Club 80-90 Forums

I was wondering if you had any recommendations for someone to restore my Westfalia. I would like someone who can basically fix everything from structure, body, engine and interior. Possibly replace the engine for something more economical to run too. It's a 2.0 1989 automatic and it runs quite as it is.
Thanks

Whereabouts are you

"restoration" comes with at least 5digits before the decimal point are you ready for that

5 ? please expand on that
mike

I'm in Wiltshire. The van is getting a little surface rust, I think the underside will be ok to seal/repaint. Interior is not too bad. Engine runs fine, got a few problems with oil buzzer but nothing particularly wrong with it.

I suppose what I'm looking for is to make the vehicle more practical and usable. I'd like the bodywork to be sorted, including the underside; a few bits on the inside to be fixed or replaced (like the inside roof going mouldy, fridge not working, roof hinges rusting, window seals deteriorating); fuel tank leaks at the neck when filled up; electrics sorted (I think this just needs a replacement PCB in dash); and also to see if there is something I can do to make it more economical and reliable, that's why I mentioned the replacement engine.

I really love the van and had loads of fun with it. I've looked around for alternatives, but not much comes close in terms of practical size and character. A new one is £43K+, a used Japanese import is about £18K.

I'm sure once you start taking it apart loads more stuff will be discovered that needs fixing, so I appreciate that it won't be cheap. There are two ways I could go with this, a) just tidy it up so that it looks good and drives ok for a couple of grand, or b) do a comprehensive restoration and keep it for ever. I could agree on a cap on costs and get someone to do it as a complete project.

What do you think?

An easy fix for fuel economy is to LPG it.
You could take it to a trimmer and get the inside bits done.
Elecs would be easy enough to get someone to have a butchers.
What's the bodywork like?
It's up to you how much you spend, but it will only last if the bodywork is solid.
Mine looked scruffy when I got it, but when it was stripped for a respray, it turned out to be very solid with only some minor panel work and the usual rot round the screen. It's 27 years old and should manage another 20