With thanks to...
and apple-green floor tiles whilst
TrimJim of Sutton in Ashfield made
new door cards and reupholstered
the seats, Graham having secured
all the necessary items on a pallet
and despatching the necessary 550
miles or so south. With templates
for the rock and roll bed produced
that too disappeared on a pallet,
only to return some six weeks
later. TrimJim had previously
sent swatches and the couple had
selected the shades they wanted,
Angela emphasising that there
should be more green than black.
Graham’s mate Arab and the late
Willie Henderson, a coachbuilder
by trade, made and fitted the roof,
cab and side linings, while proper
heating was added after spending a
weekend at a freezing Volksfling.
Red 9 Design front suspension
with Spax coilovers accounts for
a stance lowered by three inches.
Finally, out went that underpowered
1600 engine to be replaced by
something that can keep up with
modern day traffic. Here’s the spec:
1776cc with twin Webers, Engle
110 cams and 043 heads, lightened
and balanced crank and flywheel,
full-flow oil system, remote oil filter
and initially an oil cooler, later taken
off, as the engine was running tooPlenty of room
for a good night’s
sleep
The sliding side
door was cut and
repaired, the rear
hatch replaced
Can you tell that
the front has been
lowered by some
three inches?
TrimJim: http://www.vwinterior.co.uk;
Vanwurks http://www.vanwurks.co.uk;
James ‘Arab’ Mackay, Ormlie Garage, Willie
Henderson (deceased), Allan Gunn Joinery,
Helen Gunn (mum) and wife Angela,
MadMatz, Megabug, Just Kampers.cold. The way the engine was built
meant that it could be brought up to
2.1, but Graham thinks 1776cc offers
sufficient power and, of course, it
keeps it reliable. The temperature
gauge fitted to monitor what’s going
on has only risen once.
Since the project was completed,
‘Celia’ has been to Holland, calling
at Bug Jam on her way home, toured
five different Scottish islands,
journeyed to Santa Pod and VW
Action, ambled down to Volksfling,
headed off to Alnwick and made an
appearance at The Field of Dreams
show in York. Marathon Van!He tackled a section at a time rather
than experience the soullessness of a
Bus stripped almost to nothinghttp://www.volkswagencamper.co.uk1971 EX DANBURY^25