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'68 Hardtop Westfalia "down by the river"
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Dana Champion
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Joined: July 06, 2012
Posts: 633
Location: Ventura County, CA
Dana Champion is offline 

PostPosted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 6:10 pm    Post subject: '68 Hardtop Westfalia "down by the river" Reply with quote

aka " the treasure of the Ventura river "

Back in the day, if you will,I had a sore neck from looking for Vdubs. I was driving around Ojai, and spotted this bus that looked like it might be for sale. Probably '93. Turns out it was a '68 Hardtop Westfalia, with no engine or trans, in primer. Originally red, everything else was pretty much intact. I remember it had a decent set of Michelins on it. So I bought it for $50. bucks. Unheard of today. Tires were worth that. I towed it to my friends house, where my other '68 Bus was parked. Nice friend. I had two ghias, an oval, and my 15 window at my house, and my wife did not want any more cars around. Now, cant say that I blame her.That's another story in its self... Long story shorter, I had to move the bus from the friends place that he was renting. I has recently sold the other '68 that I found on the frontage road to the 101, and put a rebuilt engine in. Another friend was renting a large spread of land down in the river bottom of the Ventura river. He said I could park it there. Cool ! Got it moved onto the property. I had swapped the Michelins onto the other bus to sell it. There it sat. Safe, from human intruders, in a forested backdrop down by the river, ....so I thought.
After moving the bus to its location I left for a nine month job working in Baja Ca. Cabo San lucas, and surrounding areas. I drove down in March of 1995. Nice drive. My brother would join me to work on the same project a month or so later.
We had an awful lot of rain that spring back in Ventura County. I was already anticipating turning the bus into a true baja bus, for working the following years down in Cabo.
As it turns out my bus was parked closer to the river than I expected, because the river rose and took by beloved bus,down river about a quarter mile. I came home over the fourth of july, and had to see what had become of this bus! OMG! The doors had opened as it tumbled downstream. It was a total wreck. At that time I just washed my hands of it. It wasn't in my name. What are you gonna do? Wasnt worth anything, then...
Well that was almost 20 years ago, and yesterday, I decided that I needed to find it again. The area is so grown over since then, it's hard to find. I plan to go back and make a more concerted effort to find any salvageable remains of this old girl, if any.
Stay tuned....
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Da TOW'D
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Joined: December 25, 2005
Posts: 1318
Location: Bella Coma Canada
Da TOW'D is offline 

PostPosted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 8:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Having my share of salvage from floods
where is the rest of the story Dana?
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cheers
Hank
_________________
'57 type 1 Blackberry
'58 SC Ruf
'62 type 3 Notch
'92 Eurovan Willy DD
and NUTS
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Dana Champion
Samba Member


Joined: July 06, 2012
Posts: 633
Location: Ventura County, CA
Dana Champion is offline 

PostPosted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 5:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hank,
Thanks for sharing your "flood" shots. It's a drag to get your car flooded. Was your single cab moved by the water, or just "wading"? Is that water coming out of the engine or really clean oil!? lol ... I was hoping to have gone to look for the Westfalia by now, but have not made the time. I consider your post an encouragement, thanks. Sorry for the delay... I will finish this. Thanks for the support. What is the status of your truck?....
Peace,
Dana
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Da TOW'D
Samba Member


Joined: December 25, 2005
Posts: 1318
Location: Bella Coma Canada
Da TOW'D is offline 

PostPosted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 7:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Our single cab Ruf is our work horse. Yes that was water coming out the drain.
The water rose 16 ft. from normal but Ruf never floated away. I've drained all the possible places a couple of times replaced all the oils twice. The steering box froze up during the first winter after the flood. I ended up replacing both throttle and clutch cables and pulled the engine to check the clutch.
All good, wish I could say the same for the Ghia and the diesel Golf.
cheers
Hank
_________________
'57 type 1 Blackberry
'58 SC Ruf
'62 type 3 Notch
'92 Eurovan Willy DD
and NUTS
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