Rebuilding my dad’s Westfalia Westy VW Camper
This is a useful video to show the basics of restoring a VW t25 camper. It’s also a nice story of son helping father, VW campers do seem to bring out the best in people!
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 VW 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 camper, 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 VW camper 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 VW 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.”
Duration : 0:3:38
You are welcome and …
on January 20th, 2009 at 6:40 amYou are welcome and I think the best dads are ones who epitomize the book, “A Dad Is For Spending Time With.” I hope you and your son have many great adventures in the garage and in the Westy.
tuutuutango, thanks …
on January 20th, 2009 at 6:40 amtuutuutango, thanks for sharing this with us. My dad and I used to tinker around in the garage all the time when I was a kid. He’s gone now, but I just spent a day with my own son swapping engines on my Westy. There’s a time lapse video of it on you tube. Special times that probably won’t come around again.
Props to you for …
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
on January 20th, 2009 at 6:40 amMy dad sold it to a …
My dad sold it to a young guy in the Air Force who was enjoying it very much when we saw him last. Unfortunately, I don’t know where he was re-assigned to and the van is long-gone.
Thanks for your comment.
on January 20th, 2009 at 6:40 amsorry to hear about …
on January 20th, 2009 at 6:40 amsorry to hear about your father. i’m surprised you haven’t re-purchased the westy from the people who bought it from you!
The one behind the …
on January 20th, 2009 at 6:40 amThe one behind the camera. My dad was scraping the bondo with a knife.
tuutuutango, which …
on January 20th, 2009 at 6:40 amtuutuutango, which one in the video was you? The one with the camera?
Excellent job, very …
on January 20th, 2009 at 6:40 amExcellent job, very sad that your dad passed away, nice to have a bit of video memory.
This Westy had no …
on January 20th, 2009 at 6:40 amThis Westy had no rust. It spent it’s life in the dry regions of West Texas and Southern New Mexico. Thanks for your comments.
so…you had …
on January 20th, 2009 at 6:40 amso…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
My dad hand-built …
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.
on January 20th, 2009 at 6:40 amSorry to hear your …
on January 20th, 2009 at 6:40 amSorry to hear your dad passed , I hope you enjoyed working together on it.
Never had a chance …
on January 20th, 2009 at 6:40 amNever 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.
good job so far …
on January 20th, 2009 at 6:40 amgood job so far your good man..did your dad take it out camping yet?
T25’s rock
on January 20th, 2009 at 6:40 amT25’s rock
It was fairly easy …
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.
on January 20th, 2009 at 6:40 amgreat job fixing it …
on January 20th, 2009 at 6:40 amgreat job fixing it up, got a friend who has a 82 and he fixed his up too.
can i buy it?
on January 20th, 2009 at 6:40 amcan i buy it?