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Sat Sep 27, 2014 9:22 am

I have recently acquired a new member to my veedub family, a 78 Westfalia Deluxe Camper. I put a small back story in the "Today In Bay Window Hunting History" thread if you would like to read ( http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...start=1020 )
This Bay has been very well taken care of for most of its life, until 12 years ago when it was parked in the barn due to a back injury. I pulled out this immaculate Westy this past weekend and now it is time for her to be cleaned up again. In its current shape, I think all I will have do for now is get it cleaned up and made road worthy, I hope...... Hopefully i won't have to start a ground resto up right away.

I do have a couple of concerns before starting:
1. It has been sitting for 12 years, this brings in all the problems with cars that sit still for several years; Bad fuel, vacuum, and brake lines, rubber seals, electrical wires and connections, brakes, suspension, tires, fuel and tank problems, ect.

2. It has become a 5 star hotel for various visiting rodents....... the smell is terrible, but this is the least of my concerns. Their preference of stay has been in the engine compartment. Not unusual, but none the less not good for me.

3. Final concern, but not really a big one, I have not dealt with VW fuel injection in the past. This isn't a major concern because i know there is an abundance of knowledge here on the Samba. So look out, there will be questions :D

Sat Sep 27, 2014 9:33 am

Beauty find and an even better story! Can't wait to follow the build thread!

Sat Sep 27, 2014 10:53 am

WOW :shock: that is amazing, so he was "saving" it for you so it seems! That looks to be fantastically cherry, hopping that it is an easy refresh for you to get it rolling and enjoying. Looking forward to seeing what you do.

BTW what was in the westy stool?? lol

Sat Sep 27, 2014 5:49 pm

Great find now the work begins!

Caveat..... In my humble opinion!

I did something similar to this...restored...top to bottom 1978 Westy...so I will tell you my regrets.
Keep the fuel injection.
Pull engine and refurbish gas tank and associated issues...

The two things I didn't do...dagnabit....if its running than the FI works and it should be preserved... You will not be disappointed...don't get me wrong...carbs are great...went from dual kads to dual webers and like them, but as an engineer I should have followed what was engineered for this vehicle...original!

Good luck on your adventure!

Sat Sep 27, 2014 6:13 pm

Oh yeah!

Start with the gas system drain...replace all hoses...flush system....

Inspect all electrical...replace all battery cables....they my be good but corrosion hides and just eliminate it...may have to crank awhile...

Change oil...pull plug and look in the cylinders...if worried about turning over pull all plugs and put some ( sml amount) lube in cylinders...3 and 1 or WD 40... etc...an move them without compression...check compression...check spark...move from there...

Good mechanic in Raleigh... Transporterwerks...look up on web...

Mon Sep 29, 2014 8:13 am

MNTWSTY wrote: Great find now the work begins!

Caveat..... In my humble opinion!

I did something similar to this...restored...top to bottom 1978 Westy...so I will tell you my regrets.
Keep the fuel injection.
Pull engine and refurbish gas tank and associated issues...

The two things I didn't do...dagnabit....if its running than the FI works and it should be preserved... You will not be disappointed...don't get me wrong...carbs are great...went from dual kads to dual webers and like them, but as an engineer I should have followed what was engineered for this vehicle...original!

Good luck on your adventure!

Hey thank you for all of the compliments and wisdom. I am definitely keeping the fuel injection without a doubt. The problems I have read from others does not worry me a bit. With a bit of time and patience im sure the FI system will work just fine. Although im not that big of a smog or emissions fan being that we don't have to deal with that here in NC, but i will make sure the system works as it was designed too. I have not been able to do too much yet, I have plenty of work and other personal life things I am having to take care of at the moment, but with any free time I get I will tinker with it the bus.

Mon Sep 29, 2014 8:25 am

So i did start to do a little bit of cleaning this weekend, finding all kinds of goodies. I started with a quick vacuuming of the engine compartment and draining the old fuel. There was about a gallon fuel (that actually came out so far) and another gallon of pecan shells crammed into the engine compartment, mostly under the intake manifold and to the front of the engine against the firewall. Also the fuel has turned into a very dark gold liquid, smelling strong of turpentine , but there wasn't too many particulates floating in my drain can. No signs of rust yet either.

Pulled the battery, and found more squatter stashes

Pinched the line and disconnected the fuel line before the fuel filter and pump to drain, but i will probably now move over to the other side and do the same before the cross over rail.

Mon Sep 29, 2014 9:11 am

Love this bus!

You probably are planning to already, but I would definitely pull the entire interior and give everything a good cleaning. Odds are it's never been removed and the amount of trash/toys/dirt/mouse debris, that can work it's way into every nook and cranny is amazing.

Looking forward to seeing more pix. :)

Mon Sep 29, 2014 10:49 am

Bala wrote: Love this bus!

You probably are planning to already, but I would definitely pull the entire interior and give everything a good cleaning. Odds are it's never been removed and the amount of trash/toys/dirt/mouse debris, that can work it's way into every nook and cranny is amazing.

Looking forward to seeing more pix. :)

Oooooooh it is definitely coming out! The smell the rodents left behind is terrible. I actually got sick this past week for a solid three days, and had me researching the Hantavirus. Hypochondriac haha.
Luckily the previous owner when replacing the interior, he used zippers and button fasteners when putting in new material, very professional job. So now i can easily remove everything and put it all in the wash.

Mon Sep 29, 2014 11:00 am

That bus looks pretty solid. I can't wait to see more photos as you clean it up.

Mon Sep 29, 2014 11:12 am

Stopped bye the house at lunch today to bring my wheels to my work and media blast them, inside and out, so i can have them ready for powder coating this week. Just want to go ahead and make it a roller for easy moving around the shop if needed. Also, I took a pic of the fuel that came out of the tank this weekend.

Before shot of the wheels

Gas has the consistency and look of orange jello mix, kinda oily. Have not seen any rust, water separation, or foreign particulates though.

Mon Sep 29, 2014 8:04 pm

Good to begin seeing more of the Westy. Sorry to hear about the rodent intrusion. You're probably going to find nests all over.

I've had the interior out from front to back; only the front headliner remains to be removed. Here are the places I found rodent nests in my '76:
Behind firewall, to left of gas tank.
Top of gas tank, over fuel sender.
Behind woodgrain wall panel, left side.
Behind woodgrain wall panel, just to right of rear seat.
Inside rightmost fresh air duct plenum.

Hate to say it but you're probably going to find some chewed parts, too.

Tue Sep 30, 2014 4:59 am

I look forward to watching your restoration. I have the same van in the UK, which was imported in 2011.

Wed Oct 01, 2014 6:19 pm

Nice work so far..

Fri Oct 03, 2014 8:59 am

Sorry everyone but I haven't been able to do much with the bus for the past week, things have been crazy here at work and i also have a good friend has become very ill and i am helping look after his animals and estate.

That being said I have done a little bit, although trivial, it was something I could do here at my work. I sand blasted my wheels. Hurray! Why Hurray? Because it has been a nightmare trying to get Volkswagen's wheel coating off of these things. Does anyone know what exactly VW did, is it some sort of E-coating?
It was very tough.

Before shots.

After. Also, the black sharpy marks were to help me find super tough spots I needed to go back over in the cabinet.

One pet peeve of mine is I have blasted several sets vw wheel in the past, and I have noticed where others have done the same, but they leave sand still stuck between the two parts of the wheel. Can't stand it. What I have done in the past is gone back and picked it out with a finely sharpened TIG filler rod and a razor knife. That has been the only way i have figured to do this, any other ideas?

Fri Oct 03, 2014 10:02 am

beenjamin wrote: any other ideas?

have them chemically stripped instead of sandblasted. possibly using a finer grit abrasive would help but i've seen this issue with sandblasting many times.

Fri Oct 03, 2014 10:21 am

Yeah I've ran into it ever time with these stock steel wheels. Not really a fan of chemical strippers, they don't seam to do that well on these wheels, not even industrial chemicals. The media i am using is already an ultra fine silica media. I could try using some other sort of media, but i don't believe something like walnut shells, or anything else that will not wedge itself between the two parts, will be aggressive enough. Also, fine sand media seams to make for a good surface for powdercoat to adhere to, without being too aggressive and making the finished surface too rough and showing in the coating.

Fri Jan 23, 2015 10:04 am

It has been awhile, and i will start posting some of my documentation soon, but here you go, a pic of her all cleaned up on my trip Charlotte this past Wednesday.

Wed Aug 03, 2016 5:42 pm

Bump!

Any progress pics?

Love this bus. I love that pic of it straight out of storage.