Rebuilding my dad's Westfalia Westy VW Camper
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Rebuilding my dad's Westfalia Westy VW Camper



Uploaded by: tuutuutango
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When my father was 82 (Summer 2001) unbeknownst to me, he went out and bought a 1983 VW Westfalia Camper. This van recently had an engine overhaul, but was making a knocking noise. So, I brought the van to my farm, parked it in the barn and we pulled the engine out to investigate. Minor problem... all I had to do was replace a hydraulic lifter.
I can't count how many VW engines my dad pulled in our garage back in El Paso.
Man did I learn about engines when I was a kid, but my dad remained the mechanic in the family. My father retired flying jets all over the world and he was also a licensed "A &P" mechanic. When I was a sophomore in high school, I got a used 1965 Mustang and he rebuilt the engine in our garage at home. He would go on to rebuilding two airplane engines in later years... You should have seen the projects in between! Boats, trucks, dune buggies, home-made motor cycles... It was "pay-back time" and I decided to rebuild my 80 year-old father's NASTY Westfalia Camper.
After pulling the engine, I tackled the interior. The insides were so nasty, no way I was going to let my old-man ride around or go camping in an ugly VW Westy, so I gutted the interior, fixed all the dents, re-primed the van and put a new paint job on it and installed a new tent.
Fortunately, this van spent it's life in Southern New Mexico and West Texas, a dry region of the USA and it didn't have any rust, not a single speck. It did have dozens of small dents that I had to fix.
I also installed new seat covers, new carpet and new chrome front and rear bumpers and I pulled the roof off to install a new canvas tent. What a project this was! It took me 2 months, but my 7 dogs seemed to enjoy watching.
A little more than two months later, my dad had a Westy Camper with a custom paint job that looked like it just came out of the showroom... He only drove it for a short time and was diagnosed with colon cancer.
The Westy was sold to a nice Airman at nearby Dyess Air Force Base, and I still see it running around town, 7 years after my rebuild.
I only hope when I am 82 years old, I'll have half the energy, gumption and drive my dad did... People from this age group indeed are what Tom Brokaw called, "The Greatest Generation" and my father also epitomized the book, "A Father Is For Spending Time With."


Tags for this video: Bus Camper repair VW Westy

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can i buy it? ( 1 year ago by emoneytrain)
can i buy it?
great job fixing it ... ( 1 year ago by flir67)
great job fixing it up, got a friend who has a 82 and he fixed his up too.
It was fairly easy ... ( 1 year ago by tuutuutango)
It was fairly easy except for the new tent. Luckily, I have a hoist in my barn and was able to lift the roof mechanism on and off without too much trouble.
It was hotter than blue-blazes here in Texas when the real work started.
Thanks for your comment.
T25's rock ( 1 year ago by orei007)
T25's rock
good job so far ... ( 1 year ago by emforty2)
good job so far your good man..did your dad take it out camping yet?
Never had a chance ... ( 1 year ago by tuutuutango)
Never had a chance to go camping. My father came down with colon cancer soon after I revamped his Westy and he passed away shortly after his illness. See "Father Aviator Memorial Video 2" I made and you see what a great father I had. Thanks for your comment.
Sorry to hear your ... ( 1 year ago by BillyJackets)
Sorry to hear your dad passed , I hope you enjoyed working together on it.
My dad hand-built ... ( 1 year ago by tuutuutango)
My dad hand-built many of my toys when I was a kid, motorcycles, go-carts, dune buggies... This van was "pay-back" and what a joy it was to be in my barn doing this for him. You simply can't imagine the many hundreds if not thousands of weekends my dad and I spent in our garage building stuff. Look at my other videos and you'll see an airplane I built when I was about 40. If not for my dad, I would have never finished that project and he was 70ish at the time.
Thanks for your comment.
so...you had ... ( 10 months ago by rukatas)
so...you had restored a magnific van withaut take out the glasses??? the wourst rusty place!! that restoration is so god as my english!! my van is bog syncro at europe ..but very nice indid ! hugs
This Westy had no ... ( 10 months ago by tuutuutango)
This Westy had no rust. It spent it's life in the dry regions of West Texas and Southern New Mexico. Thanks for your comments.
Excellent job, very ... ( 10 months ago by Chrisradioman)
Excellent job, very sad that your dad passed away, nice to have a bit of video memory.
tuutuutango, which ... ( 8 months ago by weipeiwu2000)
tuutuutango, which one in the video was you? The one with the camera?
The one behind the ... ( 8 months ago by tuutuutango)
The one behind the camera. My dad was scraping the bondo with a knife.
sorry to hear about ... ( 6 months ago by GameStrata)
sorry to hear about your father. i'm surprised you haven't re-purchased the westy from the people who bought it from you!
Props to you for ... ( 2 weeks ago by prflyer68)
Props to you for spending time with your father as much as you did!
we should all do this, and I gurantee you the world would be a better place



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