Aircooled VW South Africa

Well, here is my new addition, 1973 Autovilla.

I managed to get a better deal taking 2 Autovillas. So Paul and I went to collect them in Barrydale last month. Both had been standing for quite some time, but after an oil change and new fuel we left for home and had a lekker little trip back. Paul liked the yellow one so much; he decided to keep it for himself, although it is a bit of a lemon.







I kept the white one, this specific one was standing in Vanwyksdorp for several years under a car port but I never made the interest in actually buying it. Anyway, a few years later I ended up getting it anyway from another owner.

So the first thing was to check out the mechanical side. All the suspension components, shocks etc are still VW and actually amazingly 100% with no wear. The engine was swapped by VW for a 2.0L in 1997. As you can see in the replacement engine service history, it put on 15000km in the first 3 years. When I just got it now, it had 18000km on it, pretty much unused in the last 15 years. The engine runs absolutely amazing and has no problem driving 120km/h. The gears were however hideous to try find. I couldn’t understand what was going on with its strange gearbox mounts and butchered gear links till I discovered it was actually originally an Automatic. So someone converted it, but didn’t have the correct manual components to do it.



So, out came the engine to sort out the conversion issues as well as replacing disintegrating foam seals and general clean-up.. Luckily I had a donor bus at home and was able to strip all the links, mounts and correct length half shafts to install the gearbox correctly. Engine back in and now changes gears as it should.



Next was the body work. It looked hideously tatty on the outside, but actually it is in very good condition. The caravan section is all original except for the lower rear section sprayed white when they decided to spray the cab white for some stupid reason. As it was so easy to fix, I quickly stripped the cab, got out the sandblasting gun and sandblasted under the windscreen that was pitted as well as a few other places with surface rust.





A few coats of epoxy primer over the sandblasted areas, then primer and onto final coat and in two weekends it turned into this beauty. It looked seriously hideous, but actually just spraying the cab has got it back into very good shape. I polished up the remainder of the caravan, I cant say its perfect, but still in good original condition which I will rather leave it in.



Before and after polishing the hubcaps.



Lastly, my stickers should be here this week. Gerhard had some made up for me and will add the last finishing touches to the van.



Here are a few pictures of the inside. Mine is the earliest version, which is a pity as it is the layout with the small bed inside and the door towards the front. The “double” bed is actually more like a ¾.

Still has original Jurgens crockery.





All the blinds and cushions are still original. The original carpets are also 100%, but I’ve left this laid down novilon over it to remain protected.

So keen with it now being completed, we took it on its first one night road trip. Saturday night we headed for the Warm Waterberg for a stopover before Ladysmith. The next day it was taken along the gravel roads to meet up at the Garcia pass and into Riversdale for a visit at some friends and then back home along the N2 which it did no problem. It certainly is alot more cumbersome than a standard bus and a bit slower up the hills, but overall for the first 600km we did in it, it actually drives pretty good.

THAT PAINT JOB AND POLISH REALLY PICKED IT UP.
NICELY DONE.

Great work Sean! It looks great already!

Pencil in August 7 to 10 for the Autovilla gathering in Bloemfontein; I think Gerhard has already been in touch. Looking forward to seeing your Autovilla in the metal.

fig wrote:Great work Sean! It looks great already!

Pencil in August 7 to 10 for the Autovilla gathering in Bloemfontein; I think Gerhard has already been in touch. Looking forward to seeing your Autovilla in the metal.

Oh Yes, going to be there. 2 months to go now.

Top marks there Sean.
Is there a date under that gas bottle, looks quite old ?

Wow awesome. Congrats on her turning nicely

You've got some good skills there !!!

Went past you on Fairtrees in Durbanville today Sean. Looking good!

Terry Phillips wrote:Top marks there Sean.
Is there a date under that gas bottle, looks quite old ?

Its got 11/74 stamped underneath it. Not sure if it is a date?

Yes that should be the date.
I have a 1957 one that was my Dads, it was his first gas bottle he ever bought,nearly as old as me and he worked for Mobil for 36 yrs hence my interest in your bottle.
You wont be able to fill it due to its age but worth keeping the 2 together.

I allways thought that they started building Latebay Autovillas in 1974, so this must be one of the first to roll out of Jürgens caravan factory? Cool!

Cool score guys !
They really do look great.

Terry Phillips wrote:Yes that should be the date.
I have a 1957 one that was my Dads, it was his first gas bottle he ever bought,nearly as old as me and he worked for Mobil for 36 yrs hence my interest in your bottle.
You wont be able to fill it due to its age but worth keeping the 2 together.

I have another one too. This one is stamped 9/70. They can be refilled, just got to go to those backyard filling stations who don't care for regulations......

Just shows you the service you use to get back then they even put their name on the gas bottle for free then.
Essh I wont fill my old bottle,they can a noise when they go off.