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Thu Oct 31, 2002 4:01 pm

i have a question regarding later (64-67)
pop top westies...if a westy was based on a kombi model, would it have the flat grey door panels while a westy based on a standard would have the salt & pepper style door panels?

Thu Oct 31, 2002 4:45 pm

westies were all based on kombi bodies. many of them came with two tone paint. the body is still a kombi (no rear heater outlet, slide in roof panels in the cab), it just has a paint scheme like a microbus.

Fri Nov 01, 2002 8:13 am

thanks for the info lind...let me make sure i understand this though...kombis didn't ever have heater outlets in the back while standards always did?...i like to know this little known info about buses...what color would the steering wheel and knobs be then? or was that ever in relation to the body style?

Fri Nov 01, 2002 9:35 am

the only buses that had rear heater outlets were microbuses (standards and deluxes). microbuses also had ivory or grey steering wheels depending on the year. the other models including kombis are considered comercial models and had black steering wheels and knobs. ambulances had ivory knobs. the only other exception that I know of is that a few black knobs started to show up on 67 microbuses. I have seen a couple really original 67 microbuses that had a mix of black and grey knobs.

Fri Nov 01, 2002 10:01 am

that's what i thought too about the commercial vehicles having black steering wheel/knobs, but my westy is based on a dove blue kombi and it has white knobs/steering wheel...it's an extremely original bus too...tell me this, what do you know about westy ladders and westy racks with a ladder attachment, was there such a thing as a ladder attachment? how do i know if my ladder is an original?

Fri Nov 01, 2002 10:07 am

also lind, i owe you an apology, i came on here a few months ago a little bit peeved about the '58 westy you bought (which is a super sweet bus by the way), but if i had bought that bus i would never have bought the '66 westy i have now, anyway if you would like me to post an apology anywhere else, i would be happy to try to make it right by you

Fri Nov 01, 2002 11:22 am

i see at least as many westys with ivory wheel & knobs as black (my own '66 included). would it have been related to the paint scheme? mine was originally that putty-like white color but i know they also came in the dark green.

Fri Nov 01, 2002 2:31 pm

no worries turdbus.
the ironic thing is that even if I had not misled (lied to) you about the bus and you had pursued it, the owner would not have sold it to you (or most anyone else). he admitted to me that he put the ad on thesamba just to gauge interest and was not serious about selling it. I actually had to talk his wife into it. I doubt that anyone else could have gotten it very easily. partially because nobody knew exactly how to find him, and he altogether quit returning emails about the bus. I had been trying to get that bus for 9 years. It also was not cheap.

I am sorry that I deceived you when you asked about the bus. but in all honesty, I would probably do the same thing all over again and I wouldn't really expect any different when a stranger is asking about a bus is being pursued.

Fri Nov 01, 2002 2:41 pm

in response to the steering wheels on westies, there does appear to be many later westies that have grey steering wheels. all of the pre 62 westies that I have seen have had black wheels and knobs. perhaps in the 62-67 years it was just random. there were some thing that VW was very picky about being correct and others VW didn't seem to think made a difference. case in point, I have never seen a black ambulance fan switch that came from the factory on a bus. I have seen black knobs, but they are just a standard swf switch from that time period. all of my parts lists say that there is only one ambulance fan switch available, while there are two or three dash knob colors available.

also, I forgot to say in the earlier post that prior to 59 only deluxes had ivory knobs and wheels. the ivory and then grey for standards showed up in 59.

Fri Nov 01, 2002 2:58 pm

hey lind...does your westy have a propane fridge?

Fri Nov 01, 2002 4:36 pm

my westy does not have a fridge or an icebox.