This is "Buttercup", my 1976 Kombi camper that I recently purchased from a retired Veedub mech in Nowra for $2000 with two Kombi-loads of spares!

Buttercup has a factory 2L twincarb motor and 4-speed manual box. Her bodie's in almost perfect nick', and the mechanical's are excellent except for a burnt exhaust valve on No.3, which we're fixing next weekend anyway...

She's a full pop-top camper with a sink, fridge, stove, lounge/rear seat/bed, cupboard space, folding table and a second bed that mounts i the pop-top.

I actually came across Buttercup by accident on my way home after turning down a '72 Kombi camper that a guy had offered to trade for my Mini Moke (I sold it in the end to buy the Kombi... I miss her already after only 5 hours after being collected on atilt tray for the new owners in Toowoomba, but she's gone to a better place, where she can undergo lifesaving cancer treatment).

I plan to leave this old girl as stock as possibl... no performance mods or EFi engines... just plain vanilla kombi... :thumb

I have, however hooked up a pair of 100W Technics home stereo speakers to the stock headunit and sat them between the front seats. Believe it or not.. this 29 year old stereo sounds bloody awsome with good speaxers...

Now for teh pixplsthx...



















Since the time of the photographs, yesterday morning, I have repainted the primered area above the taillights (where rust was removed some time before I got the van), in the same pale yellow as the rest of the van... using one of the THREE tins of touchup paint specially mixed for the old girl...

Well, there you have my ride... my other ride is a bog-standard VN Commodore stationwagen... boringboringboring.. and not a Veedub - not worth talking about...

[ Edited on 20-12-2005 by Schmoburger ]

Mate - what a bargain!!

Love bright coloured cars!
Similar bright yellow to my 82 bus!


Certainly a nice ride

Yeah... she's the greatest!

Any pix of ya Vanagon on the site?... I reckon they look best in bright yellow! :thumb

She is the work horse of the family

Camping trips, trip runs, taking the family and dog and others places

It is a 1982 air cooled auto

Built it up off Richard Holzl. He built a fresh motor for her.
Need to just "tidy" her up a bit


I have a 1975L bug as a daily and a Mk IV golf for the wife as a daily

very nice, certainly a fantastic bargain I don't recall having seen a poptop like that either

The right place at the right time! Well done mate, she looks sweet.:thumb

Sweet Vanagon, Biz!... man... I'd love to have her in my driveway to keep Buttercup company... and those white rims look great on her!

:beer

What did you mean about the poptop Kim?... I alway's thlught the one on my Kombi was the more common type of poptop roof for Kombis.

Mine is one of the Campmobile style ones that pops up vertically and completely comes away from the roof with canvas all the way around. the hole in the roof only goes back as far back as the rear seat, but the poptop continues to the back... and a concertina board can be mounted in slot's around the hole with a matress on in to form a second bed practically on the roof. :thumb

Looking at the bus in your avatar, Im assuming your's has one of the Westfalia style poptops that pivot at the rear and lift up on an angle from the front, correct?

I 'll post somed pix of Buttercup with the poptop open and the bed in place tomorrow...

The name reminds me of the song from the Three Amigos. Applied to your kombi of course...

My little buttercup has the sweetest smile
Dear little buttercup, won't you stay awhile
Come with me where moonbeams paint the sky
And you and I might linger in the sweet by and by, oh...

Dear little buttercup, with your eyes so blue
Oh little buttercup, you' re a dream come true
You and I will settle down in a cottage built for two
Oh, dear little buttercup, I love you...

Everybody !

My little buttercup, has the sweetest smile
Dear little buttercup won't you stay awhile
You and I will settle down in a cottage built for two, oh

Dear little buttercup
Sweet little buttercup,
My little buttercup
I love you

Buttercup song very apt!

Hi Schmoburger,
Nice looking camper.

I'm guessing form the photo that your camper conversion is a "Sopru" conversion.

Can you take a look at the photos at:
http://www.aussiekombicampers.com/conversions.shtml 
and confirm whether that is so?

TIA

I don't think it is a Sopru, the opening part of their pop top came right down closer to gutter,& had the rienforcing pieces at the top on each side and they usually had a gas bottle door on driver side cupboards are different & there is also the table mount on outside of sliding door

Hey guys!... well, I had a look at that camper site... best I can tell, Buttercup seams to be closest to a Trakka conversion.. at least in the pop top area. She has a table mount rail on the sliding door and ancd also inside near the right hand side of the couch. she doesn't have a gas bottle door on the right hand side of the body like the Sopru... instead she has a nipple just below the tailgate for plugging i n a Primus bottle. There is a small compartment behind the lounge for storage of the bottle during the journey... she also came with a rear nudge bar (not installed) that has a cylindrical holder for the primus bottle when it's in use (ie when the Kombi is parked and set up for camping). The poptop has a pop up vent (similar to an emergency exit on a coach), but it has been sealed shut with fiberglass because of leaks.

She has the stove behind the passenger seat facing backwards, with a sink and water tank (concealed behind a cupboard door below the sink) directly behind the driver's seat, and a fridge under the remainder of the sink. there are cupboards and drawers behind them. The high cupboards start at the couch, and all the cabinetry is wooden. The couch also has a storage area underneath it.

The Kombi has a sliding, screened middle window on the right hand side, and the pop top has ventilation flaps that zip open in the canvas with flyscreens behind them.

Hope this will help you guys to identify the camper conversion on Buttercup...

As I said though, I'll take some pix of her with the poptop up tomorrow, and get some pictures of the inside fitout and post them up. :thumb

Cheers!
Kieran

PS.. I'll now forever connect that song with my Kombi Ege'! It's gonna be "our song", mine and Buttercup's! LOL

OK, heres them pix of the outside of Buttercup with the poptop popped...


rear view(excuse teh mess! )


right hand side


left hand side with collapsible table mounted in the track on the sliding door.

And here are some pictures of the layout of the interior fitout...


stove (near slider...), 3-way electrolux fridge, and plastic sink in wooden (marine ply I believe...) benches with cupboards.


the backseat/lounge/lower bed, bench, and rear (clothing) cupboards.


inside the poptop, looking towards the rear with upper bed unfolded and in place (matress not set up)


collapsible table installed on inside rail.


Looking back from between front seats.

That looks great!

Well, me and a rat-Kombi driving mate of mine pulled the engine out of Buttercup today to fix the bung valve... god is that thing heavy and awkward! :duh

We also may end up getting the transaxle serviced while the donks out... as there is a howl from the rear of the car when sh's in gear and moving, which Dave Becker reckon's is bearing related... and he is VW God. LOL

So anywho she's up on ramps and out of action for a week or so until the motors fixed and reinstalled.... maybe longer if I get the box done.

I'm a'hopin she'll be on the road again soon!

Oh and I found some nice dress rims in the garage to go around the caps. They are from an HQ Holden I think, but they fit the Kombi wheels fine... well 2 of them do at least. other two are fractionally too bi I think... either that or I'm un-co.

Ill have to look for some more at the tip that will fit....

Oh, BTW...

:tree:rudolf:tree[size=9]MERRY XMAS EVERYONE!!!![/size]:tree:rudolf:tree

[ Edited on 24-12-2005 by Schmoburger ]

chrome dress rims are awesome on kombis.
she is definitely a Trakka, the 2 black edges visible when the roof is down ar e a givaway, also a little lower profile then the soprus. f/glass roof is the same as mine, you will be pleased to know there is steel in ther to re-inforce and fix the weakness created by cutting the big hole in the roof. the power point is in the same spot but opposite side, make sure it's in good condition as it is directly beneath the roof gutter drain point!
fascinatingly yours seems to be a cleaner conversion, mine was a panelvan, the windows that were cut in were out of line, and they went vent crazy, with a big aluminium vent where your little one is for the fridge, a little one further back and another in the sliding door. interior layout is also similar but different to mine, mine came with sliding ply doors for all cupboards, including the wardrobe, the stove was ontop of the fridge with the sink next to it as there was no corner unit, i had one of the same lights but none of the nice clip on tables. overall the layout is the same and you may be interested to note that Trakka still uses the same wonderful layout in their VWs today.
overall i can only assume that yours is a later anfd far more polished variant and theat mine was one of the first cruder models (Trakka only began in 1975)
great to see another of these on the road, i have seen less then 10 in all of my travels, love her, she is one of the best camper setups around.

the chrome hooks that hold the roof down are also a Trakka thing i think. appear identical to repro hood catches for '20s cars

HEY! so they do!!!!...

Tanx for the lowdown on my camper camperkid and modulus... veryt informative! :thumb

So, I have a bit of a rarity in my drivewa, eh? cool.

The latest on Buttercup... well, turns out she had a cracked head, not a burnt valve as we at first thought... anywho, bought a head of a veedub enthusiast in Sussex Inlet for 50 bucks, so she should be on the road in a weekish... weather permitting.. ie, if its not too hot to do anything all week...

as for those fancy dressrims, I found one at the tip last week, so now I only need one more...

well done, if you want a completely rebuilt engine at an awesome price talk to helbus, i think he has an 1800 that he rebuilt a little while ago for under $800

very tidy lookin bus..
love the table clip into the door deal..
enjoy your times to be had..
priceless

$800?????... BEJAISUS... thats a bloody god price!

I'd be incline dto buy it if I had the dough... but I wont for a while I dont think LOL!

I hate being poor! haha... :P:jesus

thakns H, too.... I'll be sure to enjoy every last second of Buttercups life... hehe...We'll be going to a LOT of folk festivals and other such hippy gatherings together!

Welll.. after all this time.. THE ENGINE IS FINALLY BACK TOGETHWER!!!!! :bounce...after much ado!

put it all back together on the weekend, had it all ready almost to be put in the bus.... Then found ONE ROTTEN STINKING PIECE OF BLOODY LEFTOVER TINWARE!!!!!!!

And of course, it was the bit that goes undr the left head... so it all had to be dissassembled so the haed could come off... meaning stupid gasketting compound too be removed and reapplied also... ARRRRGHH!!!!... WHAT A ROYAL PAIN IN THE ASSS... I HATE TINWARE!!!!!! :vader

Anywho... the donks all ready to go back in now.... probably a job for next weekend or so... *groans*... how FUN!!!!...type 4's suck!

gonna do some rigourous fuel replumbing in the meantime! :tu

going to be cutting out some rus under the intake and repalting it when conveniant also...when the bus is mobile again!

Looking forward to starting the old girl again for the first time since christmas eve! :bounce