1967 Westy - Welcoming Myself Aboard

[Ran When Parked]

Hello folks.

I joined today. Hopefully I am not breaking any rules already, but I wanted to say I am here with a first post.

I bought a 1967 Westy Camper 16 years ago. Put it in a shop for a year for restoration. Then I put it in a car show and won second place. Drove home and parked it for the next 15 years. Last month I remembered I had in in the garage when I saw one on T.V. I can't seem to remember why I did that. The '67 is the one in my avatar.

I am in the process of breaking it down and redoing it. Most likely I will start a build thread. I will do most of the work myself this time as I have patience.

I would also like to post to the "Today in Bus hunting history..." thread. I have been looking and have found three splittys all in bad states. I have offers out and I am waiting on the owners.

Is there a negotiation thread on this board? Perferably one that deals with rough estimating and talking to owners of rusty barn and field finds? Should I throw out a number or get them to throw one out first?

Have a great day folks.

[2true]

Got my 67 Westy 16 years ago too. Welcome.
_________________
AKA Destroyer of the Rants......

[j.pickens]

[BarryL]

Remember to come back and post up now and then.

[nice dad]

Cool I just started a 67 SC restoration project with my son.

Welcome and good luck!
_________________
1967 Single Cab

[hitest]

Speaking of forgetfulness- I refer to the previously repeated post.
Good luck with the '67-
_________________

[mg6770]

[zozo]

[Ratt]

Additionaly with a Sig line like "Haze gray and underway", It could be understandable. After a nice 6-9 month underway, I find new things in my garage all the time. When I get back to my Bus in 3 years, Im sure I will be amazed with what I find.

Welcome and try not to forget about it for another 15 years.

[Ran When Parked]

I put pictures up most of them taken today but all in the last week. The pictures show:
- Front, side, and back views
- Engine (has some holes in the floor and the seal is missing in some spots)
- Rust spots (one is from bondo on the tail end - I had the bus bead blasted so that is the only bondo spot)
- A missing antenna (I put door stoppers in the holes as I did not know it was for an antenna 15 years ago)
- Dirty Inside Panels

And one or two more photos. I guess you can see them if you search for my username. I am not sure how many photos should be embedded in a post.


When I said I forgot about the bus, the meaning was that I only interacted with it when I moved from one state to the next. The first four years it sat in the rain. I now know that was dumb. The other four years it was garaged. The last time the engine was started was to drive up on a trailer for a 200 mile trip to my new house. When it was up on the trailer, I drained the gas tank. At the new place, I rolled it off the trailer into the garage and have not looked at it for seven years.

My next steps are to remove all the cabinets, inside panels, carpet from Rocky Mountain Motorworks if memory serves me correctly, and get a good view of the floor pans. The underside has been sprayed with a protective
coating so I would like to look from the top. I will fix what I find. Then look at the engine (it was rebuilt roughly 1000 miles and 16 years ago), brakes, and whatever else i need to do.

At the same time, I am going to buy the best body non running bus I can and learn to fix that one using The Samba as my main resource and a Bentley Manual (next purchase). The only tools I have are a Leatherman,
hammer, and a thumb wrench. Funny? True. When I get up to speed, I will work on my 67 camper. As the pictures show, it is still a solid awesome bus so I don't want to get my practice in on it and tear it up.

If the bus is not ready by March 2014, I am going to have to hire someone to fix it. We will see what happens. I will post pictures.

I've been learning a lot on the forums, like how dumb I was to remove all the original upholstery and have it redone in black. It was perfectly good other than the color. I tossed that in the trash along with the original curtains and some other stuff. I did keep the T-handle on the engine lid but replaced it with one that had a key.

I received negotiation help via a PM. Thank you.

Ok, maybe it is 14 years ago. I found a picture of it at the Bugapalooza in Chattanooga, TN back in 1999. Here is the link: http://www.volksfolks.org/gallery/bug-a-paluza/bug-a-paluza-1999/image073/

[BulliBill]

That is a cool old Westfalia SO-42. Very popular right now. Ignore the offers to buy that you will get, buy some simple tools and that Bentley Workshop manual, make some new local VW friends who can also advise and assist you. Most of all, in the process of getting it back to health and on the road again, fall in love with your Splitty again and enjoy it.

Bill
_________________
I'm looking for these license plate frames for my fleet:
Coeur D'Alene - Lake Shore Volkswagen
Mission VW - San Fernando
Thornton VW - Stockton

Thanks for any help!

[Cuñado Wear]

Nice story and good luck to you. the samba is a good tool to have when trying to fix these old buses.
seems to me it looks to be in good shape.. just go threw motor and brakes and your off..
good luck to you anyway.
_________________

[otis_bartleh]

Welcome to the boards, and nice bus! Dang, threw away original curtains and upholstery... Tools wise, if you have a Harbor Freight near you, it'd be a good place to go for tools on the cheap. The Samba has been the best tool to me though... And another great reference is http://www.oacdp.org/ There are exploded diagrams of everything that can be very helpful too.

And get that bus out and enjoy her more, don't let her just sit in the garage!
_________________
-Adam
'59 Mango Bus - getting buried in it
'69 Bug - sold and highly missed, so it stays in the sig

[skramyrral]

What is the engine number?

[Ran When Parked]

If it is common practice to post engine numbers, I will read up on where to find it and post it. I would be curious to know if that is the original engine. I found a picture down in one of the side panels, the original side panels, of the original owner. He had a graduation cap on, and was standing in front of the bus, long hair and all. Just thought I would throw that in there. Well, back to drinking beer!

[bro2539]

you should drop the engine and pull the gas tank too. There is probably some nice tarnish build up in there. Nice bus!

[RPGreg2600]

[Ran When Parked]

Been working on the Bus today. I've almost pulled all the cabinets out. I saw some ugly (pictures coming shortly).

The Z-Bed was removed the hard way, by removing every screw. Once I was done I saw that four cotter pins would have released the seat which would have allowed me to remove the bottom and back as one unit. Then I would have had access to the bolts that keep the base fastened to the floor and side.

They really knew how to build cabinets back then because they are all still solid.

The upper back cabinet, that rides against the ceiling in the back, had two holes cut for speakers. That didn't look right to me so I ordered another one from The Samba Classifieds. I will let you know how that works out.

Great new is, DRUM ROLL PLEASE, the thread ""Today in Bus hunting history..." is going to get a post from me tomorrow as I have closed a deal for one (1) of the three (3) buses that I mentioned in my first ever post on The Samba.

I paid what he first asked and I feel that I didn't get ripped because I wanted it but I will be wondering what all you folks think. I can't wait to hear.

It's not in the drive way yet, so...

[Eric&Barb]

Hover your mouse cursor over the "Technical" button at upper right. Then left click on the "Owner's Manuals" that pops up in the list below.

Next page in the "Type 2" column, left click on "Owner's/Parts/Other Manuals".

Next page scroll down to your year and read up!!

1966 section has a manual on the SO-42 interior, with info like how to remove cabinets without having to completely take them apart.

Lots and lots more must read info thru all those pretty buttons.....
_________________
In Stereo, Where Available!

[Ran When Parked]