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RIOMX Tue Apr 27, 2010 12:51 pm

This is the only one I've seen in person. I was trying to see if I could source a headliner and modified overhead cabinet like this bus had, but not even BustedBus had the parts. They must be really rare. This bus is what my bus wants to be when it grows up.

1977 Weekender

















Below is a pic I snapped with my phone a few months ago. The overhead cabinet was cut on the left side to accommodate the curved headliner.



Anyway, anyone else have one of these?

Andre4 Tue Apr 27, 2010 7:31 pm

Many of us have owner-converted ones but I always thought I had never personally seen a factory non-poptop late camper. These are the first pictures I've seen of one that looks convincingly real. I took my interior out of what I thought was an owner converted hardtop camper but it did have the wood headliner and I'm quite sure the overhead cabinet is curved like the one you pictured. There were other hack-type details in the interior that made me think it was an owner-done conversion but maybe not. I have the cabinet in storage but I can dig it out in a few days if you need details.

Andre

SGKent Tue Apr 27, 2010 7:36 pm

Looks like a nice bus but a little short on headroom. Pretty quiet and good in the wind though I'll bet.

MalibuLX3 Tue Apr 27, 2010 7:44 pm

I like it! I've always had a thing for the non-pop top campers

RIOMX Tue Apr 27, 2010 9:03 pm

Andre4 wrote: Many of us have owner-converted ones but I always thought I had never personally seen a factory non-poptop late camper. These are the first pictures I've seen of one that looks convincingly real. I took my interior out of what I thought was an owner converted hardtop camper but it did have the wood headliner and I'm quite sure the overhead cabinet is curved like the one you pictured. There were other hack-type details in the interior that made me think it was an owner-done conversion but maybe not. I have the cabinet in storage but I can dig it out in a few days if you need details.

Andre

I'm pretty sure that this was converted by Westfalia and not an owner-conversion, but I could be wrong. If Joe still has the bus, I could try and set up a time to take more thorough pictures. This is the only one I've ever come across. Everything was completely tidy and looked as if it were original. The headliner was made from exactly the same material that is the headliner and underside of the bed in pop-top Westfalia camper buses.

If you could photograph and post your overhead cabinet, that would be awesome. I've tried to find more photos of Weekenders like this, but haven't been successful.

Glad to hear someone else has seen these - thanks for responding, Andre.

RIOMX Tue Apr 27, 2010 9:04 pm

SGKent wrote: Looks like a nice bus but a little short on headroom. Pretty quiet and good in the wind though I'll bet.

Headroom is over-rated ;)

It'd be nice to stand up, but I love my tin-top so much. I'm perfectly happy without a pop-top. The only downside is you hear EVERY SINGLE DROP in a rainstorm. Other than that, it's great!

RIOMX Tue Apr 27, 2010 9:04 pm

MalibuLX3 wrote: I like it! I've always had a thing for the non-pop top campers

Same here :)

Wild Bill Tue Apr 27, 2010 9:07 pm

Got to love those tin roof Campers :wink: :wink:

busdaddy Tue Apr 27, 2010 9:35 pm

RIOMX wrote: Andre4 wrote: Many of us have owner-converted ones but I always thought I had never personally seen a factory non-poptop late camper. These are the first pictures I've seen of one that looks convincingly real. I took my interior out of what I thought was an owner converted hardtop camper but it did have the wood headliner and I'm quite sure the overhead cabinet is curved like the one you pictured. There were other hack-type details in the interior that made me think it was an owner-done conversion but maybe not. I have the cabinet in storage but I can dig it out in a few days if you need details.

Andre

I'm pretty sure that this was converted by Westfalia and not an owner-conversion, but I could be wrong. If Joe still has the bus, I could try and set up a time to take more thorough pictures. This is the only one I've ever come across. Everything was completely tidy and looked as if it were original. The headliner was made from exactly the same material that is the headliner and underside of the bed in pop-top Westfalia camper buses.

If you could photograph and post your overhead cabinet, that would be awesome. I've tried to find more photos of Weekenders like this, but haven't been successful.

Glad to hear someone else has seen these - thanks for responding, Andre.

That would be the P21 model, I've got a full width headbanger for a late headliner bus if you want pics.

RIOMX Tue Apr 27, 2010 10:23 pm

Quote: That would be the P21 model, I've got a full width headbanger for a late headliner bus if you want pics.


Sure! Ive never seen one before. Great to know the model number. Why is it that these aren't very well-documented?

Edit: never mind - Karl mentioned them quite a bit over the years, and so did you. Just no one ever posted photos.

thewalrus Wed Apr 28, 2010 5:49 am

Wild Bill wrote: Got to love those tin roof Campers :wink: :wink:
X2 8)

It's my own conversion but I still love it.

hailfrank Wed Apr 28, 2010 6:41 am

i like that, a tintop but westy inside. :D

Andre4 Fri Apr 30, 2010 2:54 pm

I finally got around to digging out my headbanger. Here we go:









Since this post started I realized I've seen more late tintops than I thought. I was thinking of 76-79 only I guess because I actually owned a tintop 74. When I first looked at it it's interior was complete and I remember noticing the headbanger cabinet. In 74/75 these only came in the non-poptop Westfalias. At the time I bought the camping stool and a 60s era side tent from the owner. I bought the bus a few years later but the interior had been removed and thrown away which helps explain why I forgot about it. The other tintop belongs to a friend of mine. It is a European market 75 Westfalia that has had a Devon-style poptop added to it (and that's why I forgot about that one!) I haven't seen it in awhile but it has an unmolested interior (other then the poptop of course) and doesn't have a stove behind the passenger seat. Instead it has a little cubby storage place on top of the fridge, which may only be an icebox, I can't remember. I'll try and get pics sometime.

Andre

notchboy Fri Apr 30, 2010 4:55 pm

I know where a late one is in a wrecker-looks like ass on the outside-open it up to look inside-just like that one :shock: ^^^

I hope to hord it some day :cry:

RIOMX Mon May 03, 2010 9:34 am

Andre:

Thanks for posting that pic - the cabinet is awesome! It's only the second one I've seen so far.

I think it's funny that so many others have seen these "weekenders." I've only come across one. Maybe people in the Rocky Mountain region always went for the poptops instead.

Anyway, let me know if you ever want someone to take that cabinet off your hands :D

Andre4 Sun May 16, 2010 7:00 pm

Well now here's one on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Volkswagen-Bus-Vana...414f95f212

Sorry Rio, I haven't had a chance to get the info you wanted on that cabinet yet... I haven't forgotten!

Andre

RIOMX Sun May 16, 2010 7:04 pm

Andre4 wrote: Well now here's one on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Volkswagen-Bus-Vana...414f95f212

Sorry Rio, I haven't had a chance to get the info you wanted on that cabinet yet... I haven't forgotten!

Andre

No worries. Figured you're busy. I'm also trying to source an early bay birch wood headliner to fit a curved cabinet. There's one, but it's about 5 hours from where I live :)

RIOMX Wed Sep 29, 2010 8:23 am

Still looking for a weekender overhead cabinet.

I ordered this one from a Samba member:



But it arrived like this:









If anyone knows where I can find one other that TheSamba, TheBusco and BustedBus, I'd greatly appreciate any leads. It's the last Westfalia interior piece I need.

pittwagen Wed Sep 29, 2010 10:10 am

I am putting a 74 P27 camper unit in my 79 deluxe bus - creating in effect a P21 but with the fridge and possibly the stove. I may put a Propex heater in and if so I will probably install the stove. The water tank is coming out to create more storage space and is being replaced with a slim one of the same capacity under the van. BN4 in the engine compartment and a vented battery case under the seat.

I like the full width bed and while some hauling space is lost, I think it is a good trade off. You don't tend to spend much time in a P21 anyway - without the roof. Can't rotate the passenger seat either. The camper weight distribution is better as well - not overloaded on the driver's side, if that is an issue for anyone.

The 74 P27 didn't come with a headbanger so I had to create one. I couldn't find a headbanger unit so I made a template to get the roof curvature and guessed the size of the rest from pics I have obtained/found on this site. I have a 74 bed/seat face to make the headbanger face and door from a 77 westy bed/seat face. Just got the baltic birch yesterday to complete cabinet mods etc. and a thin kerf saw blade to cut the seat face with the laminate attached.

So why don't you try to reconstruct what you have. Can't see from the pics if your door is shot but assuming it is, why don't you see if you can locate a late 76> lower bed/seat face and cut the headbanger face from that and use the door that would have come with it. The door I believe is very close in size to the P21 headbanger door. The P21 headbanger door is larger than the later P22/27 headbanger doors. The rest of your cabinet looks like it might be salvagable.

You will probably have more luck finding the bed/seat face than the headbanger. This way you are not trying to mess with different kinds of laminate colours etc.

Good luck.

RIOMX Wed Sep 29, 2010 10:22 am

pittwagen wrote: I am putting a 74 P27 camper unit in my 79 deluxe bus - creating in effect a P21 but with the fridge and possibly the stove. I may put a Propex heater in and if so I will probably install the stove. The water tank is coming out to create more storage space and is being replaced with a slim one of the same capacity under the van. BN4 in the engine compartment and a vented battery case under the seat.

I like the full width bed and while some hauling space is lost, I think it is a good trade off. You don't tend to spend much time in a P21 anyway - without the roof. Can't rotate the passenger seat either. The camper weight distribution is better as well - not overloaded on the driver's side, if that is an issue for anyone.

The 74 P27 didn't come with a headbanger so I had to create one. I couldn't find a headbanger unit so I made a template to get the roof curvature and guessed the size of the rest from pics I have obtained/found on this site. I have a 74 bed/seat face to make the headbanger face and door from a 77 westy bed/seat face. Just got the baltic birch yesterday to complete cabinet mods etc. and a thin kerf saw blade to cut the seat face with the laminate attached.

So why don't you try to reconstruct what you have. Can't see from the pics if your door is shot but assuming it is, why don't you see if you can locate a late 76> lower bed/seat face and cut the headbanger face from that and use the door that would have come with it. The door I believe is very close in size to the P21 headbanger door. The P21 headbanger door is larger than the later P22/27 headbanger doors. The rest of your cabinet looks like it might be salvagable.

You will probably have more luck finding the bed/seat face than the headbanger. This way you are not trying to mess with different kinds of laminate colours etc.

Good luck.

I would have actually glued it back together (I pieced it back together and it would have held up decently, but not great), but I got a refund and the seller filed a UPS claim to recover the costs. UPS wanted it back to inspect it, so I no longer have it.

Also, the door for the late bay weekender headbangers is in fact the same size as a bed door. Your idea of cutting a face from a bed isn't bad at all. I even have an extra westy parts bed. If I can't locate an original cabinet, I'll consider using it to make one instead.



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