Reviving my 76 Canadian Market Automatic Westy - Since Aug 2020

[Shonandb]

[Globespotter]

I thought about going Suby, but my 2L case was great and I had a guy down here that rebuilds them well for a decent price. I did end up losing the heater boxes and going with headers, but I only drive in the summer, so it's all good. It has really nice power and decent acceleration. Nothing close to Suby, but it's nice to keep it stock for now. Next time, if I'm still around I may Suby it.
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1977 Westfalia - October 2015 - Current
1971 Super Beetle - May 2012 - Current
1979 Westfalia - 1986-1991
1971 Super Beetle - 1977-1980

1971 SB Survivor Story: https://globespotter.com/
Road Trip Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=511800&highlight=
My 77 Westy Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=647114&highlight=

http://vw-mplate.com/mcode.php?lang=EN&id=30990
https://vw-type2-id.xyz/mplate/72067382

[Shonandb]

[Globespotter]

[Shonandb]

Experience with wheel adapters.

Been using a set of 5/8" wheel spacers/adapters from 5x112 to 5x114.3 to use a set of 16" rims I already had. I've put about 3000 miles on the Bus with these on. Gives a slightly wider stance and a more stable, solid feel. Not sure how much additional wear they put on the bearings and steering, but liking them so far. They are bolt hole centric for reference.

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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

[Shonandb]

Front End refresh

Replaced the ball joints, put in new linkages and steering dampner as well as checked the steering box. Measured and set toe in, camber, etc as best I could and adjusted the steering wheel so it is in the right position. Added a couple new grease nipples and regreased everything. Feels tighter and more responsive now.

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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

[Shonandb]

Got away camping (in the rain) for the weekend - nothing special and did nothing to the Bus except enjoy it!

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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

[Shonandb]

Camping trip to Golden Ears Park but they are closing it for a few days due to a problem bear.... Maybe one of our local Sasquatch made an appearance and they want to keep the sightings to a minimum as they have never closed the Park in the past due to a bear......?

The trailer pulls nicely though!

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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

[Shonandb]

Preparing for a camping trip up to the Yukon and Alaska in July and built a rear cargo carrier out of a bike rack and a solar shower as most of our camping will be off-grid. Planning to move the spare tire off the roof and onto the rear mount.

Cargo Carrier for propane, gas cans, etc

Solar shower - gravity fed holds 10 gallons

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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

[Shonandb]

Road Trip North

Took a week and headed up North camping on a 5000 km (3000 mile) tour of Northern BC and part of the Yukon via the Alaskan Highway with my wife and teenage daughter and one of her friends. My daughter's friend's parents joined us on the trip in their SUV so we got some cool video as well but basically 4 of us in the Bus for 8 days.

Bus ran flawlessly and we averaged about 9 kms per litre (21 miles per gallon) throughout the trip with as low as 8 kms per litre in the mountains and a high of 10 kms per litre on the flats. Longest day driven was about 9 hours from Liard River Hotsprings to Dawson Creek but we had to go through a few areas of construction which slowed us down. Our windshield has a few battle scars from rocks thrown up from large trucks but other than that, no issues.

Saw lots of black bears, moose, caribou, deer, mountain goats/sheep, elk, bison, and even porcupines and had cool rainy weather in Prince Rupert (12 C 53 F) to hot desert conditions between Cache Creek and Yale on Hwy #1 where it hit 38 C (100 F).

Solar shower worked well and made the trip really comfortable. The Hotsprings were fantastic but the mosquitos were relentless even with repellent on but we got used to them. The scenery was spectacular and changed significantly as we passed through West to East, South to North, West to East again, and North to South back to the Lower Mainland. (see video a few posts below)

Only saw a couple Vanagons and 1 Eurovan along the way as well as only 1 Late Bay. Expected to see more VWs but every 2nd vehicle was either a pickup truck or various sized RVs.

* A nice bonus was having freezies straight out of the freezer in our old Dometic fridge when it was hot! Love that fridge as it kept the beer nice and cold too.

A few pics:

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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

[Shonandb]

Finally tidied up the remaining body work issues closing up some gaps and grinding errors using a bit of body putty, added the under sliding door runner panel, cleaned up, painted, and undercoated the front wheel wells, and added front mudflaps before our road trip North. Used light truck mud flaps and mounted them Vanagon style to keep the rockers clean.

Added a bullbar for a bit more protection on our trip and was planning to switch it back to the regular bumper but I kind of like it as it doubles as a ladder to access the luggage rack bag and has mount holes for driving lights which I want to add at some point. I wonder if it improves the aerodynamics as it rounds out an angular bumper/vertical nose shape...?

Added a couple aluminum U channels to the accelerator pedal as it was flexing too much.

Still need to adjust the sliding door better, clean up, paint, and undercoat the rear wheel wells as well as mount and connect the A/C components to complete it.

This side didn't turn out as nice as the other side but I didn't want to use a ton of putty. Will take another look at it over the winter to make it look nicer.

Added a Bullbar

Aluminum Rails

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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

[Shonandb]

Long Weekend Getaway

Wanted to get off the pavement and onto some gravel forest service roads for the Long weekend. Headed to Harrison Lake for a few days camping, hiking, and watersports.

It had been a while but it didn't take long for the washboard vibration, potholes, and dust to become all familiar again, and welcomed.

Didn't have enough clearance to drive up to the Secret Hotsprings but caught a ride with some others in their ATVs.

Steak, Baked Potatoes, and Asparagus

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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

[Shonandb]

Made up a simple Video from our recent trip up to Northern BC and Yukon along the Alaskan Hwy.


Link

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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

[Shonandb]

Attended the Great Canadian VW Show in Tsawwassen BC this past weekend. I heard that the races were fun Friday night and we had a beautiful day for the Show and Shine on Sunday.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=771650

Shiney!

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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

[Shonandb]

Road Trip to Mt. Baker

Camped along a FSR close to Mt Baker over the weekend. Beautiful place!

Quietly logged the first 10,000 miles on the Bus since reviving it/doing the swap.

No Bays on the Way but saw about 10 Vanagons, mostly campers.

Making dinner

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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

[SLVRSRFR]

Amazing looking road trips! Whats the story with the bullbar - did you build or buy? (sorry if I missed it in your post)
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Brian

'78 westy, '64 sedan

[Shonandb]

[Shonandb]

Road Trip to Anglemont, Shuswap Lake, BC

Headed to a friend's lot in Anglemont, along Shuswap Lake about an hour and a half East of Kamloops for the long weekend (500mile round trip). Took the trailer this time as we planned an overnight canoe trip/remote camping and a day on the paddle boards as well as hikes to watch the salmon heading up stream.

The additional trailer weight was noticeable on the hills between Hope and Kamloops but only dropped below the speed limit a couple times.

Had a little bit of a hiccup on the way back when we hit a bump on the hwy and the engine immediately lost power and died. Pulled over and thought that it must be electrical as if I had run out of fuel it would have at least sputtered once or twice before dying. Quickly looked under the bus and noticed that the ground wire had come off the fuel pump and was a bit loose when I reattached it so I squeezed it with a pair of pliers and it was good to go. It fired back up as normal and off we went. I like when it's something simple!

Ran 89 octane gas instead of 87 and added some fuel injection cleaner to the gas tank and it seemed to run just a bit smoother/better on the way back but it might just be my imagination. It was 95 degrees F on the drive there but only 75F on the way back so that may have made a difference too.

In the 90F + air temps, the coolant temp was pushing up over 205F if I went over 70 mph so I kept it around 65 mph and it stayed at the 200-203F range. On the way back with 75F air temps, I could do 70 - 75 mph and the coolant temps remained under 203F. I may look at buying a larger rad as the stock rad out of my donor may not be big enough to use when pulling the trailer in 90F + outside air temps.

In Hope, BC
95F on the way

80F on the way back

Anglemont, BC

Salmon run (Sockeye)

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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

[Shonandb]

Been looking for a swing out spare tire rack for a while now and almost bought an old Bronco rack but didn't want to drill more holes.
My bike rack cargo carrier worked well but it sticks out too far for normal day trips so kept my eye out for a compact rack and found this fold down Yakima almost free on Craigslist. Looks good so far and is lockable.

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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

[Shonandb]

Was itching to get out in the Bus this weekend and did a couple day trips around the Lower Mainland. Sunsets are beautiful this time of year and caught this one from Crescent Beach.

On Sunday, did a drive and paddle to a boat access only campsite about an hour paddle North of Deep Cove along Indian Arm. Parked in Belcarra and paddled to Twin Islands. Paddling the canoe is a nice pairing with driving the Bus. Nothing like the quiet and unobstructed views!

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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