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1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie
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Jaymeandyan
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 6:14 pm    Post subject: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

Hi all... A little backstory on how we found this little gem. My wife and I have always talked about having a bus to travel in. Our dream is a drive from Colorado to California and back. A few months later after talking about this our friend said she had to move a bus to the mountains. I said "WHAT BUS?" "My friend has VW bus that she wants to get rid of." I then had a little freak out moment called my wife and well... you know the rest.

She said "it ran but has been sitting for 9 months so it wont start". I must say we got pretty lucky. Site unseen we agreed on a number and then we went to go check it out. I wanted to make sure I didn't agree on a price not worth paying. Did we get lucky or what!
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Jaymeandyan
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 6:18 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

The day we went to check her out.


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curtp07
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 6:27 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

Man that interior is sweet! Cool bus..

Doesnt look like a lot of work to run as is..BUT

1. Tires!
2. Rust around Windows? Hacked front window repair
3. Strip that interior, clean, reinstall, new as needed..mouse turds are EXTREMELY unhealthy.
4. Carb? Another FI system met its demise...
5. New window seals?

The buy in fee is usually the smallest investment Smile

Can't say how lucky without a number.
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Jaymeandyan
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 6:47 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

We brought her home the next week. I brought a new battery and my 12v air compressor... Tried to start it but no goo. Sounded like it was starving for fuel, so we trailered it home.

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PostPosted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 6:58 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

After inspection... bad fuel pump and the carb was just a mess.... I inspected the cardboard box of FI parts and quickly closed it HA! It just looked way to overwhelming. I thought I would try and mess with it the way it is. Finally got her running but it was a rough ride.

Next step was to pull her in and get her jacked up to inspect the rest.

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There were a lot of little things... So the ordering process began.

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Rear window was a disaster here is a before during and after.

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My daughter helping me put some of the parts on.

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This one is a MUST!
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This made me cringe...

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So I went to work!
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Finally got her riding a little better but noticed a huge oil leak coming from the filler neck. Fixed the oil leak, took the carb apart and noticed someone had the wrong size jet. Replaced that a new filter, belt and it was a little better, but the timing was still off. I decided to take it to my local shop and had them help me out. A little timing and valve adjustment did the trick.

SHE RUNS GREAT!
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Not to mention EVERYTHING on it works! AC, Electrical, Fridge, Sink, and Stove. Time for a camping trip! Smile


Last edited by Jaymeandyan on Sun Jun 12, 2016 7:28 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Jaymeandyan
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 7:10 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

Time to give her a bath.

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At this point my wife and I decided we would take her camping but first that pop top canvas needed to be replaced.

Looks "Okay" from 20ft but up close there were small pin holes rips tares and worst of all MOLD!
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I decided to take the whole thing apart and restore it all. (YOU COULD NOT PAY ME TO DO THIS AGAIN. Assembly of the new canvas was a PITA.)

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Jaymeandyan
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 7:17 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

Our first trip to 11 Mile Park at Lake George.


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Two storms she made it through... The awning got a little messed up but was easy to fix.

This is my favorite photo from the trip.
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The girls having fun upstairs.
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and a Donkey on the way home.
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Jaymeandyan
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 7:26 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

Forgot to add I found a great little 12v USB cig lighter combo... Also added a shifter extension because of my short arms and a new shift knob.

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Visibility for me is not great... not quite sure about the rest of you but I love this race mirror.
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 7:39 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

curtp07 wrote:
Man that interior is sweet! Cool bus..

Doesnt look like a lot of work to run as is..BUT

1. Tires!
2. Rust around Windows? Hacked front window repair
3. Strip that interior, clean, reinstall, new as needed..mouse turds are EXTREMELY unhealthy.
4. Carb? Another FI system met its demise...
5. New window seals?

The buy in fee is usually the smallest investment Smile

Can't say how lucky without a number.


1. Tires are actually not bad... I aired them up no dry rotting or anything...
2. Fixed the rear window rust... Front I think might need a new clip BONDO everywhere grrr....
3. Stripped all the foam out of the upper and lower cushions, washed the fabric and installed new foam.
4. Not too knowledgeable on the FI setup but I figured the carb setup was easiest for me to get it running. SHE IS SOOOO SLOW though. Going up Kenosha pass was pretty brutal. Had to downshift into second a few times.
5. Rear is done!
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Tcash
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 8:47 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

Welcome to TheSamba

Here is a little information. Good Luck

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There is a ton of information located at the top of the Forum section.
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 8:59 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

Hey nice bus and good job bring it back to life so you and the family can build fun memories in it.

Certainly read the tire "sticky" to insure you have the proper load rated tires on it. Hauling your kiddo's and wife around, you want to run good tires to prevent a blow out.

That paint on it is obviously oxidized and would probably shine up with careful polishing with a buffer with light to medium rubbing compound. If you haven't done buffed a car with a power buffer, check out youtube on how to do it without burning through your paint.

I hope you keep updating this thread as you progress through bringing it back to 100%. You should seriously consider reinstalling the FI system to the bus. There's several very knowledgeable FI folks on this site that can help guide you with it. Not only would the bus run better w/the FI all in place and functioning correctly, it would add value to the bus as well.
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Jaymeandyan
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 9:13 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

wcfvw69 wrote:
Hey nice bus and good job bring it back to life so you and the family can build fun memories in it.

Certainly read the tire "sticky" to insure you have the proper load rated tires on it. Hauling your kiddo's and wife around, you want to run good tires to prevent a blow out.

That paint on it is obviously oxidized and would probably shine up with careful polishing with a buffer with light to medium rubbing compound. If you haven't done buffed a car with a power buffer, check out youtube on how to do it without burning through your paint.

I hope you keep updating this thread as you progress through bringing it back to 100%. You should seriously consider reinstalling the FI system to the bus. There's several very knowledgeable FI folks on this site that can help guide you with it. Not only would the bus run better w/the FI all in place and functioning correctly, it would add value to the bus as well.


Bill,

Thanks for the advice on the tires... I want to put some 16in white steelies on there... I will definitely look into the right tires once I make the purchase.

Will the FI help me get up the mountains better... because it's just awful right now. 70 downhill is fine haha. Im not to keen on keeping it all original with that said what would be the best route for more power with or without FI and what kind of mods would you recommend?

I need to repaint the top portion of the bus that is white... It leaves a milky residue every time it rains or gets wet... Super weird!
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 9:36 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

Jaymeandyan wrote:

Will the FI help me get up the mountains better... because it's just awful right now. 70 downhill is fine haha. Im not to keen on keeping it all original with that said what would be the best route for more power with or without FI and what kind of mods would you recommend?


Yes.. and hopefully folks with working FI systems will add to this as well. If you're not purist and money is plentiful, you could consider a subaru engine swap. Skills on this forum is the guru w/the engine swaps.

My 70' bus is stock and is not fast in general and especially at altitudes above 5000' where the oxygen is thinner. Fully loaded down for camping, it spends copious amounts of time in 2nd gear climbing grades. I'm fine with that. If I wanted to haul butt, I'd buy a modern camper. I enjoy the slower pace of the bus as we get to see things go by at a much slower pace! lol

Jaymeandyan wrote:

I need to repaint the top portion of the bus that is white... It leaves a milky residue every time it rains or gets wet... Super weird!


This could be that your paint is badly oxidized up there too. Go to your local auto parts store and buy a med-grit rubbing compound. Apply it to a damp cotton towel and rub a 12x12" area of the roof that's clean of dirt and debris. Does it remove the oxidation and make it shine again? It maybe all it needs.
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 10:13 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

Sweet, another bay on the road in Colorado. Cool bus and nice trip report.
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 11:02 pm    Post subject: Re: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

Awesome investment for you and your young family doing this with your new addition.
and many here will always help when you need it.

Quite a lot of young families like Rich Parker take trips and post their trips
here as well.

Your Girls will always remember these times too !
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 1:41 am    Post subject: Re: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

Check out Averys Air Cooled for some refurbed steel wheels, powder coated, Amazon for Hankook tires.

If there was mold in the pop top, you may be amazed what's lurking under the sink sub floor...years of leaks, and who knows what else grows some pretty interesting stuff Smile
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 5:14 am    Post subject: Re: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

Sniff....I love threads like this!
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secretsubmariner
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 5:24 am    Post subject: Re: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

Jaymeandyan wrote:
Will the FI help me get up the mountains better... because it's just awful right now. 70 downhill is fine haha. Im not to keen on keeping it all original with that said what would be the best route for more power with or without FI and what kind of mods would you recommend?



yes, The FI will help but...you're still at about 70hp pushing a ton and a half of people and steel. The Fuel Injection is a really sturdy system. If you can get it complete and have 0 air leaks. lol

Dude, mods

Also, the Champagne Edition is somewhat of a rare bird, not really sought after, but it is a special edition. Check this out: Champagne Information thread Also, there's a running list of Champagne campers and transporters, to document how many have survived. Would you mind posting your build date (on the silver sticker on the door jamb of driver's door) and the last 6 of your VIN?

Stoked for your bitchin' ride, man.
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 10:16 am    Post subject: Re: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

Y'all really jumped right in, congrats!

secretsubmariner wrote:
Jaymeandyan wrote:
Will the FI help me get up the mountains better... because it's just awful right now. 70 downhill is fine haha. Im not to keen on keeping it all original with that said what would be the best route for more power with or without FI and what kind of mods would you recommend?



yes, The FI will help but...you're still at about 70hp pushing a ton and a half of people and steel. The Fuel Injection is a really sturdy system. If you can get it complete and have 0 air leaks. lol

Dude, mods

Also, the Champagne Edition is somewhat of a rare bird, not really sought after, but it is a special edition.


It's my opinion that fuel injection equals an elevated fire risk that is not worth worrying about. I've been rolling with a Weber progressive for years now. It's not perfect, but is simple and when tuned correctly very reliable and adequate. My bus sits for weeks at a time and I can always jump in and it fires right up. It doesn't like the cold, but here that is not much of an issue. For more power look into dual carbs. Or just dial that progressive in and enjoy it!

I can't agree with Secret Sub on the Champagne edition comment. Maybe for standard station wagons, but a CEII Westy is the top of the line and very desirable. I had one for a while, needed a lot of work, but I sometimes regret selling it.

Welcome to the Westy life!
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 13, 2016 10:25 am    Post subject: Re: 1978 Westfalia Champagne Edition aka Frannie Reply with quote

IDK, if I buy another bus, it will be a 2.0 liter powered late bay. It would HAVE to have the original FI system in place or I'd reinstall it. I agree that the majority of bays that catch fire seem to be the fuel injected ones. However, I think you can mitigate that fire risk by insuring all the FI fuel parts are in like new condition with the correct fuel hose, clamps, etc.. I'd also run one of those Blazecut systems in any FI powered bus due to the 28PSI fuel pressure.

http://busjunkies.com/shop/blazecut-fire-suppression-system/

That's one of the big advantages of the late bays. The FI system and 2.0 liter engines that can propel you down the freeways at 65-70 degrees. I love my bone stock 70', carb powered bus as well but.. it would be nice to have FI too.
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**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
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