TheSamba.com :: View topic - Thinking of selling my 79... please talk me out of it :)

Mon Oct 30, 2006 2:11 pm

I spent a couple of years looking for a non-rusty westy so I really appreciate the pep talk. And Scott's collection of neat 79's is really inspiring. An hour a day seems like something more manageable and I'm going to PM a couple of the folks that have parts I need. I really don't want to put that CA exhaust system back on as it just seems heavy and power hungry.

Thanks again you guys are better than taking Prosac,

Happy Hallloween, Mark :)

Mon Oct 30, 2006 2:18 pm

One more 79CA P-27 on the road!

Here is mine.....

Mon Oct 30, 2006 2:19 pm

I have a '79 CA emissions Bus also, and got rid of the exhaust. Pick up a set of '72-'74 heat exchangers and you can bolt whatever exhaust you'd like to on it. Take you muffler to an exhaust shop and have them weld in a bung for the o2 sensor and you can still have all of the benefits of the CA emissions system (the electronic ignition sure is nice) without the hard to find parts of the CA emission system.

Mon Oct 30, 2006 2:23 pm

VDubTech wrote: I have a '79 CA emissions Bus also, and got rid of the exhaust. Pick up a set of '72-'74 heat exchangers and you can bolt whatever exhaust you'd like to on it. Take you muffler to an exhaust shop and have them weld in a bung for the o2 sensor and you can still have all of the benefits of the CA emissions system (the electronic ignition sure is nice) without the hard to find parts of the CA emission system.

Tough with those square port heads though.

Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:19 pm

use 79 federal HE. one on the CA already is there, you need only the left.

Tue Oct 31, 2006 10:38 am

wunderbus wrote: Ive found that the best wat to keep a project going is to at least do something to it everyday no matter how small.

Excellent advice! My engines out too and I tried to do that to pass time but its still sad to see your engine in piece all over your garage!

:cry:

So yeah on topic now!! DON'T SELL THE BUS!! If worst comes to worst sell it too a kid in the neighbor hood or a relative and help him/her fix it up! That way you can still be connected with it! Or just store it somewhere else and fix it slowly! Anyway you look at it.....JUST DON'T SELL IT!

Tue Oct 31, 2006 1:22 pm

Just stick with it! I am sure that we have all hit road blocks along the way in our projects. There is heart break along the way but when you are done it is more than worth it.

Thu Nov 05, 2009 10:03 am

thanks guys for all the pep talk and the parts leads. They were quite helpful to the degree that I put a new, old engine in my Westy. She ran great for a while, even went to a BugOut or two in her. Then, on my way up to a Slowrider's event North of Baltimore a couple or three weeks ago I blew another engine. This time my blower sheard off the back and it appears the front and rear of my crank spin independently. Anyway, it was a beautiful day to wait for a tow, the tow truck driver was a great guy and now the Westy is back in my carport for another winter.

Anyway, I can't afford to have it back there all winter so I will be selling her, as is, soon. Too bad as she was so great on the road.

Having a bad time in DC, Mark

Thu Nov 05, 2009 11:30 am

The '79 westy is a super bus...compared to the early bays we used to work on in shop in high school, my bus is a caddy. Don't sell...it is your true daily driver. With very little maintenance it goes down the road every day. Your biggest maintenance is washing the hell out of it to keep it in existence up here.

I'm VERY close to you. I can help get your engine in. I bought the Ernst Muffler that bolts to our 79 HE's from Bus Depot. It is awesome and picks are in my gallery. I have used HE's to fit your '79 for $150 for both.
PM me.

Here's me in my '79 on top of the world.

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Thu Nov 05, 2009 1:01 pm

I just bought a 78 from Idaho, had it shipped here to Michigan and spent the last couple months pulling the engine and doing a top end overhaul and fuel tank restore. I did all this while both me and my wife work and have a 2 year old daughter to raise.

We bought a 76 a year ago to restore that was in pieces and had a fire. That was too far gone but other than that one this was my first experience with a VW. I am an aircraft mechanic by trade which helped a little but ours is up and running fine now. I would sell that 72 and use the money for the 79. The mechanical end on these is not that bad once you learn a little about them.

I still have a ton of work to do on ours but my Wife and Daughter and dogs love this thing. She would never let me sell it. My Wife is already planning trips for next year and we have to go through the brakes and make sure everything else it good. The front seats have no padding left at all and she still wants to take a trip.

Thu Nov 05, 2009 3:51 pm

I have no opinion on your bus, but I would like to thank you for coming back to update a 3 year old topic.

So many of these topics end without any resolution, or end with a bunch of suggestions, and no one ever finds out what happened or if the problem was resolved.

So thanks again. Now I'm off to check out the recent classified ads....

Thu Nov 05, 2009 9:01 pm

Why stress yourself out about it. Just dump it at a loss and kick yourself every time you get in your daily driver. At least the ol lady will quit diggin in your ass about it.

Thu Nov 05, 2009 9:37 pm

I felt the same way about a 1971 deluxe that I had so I sold it. That was 1984. I got my price as it was exceptionally clean. I now have a 1977 that cost me TEN TIMES as much to get into the same shape as my 1971 was. You will wake up one morning like I did with a longing that can only be cured by another one and the cost will be more than you can ever afford as only so many of these are going to survive and you know it. Need to think this one through. 1979 motors are still out there. Every woman I have known who turned her nose up at a VW bus has eventually turned her nose up at other things in her man's life. Real women love VW buses because they are romantic at heart and frankly there is nothing more romantic than a trip through the changing colors in a VW bus. Have you driven yet through a swarm of fireflies? Your windshield will glow!!!!!!

Thu Nov 05, 2009 10:17 pm

I'll be watching the classifieds too...he can't be far from me! Maybe it's high time for two!

Fri Nov 06, 2009 7:36 am

I sent him a PM but have not heard from him.

Fri Nov 06, 2009 8:05 am

frank79 wrote: I'll be watching the classifieds too...he can't be far from me! Maybe it's high time for two!

x2 and I may just be a hair closer :D

Fri Nov 06, 2009 8:23 am

don't sell it unless you are completely happy with your other one....myself i like to have more then one at a time, but if you don't have the space or need the money you gotta let something go.....if you are just having trouble with it at the moment, don't sell, your mind will change!!!
think of your other bus as what you drive while you finish this one and then sell the 72 to get some cash for a nice long rd trip when you are done! 8)

Fri Nov 06, 2009 8:48 am

Randy in Maine wrote: I sent him a PM but have not heard from him.

x2.

I'm down to only 1 mexico beige westy after selling one off a couple years ago. It just doesn't feel right without two. :)

He probably has a list now and thinks its worth millions!

Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:01 am

I PM'd him too...notta.

Fri Nov 06, 2009 10:05 am

Buses are members of the family, dammit. You wouldn't sell your kid, would ya? :cry: