TheSamba.com :: View topic

Fri Jul 22, 2011 6:14 pm

hi im isaac. Im from roseville california im 15.
This is my first car and it is a 1974 orange westfalia

It is from the california gold country and sat there since 1992. It was brought in as scrap to my dads scrap yard. After 15 min of work and new spark plugs we drove it around. It has no rust except for the battery tray.

The inside was striped of the camping gear but had all the seats. There was a full carpet set for the front and back too. After we cleaning it and puting 17 inch eclipse wheels on (i kept the originals) it looked brand new

I wraped the complete panel set from bus depot and used air duct arm rests from scrap part busses at the yard.I put wood on the floor for vinyl flooring

after i put the floor in

Then we took it to kombi haus in sac they went throough it and fixed a lot of the more complicated electrical stuff
and here is where i am now

ill keep updating to show my progress

Fri Jul 22, 2011 6:19 pm

Cool to see another bus saved. :D

Fri Jul 22, 2011 6:38 pm

I'll be the first to say it. Check your tires, if they came on the Eclipse wheels, they are passenger tires and not suitable for your bus. Also, change your fuel lines before anything else. You can buy a complete fuel line kit from German Supply that includes everything you need, from the correct diameter and pressure rated fuel line, to the correct style clamps, to the fuel filter, and everything is pre-cut and the correct length to make it very simply.

Now that I've got that out of the way...how did you get those wheels to fit? Adapters?

Great looking bus, I know it would buff out and shine like new! Check out VDubTech's posts for what he uses to buff out his buses to make them shine!

Fri Jul 22, 2011 6:54 pm

I have changed all of that out already and the tires have held up fine for the past two or three months I've had them on and the wheels fit on no adapter just had to make room for the skrews on the rear drums

Fri Jul 22, 2011 8:45 pm

Spectacular! You are one lucky 15 year old. So, am I safe to assume that the bus was free? Very nice indeed. You gotta LOVE that orange.

Fri Jul 22, 2011 9:50 pm

Very nice find! I like that you've kept what you found as original intact. Rare for a 15 year old!

Sat Jul 23, 2011 7:40 am

Isaacbmxer wrote: I have changed all of that out already and the tires have held up fine for the past two or three months I've had them on and the wheels fit on no adapter just had to make room for the skrews on the rear drums

those tires are not meant for the weight of the bus they are fine now. But the sidewalls cannot take that much abuse and will blow out around a corner or possibly on the highway.

Sat Jul 23, 2011 11:01 am

Since he hasn't given spec on the tires, how do you guys know they aren't rated properly? From the survey of Vanagons and Bays I did, it appears that over half of them run on passenger tires just fine. Mostly its only in the netherworld of the internet that passenger tires seem to give problems.

Sat Jul 23, 2011 11:11 am

Wildthings wrote: Since he hasn't given spec on the tires, how do you guys know they aren't rated properly? From the survey of Vanagons and Bays I did, it appears that over half of them run on passenger tires just fine. Mostly its only in the netherworld of the internet that passenger tires seem to give problems.

X2. Truer words were never spoken.

Same with AMC heads. They certainly aren't the best, but they don't perform nearly as poorly as all the rumor and innuendo would suggest. Maintenance is everything, and these are a viable option for those who can't afford better.

Sun Jul 24, 2011 3:35 am

It sucks that every thread is a broken record here. It's always "you have the wrong tires, change your fuel lines, buy a Bentley".

Sun Jul 24, 2011 4:23 am

Mr. Unpopular wrote: It sucks that every thread is a broken record here. It's always "you have the wrong tires, change your fuel lines, buy a Bentley".

Did you search? That has been said before.

Nice bus!

Sun Jul 24, 2011 6:00 am

Westfabulous wrote: Wildthings wrote: Since he hasn't given spec on the tires, how do you guys know they aren't rated properly? From the survey of Vanagons and Bays I did, it appears that over half of them run on passenger tires just fine. Mostly its only in the netherworld of the internet that passenger tires seem to give problems.

X2. Truer words were never spoken.

Same with AMC heads. They certainly aren't the best, but they don't perform nearly as poorly as all the rumor and innuendo would suggest. Maintenance is everything, and these are a viable option for those who can't afford better.

I just put a repop new Chinese oil cooler on my 1800. I cant wait for it to fail :lol:

Come on the raggin aint that bad. For the ammount of repetitive traffic this forum sees, just be thankful people do repeat some of the basics over and over. Otherwise no one would know better :wink:

Sun Jul 24, 2011 10:03 am

Mr. Unpopular wrote: It sucks that every thread is a broken record here. It's always "you have the wrong tires, change your fuel lines, buy a Bentley".

Would you rather it not be said and instead read about a beautiful bus burning to the ground because someone didn't think fuel lines needed to be changed every 5 years...

Sun Jul 24, 2011 1:31 pm

The tires are rated up to 1 ton

Sun Jul 24, 2011 1:32 pm

The tires are rated up to 1 ton

Sun Jul 24, 2011 5:11 pm

Isaacbmxer wrote: The tires are rated up to 1 ton

Wow, that's wonderful.
So just for fun, give us the details in case we want to get some for ourselves. Tell us, brand, model, size, load range, max. pressure, max. load, ply ratings, and anything else of interest.

Sun Jul 24, 2011 8:45 pm

this weekend i repainted my pop top
at the start

after the cargo was done

after the main part was finished

after finishing it with new stickers

Sun Jul 24, 2011 9:12 pm

You are doing a great job, and should be very proud of your bus, and your work. Keep it up young fellar.

Sun Jul 24, 2011 9:32 pm

Gotta say, I'm a bit jealous! I've got an identical bus, but yours is looking wayyyyy better than mine! What a score.

ROLL that thang!!!

Can't beat the orange plaid - it's a source of secret power, which I'm sure you'll discover soon.

Mon Jul 25, 2011 7:07 am

Zelten wrote: Mr. Unpopular wrote: It sucks that every thread is a broken record here. It's always "you have the wrong tires, change your fuel lines, buy a Bentley".

Did you search? That has been said before.

Nice bus!

:lol: :lol:

Quite an impressive thread here, dude. Great job!