Ever since I was a young boy I have had an
interest in all things automotive and camping.
My uncle used to have a Comer camper which
my mum and dad used to borrow so we could
have a family holiday. These were some of the
best times of my childhood and I first saw a
1976 Westfalia when I was about 7 years old. It
was green with a green Westfalia interior and
was owned by my sister’s friend’s grandparents!
I thought to myself, “When I grow up I would
loved to own one”. I had tried many times over
the years to own one but could not afford one
due to one thing or another. It then came to my
30th birthday and I thought life is it too short to
not follow your dreams, so I set out in the search
for my camper.
I purchased Doris in July 2013. She is a 1972
crossover with day van interior. I had been
searching for a bay for some time and had been
to see quite a few. I stumbled across Doris in
a Piston Heads advert and fell in love with her
straight away. She was painted in the desert
camouflage paint you see today. Situated in
Ipswich, which was a 6 hr drive from where I
live in Skelmersdale, I had to go and see her so
I booked a week off work and called the seller,
driving down the next day. I finally had her in
front of me and she was better in person than
in any pictures, although she needed some
jobs doing. I took a test drive and had a massive
smile on my face, so had to buy her. It was late in
the day so was unable to get the funds until the
next day. I booked a hotel for what seemed like
the longest night I have ever had. I was finally
fulfilling my childhood dream of owning an aircooled camper! The next day I was up early and
it took most of the day for the bank transfer to
go through, but finally she was mine. I set off on
the 7hr trip back up north and it was the best
drive I had ever had. I named her Doris May after
my late grandmother who passed away in 2012
at the age of 100.

Here is a small account of some of the work I
have completed on Doris:
Interior
I took out the dash and rear interior and retrimmed this myself with vinyl and laid a
laminate effect floor. I also insulated behind all
the panels and then later added a new leisure
battery and LED lighting with some brown
suede thermal curtains. After driving Doris for a
while I found I needed a little more storage for
camping gear, so then with the help from my
mother, I built a rear buddy seat and trimmed
this to match the rest of the interior. VDO
gauges were added to the cab along with a
rose wood steering wheel, followed by another
re-trim of all the dash panels.
Exterior
I wanted the classic wheel look for Doris and I
have always loved white wall tyres, so I fitted
a set of Atlas whitewalls which completely
transformed her look. I wanted a full length roof
rack but the cost of them was so high I found
a good used 3 bow instead which helped me
towards the desired look, I might add a 2 bow
to the front in the future. I purchased clear
front indicators, clear and red rear lenses and
refitted the all important VW badge to the front.
Another addition was the air vent ears which
aid to the engine cooling.
Mechanical
Doris came with a 1776cc engine with twin 40
IDF Webber carbs and a custom made exhaust
with a fat boy muffler, which the neighbours
love at 7am in the morning!
Unfortunately the gearbox had a bad second
gear syncro so had to be replaced along with
the shift rods and shifter. I talked to a few people
and decided to upgrade the standard gearbox
to a freeway flyer and changed the lightened
flywheel she came with back to a standard one
with a new clutch for good measure.
In 2014 – 2015 after the show season I left
Doris on my drive over winter under a cover
and then when it came to MOT time she had
developed a few issues. The front brakes had
seized, so the callipers were replaced with a
late bay conversion and the twin carburettors
needed to be rebuilt as they were leaking fuel
into the oil. I also decided to get the ignition
system overhauled and upgraded, so found a
new old stock Brazilian Bosch 009 distributor
and had an electronic ignition fitted with new
plugs, coil and leads at the same time. Other
upgrades were red MST Serpentine pulleys, a
fuel pressure regulator, new rear tinware, EMPI
bolt on rocker covers, a breather box and the
most important thing, an automatic engine
bay fire extinguisher. If I could give any advice,
it would be to fit some sort of fire suppression
system to your engine bay and check your fuel
lines every year as I have heard too many horror
stories of fires destroying peoples’ pride and joy.
The engine and gearbox work was carried out
by a local VW specialist, White Hill Garage in
Chorley, they were great at giving me advice
and sorting out issues with Doris and also gave
me pointers on how to fix things myself, they
certainly know there stuff
Following the issues I had in the past, I set out to
find dry storage for Doris and fortunately came
across a large barn space to rent. This has given
me the opportunity to fit it out with tools so I
can not only keep Doris out of the elements
but keep her looking her best as well. I now also
have the space to tinker and personalise more.

One of the best memories I have was camping
near Stratford upon Avon. My mum and dad
went down to stay in a cottage and invited
me down to join them, but I wanted to camp
in Doris so I decided to pack her up and set
off down there too. The drive down was great
despite being on my own and it was great
seeing all the people passing, smiling and
waving. Once there, I set about finding a camp
site to stay for a few days. The site I found was a
great, cheap little site next to a pub. I was only
going to stay for a few days but decided to stay
for a week! It was fun to just get out in her and
drive round all the little B roads, it’s just what
she is made for and the best trips are always the
ones where you have not booked anywhere
and just turn up.
The best thing so far with owning Doris is the
VW community, or family that comes with
it. Being a shy and anxious person I found it
hard to meet and talk to new people. I went
to my first big camp out at Busfest in 2015 and
camped in the VWT2OC area where I met some
great people who made me feel so welcome
and at home and I have made some friends
for life and this has given me the confidence
to talk and interact with new people. I was also
fortunate to win top 3 bay windows at 2015 Bus
types show and shine.
It’s not just the vehicle you buy into, it’s the
lifestyle and the feeling you get seeing others
when you pass, smile and wave. I am sure this
will now be a passion for life and the main thing
before any upgrades in 2017 is to get out in
Doris more by going to more shows and get
out there camping.
We spotted Doris on Instagram when Liam
tagged the Club’s new Instagram page with
one of his pictures and we fell in love with her
look.
We hope to meet Liam and Doris at a show
sometime in the future and will be sure to give
you a wave if we see a camouflage Bay rolling
down the road.

It all probably began when I was at university
back in the seventies and my supervisor had
an early 60’s Split Screen in which he drove
most of his students on course visits. I was the
proud owner of a black and chrome Honda
SS50Z motorbike, which I would take along and I
used to race the VW back from our trips. The result
was always the same: I easily out-accelerated
it, but then on the long straights it gradually
hauled me in with its 60mph top speed. Once
it was ahead I hung on in the slipstream until
gradual asphyxiation forced me to fall back to
watch helplessly as the speeding Kombi slowly
slipped away, laying smoke like a WW2 destroyer.
It was in those days that a love was kindled, and
it lay unrequited through many dalliances with
big Citroens, British sports cars and assorted
Land Rovers.
Then a couple of years ago, my Defender betrayed
my trust one more time. I knew instinctively that
it was over and what I had to do and that was to
seek out my first love: My wife, Jenny (different
sort of first love) and I decided we would look for a
Camper. We knew we could offer it a good home
because we had already had a garage able to
accommodate the Defender. Jenny, for different
reasons, was equally keen to enjoy a break. Not
long ago I had to drive a borrowed and stricken
T25 at night in rural South Africa and met lots of
friendly people every time I stopped, the problem
being that I couldn’t persuade them ever to get
back out again! We knew we would forgive an
old Camper for breaking down because we knew
that’s what they do and also because everyone
says it’s how you make new friends.
So here are some experiences and tips we picked
up on the way. I hope not ALL of it is obvious.
First was to go to shows and flatter owners into
showing us round their Campers, asking to
see their best welding repairs. Then I turned to
websites where I found most on Car and Classic,
Auto Trader and eBay. Split Screens were out of
range, so as is so often the case, I went for a younger
model and was easily seduced by the softer lines
and less expensive tastes of Bays, especially early
ones. So began the long phone-calls and longer,
fruitless trips from which, to summarise, I learnt
to be very suspicious of: anything selling near a
canal, anyone poor at maths or grammar (body
110%, drives excellent, etc.), anything just painted,
anything wet and trader jargon (got to be right,
good clean motor, first to see will buy, etc).
Now for some hopefully practical tips, especially if
like me, you are not mechanically talented :

1. Find a local specialist you can trust. I was
   extremely lucky to come across Jez and Lou
   at Dubtricks near my home in Harrogate, who
   actually spent ages humouring me and looking
   at photos of possible purchases which I took
   to show them, even though I wasn’t even a
   customer. They were just really prepared to take
   an interest and offer advice – though I suppose
   they might have reasoned that if I turned
   up one day with a basket-case, I might try to
   persuade them to work on it!
2. Best tip – Take a camera with a powerful flash
   and photograph every inch of the underside of
   as possible. Holes appear through Waxoyl as if
   by magic when you get the pictures onto your
   computer and I could easily have bought a
   lovely looking late Bay from its confident owner
   if my photos hadn’t shown it to have a chassis
   with a LOT of extra ventilation – holes show
   as jet black against the reflected wax surface
   and weld lines show up like a relief map of the
   Yorkshire Dales.
3. Take a WEAK magnet, like a fridge magnet. A
   professional-looking heavy magnet has expert
   pose value but it’s more like a metal detector
   and will find metal deep beneath, whereas a
   fridge magnet will fall off if there is filler under
   the glossy paint. Also take a powerful led torch.
   Used at an angle, paint texture changes
   and panel ripples show immediately.

4. VW in the sixties and seventies had OCD and
   plastered their vehicles with ID plates. The
   Camper we bought has to date revealed plates
   next to the windscreen, behind the driver’s seat
   and deep under the carbon on the floor of the
   engine bay. It is good if these match and even
   better if you check it all out on the internet from
   the m-plate codes behind the driver’s seat (on
   our U.S.A. import). It is also fun because of what
   else you find. I dug up from under the front
   seats an anti-Vietnam war badge, something
   to do with a rabies clinic, a strange-looking
   cigarette end and a scary looking dead spider.
5. Documents – Ideally import documents and UK
   log book which all match up. Historic vehicle
   status is great for forty year-olds and apart from
   free road tax you should still be allowed into
   London freely once new emission zone rules
   come into force in 2020. This could spread to
   other cities, so it’s a thought.
6. Choose your van based on the seller and where
   the vehicle lives, as well as the Camper itself.
   Ours had lived in a big garage in a big house
   in the country with a Porsche and the owner’s
   kids all loved it, so maximum points there. I
   should add that my wife does say I am easily
   fooled!
7. Beware the prices of spares. Ours had a broken
   jalousie window from a break-in attempt and
   it took me six months to find another and
   that basic-looking little Westy folding table
   top will set you back around £200 on eBay in
   mint condition. I thought I might need a new
   front-hinged roof as mine was warped into a
   pagoda impersonation (I wondered at first if
   it was a rare Japanese import) and they seem
   totally unavailable. Luckily Jez and Lou with
   a combination of a super hot day, probable
   extensive sunbathing lying on top of the roof,
   lots of leverage and remarkable skill, have
   returned it to shape without it cracking. I still
   don’t know how they did that, but it saved me
   over £2000 on a non-original replacement.
8. In my view, don’t worry about left-hand drive or
   right-hand drive. There seems to be a premium
   for right-hand, but you are never remotely
   going to overtake anyone so it’s just not an
   issue. I’m OK with my German VW having
   German left-hand drive (OK it’s American, but
   same point, sort of).
9. Lastly, to come back to the beginning, it’s really
   all about rust. European vans will probably have
   been restored, but a recent paint job will stop
   you knowing how well, despite photos – I am
   a photographer and can make ANYTHING look
   good! USAs, South Africans and Australians
   may be rust free, but may not if they lived near
   the coasts (most South African ones) or in salty
   winter cities (lots of USA ones). Conversely,
   European interiors are more likely to be in good
   condition, but at least you can readily see if the
   hot climate ones have baked themselves to
   biscuits and dust.
   So, after it all, we have a lovely Early Bay Westfalia
   Campmobile, with an original interior in amazing
   condition. It has never had any welding and it’s
   recently been to Dubtricks for a new engine,
   clutch, dynamo (though it’s ended up with an
   alternator as the Hella recon dynamo was faulty),
   replacement fuel lines, rewires to make it less likely
   to immolate itself and some UK headlights (despite
   passing its last mot with USA lights!) The thing
   is all this is incidental to having good bodywork
   and a good interior, everything mechanical can
   be fixed and there are clearly specialists out there
   who are enthusiastic, expert and a pleasure to
   work with. There are also excellent parts suppliers,
   such as NLA, Just Kampers and VW Heritage with
   prices for moving bits reasonable, far less than
   for modern vehicles, though if anyone knows
   of a LHD early bay steering box for less than the
   average mortgage, do please let me know! We
   can’t wait to get it back on the road.