OUR BUS THE STORY SO FAR.........GERILDINE....

Hello to you all................this is our camper called GERALDINE .......she was born in 1973,

we got her in January 2009 on a cold wet evening we first saw her by torch light.....in a village called St Just in Cornwall. we went back the next day ...done a deal and she was ours.....looking very sad and un loved,the story starts on the way home....she decided to take a brake from running about 8 times...( i lost count ) the worst place was on a main junction of a roundabout.

was this the beginning of things to come i asked my self........only time would tell. well below are various pictures showing our van going through her changes.....we love her and give it some more time and she will be covered in new paint and looking better than the day she was born......

Enjoy the pics and please leave us a message of support as we need it at times....keep dubbing.....Colin & Cherie.

               The night time shot......night vision goggles.........no just a torch and a flash camera.......

                          The day we picked her up.........looks can be deceiving............ She had no name yet.

                             The interior striped out........oil and water stains......bring on the mop and bucket......

                       The well worn drivers seat, a bit hard on the butt.......and some torn jeans.........

            The interior in bits.....looks savable.......its in our basement undergoing a re make and re pair.....


                       The well worn look....or as some one said its knack ed......well i love a challenge.



           This is a picture of her from the good side....as we know a lady always like to show her good side.....

                        At the garage be for we set of home.....tools ready and R.A.C on stand by.

Home at last......well done Geraldine.....shame you could not see the burning wiring loom.....as i took this picture...saved her from a burnt out hulk...with only minutes to spare.

Yes snow in Cornwall.......i have started re wiring her as you may make out...no head lights.....but no snow man on the roof.....next time.

               A close view of the dash area....rust rust....and dirt......mmmmmmmm were do i start.

Look new seats ,well the old ones re cover by me.....i know a bit wacky........a sign of things to come ??????. the green is going to be the lower colour. with cream top........we like it....some may not but hay that's what makes her ours........... look at our webb site : www.autotrimvw.com

A head lining shot....with the dash new and shinning.......all new wiring and new leather fur grip steering wheel.......

                             The cab area looking better than new....with a few cab trinkets.

Engine out and getting her ready for a engine bay make over......lick of paint and a good clean......if only.....I striped the engine back replaced the old worn out clutch,new thrust bearing, new clutch cable,new accelerator cable, new drive shafts,new fan with all new tin wear,rebuilt 34 Pict carb. electronic ignition,new distributor cap and leads,a brand new alternator .....how much.....and it goes on......

Painted and looking ready for the engine to go back in...oops almost forgot....new drive shafts


There she is Geraldine's new re built engine....looking sort of shiny......the chrome bits will follow some day.......

Well a big day.......having the front lowered.......

the guys  done a great job at a great price........highly recommend them to any one from a service to a complete re build.........have a look at there sight. www.vwvillage.com

     The finished look........me very happy,front lowered...the back has yet to be done...the next job....

The wonders of a full height ramp, the lads at doing what they love and getting payed for it......cool......a action shot showing front lowering work.

Ops lowered and low ...forgot some one under the van !!!!!!!!!!!
all OK.
Could not resist the picture.

The front end being worked on ready for some primer, the front end had a horrid wheel bracket which dented the front.

                  As if by magic all filled and sanded..............well 6 hours of filling and sanding.......

                                   That's better......a coat of grey primer, makes her look great......

Well i think shes looking so much better.....a long way to go still but i will keep at it........roll on the warmer weather .

                                     All done and she looks clean and cool.....now for the rest....

Well hear we go again...rust, rust, rust....the fun of owning a vw bus........
as you can see it had a real bad repair panel over the top of this !!!!!!!

well lets get stuck in......removal of panel and cutting away all the rust.......goggles and gloves a must as i learnt ,I've got a cut on my thumb........

Whats left of the lower section.......now the rebuild begins...........

Keep looking and i will keep up dating this page for all of you........

Hear you can see what a mess..... in the past someone had done a bodged patch over.......so the rust was there but hidden by more metal........

So lets start cutting out........mmmmm grinder and new metal please.............

As if by magic ..... all done...opps sorry forgot to take pics..............so into the job....but with all the rust cut out and all new panels made and welded in........better than new............I hope you liked so far there will be more to follow.cheers Colin.