1970 Westy Camper

[ghiastein]

Sorry for the delay but I have been busy

Jun 6, 2010 14:56:07 GMT -5 blue71 said:

Glad to hear you got back on the road safely. How was the pop-top install, and did the fit turn out decent? I"m waiting to get my bus back so I can finish assembly.

I installed it just like the original one was installed. First I removed the original one and measured it against the new one and it was the same exact size. When finished the pop top does not quite open fully. I believe with use the fabric should stretch a bit I only need about 1/4" of a inch. In the mean time I have wood supports to help stretch the fabric. It was much easier with the top removed and an air stapler helped out a lot. The worst part was the screws in the very front.

Here is some pictures.

First the original Pop-Top







And the New One







I installed the Pop-Top during our first camping trip in the Bus. Wifey and I had a great time and the Bus was very comfy.

To bring everyone up to speed I have been very busy with last minute details before we leave on our first road trip. Tons of stuff has been done to the Bus but so far the most painful was the rear side widow install with out Stevens help it would not of got done.

Please Note never use window seals from VW Brazil I have heard complaints and I have first hand experience that the seals are too big. I have had the best luck with WCM window seals.

More pictures to come....

Wifey, Jack and Me leave for our first road trip in the Bus on June 15. I cant wait.

[johnw]

WOW!! That looks great AJ.

John in Plainwell

[dansam]

Awsome job. I see a full paint resto in the works next year

[VDub63 ( Steven )]

Jun 14, 2010 18:47:23 GMT -5 dansam said:

Awsome job. I see a full paint resto in the works next year

No that was this year ......

[ghiastein]

I am back from our trip to Pennsylvania. Time to relax and spend more time on the forum.

I have logged over 1,200 miles this trip without a single problem. I did change my fan belt at my Fathers house and kept check on my oil level. The Bus did well over the Appalachian Mountain Range better then I thought. I never had to down shift into third climbing the hills unless traffic was bad. More to come on my Trip in a different thread.

Back to Bus stuff.....

Remember the Pictures that I promised of the Bus before the trip...

Here they are.

Drivers Side


Passenger Side


Front
Note the Spare Tire
Don't look at my nasty bumper OK


Rear
Before you look at it let me warn you I cut a hole in my rear hatch. Sorry

For the Third Brake Light
Remember the Ghia same thing


Look it works


Here is my Fire Extinguisher location (for easy reach)


Last I will leave you with my Shift Knob (this is the colors that Wifey wants ME to paint the Bus)

[ghiastein]

It feels so nice to be back driving an air-cooled VW as a daily driver. I have been switching between the Ghia and Bus for 4 weeks now. Other than adding oil when they need it the only tweak that I need to do was yesterday.

Yesterday I had to clean my points because the Bus was hard to start. Last week it was popping from the exhaust during start up. Time for cleaning of the points

I believe that my coil is on its last leg in the Bus. Every 1500 - 2000 miles I need to clean or replace the Points. This is just not normal for my Ghia I have not messed with the engine since last year.

I am currently running my German Bosch 009 Distributor on the Bus. Normally this was my spare distributor that I carried with me for emergency's. Now its time for a up grade.

Soon I will be dusting off my box of 205T distributors and rebuilding the best 2. One for the Bus and one for a spare. Also on my list is a new coil.

[dansam]

I never have point issues anymore

Van is looking awsome. Keep up the keepin up.

Dan

[ghiastein]

Thanks

Points one of those necessary evils that I choose to live with.

[ghiastein]

Aug 20, 2009 23:25:50 GMT -5 ghiastein said:

On Sunday August 19 of 2009 I was having fun at Steven's house aka vdub63 just having fun. He was playing on the Internet he says Hey AJ check this out. There was an add on craigslist for a 1970 Westy Bus for only $300. I was naturally interested and Steven hands me the phone. I talk with the guy he says it rusty, its missing some of the interior and that someone has already looked at it. But hey its worth a shot right. So I schedule with the owner to see it on Monday.

After the conversation with the owner I call John to see if he can help and he says that Dustin went to see it. So I call Dustin to ask about the condition of the Bus. Dustin says that its not really that rusty but it needs a ton of work and if some one had a rusty bus needing a good body it would be perfect.

Monday finally came around and Steven and I went to see it. Talk about rain tons of it all the way to see this Bus. When we arrived the sky cleared up and it was sunny. Upon first glance I was not to impressed until I started checking it out. Wow it makes my current Bus look bad real bad. It is missing the front seats, the side windows, engine and transmission. I have all of that except for front Bus seats. It has every bit of camping interior with the exception of the fold out bed. It has a few dents around it but the worst part is the passenger rear corner. Someone cut that corner out and I guess used it on their bus.

I pay the man $300 and make arrangements to pick it up on Tuesday. Thanks to Kenn and Steven we managed to get it on Kenn & Stevens Dune Buggy Trailer. With a special thanks to the previous owner for grabbing his chain winch to help us wrestle the Bus on the trailer. It was a white knuckle drive to Stevens because the back of the Bus was only one foot from my tailgate.

My plan with my current bus was to fix it up well enough to drive it then turn around and sell it to fund my next Bus. Unfortunately with the current economy I really was not expecting much. I was so worried that I could never afford my perfect Westy Bus.

Funny how plans change right. Currently my plan is to install all of the missing stuff from one bus to the better bus. Then remove any extra parts from the rusty bus and either sell the empty shell or scrap it.

My only problem is that I spent all winter, spring, and summer going through the steering, brakes, engine and electrical. Now I have to do it all over again with the exception of the engine.

One thing I forgot to add
The slider door slides and closes SO nice almost like butter. No more door falling off the tracks and into my hands. No more wrestling with the door to close it.

Its going to be fun I can't wait.

Well todays date is August 20, 2010.

Exactly 1 year from when I went to see my Bus and forked over the $300 for it. My Bus has came a long way. It started as a Bus Shell missing tons of stuff. To my current daily driver. Yea it still has some ruff spots and that will be taken care of sometime in the future. So far this year I have logged over 4,500 miles. Not bad for a $300 Bus.

Now some before and after pictures.

[81pumagtc]

AJ:

I'm pretty certain that I speak for everybody...

WOW!

Dave

[ghiastein]

Update

I now have HEAT!!!!!

After 10 or so years of driving around in aircooled Volkswagens finally I have HEAT.

Its not the hottest heat but its warm enough that you can't put your hands over the vent for very long.

Thanks for Steven's help over the long weekend we installed a new Heat Tube in the Bus using pieced together exhaust pipe. It may not look the prettiest but its functional. Also the front frame cross brace had to be replaced due to rust issues.

Currently the heaters are wires open. As soon as funds increase I will be ordering new heater cables. I can not reuse the existing heater cables because a previous owner thought is would be much faster to just cut the heater cable to remove the engine.

It was so nice to have heat on my trip to work this morning.

Next weekend Wifey and I are taking the Bus to Straits State Park for 4 days 3 night camping. We booked a campsite right on the shore of Lake Huron over looking the Mackinac Bridge. We plan on driving around St. Ignace to bring back memories of when I was 6 years old. We also plan on stopping at Tahquamenon Falls.

[ghiastein]

Well we are back from our trip sort of

We had a very fun time camping in the Bus. We cruised around St Ignace and even stopped at the Tahquamenon Falls. We had loads of fun and have plenty of pictures to prove it.

The drive home was not so fun

Everything was going fine and the Bus ran excellent the whole trip. North of Grand Rapids near Ceder Springs the Bus started running hot around 210 according to my gauge. Now it has hit 210 before usually on a hot day freeway drive, or exiting from the freeway. Normally after a few minutes it cools down to 180 or so. This time it was different. As the Bus was getting hot I pulled over to the shoulder and cruised at a more relaxed pace of 50 mph just to cool things down. After a few minutes went by a large pop was heard then the sound of escaping air every revolution of the crank. So I proceeded to the next exit and parked the Bus at the local Meijers parking lot. Then I let the Bus cool, while I assessed the damage.

I found #3 spark plug had the gap bridged with foreign matter. So I grabbed a screw driver to remove the crap, as I touched the screw driver to the spark plug the whole center electrode disintegrated in my hands. I also noticed that spark plug wire #3 was also melted. Luckily Napa was just across the street. So I purchased new plugs and a wire set.

After installing the plugs, wire set and a new set of points I felt better now and it was time to continue our trip home. So I fired up the Bus and it still was making the air escaping sound every revolution and misfiring on #3 cylinder.

Next check the valves, all looked good except for #3 exhaust. It was very tight so I backed the adjuster out almost all the way out to get my clearance needed. Fired it up again and still the same issues.

Well I am done time to call for help

Kenn and Steven show up in Kenn's big van and we figure on chaining a Bug tow bar up to my Bus bumper. Using extra safety chains and tow ropes for safety. Just as we are finishing up Jerry aka jmallen05 pulls up and says that he lives just 2 miles down the road. He suggests we tow the Bus to his house until we can find the means to tow it the rest of the way home with a dolly or a trailer.

I am so glad Jerry pulled up because I was worried about pulling the Bus the last 70 miles with a chained up Bug tow bar. Even the 2 miles to his house was a nerve wrenching experience.

After dropping the Bus of at Jerry house Kenn Steven take Leanne, Jack (doggy) and myself home for the night.

I would like to thank everyone that helped even the people I talked to on the phone sitting at the parking lot.

Thanks soon I will be retrieving my Bus with a trailer or tow dolly

[VDub63 ( Steven )]

Sept 15, 2010 14:07:31 GMT -5 ghiastein said:

soon I will be retrieving my Bus with a trailer or tow dolly

Does anyone have one he could borrow?

[dansam]

Dang...... (((drama!)))

Never a dull moment when you own an air cooled VW.

At least ya got help...

[dunedudex4]

I have a trailer you can borrow and some ratchet tie downs also. 1-616-879-0701 Thanks Dave T