ozzie lee

The van came from Australia, I imported it into the uk, well the seller did anyway :)

I live in Tyne and wear, UK and the van scene here is practically non-existent, apart from me and my granda, and the girl I sold my bay window to.

Its a 1965 Westfalia, apparently, I found the vin plate today and the number seems to point to 65 rather than 67. It needs a canny bit of work done to it, but since I work in the motor trade (spray painter) I have a few mates who are going to help me out panel beating etc

My dad is on holiday from work at the moment and is rubbing down to bare metal for me

I asked at vwjunkies about finding a rhd van---they said they'd be able to find one for me---a little while later one of their ex-employees emailed me--his name is lain Walters and he now lives in Australia---he told me about 4 splitties he had for sale and I went for the cheapest one:)

we emailed back and forth a bit--he sent photos and I asked questions and then eventually I 'bit the bullet' and asked him for bank details to pay money into his British bank account for the van---then spent 8 weeks worrying whether I'd done the right thing

he uses Kingstown shipping to arrange transport and do the paperwork this end for customs etc-----they kept in touch and gave advice and so did lain---and after 8 weeks or so we did our nightmare trip to Felixstowe to pick her up

if you know anyone who wants to buy a splitty he has approx half a dozen for sale and if they mention my name I'll get some commission from him:)

the van is now safely installed in our garage with about a square inch of space all round! we have bare metalled it and primed and done a bit of welding on the front--done by a mate of mine from the garage I used to work at---so far so good but still a canny bit to do

will keep you posted on progress

I haven't done much lately . The pubs look very inviting this time of year .

Anyway the cab floor is starting to look more solid even if my welding is put to shame by the skills of Tuga (Frankie) & my Dad .

Here are a couple of pictures of the side my dad did, enjoy.

UPDATE 01 Feb 03

Not a lot of "progress" to report, BUT dad has welded in the windscreen repair panels., and I have started filing up the front panel.

We've also discovered that the offside sill is full of CONCRETE (champion). Thats the sill

and here's one of the front of the van

UPDATE 08 Feb 03

We had a bit of mild weather in between the blizzards this weekend so we cut off the old inner & outer sills (after we removed the concrete ) & lined up the new inner we didn't fit the strengthener as vw relics said it wasn't needed all that was left was to fit the outer. Not too bad for a couple of days work and frozen fingers .

UPDATE 22 Feb 03

A little bit of progress this last week we've replaced the o/s sill/arch panel also the battery tray and today the o/s/r corner panel

UPDATE 07 Jun 03

Some pictures of the work I've had done lately. The one of the o.s. shows the new rear corner that my dad fitted last month.

The other 2 pictures show the n.s. long sill and new rear arch (the old one was rust free but had been pushed back in an old accident).

My pal Frankie put these panels on, and the inner sill, and 2 floating plates for the engine lid. all in one day , and all for £40.00 (it's not what you know it's who you know, right)

This is what I have done to the side loading doors, one has had an outer skin on and both have had inner sections removed

I've started skimming these with body filler this week.

Finally a picture of my granddad which shows him and his van and it's cup-picked up at the Scottish VW owners festival in 2002