| Author |
Message |
Ceckert64
Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2015
Posts: 2129
Location: Houghton, MI and WV
|
 Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2025 8:44 pm Post subject: Re: 1971 Westfalia “Fitz” saved from the scrapper |
 |
|
| dodger tom wrote: |
man, i thought i was cold in the desert last night at 22 degrees fahrenheit.
cudos to those more hearty. |
I've gotten used to the cold you could say, maybe even enjoy it  I went for a hike when it was zero out the other day  You just have to layer up a bit, even then I still end up sweating, the key is to keep moving.
I will say the same thing as I could never do the heat, when it gets much past 85 I'm dying I lived in South Carolina for a summer and I realized I could never live in the South or heat full time
_________________
1964 sunroof Beetle Restoration "Herbie"
“Joann” 1970 Elm Green Squareback
1972 Yellow Tin Top Westfalia -Sold
“Fitz” 1971 Westfalia Poptop EJ22 swap
“Rome” 91 Syncro |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Shonandb 
Samba Member
Joined: January 12, 2019
Posts: 2213
Location: Vancouver, BC
|
| Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2025 11:50 am Post subject: Re: 1971 Westfalia “Fitz” saved from the scrapper |
|
|
| Ceckert64 wrote: |
| Shonandb wrote: |
Looks like fun Aiden! I added the 2nd heater A/C unit (one under the rear seat and one between the front seats) about 2 years ago and now my Bus is toasty even in the cold. We rarely see -5F here except in the mtns in the interior during an Arctic outflow.
Still feel the cold drafts at hwy speeds though, but no need for gloves or a sweater. We may see our first snowfall of the year tonight and tomorrow but it's only around freezing. |
It is! We don't see sub-zero up here much but this last week has been something else I have a diesel heater for the front defrost and a heater off the coolant in the rear. Mine gets warmish inside, but it all depends on the outside.
I think the biggest thing I'm fighting is drafts. I got in it the other day when it was really windy and snowing and realized there was snow on the inside, I watched for a minute and realized it was coming through my upper door seal and vent wings.
The heat gets warm if the car is sitting but once I'm driving, I lose it. I think it is drafts coming from the doors and out the poptop. The bottom of the sliding door seals terrible too, the inner structure of the sider is rusted out so the outer skin bends/moves easily and refuses to seal. The poptop doesn't seal air out well either.
I did put a set of snow chains on it today. It felt like I had 4wd It never lost traction in the back and went straight up the steep hills with ease that it could normally not get up. |
Replacing the door seals (front and slider) made a big difference in reducing drafts in my Bus. Before I changed them out, I bought a bunch of 1/4" & 1/2" weatherstrip foam and went around and added to the areas where the rubber door seals had torn or were missing and that helped a lot until I had time to install new door seals. I used 3/4" foam on the slider and doubled it up in places as I was missing sections of the door seal. It made a noticeable difference, especially for the passenger seat. At the time, I added a 12v seat warmer for my wife to offset the cold drafts but with new seals, the seat warmer is no longer needed and I removed it.
Now, we feel some drafts coming through at hwy speeds but it's comfortable.
_________________
*******************************
76 Westy with a 2.5L Subaru SOHC + Vanagon (010) Automatic Transaxle
Build & Trip Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=758760
Previous 1973 Panel Bus:
Click to view image |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ceckert64
Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2015
Posts: 2129
Location: Houghton, MI and WV
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2025 7:07 pm Post subject: Re: 1971 Westfalia “Fitz” saved from the scrapper |
|
|
Long awaited update on this beast…
I drove it up to about last February and was driving my Syncro for the rest of the winter and then into the summer. A couple of pictures before I swapped the tires back to it from the vanagon. It had dry-rotted roller tires on it while it was in storage.
Before I took it to school I had to replace my muffler that had blown out during the winter and I did an oil change on it. The muffler had definitely seen better days…
I got the bus back out about a month ago and drove it up to school, it’s made a couple of camping trips and has been getting some miles in trips and such. I had the shift rod break and the sliding door has been giving me issues. Also the clutch went out of adjustment on it recently. I didn’t take any photos any of the times camping but I have one with the new distraction I picked up
_________________
1964 sunroof Beetle Restoration "Herbie"
“Joann” 1970 Elm Green Squareback
1972 Yellow Tin Top Westfalia -Sold
“Fitz” 1971 Westfalia Poptop EJ22 swap
“Rome” 91 Syncro |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Shonandb
Samba Member
Joined: January 12, 2019
Posts: 2213
Location: Vancouver, BC
|
| Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2025 9:26 pm Post subject: Re: 1971 Westfalia “Fitz” saved from the scrapper |
|
|
Nice! How do you decide what to drive now?
_________________
*******************************
76 Westy with a 2.5L Subaru SOHC + Vanagon (010) Automatic Transaxle
Build & Trip Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=758760
Previous 1973 Panel Bus:
Click to view image |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ceckert64
Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2015
Posts: 2129
Location: Houghton, MI and WV
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Shonandb
Samba Member
Joined: January 12, 2019
Posts: 2213
Location: Vancouver, BC
|
| Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2025 9:05 pm Post subject: Re: 1971 Westfalia “Fitz” saved from the scrapper |
|
|
| Ceckert64 wrote: |
| Shonandb wrote: |
| Nice! How do you decide what to drive now? |
They’ve been making the decision pretty easy lately  usually one need fixing and one runs good or they both need fixing
As of today, both are running good but in general it will be the motorcycle till it gets too cold since I can park it on campus and it gets better mileage. |
I had a 1986 Honda VTR 250 Special Edition when I lived in Japan. I used to ride it to work a couple days a week. It was about 60 miles door to door and would take about 50 mins on the bike. If I took the train it was 1.5 hours or 2 hours in the car so the bike was super convenient and I used to be able to park it anywhere for free.
People don't pay much attention to bikes on the road these days so ride carefully.
_________________
*******************************
76 Westy with a 2.5L Subaru SOHC + Vanagon (010) Automatic Transaxle
Build & Trip Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=758760
Previous 1973 Panel Bus:
Click to view image |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ceckert64
Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2015
Posts: 2129
Location: Houghton, MI and WV
|
| Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2025 11:23 am Post subject: Re: 1971 Westfalia “Fitz” saved from the scrapper |
|
|
| Shonandb wrote: |
| Ceckert64 wrote: |
| Shonandb wrote: |
| Nice! How do you decide what to drive now? |
They’ve been making the decision pretty easy lately usually one need fixing and one runs good or they both need fixing
As of today, both are running good but in general it will be the motorcycle till it gets too cold since I can park it on campus and it gets better mileage. |
I had a 1986 Honda VTR 250 Special Edition when I lived in Japan. I used to ride it to work a couple days a week. It was about 60 miles door to door and would take about 50 mins on the bike. If I took the train it was 1.5 hours or 2 hours in the car so the bike was super convenient and I used to be able to park it anywhere for free.
People don't pay much attention to bikes on the road these days so ride carefully. |
That would a fun bike to have! It definitely can make commuting a bit easier. Mines a 1973 Honda (Motorsport) XL 250, so an early enduro bike.
Thankfully where I go to school is a smaller town and lot of people ride bike so people seem to be more aware. It’s mostly two lane roads up here so that helps as well. Certain places I definitely watch more though.
_________________
1964 sunroof Beetle Restoration "Herbie"
“Joann” 1970 Elm Green Squareback
1972 Yellow Tin Top Westfalia -Sold
“Fitz” 1971 Westfalia Poptop EJ22 swap
“Rome” 91 Syncro |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
DocNexil
Samba Member
Joined: January 19, 2021
Posts: 168
Location: Southern Utah
|
| Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2025 3:02 pm Post subject: Re: 1971 Westfalia “Fitz” saved from the scrapper |
|
|
Nice to see an update here, glad things are mostly going well!
_________________
1971 Dormobile "Juliett" 
1970 beetle "Rudie"  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ceckert64
Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2015
Posts: 2129
Location: Houghton, MI and WV
|
| Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2025 7:53 am Post subject: Re: 1971 Westfalia “Fitz” saved from the scrapper |
|
|
| DocNexil wrote: |
| Nice to see an update here, glad things are mostly going well! |
Thanks! Its been doing well for the most part lately and its been nice to drive it again.
This weekend it made the round trip to UW Stout (Menomonie, WI) for the Backwoods Baja competition. It was over 600 miles round trip with no issues, getting pushed hard on the highway with a moped and minibike in it. It was a fun competition, it was in a cornfield/ woods and there was overnight camping in the cornfield since all schools had a long drive to get there. Our team got there the night before and hung out and we all brought dirtbikes, minibikes, and mopeds to drive around the field for fun
The competition was a blast, we somehow placed 5th on the car I was pit chief for after rolling our car, crashing it into a tree, breaking a steering knuckle, and cracking our frame to the point we have to now retire that car. There were around 32 cars competing in the race from all over the mid-west region.
_________________
1964 sunroof Beetle Restoration "Herbie"
“Joann” 1970 Elm Green Squareback
1972 Yellow Tin Top Westfalia -Sold
“Fitz” 1971 Westfalia Poptop EJ22 swap
“Rome” 91 Syncro |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Shonandb
Samba Member
Joined: January 12, 2019
Posts: 2213
Location: Vancouver, BC
|
| Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2025 7:48 pm Post subject: Re: 1971 Westfalia “Fitz” saved from the scrapper |
|
|
Sounds like a cool event. Nice to see you driving Fitz again. How's the bike running?
_________________
*******************************
76 Westy with a 2.5L Subaru SOHC + Vanagon (010) Automatic Transaxle
Build & Trip Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=758760
Previous 1973 Panel Bus:
Click to view image |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ceckert64
Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2015
Posts: 2129
Location: Houghton, MI and WV
|
| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2025 2:55 pm Post subject: Re: 1971 Westfalia “Fitz” saved from the scrapper |
|
|
| Shonandb wrote: |
| Sounds like a cool event. Nice to see you driving Fitz again. How's the bike running? |
It was a great event, everyone from our team had fun at it. It’s nice to get it out again, or even just get out of town for a weekend.
The bike has been great. After I figured out the spark plug wire was arcing between the plastic clip on the the plug from it not being screwed into it enough and fixed it, I’ve had zero break downs. I got to fix the speedometer, replace the tack cable, make an outer air box cover, and replace rear shocks, but that’s all that’s left on the to-do list. I drive it about everyday now, it’s been a blast 
_________________
1964 sunroof Beetle Restoration "Herbie"
“Joann” 1970 Elm Green Squareback
1972 Yellow Tin Top Westfalia -Sold
“Fitz” 1971 Westfalia Poptop EJ22 swap
“Rome” 91 Syncro |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
