Heres the deal: Im an, uh, older gentleman, sometimes referred to as a geezer, curmudgeon, dinosaur, or other such endearing terms (especially by my wifes family!) And, one day while busily doing not much, I decided I should find an old Volkswagen Westfalia camper and and fix it up . Somehow, the idea got out of hand, and now I have a few of these older buses in various stages of restoration. I say that I restore these vehicles in the mildest of terms. I guess what I do, is to refurbish. Actually, there are several businesses that truly restore the Westfalia, and Ill tell you, those vehicles are pretty damn skippy! But the problem with those Westies is, however, that they typically cost upwards from $40,000 to more than $80,000! Lets face it; the Westfalia is simply not an antique Rolls Royce. There will never be a Westy as the Best In Show at the Pebble Beach Concours dElegance. The Westy is simply a fun and reliable vehicle to drive or take the kids camping. When you restore one by putting $20 grand into a show-car paint job, you kinda defeat the whole idea. So that brings us to Uncle Lons functional restorations. I try to take a nice 30 to 40 year-old Westy which is basically rust-free and restore it in three categories to end up with a really nice vehicle in the price range of $15,000 to $20,000. The categories of restoration that I concentrate on are: 1) Functionally. This is the mechanical repair of engine, transmission, brakes and running gear. Everything must work, correctly and reliably with no leaks, no drips, no bumps or squeals. When you drive one of my restored Westies, it will track nicely when driving down the road, and wont shiver, shake or shimmy when stopping. 2) Safety. This basically involves the inspection and/or replacement of everything rubber. From the tires to the wiper blades and including the various bushings of the drive and steering assemblies, if it is old and failing, its replaced. We inspect the brakes, both pads and drums or rotors, the hoses and lines and holders, and bring them up to safety reliability. 3) Esthetics. Most Westies I find are 30 to 40 years old, and so, of course, is the paint. I usually get a total repaint or at least freshen a good but aging paint job. The modern trend is to paint the lifting fiberglass top to match, but that is not always the best course of action. Ive seen a few Westies with a red body and a fading pink top, and believe me, it aint a pretty sight. So, sometimes we paint the top to match and sometimes we simply refurbish the top if it is otherwise acceptable. Along with the paint, the upholstery usually has seen better days. We usually restore the seats with new rubber foundation with new covers. (If the fabric is worn out, it follows that the foam rubber underneath will be crumbly and caking as well.) We clean everything, polish everything, update anything we can, and in the end, we have a Westy that anyone would be proud to drive, even to the Pebble Beach Concours dElegance! Again, the whole concept behind my functional restorations is to fix the things that need fixing and keep the price within reason. My Westies are not new vehicles and wont be confused with the high-priced restorations. There will be some things which are strictly cosmetic that I dont fix because the cost outweighs the reward. There will be things which I fix that you may never see, but needed to be done. When Im done, there will still be things which will break, wear out or fade, but such is the nature of the beast. Ill do my best, and if thats not good enough, Ill do better - but the price will go up!
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 15:42:39 +0000
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