2019 - Year In Review Stats

[EZ Gruv]

Here we go once again!
I just fueled up my bus for the final time this year, so it's time.

Post your basic stats!

1977 Deluxe Westfalia - 2.0L FI Type IV - Only comes out for camp outs/events/shows and social calls.

Miles driven: 1590 (up 205 from last year)
Gallons of fuel consumed: 90.104
Overall MPG: 17.645 - Down from last year but with the little it gets driven, who cares.
Number of Oil Changes: 0
Number of Valve Adjustments: 1
Other maintenance of note: New steering coupler, clutch cable and clevis pin (all preventative measures).

Just for fun stats:
VW Shows attended: 16
Non-VW Shows attended: 2
Trophies won: 3 - That's 3 more than I shoot for, but they were a nice surprise
Campouts: 3 - Buses By the Bridge, Blackstar, Against The Rest VW Club Halloween Camp Out

Favorite photo of my bus from 2019: My Bus with my dogs, Einstein and Freddie.

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Eric
1977 Deluxe Westfalia - 2.0L FI Type IV, Completely Original
Photographer for HotVWs, VolksWorld, AirMighty, VW Camper & Commercial, Hayburner, and more.
My Photography Page.

[Little Steve]

Very nice !
Took my '71 to the station and filled 'er up too for the last time this year.
Takin her to a five day new year's party with great friends tomorrow.

Happy New Year to you and all and safe travels.

1971 Stroked 1641 (1855) Dual 40mm Webbers.

Miles driven: Not very many. About 1,200
Took two two week trips. One in the Summer to Benton Hot Springs, and one in the Fall.
MPG ? I have gotten up to 21mpg with this motor in the past. But had it redone recently.
New front seat cushions & covers, new front cab floor mat, new tires, new starter, fuel pump & hoses, new alternator

[vwwestyman]

I always watch for this thread!

I still have a few more days to add miles, so I'll wait a little bit to post my stats!
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[jlrftype7]

[Whaanga]

This was a good 'work year' for me and my bus. I have no idea of my cumulative gas milage but generally was getting around 14 mpg at each fill up. I drove 2,196 miles from March - November.

I did a few upgrades:

New Servo/MC

Had visits from both Colin

and Robbie

Hauled some building supplies for an attic project:

Took my bass case for shipping:

Replaced the CV joint boots: (with guidance from Robbie)

and replaced the windshield seal. Was glad to see a pretty healthy condition under the old seal:

and it cleaned up very nicely:

Looking forward to replacing the center mount carb with duals and replacing all of the rubber window seals in 2020.
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Late 1973 Bay w/a transplanted 914 Engine

[HoboBus]

Was a great 2019 for Hobobus.

Lots of work this year. CV shafts, carb work, interior, radio and electrics, shifter, exhaust, etc.

3 shows this year, with 2 campouts. Drove the bus 100 miles from home to the Terryville campout and show - ran like a dream. Then to the Transporterfest campout and show, with the hour-long caravan of old VWs from the campout to the show. That was very cool.

Thanks to all and wish you all a great 2020 !
Hobo

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Salt air it ain't thin, it'll stick right to your skin,
it'll make you feel fine. Makes you feel fine.
And I wanna be there. -- Jimmy Buffett

Just a beach-oriented camping Hobo with a bus.

[EZ Gruv]

[WildIdea]

2019 was one great year for enjoying the Westy.

We were blessed to have racked up roughly 4500 miles to my estimation. 2500 to the Gorge in WA and back from Rapid City, SD across upper Montana. I want to do that again in 2020 just taking different roads and make more time for Glacier NP. Then a Trip to Denver and back for say 1000 miles and easily a 1000 driving around town and the Hills on weekends.

Nothing really got repaired, serviced or broke down over those miles and we are poised to launch again in the spring. One oil change and lots of eyes on systems I repaired earlier to see how they held up. I have a remote oil cooler to mount and an ignition wire relay to install slated for whenever time permits after the holidays.

We're full steam ahead in the 65 as the new brakes system is working for the first time in 2 years, so that will be nice to have instead if chocks all the time. A few new parts to fit and work through on engine and really down to exhaust mounting and tin sorting and that will be a runner again. Pretty stoked, working on that daily.

Nothing like getting out with loved ones for a drive.

*edit to add

Besides the oil changes and valve adjustments, what about the 90 bandaids from jamming your hand in a tight spot or from cuts and burns from my welder, grinder and wire wheels. Even with boxes of nitrile gloves, bucket of ear plugs and eye protection, I still had a few debris eye washes. My formerly blown out right shoulder had at least 3 restrains overworking it on the bus. Not to mention my right kneecap has an injury from kneeling on a bolt or was it the 65 cargo floor repair that has me favoring it a year later. My knee skin looks calloused and permanently oil soaked. A few tubs of sandy hand cleaner I could go on. At least 20 nights of lost sleep worrying about a system repair or wide awake thinking about how to solve or approach an upcoming service circumstance, offset by just as many nights sleeping hard as hell from a good solid day working on it or traveling to exhaustion. All in all, it’s still worth it to me and nothing comes easy. I’m too interested and jazzed to take the time to heal!
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1977 Sage Green Westy
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=691987
1965 SWR Walk-Through Standard
1960 211 Panel American Camper Conversion

[Wildthings]

The 83 1/2 Vanagon got nearly 10,000 miles on it and the '77 bay about the same. The '73 T-181 Thing got another 5000 or so. Nothing of note done to any of them, the '77 getting new CV boots on one axle shaft was the maintenance highlight of the year.

[Spike0180]

Welp, sold good ol brutis. She went to a good home.

I drove a couple hundred miles this year. Did an oil change, had the engine out to fix my fan belt failure at the end of 2018. I did a valve adjustment or two, overall I have mixed feelings about selling it. But I've moved on from VWs in general and I now own my f150 and a purchased a 2008 mercury grand marquis. Which I am quickly falling in love with. I wish it had a posi diff.

Anyway, here is the last picture I have of brutis.

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Brutis Patches Izabich: 1970 VW Transporter - 1776cc DP
Current State: Projects never truly end...
Location: Grosse Pointe, Michigan
Other cars: 2003 F150, 2003 Jetta GLI vr6-6sp

Sambastic: adj; the quality of being nit picky, elitist, expecting everyone to do things the way they believe is best with no regard to situation, "sambastic"

[Manfred58sc]

Miles driven- about 2K

Shows- zero

Camping-zero

Hauling stuff around with a big smile on face- every day

went through about 20 qts of oil ( horrid leaks everywhere )

breakdowns-zero

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Fat chick owner/operator

[Amskeptic]

[MorkC68]

1973 Kombi - 1915 Type IV, Twin 34 ICT's

Miles driven: 1223 (down 210 from last 2018, picking up the pieces from a house move)

Number of Oil Changes: 1
Number of Valve Adjustments: 0 but due in March
Other maintenance of note: Both carburettors resealed and new filters fitted, new rocker cover gaskets and all earth points cleaned up (poor starting).

Just for fun stats:
VW Shows attended: 1
Non-VW Shows attended: 0
The Late Bay Forum meet up's: 3
Campouts: 4
Nights slept in the bus: 19


1977 Westfalia - 2.0L FI Type IV - under restoration.

Miles driven: 0.25

Here is our then 6-month old Cockerpoo on his first camping trip

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Major; 1977 Westfalia Campmobile
- Subaru EJ20
- Koni Classic adjustable dampers & Empi Heavy Duty Anti Roll Bar
- 180W Solar System

My blog: https://twolatebays.wordpress.com/

[71whitewesty]

2019 was another great year of Bus adventures with several family road trips, lots of camping and summer daily driving.
I split the Bus driving duties pretty evenly this year between Bus 1 and Bus 2.
Bus 1 miles 8,358
Bus 2 miles 6,442
Total Bus miles 14,800

49- nights slept in the bus (about 25 nights with the whole family)
5- oil changes/valve adjustments
3- nights of gnarly snow storm driving
0 - breakdowns


General maintenance - replaced muffler, oiled cooler seals, intake boots, spark plugs, points, fan belt, (after 43k miles on Bus 2), also replaced the front windshield on Bus 2.

Thanks for all the good advice and helpful hints from the friendly folks on The Samba!!

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71 Westy 1600 DP, all stock Bus 1
1970's Snow Trac 1600 SP (sold 12/2016)
1968 Tucker sno cat, sold 2021
1969 Tucker Sno cat 542
2017 VW Alltrac
71 tin top stock 1600 DP (project but runs)
Twin 71 White Westy, Bus 2, that I pulled from a 15 year slumber in a dry eastern WA field in 2015.
1966 Sundial Camper "Boomer"

[airschooled]

1969 Bus, "Buddy," daily driver.

Miles driven: 25,425
Gallons of fuel consumed: guessing around 1,337
Overall MPG: 19-ish. Upstate NY had four tanks of 23mpg in a row, and my cheap local station in SD seems to give the worst economy.

Number of Oil Changes: 10, a little high from the new engine break-in.
Number of Valve Adjustments: 14.5 - I do many during the break-in process.
Other maintenance of note: Installed a new engine in February. Rigged up an electric washer motor to work with the factory switch. All other Bentley maintenance schedule items.
Repair: One oversize case saver installed at 2,100 miles. Cylinder #3 oil control rings replaced at 7,800 miles. Points replaced after 67,798 miles. Front torsion leaf packs replaced.

VW Shows attended: 2
Non-VW Shows attended: 4
Trophies won: 0
Nights spent in the bus: More than 150…

Favorite photo from 2019:

After taking a local cowboy bar for a nice chunk of cash in a dice game, I had one of the most serene moments of my Summer Tour. Did a valve adjustment in silence save for the squawk of a crow.

See you on the road!
Robbie
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Learn how your vintage VW works. And why it doesn't!
One-on-one tech help for your Volkswagen:
www.airschooled.com

[blue72beetle]

Did you purposefully line the belt line up with the horizon? Cause that looks cool.
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-Andy-
-1970 Ghia-
-1971 Bus 1776 Microsquirt EFI-

[Abscate]

[airschooled]

[71whitewesty]

^^^ those kind of stats tells me that Robbie needs to get married and have some kids...lol! That looks like a good year to me.
Seriously, I like seeing how many miles and general repairs people have in a year.
Are there any other brands of 50ish year old vehicles still putting out these kinds of miles with accommodations? The Bus is still my most used, practical and economical vehicle in the fleet. I think the hotel savings alone pays for the Bus and any repairs alone.
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71 Westy 1600 DP, all stock Bus 1
1970's Snow Trac 1600 SP (sold 12/2016)
1968 Tucker sno cat, sold 2021
1969 Tucker Sno cat 542
2017 VW Alltrac
71 tin top stock 1600 DP (project but runs)
Twin 71 White Westy, Bus 2, that I pulled from a 15 year slumber in a dry eastern WA field in 2015.
1966 Sundial Camper "Boomer"

[tommu]

1976 Deluxe Westfalia - 2.0L FI Type IV - Driven daily.

Miles driven: 2110
Gallons of fuel consumed: 181.5
Overall MPG: 11.63 - Lowish MPG a combination of new engine at the beginning of 2019, mostly city driving and a heavy right foot..
Number of Oil Changes: 5
Number of Valve Adjustments: 6
Other maintenance of note: Rebuilt engine, SMOG, reinstalled and updated original CCCool A/C

Just for fun stats:
VW Shows attended: 0
Non-VW Shows attended: 4
Trophies won: 0
Campouts: 0

Favorite photo of my bus from 2019: Ghia and Bus, ready to go.

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