I? Now? Own? A? Westy??

Bus, Microbus, Transporter, Station Wagon, Vanagon, Camper, Pick-Up.

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Amskeptic
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I? Now? Own? A? Westy??

Post by Amskeptic » Thu Oct 29, 2015 7:02 pm

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This was the "auser" series of calls on October 4th/5th/13th/17th. SG Kent had sent me a PM suggesting that I read a post on theSamba where someone was mentioning that this 1977 Westfalia had only 41,000 miles and needed to be made driveable for a sale to Denver Colorado, and I saw the photographs of the brake and clutch pedal rubbers and thought to myself, I thought, NOOooo waaAY, but I would happy to have a look at it.

Well, here is the speedo cable-to-head unit wax seal from the factory . . . intact:

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Got in touch with the person who bought it new on Monday, October 24th 1977, the very day I was at the University of Connecticut, Storrs drawing a side shot picture of a blue and white VW bus.

Came over and realized this car was creaky frozen in sleep:

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The repaint pissed me off to no end. The bondo'd left rear reflector hole, the banged in windshield channel, the painted-over license light, I was sickened by the damage wrought by the well-meaning friend who promised to fix it up, the overspray, the painted door seals, and *this* paint has had at least nineteen years to harden, ain't no Gumout going to melt this paint off the seals, dammit.

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It tormented me with stale gas most-foul, it roused itself from a twenty year sleep with a single-then-double-then-triple-firing engine, each stanza requiring a full throttle to barely maintain 500 rpm, then that last cylinder, #2, just would not wake up until a most-bizarre message came down from the VW gods:
"remove the air flow meter." And I did. And I heard the induction deep down into the plenum, and somehow, with no AFM signal, the engine imperceptibly began to fire on all four cylinders, and I could feel the background vibration coursing through the fan housing just disappear . . . we have a silky smooth engine here, folks, silky:

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Took the car out and around the neighborhood for the first time in 19 years (GA registration sticker says '96). First time in 19 years. Made the previous owner drive it back to the garage where the car politely died of fuel varnish contamination. I was stuck under the right side of the car with a hand firmly wedged up against hot exhaust and I could hear fuel sizzling off the exhaust pipe as I tried to blindly aim the fuel hose just released from the fuel pressure regulator toward the drain pan.

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Horrid stink of stale gas evaporating off the exhaust pipe. But hey, I wanted to drive it again, I wanted to convince the previous owner that this problem was minor. Drained the fuel filter and blew out chunks of blackish curds of varnish. I smelled like a refinery, that right rear wheel had a coronal pattern of leaking brake fluid, we drove it again. Smooth engine, but the wobble wheel made the air flow meter vane dance and we could not help but lurch through the lower end of 3rd gear:


Makes no sense. I don't do campers. They give away my beloved stealth camping, and the thought of bringing sinks and beds and screens and closets and alldat over my favorite rock paths and gullies doesn't work for me, and hitting the brakes hard on serious downhill sweepers seems rude when you're asking them to slow a houseonwheels.

But this car has already bonded with me:

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BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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satchmo
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Re: I? Now? Own? A? Westy??

Post by satchmo » Thu Oct 29, 2015 7:12 pm

Colin in a Westy. Whodathunkit?

Good on you.

Tim
By three methods we may learn wisdom:
First, by reflection, which is noblest;
second, by immitation, which is easiest;
and third, by experience, which is bitterest. -Confucius

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zabo
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Re: I? Now? Own? A? Westy??

Post by zabo » Thu Oct 29, 2015 7:24 pm

Real pretty
60 beetle
78 bus

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airkooledchris
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Re: I? Now? Own? A? Westy??

Post by airkooledchris » Thu Oct 29, 2015 7:36 pm

I can't freakin wait to watch the progress on this one. What a find, and thank god it ended up in the right hands to massage it back where it needs to be.

It was my favorite Westfalia color. This used to be mine:
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1979 California Transporter

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dingo
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Re: I? Now? Own? A? Westy??

Post by dingo » Thu Oct 29, 2015 8:14 pm

Sweet man ! fill that cooler and go forth and Itinerate !!
'71 Kombi, 1600 dp

';78 Tranzporter 2L

" Fill what's empty, empty what's full, and scratch where it itches."

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Westy78
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Re: I? Now? Own? A? Westy??

Post by Westy78 » Thu Oct 29, 2015 8:30 pm

Well, it's about time. Sleeping on a real bed? Gonna make you soft man. =D>
Chorizo, it's what's for breakfast.

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wcfvw69
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Re: I? Now? Own? A? Westy??

Post by wcfvw69 » Fri Oct 30, 2015 6:09 am

I love it Colin. You with a Westfalia camper with said bed, stove, fridge and COMFORT. None of us are getting any younger and comfort is a good thing for our aging bodies. I can see you staying at camp grounds w/internet, showers and power in this camper on nights you want a break from stealth camping vs. hotels, potentially saving you $ on your tour.

I think I've said it already but I'm really looking forward to you documenting your mechanical restoration of this beautiful bus.
1970 Westfalia bus. Stock 1776 dual port type 1 engine. Restored German Solex 34-3. Restored 205Q distributor, restored to factory appearance engine.

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vwlover77
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Re: I? Now? Own? A? Westy??

Post by vwlover77 » Fri Oct 30, 2015 6:11 am

Most excellent acquisition!!! (And oh! can I relate to the wheel/tire induced AFM wiggle impact on 3rd gear low end! Your diagnosis of that condition on my Bus elevated you to guru-god status!)

If you'd like to trade engines so that lovely 41K original will only see an additional 5-6K per year while you pile the miles on my current engine, I'm sure we could reach an accord. :-) Counterweighted crank!!! :geek:

You can still be stealthy. Just don't raise the poptop!
Don

---------------------------
78 Westy
71 Super Beetle Convertible Autostick

"When we let our compassion go, we let go of whatever claim we have to the divine." - Bruce Springsteen

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yondermtn
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Re: I? Now? Own? A? Westy??

Post by yondermtn » Fri Oct 30, 2015 6:48 am

Well, you couldn't have fallen into a better year & color combo =D>

I'm looking forward to seeing more of this new VW under your ownership.

So, what happened to the sale to Denver?

Why is the engine bay painted black?


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1977 Westy 2.0FI
1990 Vanagon MV 2.1 Auto

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whc03grady
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Re: I? Now? Own? A? Westy??

Post by whc03grady » Fri Oct 30, 2015 10:13 am

Amskeptic wrote:I don't do campers. They give away my beloved stealth camping.
You vastly--Vastly!--overestimate the general population's attention to detail. Given how many can even tell the difference, unaided, between a Splitty and a Bay or a Bay and a Vanagon (hint: it's not a lot), keep the top down and no one but we cognoscenti will ever know the difference.
Ludwig--1974 Westfalia, 2.0L (GD035193), Solex 34PDSIT-2/3 carburetors.
Gertie--1971 Squareback, 1600cc with Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection from a '72 (E brain).
Read about their adventures:
http://www.ludwigandgertie.blogspot.com

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Re: I? Now? Own? A? Westy??

Post by Jivermo » Fri Oct 30, 2015 11:05 am

Am I gonna see this in Miami?

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Amskeptic
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Re: I? Now? Own? A? Westy??

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Oct 30, 2015 12:56 pm

whc03grady wrote: You vastly--Vastly!--overestimate the general population's attention to detail.
True that. When Chloe was sporting a stripped out interior and missing four out of the eight windows and a gas door and a headliner, people came up exactly as always, "Nice car! Did you restore that?"

But the P-O-lice know all about camper vans, man.

I'll get used to it, perhaps, over time. Might need to do a winter mosey so I can fix the thousand and one little things on a daily basis, that'd be fun enough. Now I get to practice the Los Alamos Chrome Yellow and Chrysler Hemi Orange color matching on my own Westy. This Westy does not fit in anyone's garage or my storage unit. That's interesting.

I am in Chloe on my way to Miami right now, Jivermo.
Chloe is running like a docile sweetheart once more (maybe she realized she better straighten up or become hamburger patties on the Westy stove).
60 mph, smooth, generator shrieky a'la Maxxis howl, a nice combo.
Colin

Atlanta
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BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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asiab3
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Re: I? Now? Own? A? Westy??

Post by asiab3 » Fri Oct 30, 2015 1:20 pm

Amskeptic wrote: And today, I am to buy a 1977 Westy that I don't want to keep.
I am still confused. I can not not not picture you, Colin, washing your hands with WATER in a SINK and sleeping in a BED on the open road. Of course, I could see you painting the tail pipe and curing the ceramic coat over the stove burner.....

Robbie :drunken:

EDIT: "want to keep" and "don't plan on keeping" are vastly different, I suppose. Maybe I read the former and heard the latter......
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.

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airkooledchris
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Re: I? Now? Own? A? Westy??

Post by airkooledchris » Fri Oct 30, 2015 3:08 pm

Is it a deluxe with propane? Or standard with ice box?
1979 California Transporter

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hambone
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Re: I? Now? Own? A? Westy??

Post by hambone » Fri Oct 30, 2015 4:24 pm

If you stay in one place longer than 5 days it is nice to have a sink and cabinets. Especially after hard work in the mountains.
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat

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