Resurrecting the 1985 Westy

[ajdenette]

Well time to start a thread for reviving the 1985 Volkswagen Westfalia.

This van was purchased brand new by my grandparents and taken delivery of in Germany through the Tourist delivery program, they toured Europe in their latest Westy and shipped it home at the end of the summer becoming my grandmother's daily driver. My grandparents purchase another new Westy(their 5th and final new Westy 4th on the tourist delivery program) and again toured Europe sending the new Van home at the end of the trip. After returning home they tried to sel one of the 2 Vanagon Westfalias but were unable to get their asking price so they parked the brand new van to have when they needed it. My grandmother drove the 1985 daily up until 1993-1994 when it blew the head gasket and it was put aside for another day and the 1987 was taken out freshened up and put on the road. My grandparents have been driving the 1987 since and got another daily driver in the early 2000's and the Westfalia became a spare car so has less than 100,000 miles still. In 2005 While working for my aunt and living with my grandparents we pulled the 85 from the basement of the barn up to the main level where I attempted to perform a head gasket replacement and get the van running again, I never succeeded in getting the Westy running and later learned that I had not replaced the bottom O rings for the cylinder where I believe the real issue is as the failure was coolant and oil mixing. since then I have graduated high school, graduated college, got married, my wife earned a PHD, and we bought a house. My wife and I went camping with some friends late this summer with the Syncro and she realized I had a Westy I just need to do some work on with curtains and a garage to work on it might not be a bad idea. So with permission to bring another car to the house (we have 3 registered Subaru's and the Syncro) time to get it down where I can putter with it.


Last registration

She is a wee bit dusty

My Grandparents and much of my family love PEI Canada and is a regular summer vacation destination.

_________________
1985 2wd Westy with 2000 Subaru 2.2 current driver
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=685635
1986 Syncro Doka Project next in line
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=732777
1990 Vanagon Syncro Base awaiting body work

[ajdenette]

Plans:

The plan to get the Van back on the road is first Clean it up and get it from my Grandparents house to my house. my grandfather has already washed the outside and is cleaning up the inside some from the years of sitting in the barn. I have a friend with a Truck and have a Uhaul trailer reserved for Monday to truck it down to my house.

The engine will be swapped out from the 1.9 to a Subaru 2.2 that came from my fathers 2000 Imprezza outback that had the gas tank and body rust out on him, I have modified the harness and have that sitting in a box. My parents purchased an adapter plate and a carrier bar from Rocky Mountain Westy that we have already installed on the engine, and I plan to use Small car pipes for a non reversed manifold that I already purchased. I had a brand new catlitic converter muffler and full set of pipes for a 1.9 so I bought a subaru header and cut it up and plan to build my own exhaust.

Next I will also be going through the brakes (replacing pads rotors hoses rear shoes and a through bleeding) and resealing and maybe replacing the gas tank after assessment. I am working on getting a full set of vw alloy wheels and will need to get new tires for them but even decent tires will be better than the ones on the van as they are currently showing the steel cords through the cracked treads. I also hope to switch it over to Truck mirrors as I prefer them over the others for visibility and also a Small car aluminum oil pan plus check out the cooling system and whatever else needs attention due to sitting for about 25 years
_________________
1985 2wd Westy with 2000 Subaru 2.2 current driver
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=685635
1986 Syncro Doka Project next in line
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=732777
1990 Vanagon Syncro Base awaiting body work

[ajdenette]

Well with the help of a friend and his truck I rented a Uhaul flat bead trailer and we headed up to my grandparents house to load it up.

one last picture of the 1987 Westy and the 1985 westy together in my grandparents yard we used the 87 as a test load just to see how things sat on the trailer

loaded up and ready to move due to the cracks in the front tires exposing the steal cords we let the air out of the front tires and strapped it down like that to make sure there werent any issues in transport

Finally in my driveway and airing out and cleaning out the mice my grandfather didn't find in his preliminary cleaning.

we were watching a friends dog for a week and dropping them off and picking them up at the airport so we were going to have a 6th car in the yard with the Syncro in the garage (rotted winshild sill leaks) and my wife's outback wagon in the other bay while I was replacing the head gaskets I needed to get the westy running to move it over in the driveway

_________________
1985 2wd Westy with 2000 Subaru 2.2 current driver
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=685635
1986 Syncro Doka Project next in line
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=732777
1990 Vanagon Syncro Base awaiting body work

[ajdenette]

So my goal was to get the Westy running so that I could move it around the yard, I drained the 12 year old gas and got some fresh gas in it and decided I should check the valve adjustment and found one of the big reasons for the lack of running was due to 5 of the 8 pushrods not being seated in the lifters so I reseated them. Next was cleaning all of the ground wires and replacing the bolts.

I did also clean the trans ground strap and replace that bolt as well, I was poking at it and tried to start it with the 12 year old autozone battery I had brought back to like but it did not seem to hold a good charge suprise suprise so I replaced the batter and was in the engine compartment with the remote starter switch and the voltmeter poking and found when I poaked the green coil wires I got a real sputter

Next after realizing what was causing issues with the not starting was the double connector and was able to get the van to run not well and not controlled but there was noise and fury.


Link

_________________
1985 2wd Westy with 2000 Subaru 2.2 current driver
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=685635
1986 Syncro Doka Project next in line
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=732777
1990 Vanagon Syncro Base awaiting body work

[ajdenette]

After getting it to start I added some coolant and another couple of ruff starts i finally got it running and idoling


Link


Once it was running I was able to move it over in the driveway and able to get 4 cars across for the week. After I got some room in the driveway I had to get a picture of the 2 vanagon’s together in my driveway

After I finished fixing my wifes outback I finally had both Vanagons in the Garage

The next biggest issue for moving it around is that is has no brakes the master cylinder has failed and all I have done thus far is move it forward and backward not even getting it fully into gear to not get faster than my brakes could stop me.
_________________
1985 2wd Westy with 2000 Subaru 2.2 current driver
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=685635
1986 Syncro Doka Project next in line
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=732777
1990 Vanagon Syncro Base awaiting body work

[ajdenette]

The next biggest issue for moving it around is that is has no brakes the master cylinder has failed and all I have done thus far is move it forward and backward not even getting it fully into gear to not get faster than my brakes could stop me. While I prepared for swapping the failed master cylinder (could pump up pressure but as soon as you let off the pedal it would go right to the floor) I decided to change the oil after getting it into the garage.

This last monday my father came down and we swapped out the master cylinder after installing a new master and bleeding the mud out of the cylinders and lines we had functioning brakes that held pressure. After that I fired it up and took it for its first drive in a long time and it felt good. Took it for an illegal no plated rotted tires ride around the neighborhood just to put a little load on the engine. Then went on to cut down one of my work benches I got from work to make my garage easier to work in with the harness underneath and the TDI starter on top.

_________________
1985 2wd Westy with 2000 Subaru 2.2 current driver
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=685635
1986 Syncro Doka Project next in line
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=732777
1990 Vanagon Syncro Base awaiting body work

[Abscate]

Subscribed!!

I love stories of multigenerational cars like You, sunny dog, and the Toaster!

Are grandparents still with us in body or in spirit?
_________________
.ssS!

[ajdenette]

My grandparents are still with us in their 80's and driving the 1987 Westy the last Camper they purchased. They have owned 5 Westfalia's over the years 3 Busses and 2 Vanagons, 4 of which were purchased on the tourist delivery program and used to tour Europe for the summer as they were teachers and had the summers off. The photo’s below are at their house in front of the barn where the 1985 has been in residence for the last 20 years.

_________________
1985 2wd Westy with 2000 Subaru 2.2 current driver
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=685635
1986 Syncro Doka Project next in line
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=732777
1990 Vanagon Syncro Base awaiting body work

[ajdenette]

Spent some time working on the exhaust for the subaru engine, I had a brand new muffler cat and rest of the exhaust for a 1.9 so I used these components to work on the exhaust.

I built a bracket that uses 2 unused holes in the head one top and one bottom to support the muffler and one exhaust bolt being a fase 2.2 from an impreza it has the single port exhaust headers and I plan to build my own header.

Here it is with the small car non reversed coolant pipes

_________________
1985 2wd Westy with 2000 Subaru 2.2 current driver
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=685635
1986 Syncro Doka Project next in line
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=732777
1990 Vanagon Syncro Base awaiting body work

[ajdenette]

since I have been running the van a bit to move it around the driveway it has started to not want to do much more than idol I swapped in a new fuel filter and cut open the old one to find a fair amount of rust in it making me decide it needs replacement instead of cleaning. I opted to go with a late tank with the larger outlet to help the suction side of the pump and will be putting the later fuel filter in just need to find the bracket or get one.
_________________
1985 2wd Westy with 2000 Subaru 2.2 current driver
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=685635
1986 Syncro Doka Project next in line
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=732777
1990 Vanagon Syncro Base awaiting body work

[Slimvest]

[ajdenette]

This being a 2000 Subaru Impreza engine it has both an up stream and down stream O2 sensors I reversed the cat to put the down stream O2 sensor their and have a 1.9 J pipe that I will install the up stream sensor in or once I finish the header it may end up in a welded in bung.
_________________
1985 2wd Westy with 2000 Subaru 2.2 current driver
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=685635
1986 Syncro Doka Project next in line
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=732777
1990 Vanagon Syncro Base awaiting body work

[ajdenette]

So last weekends goal was to replace the gas tank with a brand new one and also to install the hardware for a Jump seat while the tank was out.

Fortunately this is a 1985 which has the floor split into a couple of pieces for the middle seat rails after pulling the steel angle iron one screw and the forward seat rail I was able to pull the section of the floor out.

After removing the old tank I pulled out the level sensor in hopes of re using but found it very rusty and not moving freely, so after airing out the garage from the fuel and putting the rusty tank outside and emptying it of rusty fuel that would be all for the gas tank for the day.

My Syncro is a Factory Base model so it was my reference to help me locate the jump seat in the sety by measuring the right post.

I had cut out a set of factory jump seat receivers and the bracket from a van a friend was scrapping out and cleaned them up for install just like factory

After locating the right mount with measurements I tacked welded it in then put the seat in to make sure left receiver was spaced out correctly. There are 2 versions of the Jump seat set up the ones found in Carat’s that have Grey seat frames and receivers up high have 2 round posts in the floor and the ones found in 1990 base models have black frames and one circular and one oval receiver in the floor.

After the 2 floor receivers were welded in it was time to concentrate on the receiver on the battery box I again consulted the Syncro for guidance:

I used some angle Iron and 4 M8 nuts to build the support brackets to help sandwitch more metal and spread out the load like the factory did

I did clamp the back bracket in place and installed the seat to get the location of the 4 holes and marked them drilling them out and bolting it in place temporarily to weld the 2 bracket in place one in the wheel well and the battery compartment

Here is a picture of the bracket and hardware used to mount the rear bracket there are 4 bolts used with 2 washers on the inside and the seat belt bracket on the outboard side there are 4 thick heavy washers used to provide a gap for the carpet to make sure everything is tight metal to metal and the carpet does not affect anything.

Finally a picture of the seat all set, (just need to bolt in the receiver under the front seat belt receiver.

_________________
1985 2wd Westy with 2000 Subaru 2.2 current driver
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=685635
1986 Syncro Doka Project next in line
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=732777
1990 Vanagon Syncro Base awaiting body work

[ajdenette]

Well after I finishing the jump seat I coated the tank in rubberized undercoating to protect the tank and when I tried to install the new sender it got stuck on the rough tabs and I broke the plastic. so now I had the good plastic top plate on the rusty arm and a broken plate no the new sender. I decided to un solder the scale from both plates and remove the rusty arm and float and swapped parts so that all the good parts made an assembly and the junk went in the trash. I tested the fuel gauge and made sure it showed the full scale and put it in the tank and got the tank back up in the van alone so no pictures unfortunately. I needed to get the van back on the ground and in the other bay and be able to get it out of the garage in order to unload and set up a wood shop to lay hard wood floors.

_________________
1985 2wd Westy with 2000 Subaru 2.2 current driver
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=685635
1986 Syncro Doka Project next in line
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=732777
1990 Vanagon Syncro Base awaiting body work

[ajdenette]

Well I have still been busy working on the jump seat and the Subaru conversion I was not a fan of the exhausts on the market especially for the single port EJ22's. As I had already made my own muffler bracket I took on making my own header, I still need to shorten the drivers side as it is a little long and at the moment touches the motor mount with the engine hanger in full drop.

here is the waste on the floor:

I also built the cluster based on the original out of the van using one of my 7000 RPM Tach's, a yellow LED, a small car face plate, and a Fast forward VSS pick up.

I also finished getting the floor installed and the jump seat looking good.

_________________
1985 2wd Westy with 2000 Subaru 2.2 current driver
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=685635
1986 Syncro Doka Project next in line
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=732777
1990 Vanagon Syncro Base awaiting body work

[DanHoug]

looks like things are in good hands when i see a multimeter and welding clamps! best of luck!!

-dan

[ajdenette]

Well apparently it has been a while since I have posted here it was a cold spring so not much time in the garage and spent May and June working on my Grandparents 87 Westy so that they could got to PEI for a week it made it there and back successfully.

had all three in my driveway for a while:

one of a number of issues was a rusted out cross over pipe that started pissing coolant after flicking it with a screw driver

the coil loosing its oil:

8 broken bolts and studs that had to be extracted, we worked on this exhaust stud for 2 hours before deciding to install my spare engine

which had some other issues and required a lift home

I did install a set of cleaned injectors as well as Van-Cafe billet fuel rails

_________________
1985 2wd Westy with 2000 Subaru 2.2 current driver
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=685635
1986 Syncro Doka Project next in line
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=732777
1990 Vanagon Syncro Base awaiting body work

[ajdenette]

So last fall I picked up a set of Alloy wheels for the Westy this spring I cleaned them up and bought 5 new tires and had them mounted because the Westy is not really derivable I decided to put them on the Syncro and enjoy them for a while. now that progress is happening I need to put the Vanco's on the steel wheels back on the Syncro so that the Alloy wheels can be put on the westy.

at work I asked for a little help from the tool maker and he helped me take a 2000 coolant manifold and mill the added sensor boss flat and drill and tap it for the VW gauge sensor

style used for modification:

proper gauge sender installed in the coolant manifold:

I have also been working on painting some parts of the donor engine to make it look prity

today at 2:00 I had a running 1.9 wasserboxer still in the van one last start and run to take a video

and I finished the day with a very empty engine compartment time to put the engine in tomorrow:

_________________
1985 2wd Westy with 2000 Subaru 2.2 current driver
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=685635
1986 Syncro Doka Project next in line
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=732777
1990 Vanagon Syncro Base awaiting body work

[lucianosanchez]

Looks awesome! Can't wait to see more.
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1983.5 Aussan Brown Westfalia | 2016 to 2020
1983.5 Beige Westfalia | 2019 to Current

[Pinetops]

nice work
_________________
"A rolling bus gathers no rust."