TheSamba.com :: View topic - How to ID your camper (westy and non-westy)

Fri Feb 11, 2005 12:18 am

fig - thanks for the additional pictures. that is one SWEET bus!

jmp@ncounty.net - there was recently a '57 westy for sale on ebay. the kid (seller) bought it about seven years ago and threw away the OG springframe kit and replaced it w/ a "much nicer" vanagon kit. he thought the springframe kit looked pretty hokey... *ouch* would you be interested in a repro. kit? Lind mentioned maybe doing a run of them in a post a while back... what would you do w/ your '58 kit if you found a springframe kit?

VW_05 - Technically, VW didn't make any of the campers. Their offical conversion company was Westfalia, the other conversions were at the dealer level (usually hacking up panels that were slow selling). BTW, that isn't a Westfalia campmobile in that brochure. By the time that pamphlet appeared, somewhere around 1962, orders for campers were skyrocketing (so to speak) and this is where the aftermarket conversions were coming in to help keep up w/ the demand. VW was also up against the wall for the "bastard engine" in the 1960 model year, and I've always wondered if Westy sales weren't negatively effected by this (as the campers were/are heavier). It's easy to conceive that some of the panels that didn't sell in '62 could have been converted into campers in '63 or '64 and sold that way, etc. It's interesting that VW would use a non-Westy on their official literature, as they weren't official conversions. I have no clue what type of camper that is however, sorry. Cool tent on the top though! (FWIW, one of these is up on ebay right now.)

oval_addict - SO-23's came w/ both two and six popouts. There was a thread quasi-related to this a while back - here it is: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=99884&highlight=so23+popouts

VW Josh - cool looking bus. I like the tent mounts - tall ones! No clue what kind it is though... Interior pics may help.

Ky.Steve - sounds like another cool bus! perhaps it's worth a foray into the Baywindow forums if the sticker says 1970. I know the euro westies from that era had the smaller splittie style poptops, but other than that they're all pretty much greek to me. there are some UK based forums as well, they may have more info. on the dormie tops... (I know they cont'd on well into the baywindow era...)

It would be great if the owner's of some of the other types of campers would post some pics of their respective kits as well!

Fri Feb 11, 2005 6:31 pm

dieselnut,
I'll trade my 58 kit for a spring fram kit anytime.
I sell my 58 kit when I find a real kit.
I thought of making my own kit as I have a nice wood shop to use with all the right tools, and have years of wood work/finsh experience.
The spring frame part I wood have to have made. Maybe I could get that of of Lind if he has a few made thats the only hard part to make for me.
The other steel parts are pretty basic to make.
but for now it dos'nt look to bad with the later interior in it.

Fri Feb 11, 2005 7:37 pm

the kit in my bus is from my old 64 Sundial. i was an idiot and threw away the kit from Rita's origional conversion. ill see if Kevin will let me post his pics of his bus, as it is the same as Rita.

Mon Feb 14, 2005 2:55 pm

Thanks for your input everyone - edited the post to include everyone's INTEL, both from the thread and via PM's, added pics on the non-westys as well. Thanks to everyone for allowing me to steal your pictures and run them up here, it's for a good cause methinks! :twisted: (I'll credit folks in future updates.)

JMP - I concur, I've always admired your bus in pictures I've collected of it. If you're a woodworker, you're probably the right guy to do the woodwork in a springframe kit. I would think that everything outside of the removable cabinet above the engine bay would be fairly simple, if you have the right type of wood and the right tools. And that cabinet surely wouldn't be the end of the world to make. I've swapped some emails w/ the owner of the '57 westy off ebay, he's convinced that he has one of the rarest buses ever made and his asking price is out of my range... (If he had the kit it would be!) Someday I'll get one though.... :D

Josh - additional pics of another type of kit would be cool. You're not the first one to trash a kit, and you won't be the last I'm guessing.... Although this thread may someday save a kit or two, who knows! :?:

:idea:

If anyone reading this ever has a Martin Walter Dormobile that they'd be willing to sell me, PM me! :wink:

Tue Feb 15, 2005 6:47 am

Here's some more pics of Beatrice's interior (65 camper, 12V factory conversion. Imported to JAX, FLA). Sink and seat behind the driver have already been ripped out but you can see the back closet and cabinet as well as the Travler icebox which may indicate a Montgomery Ward kit.

The cargo doors each have a flip up table. There was no spice rack. I plan on keeping the back cabinet design but will install a Zbed. The one in there now is a very flimsy design. The water tank in mine was just a 2-3 gallon white container that looks like an antifreeze bottle. . Not much volume to work with so a larger container will be installed.
Peace...

Sat Mar 05, 2005 6:32 pm

I think my interior is from a roadrunner but I am not sure. I can't find many pictures and some of the details don't match up. On top of that its all in a 15 window right now! Any help with identifing this one?

some say it looks kinda like a riviera also?

Sat Mar 12, 2005 9:52 pm

Cool bus! Doesn't look like a Riviera to me, I think you are correct in assuming the kit is a Roadrunner. I'm pretty sure that Roadrunners were not being produced in 1960, so it had to be a later conversion. I would guess that it was converted to a camper outside of the Roadrunner "factory" as there are no tent mounts on the roof. Have you tried to contact previous owners to get their input? Might be worth a shot!

Mon Mar 14, 2005 3:48 pm

ok, im guessing this westy is a 1961 SO-23 subhatch. itll be in my driveway in a few weeks!

http://www.geocities.com/bakergene1999/split_buses_7.html

http://www.geocities.com/bakergene1999/split_buses_6.html

http://www.geocities.com/bakergene1999/split_buses_4.html

http://www.geocities.com/bakergene1999/split_buses_5.html

needs some work, but its worth it!

Tue Mar 15, 2005 8:25 pm

that is a SO23. you got a really good price on it. there are some out there that sell parts of the interior for what you paid for the whole bus. i currently own 3 SO23's, they are by far my favorite kinds of bus.

Tue Mar 15, 2005 8:51 pm

camper question. how much can the subhatch open?? all the way or only up like you have it in that last pic??

Tue Mar 15, 2005 10:47 pm

hmmmmm.....i dont know how far it is suppost to open, however the 1960 opens all the way! the black and red one will be delived by the end of the month, and the grey one will be delivered in about two months. does yours have the refer in it? what does your m-plate say? post it if you get the chance, also i hope you didnt opt out of the original motor, that would suck, if it is maybe he will hold it till you round up the cash.

Tue Mar 15, 2005 11:15 pm

the refer?? i dunno what the m-code plate says, i havent seen the bus in a while. yeah, im hoping it is a different motor. if it is the origional, ill see if he will hold it for me. ill post info and more pics the next time i see it. i cant wait to get this bus home!

Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:18 pm

Thanks! My first Westy was a 64', couldn't figure out why it had that old interior, thought it was a retrofit or something. BUT, it's a S033, who knew?

Mon Apr 04, 2005 8:48 pm

ok, got my westy home today!!!

here is what the plate behind the bench seat says:

11 05 0

374 323 168 181

UO 231 SK 654C 608650

what does it all mean???

i know UO in imported to New Orleans, as Rita was from there too.

and the subhatch on it opens all the way.

and as for the motor, i asked and the dude said it was a factory rebuilt one. its is a stock 40 horse. the bus is still 6 volts!!

Tue Apr 05, 2005 1:25 am

vwjosh67 wrote: ok, got my westy home today!!!

11 05 0

374 323 168 181

UO 231 SK 654C 608650

what does it all mean???

Built 11 May 1960

374 US spec???
323 option package???
168 88Ah 6V battery
181 Chrome hubcaps
UO= US port New Orleans
231 = Kombi, LHD, load doors right
SK654C = Special colour: sealing wax red and beige grey
608650 = VIN

Nice find! :D

Tue Apr 05, 2005 8:30 am

woah, so its actually a 1960 westy??? better change my sig line, lol. thanks for the decoding!

Tue Apr 05, 2005 11:03 am

ok, M-code correction, its B23 not 323. and maybe the 374 oprion is tow hitch??

Tue Apr 05, 2005 12:21 pm

374 is North American specifications.
B 23 = SO-23 Westfalia interior
I don't know the exact particulars of B23

Fri Apr 08, 2005 10:46 am

EverettB wrote: 374 is North American specifications.
B 23 = SO-23 Westfalia interior
I don't know the exact particulars of B23

374 = 6 popout side windows.

B23 = Standard SO-23 ie no cold box. + chemical toilet. Check under the seat with the water tank. If there's a cut out in the wood frame and a rubber bung on the floor under there it once had the toilet.

Tue Apr 19, 2005 12:55 am