Westy Continental - sliding door vs sink unit

They break or just disintegrate

The majority of og ones i have seen were on imports.

 

Mine's an early (Feb) '73 Westy Continental and it didn't have one like that. The one it has looks proper old and battered so I'm assuming it was always there.
Interesting thread.

 

Just wondering whether they were LHD only fitment because they'd have been fitted upside-down on ours?

 

Just wondering whether they were LHD only fitment because they'd have been fitted upside-down on ours?

 

Seriously?

 

I've actually got the internal door handle reversed on mine as it's much easier to pull it to open than to push it, as the sink makes it very awkward to get to and you can't grip it properly. Same with closing in from inside. Inverted it is upwards and also easier to reach. The fixing bolts are eccentrically drilled in the handles so I'm guessing VW stock ones were made for both sides. If those other rare handles were a Westfalia item made to address the issue and only made for right hand sliders which would have been the majority of the market then that might explain it.
Just my quirky logic.

 

There is three types of handle,

1. Handle with hole drilled centrally.

2. Handle with hole drilled off centre

3. Handle with extra bit in the top like in an earlier pic in this thread

 

Didn't know that. Was the first type for doors with the separate lock?

My owner's handbook in English only shows a right-hand slider handle off-centre drilled. I'll take a look at the Westy handbook and see if it shows a slider handle in that one.

 

I can't take credit, @lhu1281 posted a link to ratwell's site

 

That would make sense, my old 75 was offset and both my 68 and 72 were centred.

 

Well I should have read all the supporting info and pictures first but looking at some of those, like foxy's, it's clearly a different lock unit to mine. Presumably with a separate outside lock barrel. The handle is also mounted lower down. The offset handle on mine works with the lock latch and inverting mine means I can't now lock from inside. No big deal. Fitting the handle 180' round pointing upwards would make it easier to open on that other type of door though.

 

10.8 Sliding Door Handles:
The handle on the right is used on 68-73 campers because the sink partially blocked the handle. It's NLA. The left handle is also NLA. The middle handle is still available as a reproduction or from VW Brazil. The later handle does not fit the earlier door and vice versa.

 

As before my Westy has one of the left and middle handles in pic one is the lock end the other is other end to close door ...can't remember which way round they go but think the off set one is lock end

 

Well this has started a bigger discussion than I first expected!

I have a centre drilled handle, not one of the fancy ones. The arrangement looks a lot like Foxy's picture above, except my handle just clips the sink unit.

I will go and try spinning it 180 degrees for a quick win!

Cheers all,

Alex

 

I can't spin mine 180 degrees because when my slider opens fully it clips in the the hold open lock thingy. To release from here and shut the door again I need to turn the handle anti clockwise, I could'nt do this if the handle was pointing up as the handle has no room to move in that direction...........

 

Well, it was worth a try!

 

Same for me - should have known there wouldn't be a quick win! I tried 90 degrees too, but then the handle stops the door opening fully. Off to investigate lowering the unit/spice rack/floor to give it eth space it needs!

 

And this is just door handles!