Geraldine our vw camper in all her glory

Geraldine VW Camper having paint put on.............

 Hi all,
Well the big day is here..... Geraldine is having her long awaited paint and lower body wrap !!!!! i am keeping secrete to what graphics are going on the lower section till shes all done...bellow are photos showing the strip down and preparation process...........ENJOY.....

Hear she is as we have all got used to seeing her............all the long hard work over the last year or two in cutting , replacing panel's and welding under side is now paying off............

The last time you will see her like this.......loll

We started by removing the beloved roof rack and all out side trim parts.

Head lights out , wires taped up and wipers removed with new ones ready to go on............

With the pop top canvas removed the hard job began...there was about 30-40 screws all very hard to remove....3 hours later top all of...................

Here we are with the help of Matt.........he is the bud that made this all happen.....cheers Matt

Parts removed............and parts to be used....primer / paint / and yes filler......

You can see the og paint..........red..... when we got Geraldine she was hand painted red............many hours if not weeks of scraping and sanding to get rid of this..........

This is the lower part of the pop top ready for a good clean and some TLC.

As you can see most of the grey primer has come of  ready for a barrier coat of paint then high build primmer.

Sand...filler....sand.....filler.....many more hours....................

The top ready for paint.........YYYAAAAEEEE

masked and lets get some paint on THE BIG DAY...................

Primed then flatted back then primed again...............

And there you have it.........well the top any way........more to follow.,

Look a great shine........me smiling from ear to ear...............keep looking for more photos

colin.

repair of rear window suround vw bay window camper

Hello to all you band of followers..........sorry not updated you with the progress of our 1973 camper van GERALDINE.......there are tons of photos to come ,bellow are some photos i  have taken of the rear window repair....ass this was originally a panel van with the windows cut out by the Devon conversion company way back when she was new. They never protected the cut edges ....so this allowed the rusticals to set in,so this is were i step in......hope you like.

Hear you can see a close up of the rust..................it had a half hearted attempt to be rust treated at some time in the past.

A   wide angle view.......were do i start...loll cutting the old window rubber away to allow the glass to be removed safely.

As you can see all rusted away.......HELP.......

I removed all the lose metal and rust, then treated the remaining metal with rust treatment. Then i used aluminum mesh to re make the shape around the edges.

This is a closer shot showing the mesh with the fiba glass put on and ready to be sanded back......This is a very good repair....as fiba glass never rusts and is very strong.......

A wide angle again showing the repair well under way.........about two hours so far.............

Now it starts to look like a window surround again.... only a very small amount of filler used just to smooth it all in.

hear ready for sanding.......let the fun begin.....

with moor photos to follow............keep looking......

cheers colin

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.