1977 Westy Build. The Tale of the Free Bus

[Bret2094]

Well Howdy Guys! Looks like it's time for me to start a thread on the new addition to my VW family. Time for a lil backstory before the pics. Back 6 months ago a friend of mine had a guy walk into his motorcycle shop and ask if he was interested in an old bus. Tim(the friend) had been looking for a type 4 engine for his 73 westy for the last several years local and soon jumped on the deal. $600 later he had the bus delivered to his shop where it sat for some time before being moved to a pasture behind his house. During that time we talked vw a bunch and finally i asked him a few days ago whether or not he had moved the engine over to his 73. As a self employe-ed business owner, he explained to me that he hadnt the time to pull the engine . I tossed around the idea of selling me what was left after he got what he wanted ( the factory a/c also was on his list) and he replied with the idea of fair trade. I pull the engine and a/c and I would get to keep what was left. on top he threw in a type 4 engine (1.7 L) missing a head and some tinware. Not optimal, as i will have to source the parts, but the opportunity in itself just saves me money all around. I'm not interested in the broken ac unit anyhow , and i'm pretty sure i can find enough pieces to get her running.


Now on to the bus itself. Acording to the original owner (only owner till swapping hands very briefly) It only has 75,000 miles on it (questonable). As the story goes, he drove it until 1985 when the fuel pump gave out and he decided to convert to a weber carb system. apparently he never got it running right, and just let it sit. Needless to say , when i dragged it home my brother was ecstatic to get the bus, as he had been asking if i could find one so he could learn the "way of the Volkswagen gurus". I don't need another project, but he's willing to do a majority of the work with my guidance ( kinda out of my element here as well, pre 68 beetles are kinda my thing) I downloaded a bently manual and sent it to kinko's to be bound in spiral (2 copies). The bus came with good paper, but no keys( made loading and unloading a fiasco), so the first thing i did was get Gabriel from gabvwkey.com to cut us a set from code. Withou further adieu, i give you the bus

(my brother)

The door was off it's guide when we went to pick it up, so we removed it

what's left of the top ( was hanging down in pieces before we opened the top

Man that's shiny
We started cleaning( wearing maskes and rubber gloves).. Pretty much all of the interior is usable, except for the carpet

out it comes

WTF nails everywhere

bucket full of stuff we pulled from the bus, including a ton of pvc fittings (all the same shape)
We kept cleaning by flashlight and shopvac, will upload cleaned pics this weekend. All of the venier has come up from heat and mosture, but we plan on fixing that soon, as well as disenfecting . There was a ton of rat shit, and even had to chase off the giant rat, who had made his nest under the sink. (He even rode through a 10 mile bus ride from the other house)
As a final note, the only part of the floor with rust is the front passenger side, which will need patching, but the rest if the floor now shines like the day it was new. Let the adventure begin. We hope to have everything lined out before school starts in august so we can go camping. Let's see how far we get

Bret
_________________
1959 baja beetle ragtop( going back to Full body)
1959 beetle
1960 Beetle frame Custom buggy
1962 Karmann Ghia
1967 beetle( august 66, first car)
1967 beetle (parts car)

1977 Westfalia Camper

1972 Plymouth Duster

Just another 22 year old jackass who caught the bug, and lives by the motto " NO fatchicks allowed" , I've got too many cars as is (buses N/A)

[Bret2094]

oops forgot a bunch of pics

I was suprised to find the jack complete still in it's packaging

All of those pieces were removed while vaccuming

During loading and unloading the only dammage we occured was to the bumper as shown here. Seems pretty easy to knock out

That's all for now


Bret
_________________
1959 baja beetle ragtop( going back to Full body)
1959 beetle
1960 Beetle frame Custom buggy
1962 Karmann Ghia
1967 beetle( august 66, first car)
1967 beetle (parts car)

1977 Westfalia Camper

1972 Plymouth Duster

Just another 22 year old jackass who caught the bug, and lives by the motto " NO fatchicks allowed" , I've got too many cars as is (buses N/A)

[Tcash]

With an iron and a putty knife you can remove the rest of the plastic. Strip the glue and re-glue the plastic back down.
1978 Westfalia Cabinet Refacing

[jtauxe]

Gret find, Bret. A classic project bus, for sure. These are great "before" pics, and will make the "after" photos all that much more impressive.

[Bala]

You have a gem under all that junk for sure!
I'm looking forward to seeing the after pictures.
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1976 Westy

1966 Beetle

[Bret2094]

[babysnakes]

Welcome to the Bay side Bret. You have a nice project there. Two things I see, you need to add the Westy to your list of vehicles and

[Bret2094]

[Stuartzickefoose]

was gonna make the Fatchick joke as well...babysnakes beat me to it!

are you planning to run a carb or FI with this one?
_________________
Stuart Zickefoose

2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDi 6 speed manual

206-841-7324
[email protected]

[Bret2094]

[Bret2094]

Started scouring the internet for engine parts and came across a vanagon did the 1980-83 come with a 2.0 liter aircooled type 4 engine? If i could get it cheap enough i might just give my buddy the complete engine out of a vanagon. what yall think? any parts to steer clear of?


Bret
_________________
1959 baja beetle ragtop( going back to Full body)
1959 beetle
1960 Beetle frame Custom buggy
1962 Karmann Ghia
1967 beetle( august 66, first car)
1967 beetle (parts car)

1977 Westfalia Camper

1972 Plymouth Duster

Just another 22 year old jackass who caught the bug, and lives by the motto " NO fatchicks allowed" , I've got too many cars as is (buses N/A)

[Bala]

Yes, pretty much the same engine. A few small mods to put it in a '73, but nothing major. I would keep that original engine with you're bus if at all possible.
_________________
1976 Westy

1966 Beetle

[sonofamitch]

Perfect candidate for an EJ22
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'77 Westy 2.0L FI

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=568454&highlight=

[grandpa pete]

Whats a ej22
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63 two fold rag
66 sedan delivery Type 6

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=569619&highlight=sedan+delivery

[Peabody]

[Bret2094]

Sounds like an ominous reference to a suby swap. No tengo mucho denero para suby. Other projects got my wallet a lil skinny


Bret
_________________
1959 baja beetle ragtop( going back to Full body)
1959 beetle
1960 Beetle frame Custom buggy
1962 Karmann Ghia
1967 beetle( august 66, first car)
1967 beetle (parts car)

1977 Westfalia Camper

1972 Plymouth Duster

Just another 22 year old jackass who caught the bug, and lives by the motto " NO fatchicks allowed" , I've got too many cars as is (buses N/A)

[babysnakes]

[Bret2094]

[eche_bus]

Wow, that's in ruuuuuffff shape. I'm eager to see it brought back to roadworthy and rodent-free condition!

[Stuartzickefoose]

listening with interest:)
_________________
Stuart Zickefoose

2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDi 6 speed manual

206-841-7324
[email protected]