talked the talked but walked the walk.....the workmanship was spot on, there was early and late westfalia campers, a squareback , a t25, a beautiful Karmann Ghia a jeans beetle, a devon .. all in various stages.... and also a big old Rolls Royce that he was hand making some panels for.!!!........but ....and heres the BUT.....a nice guy...no bulls*******t, a normal bloke with a family just like you or me, great.
We arranged for him to come and see Bertie so we could make a plan on the best course of action?????????
the day came and he turns up in...you guessed it ... an absolutely mint 1977 Tiaga Green Westfalia Berlin deluxe...........just like mine ....except mine needs a bit of a polish!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so mint it even had the original snake bite kit that was supplied by the dealership when first sold..beautiful.
so while the inlaws and the kids had a good look , I introduced the wife and we took a look at Bertie. what was going to be a quick chat turned in to 3 hours, like i said a family man, that not only put me at ease but impressed the wife as well....no mean feat.

 

It was decided that as soon as a space became available Bertie would picked up and taken on vacation for a little R & R.
a good few weeks went by and the weather was starting to get bad and then out of the blue came the phonecall , there was room at the in, not to start work but at least Bertie would be safe & warm
...as Bertie was loaded on to the recovery truck we both got a good veiw of the front beam.......rotten!!!!!!!!
I got a phonecall about 35 mins later to say that they had arrived safely back at the workshop.....he was now in the dry, good job too, as a few weeks later , this happened ..to us all!!!!!!!!!!!!...
....don't you just love the snow

 

well done for reposting K+

 

Cheers Diddymen,
loved your kids lego models , have you got a cuppa in hand now

 

..so it was decided to start at the front and work our way through to the back!.. as we all thought the beam was rotten witha capital R!! a few calls and we sourced a californian dry rustfree beam from the guys at Swansea FBI vw , and a very nice beam it was too when it arrived the following day..great service.
..so heres the pics of the new beam, freshly painted up


..then all the new bits & bobs started to mount up!!!! rebuilding a front beam is a costly past time!!! :'( but well worth it in the end



..it was around about now that the lad working with there left for another job, the youth of today don't know when they are on to a good thing, anyway I asked if it would be ok to go over to the garage and help as and when I could....and for this I am truely grateful.....to be so involved in the resto, it takes over your life...as you all know.

 

Hi Morkc,
yes things have moved on mate, pics I desparately want to show you but can't until I get this resto thread up to date, v frustrating for everyone that lost their threads, loved the pics of your bus

 

....work, it just gets in the way

 

I can vouch for Steve too (after talking to Bertie78 aka Lee)....top bloke, knows his stuff. He even very kindly dropped me off back home after dropping of my bus so he could fit a new dynamo. Superb service and would highly recommend Steve.

 

Hey Davey boy,
any news on the bus?

 

Yo Moose man,
Yup, Steve has done the job already. New dynamo and oil change and off to pick her up tomorow evening. So pleased you found him mate. Nice unit he's got there.

 

Great stuff, may see you tootleing about soon

 

beam fitted.....,....
.......time to remove whats left of interior to find any undescovered rust.....out comes the R&R bed and fridge/coolbox unit...
...only to find ...you guessed it a rusty old hole : .....
.....meanwhile a before & after of the replacement tailgate..sourced from fbi VW along with a nice straight pair of imported side track covers.......back to bare metal....

 

around about now I think we got the chance to get the roof sorted....can't remember dates......



primer is a wonderful thing.. ...but you can't beat PAINT!!!!!!..and STAINLESS STEEL!!!!

....
a step closer

 

bare metal ..... nice...

 

getting fed up now, cant seem to get up to date quick enough ....so decided to just put up a few pics ( missing out loads of bits and bobs ) to get the post up to where we are at now....





...........................................PAINT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!......................................

 

Bertie...with his new coat on!!!!..
... in the new premises ,