78 Champagne Westy Heads up

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mojogoat
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78 Champagne Westy Heads up

Post by mojogoat » Fri Oct 24, 2014 3:57 pm

I am near completion of this van, Took a year and it was fun but now I'm going new and bigger, bought a new Promaster to convert into a camper. I have it listed in Samba http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/ ... id=1702605 Awaiting new seat covers and polishing out the new paint though every one likes it matte. Hoping to keep it in the states although I have allot of enquireys from England and Canada. Will be up for sale in about 2-3 weeks. I also will have a ton of Type 2 parts I have amassed to sell after the bus goes.

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energyturtle
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Re: 78 Champagne Westy Heads up

Post by energyturtle » Fri Oct 24, 2014 5:54 pm

Shit. I will sell mine for half that to the right person. Good luck partner. Not trying to be a smart ass, but....just saying. Oh and we have a classified section.You might get more attention in that section of the forum. I am very curious if you get the asking price. If you do there will be another listed right behind it and I'll go buy 3 more. Happy fishing :pukeright: Image Image
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mojogoat
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Re: 78 Champagne Westy Heads up

Post by mojogoat » Fri Oct 24, 2014 6:27 pm

I thought this is the classified section. Yeah, you got me beat, your work is far superior to my wreck.

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energyturtle
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Re: 78 Champagne Westy Heads up

Post by energyturtle » Sat Oct 25, 2014 6:17 am

You are in the classifieds, my aplogies. Its not a wreck, by any means. Its damn good work from what I can see. I'm just curious as to where this number comes from. It has a lot of incorrect parts. No chrome bumpers brown carpet in front floor, incorrect seat coverings, ect. The price on these keep getting driven up over there. Our passions keep getting price gouched with incorrect inferior parts one bus at a time. If your bus brings that with all the incorrect parts. Then a pristine original must bring 50k. Mine is somewhere in the middle at 35k. That don't have a thing to do with craftsmanship. This is about non original, custom westys being sold for a hell of a lot more than their worth. I do understand things are worth what someone will pay.........we will see? Just friendly debate man.

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energyturtle
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Re: 78 Champagne Westy Heads up

Post by energyturtle » Sat Oct 25, 2014 6:23 am

What did the end-play come in at? What's compression? Original heads? Did Hoffman fix the AMC cores? Are you running a T-stat? Body mileage? Why did u cut the dash?
Scottie

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poptop tom
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Re: 78 Champagne Westy Heads up

Post by poptop tom » Sat Oct 25, 2014 6:35 am

Nice work, but what happened to the chrome bumpers?
Mr. Blotto wrote, "Boy - thanks for the offer, but a month in poptop tom's world means 5 years"

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energyturtle
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Re: 78 Champagne Westy Heads up

Post by energyturtle » Sat Oct 25, 2014 6:41 am

That engine is beautiful. The attention to detail is truly a work of art. With such a keen eye and craftsmanship, why not go all the way pure. Your bus has the potential of being possibly the nicest champagne edition out there. I just don't understand? Now if your selling labor, its probably worth every damn penny.

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Bleyseng
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Re: 78 Champagne Westy Heads up

Post by Bleyseng » Sat Oct 25, 2014 9:42 am

Let's not get into a pissing match but Westy's in Europe go for 20-30,000 € which is about $30-40,000 US dollars. They love the Type 4 powered Westys as they can keep up on the highways with the other traffic. Recently I saw most speed limits were 70-80 mph in France, Spain,NL and Belgium.
I did notice the non OEM fabric throughout, how come as its available?
Geoff
77 Sage Green Westy- CS 2.0L-160,000 miles
70 Ghia vert, black, stock 1600SP,- 139,000 miles,
76 914 2.1L-Nepal Orange- 160,000+ miles
http://bleysengaway.blogspot.com/

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Re: 78 Champagne Westy Heads up

Post by mojogoat » Sat Oct 25, 2014 11:57 am

Look up NADA values for a 78 Camper excellent condition. I didn't use period correct upholstery and did safety upgrades, modernizations and improvements because I was going to use it as a camper, not wear it or show it. I've kept most all of the original parts and upholstery in case someone wants to make it correct. I've spent most of my life as a mechanic and had fun building this motor, pretty much like working on a HD motor. This has been my hobby over the last year and the level of detail in the engine is the same throughout the bus. Most people do not have the time to invest to do that unless they enjoy it. I've got many folks overseas contacting me wanting to buy it, I hope it stays here in the US.

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energyturtle
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Re: 78 Champagne Westy Heads up

Post by energyturtle » Sat Oct 25, 2014 5:41 pm

Its a good looking bus. I built mine over 7 years, counting pennies, learning, trial and error. Many hiccups along the way. I loved it. Now its daily driven and used to its fullest capability. Maybe a little jealous that I could never sell it even though I know what it could bring. I love all the one year only trim pieces. I guess I'm a purist who has saw enough selling of these beautiful models. To each their own, but I love to drive, go on adventures, that is the true reward for my labor, as it was never about money to me. Good luck in your search for a buyer. I mean that. You did a great job. Not my taste, but a great job at that.

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Re: 78 Champagne Westy Heads up

Post by mojogoat » Sat Oct 25, 2014 8:02 pm

One of the tedious elements was fasteners, finding the right screws nuts and bolts periodically during the build was time consuming. The majority of the fasteners are new, a pet peeve of mine, I've seen too many things break or fall off just from a failed fastener and it just doesn't look right, kinda like putting old shoe laces on new shoes. Worked on allot on motorcycles. I would keep it but I don't have the room and I'm trying to keep my vehicle number low.

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Amskeptic
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Re: 78 Champagne Westy Heads up

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Oct 26, 2014 6:03 am

mojogoat wrote:One of the tedious elements was fasteners, finding the right screws nuts and bolts periodically during the build was time consuming. The majority of the fasteners are new, a pet peeve of mine, I've seen too many things break or fall off just from a failed fastener and it just doesn't look right, kinda like putting old shoe laces on new shoes. Worked on allot on motorcycles. I would keep it but I don't have the room and I'm trying to keep my vehicle number low.
You have what I would deem to be a $17,000-$20,000.00 vehicle there.

We all have to kiss our "time in it" good-bye. Ad copy that goes on about the billions of hours spent on it falls on deaf ears.

Our particular fascinations have to be set aside as well. I saw your engine, I suffered through the over-attention to detail where everything had been battened down with wire tires to a state of complete immobility. I totally understand your attention to detail, but the market may not.

My particular horrors are always fired up when I see the unseemly lengths people go to to "rust-proof" their car, where their work actually guarantees a fricken disaster of hidden rot ruining our never-to-be-seen again German steel, because they have notions about how to stop rust that are all wrong.

Good luck with that mojogoat. Let us know what you get for it. I never got to drive it, so I can't give an All In endorsement . . .
Colin
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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Re: 78 Champagne Westy Heads up

Post by mojogoat » Sun Oct 26, 2014 7:28 am

I would argue that it is worth much less, but the market is what it is. My last 2 projects, 1955 and a 1969 chevy pickup were easier as parts were abundant. Those ended up as birthday gifts to family members. With regard to securing things down, I would have to argue that point. Compare modern cars to the early ones, the newer cars have their electrical and fuel systems well secured and engineered that way as compared to early vehicles which were quite sloppy unless it was a higher end vehicle. I seen enough failures due to loose or unprotected hoses, wires etc… in my lifetime in the trade. Heat, corrosion, vibration, misalignment contribute to failure. I am a novice with regard to VW's but I have experience in the trade from aircraft carriers to motorcycles and pretty much everything in-between over my lifetime revealed the same causes to failures.

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Amskeptic
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Re: 78 Champagne Westy Heads up

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Nov 04, 2014 9:02 am

mojogoat wrote:I would argue that it is worth much less, but the market is what it is. My last 2 projects, 1955 and a 1969 chevy pickup were easier as parts were abundant. Those ended up as birthday gifts to family members. With regard to securing things down, I would have to argue that point. Compare modern cars to the early ones, the newer cars have their electrical and fuel systems well secured and engineered that way as compared to early vehicles which were quite sloppy unless it was a higher end vehicle. I seen enough failures due to loose or unprotected hoses, wires etc… in my lifetime in the trade. Heat, corrosion, vibration, misalignment contribute to failure. I am a novice with regard to VW's but I have experience in the trade from aircraft carriers to motorcycles and pretty much everything in-between over my lifetime revealed the same causes to failures.
Chafing. It's about chafing. I showed you the factory engine. They do not have one damn wire tie forcing a part to jam against another part (especially spark plug wires). Add in the radial movement allowed with Type 4 engines, and harnesses and fuel lines must have plenty of give.

You are conversing with someone who has been around the block a few times, so I will reiterate that clamping down excessively can lead to its own problems.
Yes, sloppy-ass American car engine compartments were a hell of unprotected and dumb failures. No air-cooled Volkswagen has been accused of such things.

In my 1970 bus, the fuel pipe sat easily through a rubber grommet in the front tin. The previous owner decided to bolt it down with a threaded sleeve and washered nut. Guess what chafed through the wall of the damn fuel pipe? Right. The sleeve interfered with the radius of the pipe bend.

Your engine was tidy and wire-tied, and we had to work through them to free up the parts we were diagnosing, all not a big deal, BUT, I do not share my perspective to get in a pissing match, but to help the readership see that a little give is a good thing.

The wind blows down the mighty oak while the reed just bends.
ColinBENDALITTLE,DAMMIT :flower:
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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yondermtn
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Re: 78 Champagne Westy Heads up

Post by yondermtn » Sat Nov 15, 2014 2:38 pm

Amskeptic wrote: My particular horrors are always fired up when I see the unseemly lengths people go to to "rust-proof" their car, where their work actually guarantees a fricken disaster of hidden rot ruining our never-to-be-seen again German steel, because they have notions about how to stop rust that are all wrong.
Colin
I'd be interested in some expansion on this. I know there are enough products and methods out there to make my head spin which is why I've never gone "full-in" with any one of them.

As far as the bus in the OP, my eye immediately goes to the rear apron where the factory body holes are on either side of the engine hatch. I see this bus has new metal or bondo covering those holes.
1977 Westy 2.0FI
1990 Vanagon MV 2.1 Auto

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