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Abscate 
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 23867
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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 Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2023 4:29 am Post subject: Re: VW Continental: An “exclusively” British Westfalia motor-caravan |
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Thank you for the detailed look at this model, Nigel. Documented forever for future.
Clearly only croissant for breakfast in a Continental, vs eggs, back bacon, beans, tomato, bubble And squeak with toast.
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NASkeet
Samba Member
Joined: April 29, 2006
Posts: 3200
Location: South Benfleet, Essex, UK
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| Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2023 11:19 am Post subject: Re: VW Continental: An “exclusively” British Westfalia motor-caravan |
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| Abscate wrote: |
Thank you for the detailed look at this model, Nigel. Documented forever for future.
Clearly only croissant for breakfast in a Continental, vs eggs, back bacon, beans, tomato, bubble And squeak with toast. |
In my home, "bubble & squeak" equates to frying leftovers of mashed cooked potato and whatever leftovers of cooked green vegetables one had; which might or might not include cabbage.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_and_squeak
You forgot to mention bangers (i.e. sausages) mushrooms, kidneys, liver and fried bread. Eggs would either be soft-boiled with bread & butter "soldiers", fried, scrambled or poached.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldiers_(food)
We only ever had a cooked breakfast, if we were staying in British bed & breakfast accommodation, which typically were farmhouses in rural areas. In these, breakfast was one of the largest meals of the day.
https://www.farmstay.co.uk/uk/bedandbreakfast.aspx?page=1
https://www.bedandbreakfastsearcher.co.uk
In hotels, boarding houses and bed & breakfast accommodation in various parts of the World, I have eaten a wide variety of local breakfast fare, which has included croissant (probably pronounced differently in ENGLISH and American-English!)
In the Westfalia Continental, we typically had a mixture of cereals including muesli, which I commonly blended in a tall, square-section BDH chemical container. I also had small individual Kellog's packets of cereals & Alpen muesli which I obtained from Cranfield.
https://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk/what-happened-to-bdh-containers-t47320.html
I used various sizes of tough, durable, square-section BDH chemical containers (scrounged from a variety of sources) to store all sorts of food products. These square-section plastic honey jars would probably be quite useful.
https://beekeeping.iwoohoo.com.au/plastic-jars/pla...-and-lids/
https://beekeeping.iwoohoo.com.au/plastic-jars/car...ellow-lid/
When I was a postgraduate student at Cranfield Institute of Technology (formerly the WW2, RAF Cranfield airbase) during the early-1980s, we could have generous helpings of a variety of things for breakfast, including a traditional English cooked breakfast, porridge and individual portions of Kellog's cereals in separate boxes / packets, plus individual portions of Alpen muesli in paper sachets. There was an unlimited supply of tea & coffee, plus toast, marmalade & jam.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranfield_Airport
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cranfield_University#Cranfield_Institute_of_Technology_(1969–1993)
Lunch and dinner at Cranfield were also substantial meals (soup, main course & dessert), which would explain why I as a 5 feet 10½ inches tall young adult aged 23~24, increased in weight from 8½ stone to 9 stone (i.e. 119 pounds to 126 pound).
Hall of residence accommodation (single-occupant study-bedroom) and 3 meals per day, for 7 days per week, cost just £23 per week during the 1979~80 academic year, and £25 per week during the 1980~81 academic year; owing to the high economic inflation rate.
My Ceylonese (i.e. Sri Lankan) friend & fellow student didn't eat breakfast cereal, so he gave me all of his entitlement. A large proportion of these I stockpiled for our motor-caravanning holidays, which I squirreled away in every small nook & cranny in the motor-caravan.
In mainland Europe, breakfast cereals were very much more expensive than in Great Britain. I recall in 1983, browsing the breakfast cereals in a supermarket in Vienna (Wien in German), Austria, where a large packet of Kellog's cornflakes were about THREE times the price that they would have been at home in England!
On one occasion in 1987, when we went shopping for our daily fresh food provisions in eastern Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia), in the Soviet Bloc behind the "Iron Curtain", not far from the Ukrainian border, we had parked the Westfalia Continental in the town square. When we returned from our sortie, we found our vehicle surrounded by nearly 20 locals peering through the windows, pointing to various things inside and exclaiming enthusiastically in Czech.
In addition to boiling water for tea (in a proper aluminium teapot with a traditional knitted woolen tea cosy), coffee or cocoa, the Cramer two-burner cooking stove was used to re-heat pre-cooked stews or casseroles that my mother had frozen at home prior to departure and placed in the insulated food cabinet (i.e. icebox in USA parlance!?!).
https://www.bing.com/shop?q=tea+cosy+knitting+patt...1002360A0D
She also cooked freeze-dried ready meals from the Vesta range (reputed to still be available) plus various dehydrated vegetables and soups in commercial catering packs. This facilitated long-term storage and minimised bulk and weight.
https://harvestright.com/blog/2017/hearty-winter-s...f%20stews.
https://basecampfood.com/collections/dehydrated-me...Expedition
https://nostalgiacentral.com/pop-culture/food-drink/vesta-curries-2/
https://www.britishcornershop.co.uk/vesta#
ttps://retro-vixen.com/a-look-back-at-the-vesta-curry/
https://www.doyouremember.co.uk/memory/vesta-curries
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/422494008774609205/
https://www.bing.com/shop?q=vesta+meals&FORM=S...60C9C6E83C
_________________
Regards.
Nigel A. Skeet
Independent tutor (semi-retired) of mathematics, physics, technology & engineering for secondary, tertiary, further & higher education.
Much modified, RHD 1973 VW "1600" Type 2 Westfalia Continental campervan, with the World's only decent, cross-over-arm, SWF pantograph rear-window wiper
Onetime member, plus former Technical Editor & Editor of Transporter Talk magazine
Volkswagen Type 2 Owners' Club (Great Britain)
https://vwt2oc.co.uk
Last edited by NASkeet on Thu Sep 28, 2023 12:45 pm; edited 5 times in total |
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NASkeet
Samba Member
Joined: April 29, 2006
Posts: 3200
Location: South Benfleet, Essex, UK
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| Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2023 1:41 pm Post subject: Re: VW Continental: An “exclusively” British Westfalia motor-caravan |
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| Jalabert wrote: |
Wow Nigel, thanks for the exhaustive reference. I have this layout in my '73, although I have to admit to having long ago got rid of the coolbox / sink unit and stripped out the cooker, neither of which I regret - the coolbox / easicool was functionally useless, and I loathe cooking in the bus...
Other than that, it's a great layout. As you say, the seating around the table can be pretty snug.
Cheers! |
I occasionally toy with the idea of shipping myself and my unique Westfalia Continental to New Zealand at sometime in the future, on a one-year working-holiday visa.
The University of Otago (New Zealand's oldest university, founded in 1869 by scotsman Thomas Burns) in Dunedin, has research interests related to my past studies and research experience, so I have the crazy idea of seeking a sabbatical there as something like a research cum teaching assistant in mathematics, physics, technology or engineering.
https://www.otago.ac.nz
Back in the late-1980s, I provided some consultancy pertaining to building energy conservation, to BRANZ - the Building Research Association of New Zealand.
https://www.branz.co.nz/about/
https://www.branz.co.nz/about/our-history/
My father emigrated to New Zealand in the late-1940s or early-1950s, working as a draftsman for the Post Office in Wellington, plus a few other unrelated jobs elsewhere, but he returned to England after only two years, where he later met and married my mother in November 1953 and commenced his studies as a university medical student at the age of 27 in October 1956. His kiwi friend perished in the 1953 Christmas Eve railway disaster.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/keyword/tangiwai
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangiwai_disaster
Sometime in the early-1970s, when I was a teenager, he enquired about us moving to Ashburton on the Canterbury Plane of South Island, but having been used to an ultra-compact urban medical practice of less than 3 miles x 5 miles in area, he found the prospect of a large urban & rural practice, covering hundreds or even thousands of square miles, involving at least half a day to visit one rural patient, to be too daunting.
_________________
Regards.
Nigel A. Skeet
Independent tutor (semi-retired) of mathematics, physics, technology & engineering for secondary, tertiary, further & higher education.
Much modified, RHD 1973 VW "1600" Type 2 Westfalia Continental campervan, with the World's only decent, cross-over-arm, SWF pantograph rear-window wiper
Onetime member, plus former Technical Editor & Editor of Transporter Talk magazine
Volkswagen Type 2 Owners' Club (Great Britain)
https://vwt2oc.co.uk |
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NASkeet
Samba Member
Joined: April 29, 2006
Posts: 3200
Location: South Benfleet, Essex, UK
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| Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2025 12:39 pm Post subject: Re: VW Continental: An “exclusively” British Westfalia motor-caravan |
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| Jalabert wrote: |
Wow Nigel, thanks for the exhaustive reference. I have this layout in my '73, although I have to admit to having long ago got rid of the coolbox / sink unit and stripped out the cooker, neither of which I regret - the coolbox / easicool was functionally useless, and I loathe cooking in the bus...
Other than that, it's a great layout. As you say, the seating around the table can be pretty snug.
Cheers! |
Is your Westfalia Continental fitted with the 1•6 litre VW Type 1 or 1•7 litre VW Type 4 style air-cooled engine, or something completely different?
From what I understand of New Zealand regulations, one is extremely limited with regard to DIY modifications and/or upgrades; many of which need to be inspected, approved & documented by a bonefide, qualified, registered person; including the permanent fixture of an identification plate, which would be referenced in same way on the six-monthly WoF - Warrant of Fitness roadworthiness-inspection certificate.
For the past several years, I have been trying to find out whether the Vauxhall Chevette & Astra Mk.1 (i.e. Opel Kadett C & D) estate-cars were sold in New Zealand!?! If so, they are potential donors of the cross-over-arm, pantograph rear-window wiper system, which when slightly modified are ideally suited to the 1968~79 VW Type 2.
These Vauxhall / Opel cars would be equivalent to the Holden / Isuzu Gemini Mk.1 & Mk.2 wagons, but I don't know whether these Australian & Japanese models were ever equipped with a rear-window wiper!?!
_________________
Regards.
Nigel A. Skeet
Independent tutor (semi-retired) of mathematics, physics, technology & engineering for secondary, tertiary, further & higher education.
Much modified, RHD 1973 VW "1600" Type 2 Westfalia Continental campervan, with the World's only decent, cross-over-arm, SWF pantograph rear-window wiper
Onetime member, plus former Technical Editor & Editor of Transporter Talk magazine
Volkswagen Type 2 Owners' Club (Great Britain)
https://vwt2oc.co.uk |
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NASkeet
Samba Member
Joined: April 29, 2006
Posts: 3200
Location: South Benfleet, Essex, UK
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| Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2025 10:09 am Post subject: Re: VW Continental: An “exclusively” British Westfalia motor-caravan |
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Whilst recently trawling the Internet in a bid to find out more about VW Westfalia Continental hand-operated, manual freshwater pumps, I stumbled upon the following item on British E-bay; which is a second-hand stainless-steel sink together with what is said to be a Whale pump:
VW volkswagen bay T2 camper van westfalia continental sink and whale pump.| £52•72 or Best Offer
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/135948982785?_skw=westf...R6jCstfvZQ
The following links show the sink right-side up, right-side up with unfitted water-pump (said to be a Whale pump!?!) & upside down showing the drain-hole connection:
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/etMAAOSwO-xoRY1F/s-l1600.webp
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/LC8AAOSwRBNoRY1h/s-l960.webp
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/L0IAAOSwL-JoRY2G/s-l1600.webp
Sadly these are in web-page format, which I was unable to copy and upload into The Samba Gallery. The hole in the sink-surround for the original factory-fitted water pump, seems to be too large for the accompanying pump shown herewith.
I also stumbled upon this picture of a hand-operated, reciprocating pump, which apart from its different to & fro lever with knob, appears very similar in form to that which was factory-fitted to my family's 1973 VW 1600 Type 2 Westfalia Continental motor-caravan.
Hand-operated water pump similar to that which was originally factory-fitted to the VW Westfalia Continental
Everett Barnes recently uploaded into The Samba Literature Archive, scans of the following 1985 & 1989 Whale brochures from Munster Simms Engineering, in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, that I scanned and sent to him.
1985 Munster Simms Engineering, Whale Bilge & Galley Pumps brochure
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/lit/1985_munster_simms_pumps.php
1989 Munster Simms Engineering, Whale Water Systems brochure
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/lit/1989_whale_water_system.php
These feature electric pumps, hand-operated & foot-operated manual pumps, taps, faucets, shower-units, filters, non-return valves, micro-switches & service / overhaul kits etc, for use in boats, RVs - recreation vehicles, campervans, motor-homes, motor-caravans, trailer-caravans & trailer-tents, which would have been widely used in the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland.
These days, there seems to be a reduced variety of hand-operated & foot-operated manual pumps available, as modern motor-caravans become increasingly sophisticated, with ever more home comforts.
In the 1960s & 1970s, it was unusual if not unknown to have an electrically-operated freshwater pump, yet alone a piped hot-water supply, especially in a motor-caravan based upon a modest-sized base vehicle such as the 1968~79 VW Type 2.
The type of hand-operated or foot-operated manual pumps that would typically have been fitted, were the Whale "Flipper" Pump, Whale "V" Pump, Whale "Angled" Pump and the Whale "Tiptoe" Pump.
_________________
Regards.
Nigel A. Skeet
Independent tutor (semi-retired) of mathematics, physics, technology & engineering for secondary, tertiary, further & higher education.
Much modified, RHD 1973 VW "1600" Type 2 Westfalia Continental campervan, with the World's only decent, cross-over-arm, SWF pantograph rear-window wiper
Onetime member, plus former Technical Editor & Editor of Transporter Talk magazine
Volkswagen Type 2 Owners' Club (Great Britain)
https://vwt2oc.co.uk |
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NASkeet
Samba Member
Joined: April 29, 2006
Posts: 3200
Location: South Benfleet, Essex, UK
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| Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2025 11:01 am Post subject: Re: VW Continental: An “exclusively” British Westfalia motor-caravan |
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Steve Rowe’s Restored & “Upgraded” 1973 VW 1600 Type 2 Westfalia Continental
On Pages 140~144 of Chapter 11 – Self-build projects – Case histories, of the following book published in 1998, there is a brief review of the 1998 renovation & upgrading of a 1973 VW Type 2 Westfalia Continental, bought by Steve Rowe, (a motoring journalist, with Motor Caravan Magazine, published by Link House Publications, in Croydon, England), which was sourced from Barry Shotton of BPS Campers, in Hindhead, Surrey, England, whose company also undertook the renovation, plus possibly some or all of the upgrades.
https://www.gocaravanning.com/magazines/motorcaravan.html
John Wickersham, “The Motorcaravan Manual”, Haynes Publishing, 1998, ISBN 1-85960-X.
The renovation and upgrades, which included the retro-fitment of 240V 50Hz AC electrical hook-up and a Trumatic E-Series, LPG-fired warm-air heating system (i.e. using butane from the standard pair of Camping Gaz 907 cylinders, installed by Westfalia to serve the cooking-stove), were also featured in various issues of the monthly Motor Caravan Magazine, from circa April 1998 to January 1999.
The Trumatic heating system was installed inside the storage locker under the rear bench-seat cum double-bed. Whilst installation there, might be relatively simple & convenient, the heater-unit, pipes & hoses take up a significant amount of space in a vehicle with limited storage space, which might otherwise have been used for the storage of bedding, clothing or other items. My preference would be for an under-floor, combined space-heating & water-heating system, in otherwise unusable space.
Steve Rowe, “VW Westfalia Rebuild – Part three: paint spraying & refit”, Project Caravan, Practical Motor Caravan, Motor Caravan Magazine, June 1998, Pages 118~121. (Continuation of the VW Westfalia Continental restoration)
Steve Rowe, “VW Westfalia Rebuild – Part four: the complete van”, Project Caravan, Practical Motor Caravan, Motor Caravan Magazine, July 1998, Pages 100~104. (Completion of the VW Westfalia Continental restoration)
Parts one & two of the VW Westfalia Rebuild” probably featured in the April & May 1998 Issues of the Motor Caravan Magazine, but I don’t have copies of these!
Steve Rowe, “Mains Installation”, Project Caravan, Practical Motor Caravan, Motor Caravan Magazine, August 1998, Pages 122~126. (installing a “Power Part” 240V AC mains accessory electrical system in a VW Westfalia Continental)
Steve Rowe, “Low-voltage Installation”, Project Caravan, Practical Motor Caravan, Motor Caravan Magazine, September 1998, Pages 102~104. (installing a "Plug-In-Systems" 12V accessory system & auxiliary leisure battery in a VW Westfalia Continental)
Steve Rowe, “Truma Heater Installation”, Project Caravan, Practical Motor Caravan, Motor Caravan Magazine, October 1998, Pages 100~102. (installing a Truma E2400 blown-air heater in a VW Westfalia Continental)
Steve Rowe, “Finding a fridge”, Project Caravan, Practical Motor Caravan, Motor Caravan Magazine, December 1998, Pages 88~90. (choosing an Electrolux portable refrigerator for a VW Westfalia Continental)
Steve Rowe, “At your convenience”, Project Caravan, Practical Motor Caravan, Motor Caravan Magazine, January 1999, Pages 90~92. (choosing a Porti-Potti portable chemical toilet for a VW Westfalia Continental)
I cannot recall whether Steve Rowe’s VW Westfalia Continental project featured in the November 1998 Issue of the Motor Caravan Magazine!?! I either refrained from buying this month’s issue from the newsagent because it wasn’t featured in the magazine or the newsagent didn’t have any remaining copies for sale!
Another potentially interesting article related to this series, compared Steve Rowe's upgraded 1973 VW 1600 Type 2 (T2b) Westfalia Continental with a then modern Devon motor-caravan conversion, on a new Brazilian-built, 1998 VW 1600 Type 2 (T2c) with familiar VW 1600 Type 2 style air-cooled engine, with factory-fitted Bosch Digifant electronic fuel-injection (could be re-chipped to take advantage of the higher-octane petrol here) & electronic ignition (as factory-fitted to late-model, Mexican-built VW Type 1 Beetle cars) and bespoke exhaust system with catalytic converter, but lacking exhaust heat exchangers, for passenger-cabin heating and windscreen demisting & defrosting.
Gary Martin & Steve Rowe, “Back To The Future: 1998 Devon vs 1973 Westfalia”, Twin Test, Practical Motor Caravan, Motor Caravan Magazine, September 1998, Pages 42~46 & 48.
Useful Addresses:
BPS Campers, Portsmouth Road, Bramshott Chase, Hindhead, Surrey, GU26 6DE, England
Tel. +44 (0) 1428 – 608 100
Truma UK, Truma House, Rolleston Trading Estate, Hawkins Lane, Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, DE14 1PT, England.
Tel. +44 (0) 1283 – 511 883
_________________
Regards.
Nigel A. Skeet
Independent tutor (semi-retired) of mathematics, physics, technology & engineering for secondary, tertiary, further & higher education.
Much modified, RHD 1973 VW "1600" Type 2 Westfalia Continental campervan, with the World's only decent, cross-over-arm, SWF pantograph rear-window wiper
Onetime member, plus former Technical Editor & Editor of Transporter Talk magazine
Volkswagen Type 2 Owners' Club (Great Britain)
https://vwt2oc.co.uk |
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