Chug Chug the 1977 Westfalia Helsinki

Everyone is trying to convince me to go for a T25 or a T4 but a late Westy Bay is the only way for me. I want a 2.0L fuel injection model, which is rust free. I would love to chop off the whole front panel but I don't think the insurance will let me.
I got the doors off & tomorrow I'm taking the beam off, the side step & the tow bar. All the back from the B-pillars is dead but the table leg & bracket are OK apart from the plastic knob so I'll get them too.
I don't want to waste anything on it if I can help it.

 

ust sent a letter to the people that helped us out on the night, Yvonne wrote it sent them a bouquet of flowers too.

Dear Cerys, Mark & family,

Hope you are all well. We would all like to say a very big thank to you all for the kindness you showed to us on the night of 19th August when our bus caught fire. Although it was only 11 days ago it feels like it was months ago and yet it is still outside our house reminding us everyday of the horror we went through. Chris’ original thoughts that night and the next few days were that he would get ‘Chug Chug’ back on the road no matter what. All of his mates on the forums that he is on all offered their help and were willing to donate car parts to help us achieve this dream. However since then the insurance company have told us that this is unable to happen due to the carcinogenic chemicals created by the burning materials and also the structure and chassis are all buckled and distorted due to the heat. We have come to the conclusion that we are better off remembering the happy weekends we had away in Chug Chug and that we now need to move on and buy a new project with the insurance money. The girls were very emotional on the night and I thank you very much for taking us to your home away from the fire where they were able to calm down more easily. As you will surely remember they kept on remembering things that were in the van and getting upset all over again. They have been spoilt rotten by everyone. Katy has had the majority of her birthday presents replaced and Amy has ended up with a lot of new things as well. They both have big smiles back on their faces.
We are now looking forward to finding another similar camper when the insurance money comes through and I’m looking forward to going on a spending spree to replace all our clothes! We have told everyone about the kindness you showed to us and how we cannot believe how much you did for us that night, remembering that we were complete strangers to you, and hysterical ones at that! Hopefully we will never see anyone else in the same situation but if we ever do I’d like to think that we would show them the same amount of kindness that you showed us.
When we finally get a new camper we will definitely drive through Newtown to Welshpool again and will drop in to see you and say hello.


Lots of love





Yvonne, Chris, Amy & Katy

 

Right I've had a real nightmare with the insurance co. first of all they tok 11 days to view the bus then they took a further wek to get it on their system, next I had to send in all of my documents, if they had told me I would have done it sooner.
Then they lost my documents, then they found them. I have rung them 64 times in total & they have rung me twice. They have wrangled out of as much as they could & have given me £750 less than the minimum I should have got.
Last Wednesday they told me they would send the cheque out that day, when I rang them again @ 4PM to check they said it would deffinatly go out. It didn't arive on Thursday so I rang again only to be told its awaiting aproval but it would be sent out first class. On Friday it didn't arive so I rang again to be told its awaiting a signature & it would be posted first class that day.
It didn't arive on Saturday but there was no answer at the office.
Monday when it didn't arive I was told it was posted on Friday first class & I'd have to wait a week for it to turn up then if it didn't they would cancel it & post a new one.
I thought bugger that & jumped in the car & drove to the office I left with a cheque & paid it in the bank today should be clear by the weekend. :grin:
The office in Bristol:-

 

Right I've waited 7 weeks for the insurance company to turn up & collect Chug Chug & they didn't bother so I decided to strip what I could, the tow bar has been removed, shot blasted, phospher coated & powder coated (cheers Dean), the doors have found a good home with T2minator, the bumpers with Towraste, the front end & sliding door with Rob & Sid, I've removed the front beam & the engine (its mostly knackered but I can save a few bits. I've also saved the mats & the seat frames.

The pictures tell the rest of the story:-

 

The only part wasted was the floor section, I would have liked to have cut that out but then I would have had nowhere to put all the junk inside.

 

]Just to let you guys know that a picture of Chug Chug is in the next edition of VW Ultra Magazine ot on 30th December
Here is the pic used, it was taken by me in Chug Chugs last show, Volksfest Wales in Margum Park August 2008:-

 

here is a write up on Volksfest Wales 2008 in January 2009's VW Ultra so get out & grab a copy now. Chug Chug is there on the Airdiction stand.



A lot of the pics were taken by me.

 

Chug Chug made it into Volksworld Camper & Bus.




Now go out & buy a copy

 

That was a magnificent vehicle. I am very sorry to see those pictures of it burned up. It will be OK.Thank you, the good news is that now we have a new camper all the way from sunny California all the details are here:-
http://thelatebay.com/index.php?topic=219.0

 

i remember reading that - i think ...

 

To add insult to injury I got this letter off the DEVIL L A:-





My reply insured that they didn't write back & I never paid the fine!

 

& that my friends is the end of the Chug Chug story!
Thanks for reading.