TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sun May 08, 2011 1:53 pm

A brief aside, thought I would share the latest addition to the collection, a 1966 RHD Westfalia camper. She's original and has just over 100k miles on the clock. She's had an easy life and being Australian she's completely rust free and pretty straight. We test-camped last weekend and everyone loved it - this one has a great feel about her and hopefully we'll have many happy hours driving and camping in her.

Forgot to mention - a weekend of progress on the car: conclusion on the design, and Barry has redone the rear hammerform, welded a new top loop of heavier gauge wire to form the rear lip of the Kamm Tail, as well as host of other things. I'll post pictures later this week. One of the little routines Barry and I have got into is to leave each other working notes on the bench, so we can leave thoughts as well as results. On saturday there was the usual note from Barry, I noted the time as 10pm so thought "blimey that's a long day given he turned up at 10am". Then I noticed the postscript, at 2.30am! Barry couldn't sleep so had come back to sort a couple of things that were bugging him Talk about committed to the cause!

Sun May 08, 2011 2:37 pm

Congrats on getting the camper Steve. That is a rare beast in RHD format.

Check your emails re: next weekend.

Rich.

Mon May 16, 2011 1:40 pm

Thats a sweet looking camper, with the Okrasa Special's racing team
name on the side (whatever that will be) and a trailer with the racer on it,
it will look even better! :wink:

Tue May 17, 2011 11:01 am

I see this topic only now...I have one word: AMAZING!

Ciao!
Marcello

Wed Jun 15, 2011 12:47 am

sorry for it going all quiet on this thread :( . After much teeth nashing we've completely re-done the rear of the car as it looked so rubbish, and man it looks good now! Barry is doing a long stretch to complete the design phase this week and get the wooden bucks on. Here we go, into the next phase of ally rolling. Pics to come later this week :D

Wed Jun 15, 2011 12:57 am

Looking forward to the new pics Steve.

Just one question....are you working out at the gym so you can get in and out of that car. :lol:

Wed Jun 15, 2011 2:52 pm

During the past month or so, I have had the real privilege of spending quite a bit of time in Steve's workshop. (cheers Steve!!).

The whole build process of this car is mind-blowing. How often do you get the chance to complete a VW-based 'special' that was started fifty years ago? Answer: not very often.

Steve's vision for this car is very clear, but getting there requires a lot of thought, experimenting, fabricating, tweaking, re-thinking. Barry the master coachbuilder who is executing the metalwork, is a real gent and a true artisan. His fabrication skills are second to none using traditional techniques which were once ubiquitous, but are now sadly and rarely employed by an ever-diminishing number of craftsmen.

I doff my cap to you both for your vision and craftsmanship and I, for one, cannot wait to see the end result.

Thu Jun 16, 2011 12:42 am

Hey John. I've put in a special order for doors on the Okrasa Special! I tried the Dukes of Hazzard style "jump in through the window" and it was funny to say the least!

Richard, great to be able to help out with the '47 - lovely to see such an old car in great condition. Thanks for the kind words - it's good to get an outside perspective on things sometimes as you sometimes wonder whether you're doing the right thing!

Footnote on my last post - we rolled the car outside, congratulated ourselves over the achievement, patted each other on the back and walked away from the car where we had left it in the road. all looked fine until we stood square on the rear... aaagh! she's got no arse, at least not one anyone would write home about. So we've spent the last few weeks ripping up the whole rear end and re-doing it. We're almost there - pictures of the finished design will be posted later this week.

Cheers,
Steve

Sat Jun 25, 2011 3:45 am

Hi everyone. As promised here's the saga in pictures, outlining how Barry completely rebuilt the rear of the car after we realised it had no arse. It takes a brave man to completely trash the work done and start again, but thankfully Barry took a brave pill before he started :shock:

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]
[/img]

Sat Jun 25, 2011 3:57 am

while the wireform buck was off I took the opportunity to clean 50 years of grime and muck off the rear end to reveal an NOS gearbox (well 48 miles on it) and the associated spaceframe

[img][/img]

Sat Jun 25, 2011 4:06 am

Barry & I debated covering the wireform buck in newspaper and agreed it was just as quick and far more effective for him to roughly roll a bit of ally so we had a better idea of the shape and form of the final design.

Here's the finished article and the signed off design. From here Barry cuts off the wireform buck and bolts the wooden bucks to the chassis, and then we embark on the really satisfying bit of rolling the ally and building the outer skin.

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

[img][/img]

Sat Jun 25, 2011 5:22 am

the car looks really purposeful, have you considered leaving it ally, and polishing it, perhaps painting the roof black?!

Sat Jun 25, 2011 5:42 am

Simon you're a man after my own heart. that's the plan... leave the ally bodywork in the garden over winter to mellow a tad, and paint the roof black, but leave everything else as it is. if anyone can photoshop up a few mock ups of different colour combinations though to see what else is possible that would be great.

Sat Jun 25, 2011 3:41 pm

this is turning out perfect.

Sat Jun 25, 2011 10:00 pm

With the slant of the rear I think I would mount opel gt/manta rear lights in it. The base mounts with the tilt but would leave the face of the lense up and down. They're hella's and come in two tone red and amber, solid amber, solid red or red with a reverse light center depending on what year you use. And they're very close to the same size as the type 3 ghia tail lights.

Sun Jun 26, 2011 4:31 am

oh I like those. Yes I realised the moment I taped the T34 lights on that we would have a problem because of the angle of the Kamm tail. They look lovely and I'll look into them. The likelihood is that Barry will make up mounts that make them vertical and allow a bit more of a coachbuilt look rather than kit car.

Sun Jun 26, 2011 4:42 am

Really loving this! When the car is standing next to the 911, the tail looks a bit short. But when you see the car on it's own, it becomes clear how beautiful the lines are.

I would really like to see more about the body work progress, and the stages in which those panels are made.

Fri Jul 01, 2011 2:36 pm

What a great thread Steve - it's great to see it coming together - Mr Oakley's told me a lot about it but seeing the thread and all the work that's gone into the various stages is truly inspirational - and what a find Barry is!

I hope to get to see it in person one day.

Cheers,

Dave

Mon Jul 04, 2011 6:18 am

Thanks Dave. you're more than welcome to pop over one evening with Richard. Cheers< Steve

Mon Jul 04, 2011 6:30 am

Thanks Steve,

I'm really trying to get my Razor Edge back on the road for the 50th anniversary bash in Germany - I can't think of a better way to run it in than an evening jaunt :) Don't hold your breath though - I've been at it for over 4 years and not finished it yet...

Anyway, back on subject, has there been anymore progress on that body?

Cheers,

Dave