| Archive for THE KOMBI KONNECTION The forum for owners and those who would like to be owners of the worlds most popular camper, bus and van. |
| Piratekombi |
My 72 CamperHey everyone! I will be putting some pix of Woger, my 72 camper, in this thread, as well as some of the fun places we've visited.I acquired Woger late last year from a friend who had used him to travel around Australia... Over time, I intend to fix Woger up so that he can last at least another 35 years, but as yet have made little progress! Luckily he has been reliable thus far, we have already driven him nearly 3000 kms without problems. Fist up, some pix of Woger that were taken on some of our recent trips away... Camping spot in NW Victoria, June 2007 
Camping in the Otways, May 2007 
On the road near the Big Desert, June 2007 
On the Great Ocean Road, May 2007 
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| Piratekombi |
I inpsected Woger a couple of times before purchasing him, but somehow didn't pay enough regard to the flaws!  So while I was happy with the price, the fact that it was a camper with most of the things I was after etc etc, I didn't really pay enough attention to the problems with rust! Ahhh well, if I had I possibly wouldn't have bought the kombi... and I have no regrets about the purchase!
These pictures were taken yesterday and show Woger currently. As can be seen, he really needs to be pulled apart and rebuilt... There is rust around the front driver's-side headlight, although it isn't too bad. There is rust behind the side-steps that will need to be cut out and replaced (worst on the driver's side). The middle window has bog and rust under it, and is probably the area of most concern. 
I will also have to replace the pinchwelde on the poptop quite soon, it is literally falling apart. The poptop is covered in a fair amount of moss and lichen, but it doesn't seem to be doing any harm, it looks quaint so I have left it for now. The visor was only recently added. There used to be a pair of broken spotlights on the front air vent, which I removed. The mounts, however, were firmly rusted... I finally managed to get the one on the driver's side off, using WD-40 and rust-remover, but the other is still there (and visible in the picture). I will have to cut it off. 
Thsi is one of Woger's best angles! The sliding door is covered in bog but I have removed some of it to check for rust, and then repainted with rattlecan primer and enamel until I make some decisons... I will also have to get a new canvas for the poptop, but it isn't a high priority at the moment. That is my dog Maali in the foreground. 
The bumper on the back is slightly bent, but will be fixed fairly easily. Other than that, this end is apparently free from problems... well apart, perhaps, from the engine! (an 1800 that the previous owner reckons has been re-bored to a 2000.) 
Next, I will post pix of my um "functional" interior!
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| The archeress |
He looks pretty clean there woz........does she travel well?...or do you have issues from time to time?..........waiting to see the "functional interior" |
| Piratekombi |
Hey there archeress... yeah, the kombi isn't in too bad a condition, but I think he does look better in his photos! He will definitely have to be stripped and repainted sometime in the next year or so.
If you look carefully at the second photo above (Otways photo), you can see our poptop is leaning a little. Sometimes it struggles to sit upright and straight, and can take a couple fo attempts to pull down... it has been that way ever since I forgot to tie down the poptop straps on the way to Canberra earlier this year, and had our top pop up on the highway! If it hadn't been for the fact we were in a convoy, and communicating by UHF radio, we wouldn't have realised and could have had a disaster...! We are hoping to get that fixed (with a new canvas) before our Tassie trip planned for the end of this year. The interior of Woger appears to have been homemade a couple of decades ago, so is unlikely to impress anyone with its looks! Nevertheless, it has all the things we need (especially lots of cupboard space) so we are not unhappy. I will probably remove the cupboards, bench etc for refurbishment but will likely just reuse everything. In this first pic, you can see our gas cooker, it does the job well (but we cook with it outside the kombi)... the cupboard underneath is removable, has shelves as well as a bracket and pipe for the cooker. In the background is our rather large 3-way fridge, it keeps our beer icy cold! There is a bench above the fridge and a sink to the right, with a hand-pump. Water is stored in a big container under the sink. You can also see the rather odd archway behind the seats which I regularly bang my head on... 
In this next pic, you can see our cupboards. They are quite deep so have plenty of storage which comes in handy. There is also a treasure chest (of sorts!) under the bed where we store our larger, or less frequently required, items. 
This is a view across the bed (which is ample for the two of us and my dog) towards the archway. 
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| Moneypenny |
I think Woger is a very fine looking Kombi. You are lucky to have found a low-light but unfortunately the additional rust comes with the low-light territory...
Once we're home we will help you restore the fibreglass of your pop-top. You wouldn't believe how awesome it looks when complete. Also replacing the pinch-weld takes about 5 minutes and costs about $15 and the improvement again in looks is phenomenal! It takes a couple of days for fibreglass flowcoat to dry but the work is only a few hours. Total cost including sandpaper, fibreglass, acetone and replacement pinchweld is $60 worst case scenario. In terms of keeping the poppy straight, have you thought about investing in those chrome handles that fix to the inside of the poppy and hook under the internal roof lining. They are strong enough to prevent the top from randomly popping up in the wind and also strong enough to keep the unit centred. I bought some for about $5 each x 4 however my long suffering husband is yet to install them - it's part of the "Octoberfest of the Kombi" that will be happening once our place is on the market and the house reno's are done! |
| shaven |
love woger... gr8 to see its being used for what it was made for... FUN 
keep the pics coming of ur trips. matty |
| Piratekombi |
Alice and I love Woger, too... who'd want a plasma TV or snazzy new computer when you can have a kombi camper??!
Hey Tara, I am certainly looking forward to your advice when it comes to repairing the potop - at the moment we are keeping the lichen on top as we like the look! The pinchwelde, though, is literally falling apart (plenty of samples!), so as it is so cheap, we really should fix it sooner rather than later (preventing rust is less expensive than repairing it!).
I don't think I've seen the handles you refer to, they sound quite interesting... but our poptop only went up as I (stupidly!) forgot to button the straps down!  It was after our first night of camping, and I was chatting and must have got distracted. Luckily, the driver of the kombi behind us saw it go up and radioed us on the UHF, so the damage was minor. Imagine if the poptop had flown off!  It is definitely not a mistake I will not make again!, I now check and recheck...
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| splitfamily4tune8* |
hey woz.......bit like the captain on a ship .......you're responsible for everything ...........
great thread..........an opportunity to see woger develop into a fine old kombi
cheers, peter |
| Piratekombi |
Woger was out today campaigning for his favorite pirates (the anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd)...
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| Brookie |
Good cause-pity they are not armed 
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| Piratekombi |
The Japanese had armed guards last year!
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| Piratekombi |
Oh yeah... I mentioned anti-whaling (which is my main interest)... but Sea Shepherd, of course, also play an important role in patrolling the Galpagos, defending the Candadian seals (the Farley Mowat is still under seizure)... and many other vulnerable sea species world wide.
http://www.seashepherd.org ___ |
| Brookie |
The Galapagos series is on ABC now-always wanted to sail there but ............
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