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Paintedbus
Samba Member
Joined: September 14, 2003
Posts: 679
Location: salem, ma
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 Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 8:08 am Post subject: |
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Having owned both bays and vanagons, i am inclined to go with what i have now... A bay. As I am soley responsible for the mechanical well being of my bus, i went back to the aircooled motor for the ease of fixing and finding parts.
My experience with vanagons includes both the aircooled variety in the shape of an 81 passenger and an 87 full westy, which was delightful and very comfortable, but an endless drain on my wallet. Despite being ugly as sin, my primer and dent covered 81 was dependable and was very comfortable to drive.
I did go back to aircooled power though, and if it interests the (probably now long gone) original poster, i have included the best part of the vanagon into my late bay. Those (of course) being the cushy captains chairs. ... And Besides those, a notable amount of sound deadening material, a functional suspension system, and THE CORRECT TIRES, there not much difference in the comfort level of my 78 and my long gone 87. Its just slower, which is fine by me.
Smiles and waves per mile are purely a function of your location. My 87 always commanded attention, but thats because they are rare up here. My 78, 71 and other 78 all got plenty of waves too. Since i roadtrip my bus about 10k miles a year, i can tell you that you will get waves in DE from bays and vanagons as thats moonie country (full moon bus club) and they love all buses down there!
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Champagne Edition Roadtrip monster "Juakali"
~"Paintedbus" Ken~
The Mobile Muralist
WWW.PAINTEDBUSART.COM |
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Esher127
Samba Member
Joined: August 26, 2010
Posts: 607
Location: Staunton, VA
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 8:28 am Post subject: |
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Nearly all of my friends have Vanagons, and I have a Bay. I love my Bay, but there's a lot of times I wish I had a Vanagon instead. Every time I'm in a Vanagon I'm amazed at how BIG it is! Plus being able to go over 60mph is kinda nice.
On the other hand, my Bay looks about 185732439x better than a Vanagon, it's easy and cheap to work on, and it seems 'special'.
So... the only logical conclusion is that I need to own BOTH!
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1970 Westfalia Pop-Top |
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420GOAT
Samba Member
Joined: March 31, 2006
Posts: 3343
Location: Wilmington, CA on a nice quiet street but still in the 'hood
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 10:31 am Post subject: |
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bay for the summer, vanagon in the winter....done!!
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once you realize im not impressed we will get along just fine |
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CessnaJon
Samba Member
Joined: August 15, 2008
Posts: 677
Location: Senoia,GA
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 1:14 pm Post subject: |
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Problem solved! Buy both!!!!
I cant stand those rubber bumpers,BTW.
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1973 Westy (shared birthday)
1990 Westy Multivan
2015 Passat TDI 6sp
2015 Sportwagon TDI 6sp
LR-JET, Gulfstream 159 |
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420GOAT
Samba Member
Joined: March 31, 2006
Posts: 3343
Location: Wilmington, CA on a nice quiet street but still in the 'hood
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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| CessnaJon wrote: |
Problem solved! Buy both!!!!
I cant stand those rubber bumpers,BTW. |
those are on Carats.
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once you realize im not impressed we will get along just fine |
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webwalker 
Samba Member
Joined: January 26, 2006
Posts: 2803
Location: Mount Laurel, NJ
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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| CessnaJon wrote: |
A lot of Vanagons running around with Subaru power?
Theres also a lot of bays with engine conversions too.
A waterboxer in a Vanagon can take more abuse and neglect than an aircooled bay, and either will go 100k miles with minimal attention.
Personally, I dont know how anyone could remove the best part of a bus(air or water cooled) and install a Subaru,Ford, or whatever. Just my opnion.
I dont know much about Subarus- I'm sure they make some fine engines. But, you won't find one under my Z-bed. |
Read about the Subaru engines. They'll amaze you: they're what VW would have done if they'd had the sense to stick with a boxer engine.
A bay for me, not only because of aesthetics, but also because of my personal nostalgia. Call it an early mid-life crisis. But instead of xcountry-camping by myself (as I did in a 71 bus twenty years ago) I'll enjoy taking my daughter camping; something that she is stoked for and is hectoring me to finish the 77 so we can get out and go. A Vanagon is a logical evolution in design from the Split & Bay, and a lot more practical in most ways that matter, and T3 owners are just as rabid about them as Bay and Split owners are. But they not as interesting to me, and that's all.
M
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"Consistent maintenance with quality products is the cheapest warranty you'll ever need."
1977 CE1 Transporter Deluxe, Subaru EJ22, Skills Cooling, Steedle HD 091 w/ GuardT .82 4th
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CessnaJon
Samba Member
Joined: August 15, 2008
Posts: 677
Location: Senoia,GA
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 3:02 pm Post subject: |
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I meant the rubber bumpers on my MGB.
Carats/Multivans have fiberglass bumpers.
I have the attention span of an 8 year old- sorry to get off topic.
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1973 Westy (shared birthday)
1990 Westy Multivan
2015 Passat TDI 6sp
2015 Sportwagon TDI 6sp
LR-JET, Gulfstream 159 |
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airkooledchris
Samba Member
Joined: January 25, 2005
Posts: 2713
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 3:34 pm Post subject: |
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whichever you find the better deal on is the one you should get.
I love them both. if you care about your vehicles, either will do anything you want it to.
that said I like the way the bays look better and I like the way the Vanagon handles better. for a big guy sleeping in the vanagon is more roomy if you have to share side/side space.
spell check in Chrome wants me to fix the word "vanagon" with "vagina" instead, so you know how it feels. |
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webwalker
Samba Member
Joined: January 26, 2006
Posts: 2803
Location: Mount Laurel, NJ
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 3:41 pm Post subject: |
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| airkooledchris wrote: |
spell check in Chrome wants me to fix the word "vanagon" with "vagina" instead, so you know how it feels. |
So it's built to take a pounding? 
_________________
"Consistent maintenance with quality products is the cheapest warranty you'll ever need."
1977 CE1 Transporter Deluxe, Subaru EJ22, Skills Cooling, Steedle HD 091 w/ GuardT .82 4th
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CessnaJon
Samba Member
Joined: August 15, 2008
Posts: 677
Location: Senoia,GA
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| Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 6:33 pm Post subject: |
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Ha!
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1973 Westy (shared birthday)
1990 Westy Multivan
2015 Passat TDI 6sp
2015 Sportwagon TDI 6sp
LR-JET, Gulfstream 159 |
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