TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sun Feb 07, 2010 10:06 am

I just acquired another bus. No pics yet, sorry...

It's a '73 Westy with fewer than 90,000 miles on it and a fine body. The interior is typically degraded having sat for years in the New Mexico sun. But the bus has stock heat (a BN-4, I think -- I'm new to that) and air conditioning!

It's been sitting for awhile, though. So starting it and rolling it will have to be done with some care. Fortunately, I have until summer to remove it from it's current location, just north of Taos Pueblo.

Sun Feb 07, 2010 10:16 am

You've already got that beautiful Doublecab.....you don't need that '73. Send it on up my way, I need a good Bus body to transplant the drivetrain out of the RustyBus into!!

Sun Feb 07, 2010 11:55 am

Well, this '73 is all complete and original, so I'd hate to break it up. No - this will go to someone who wants a nice original camper. Curious thing, though, is the VIN. It's 2232000009. Aside from the coolness of being serial number 2000009, the "22" at the beginning would mean Transporter (as in "station wagon"), I think, followed by the "3" for '73. But this was clearly a Westy from the beginning. I had believed a Westy should start with "23". I'll need to examine the M codes.

Given the serial number, I think I'll call it "Number Nine".

Sun Feb 07, 2010 12:19 pm

jtauxe wrote: Well, this '73 is all complete and original, so I'd hate to break it up. No - this will go to someone who wants a nice original camper.

Where did I say anything about breaking it up? I have a complete low mileage drivetrain to put into a Bus with a good body. Replacing a smaller engine with a bigger, more efficient engine is hardly breaking it up.

Sun Feb 07, 2010 2:58 pm

VDubTech wrote: jtauxe wrote: Well, this '73 is all complete and original, so I'd hate to break it up. No - this will go to someone who wants a nice original camper.

Where did I say anything about breaking it up? I have a complete low mileage drivetrain to put into a Bus with a good body. Replacing a smaller engine with a bigger, more efficient engine is hardly breaking it up.

Look pal, I need my 1700 fix with dual carbs to boot, or I have no reason to go on living. 90,000 miles? Should stay as the original team a little while longer.
As you know, I own more bus than Backwoods Bucky has tooth these days.
:shock:

Sun Feb 07, 2010 5:28 pm

And Southwest buses stay Southwest, or I will drive to John's home and KHA,
Just kidding John.....Good score in my hometown.......bastardo......Keep it! :D

Sun Feb 07, 2010 8:41 pm

Brian -

As if you have room for another bus... :) It was excellent to meet you finally.

Nabbing this one from under your nose makes up for that killer Syncro you scored. Now, that was a steal! I'll trade ya, what do you say?

Colin -

I am counting on you to visit this summer and show me how to make this '73 really sing. You have proven that this is a fully capable engine. We'll have to talk about preparations.

Mon Feb 08, 2010 10:22 am

So, does anyone know something about the VIN variations?

Specifically, does anyone know if, in 1973, the VIN 2232000009 could have been used on a Westy? I thought all Westies were Kombis, and would have started with "23". "22" would indicate a microbus or transporter.

What gives?

Mon Feb 08, 2010 1:22 pm

jtauxe wrote: So, does anyone know something about the VIN variations?

Specifically, does anyone know if, in 1973, the VIN 2232000009 could have been used on a Westy? I thought all Westies were Kombis, and would have started with "23". "22" would indicate a microbus or transporter.

What gives?

John, I just went and checked out the VIN's on the 73 Westy and the 73 Transporter. Westy begins 233 and the Transporter is 223. Maybe yours is a sunroof conversion.

BTW, good to meet you as well, finally. Yeah, I don't know how you found this with out my knowing about it....Ah well. Glad it is going to a good home, but I really wish you would keep it so we can do some camp outs together.

No trading on the syncro........that is the wife's driver now. BTW, I am still stoned from the Rustbullet....... :lol:

Mon Feb 08, 2010 1:38 pm

I agree on not subjecting any clean busses to the great white north. No need to sacrifice anything else to our salty roads.

Mon Feb 08, 2010 2:05 pm

So when can wee see some pictures? Nice work saving this one-

Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:06 pm

Yeah I think we're all on the edge of our seats waiting to see another Bus that someone ditched in the boonies that looks way better than our northern daily drivers...

:|

Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:45 pm

thegoodfight7211 wrote: Bus that someone ditched in the boonies that looks way better than our northern daily drivers...
:|

Not a boonie bus, just off the main highway on private property. I am still curious how the heck John found it, before I heard about it... :lol: :lol:

Mon Feb 08, 2010 4:02 pm

Need to get that bus a little further South out of the mountains and onto some flat ground, I have the perfect spot in my driveway, even have a little 2.0L CS engine laying around that would be a perfect fit.

Mon Feb 08, 2010 5:01 pm

busman78 wrote: Need to get that bus a little further South out of the mountains and onto some flat ground, I have the perfect spot in my driveway, even have a little 2.0L CS engine laying around that would be a perfect fit.

:lol: :lol:

Wed Feb 10, 2010 6:30 pm

peaceful warrior wrote: thegoodfight7211 wrote: Bus that someone ditched in the boonies that looks way better than our northern daily drivers...
:|

Not a boonie bus, just off the main highway on private property.
Are you telling me that Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico is NOT the boonies? :)

Tue Jun 01, 2010 12:45 pm

VIN mystery solved (somewhat): It's a factory-original error.

Has anyone else discovered an error in the VIN plates? I have one, and I am convinced it is a factory error.

The actual VIN, as stamped into the body in the engine compartment, as recorded on the sticker on the driver's door jamb, and as stamped into a metal plate behind the passenger's seat, is 2332000009 (the 9th Westy off the line in 1973.)

But the number on the riveted plate behind the windshield (and on the title, perhaps unfortunately) is 2232000009. There is no sign of tampering, and what possible motivation would one have to do so, anyway?

So, I'm convinced that this is an all-original factory-installed error.

Has anyone else found this sort of thing?

Oh, and here's a picture, by the way, of "Number 9" as I found it in the wild, north of Taos, New Mexico:

Tue Jun 01, 2010 3:35 pm

?is that snow on the mountains (backround left top) in your fine foto?
if so that is a very nice corner of the world
if not it is a very nice corner of the world

Tue Jun 01, 2010 6:36 pm

Finally some pictures, Thanks man. That is my dream bus and dream state. Nice find. IF you sell it, I'll move there to fit your buyer criteria.

Wed Jun 02, 2010 4:17 am

How about some interior pics! Is that the bus you said you would trade me even for my panel?