1977 Westfalia Camper-The story of how we met

[notchboy]

Enjoying the fruits:

Maupin road trip. Last Thursday the 16th I drove down the 5 to Portland to hang with the P Land boys for the Maupin weekend. Talk about a shit drive in pouring rain. But we made it.

Stayed the night then headed to Maupin the next day after hooking up with some fellow busers. Two blue Rivis and two yellow Westys cruzin on in.

Maupin was a blast. Definatly need to go if you can. Such a nice change from Seattle. My son and I did lots of hanging out and even rode the rapids. Meet a whole new group of VW people outside the Samba and T3 crowd I usually circle with.

After two days of that we headed with a 10 bus possy to Mt Hood for another night. Next day drove through the Hood back to the Columbia then up the 14 through Yakima then over Mt Rainier and back home.

Being able to do Mt Hood and Mt Rainier in the same clear sunny day made it for me. Im still grinning. To do it all in a bus that eats hills up is epic

Lots of pics.

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[Xevin]

Oh man! Those pictures are great. Who's the fat f*€k under the 72? Looks like he was happy to see you Good times. Was great to meet your fantastic kid. Glad you made it down brother.
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Keep on Busin'

[notchboy]

[notchboy]

Link

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[Xevin]

I could be wrong. But, I'm thinking there are more bay window campers at that gas station then Nebraska and both Dakota states combined
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Keep on Busin'

[mark d]

beautiful photos, thks
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1972ish westfalia

"what good are tractors without violins ?" jose figueres

[RONIN10]

SO bummed that I couldn't make it. I'm STILL waiting for my bus to get out of the body shop. Anyway, glass you got to make the trip J, Maupin it's a special one
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Andrew

Oscar: 1976 Westfalia Deluxe Camper, 2.0L FI, Manual Transaxle

[notchboy]

[notchboy]

Well some epic shit just on this page alone.

PO - Previous Owner. Hack - Any addition to your ACVW that did not come stock from VW or any authorized VW dealer.

This is going to be some PO Hack stuff

Been loving the bus, the additions of the Eberspacher, clean interior with working range and especially that sweet CS in the back. Regardless of it leaking oil

All is well and ready for a PO hack that will make this bus more user friendly for me. I have the OG westy seats for 77 in it. Being 6'5" the position of the seat fully back is inadequate to say the least. I need to sit lower and back as much as possible. To accomplish this I purchased 74 seats second hand in order to mod them to my taste and or needs. Hence the PO hack. Here is the initial prototype phase of the seat mod.

Im removing the spring back of the driver seat. Don't want it and will have the board lined with dense foam about an inch thick, do the bottom as normal. The 74 seats sit about 3-4 inches lower than the 76 and later seats due to the lack of the Captain swivel option seen on the passenger side. That one addition caused the 76 and later seats to be raised the 3-4 inches. I love the lack of bulkhead and captain seat, but you can stuff the new seats and height.

Not one to just do the driver seat, I wanted a different passenger seat as well. For this I'm using the 74 seat but putting Mercedes seat recliners on it. The whole assembly will still be higher than the drivers seat but will have the box look of the earlier seats.

The idea is to make a lower and back driver for my big ass and a more adjustable passenger seat with cool period seat recliners installed. I will need to make the back even with the bottom to do this. Im also not liking the install so far and will use capture nuts welded on and longer attachment bolts. The adjustment rod needs to be shortened as well as the Mercedes seats are wider.

Here is phase one -- the prototype.

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[KentABQ]

Isn't this more of a CO hack than a PO one?

Overall, it's a great idea. I'm eager to hear how it works for you.
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-Kent-
1976 Riviera, 1.8l FI chrome yellow VAN - "Chloe"

"I must say, how can you be in a bad mood driving this vehicle full of vibrant color.
Cars of today are so bland in comparison. It's like driving a celebration!" ---WildIdea

Bus ownership via emoticons:
---williamM

[notchboy]

Present Owner?
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[[email protected]]

Great pics and video. What a fun campout and convoy. That video sure shows the whole posse. Let play again soon.
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72 ASI Bus "Mill"
66 Singlecab
68 Squareback
62 Ragtop Bug
77 Westfalia

[notchboy]

[notchboy]

Put the later thick rubber wheel on. Jeff you were right. I like it.

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[Tram]

[notchboy]

I think that it would to wide for both sides. You know how much of a lurch I am. I take up 1/3 of the four quarters of space in the cockpit.

I would still want to pull the back spring section off the driver side to sit further back. Then the Mercedes seats will most likely be too wide to sit on top of the swivel without hitting the pillar or seat belt winder. I think these early seats themselves may be a stretch to fit the swivel area.

This hack has been on my mind for a couple years now. If it proceeds the way its going the passenger will still sit higher due to the swivel.

I may just alter the seat back on the stock seat and just deal with my head in the headliner. Its the need to stop every 2 hours to unfold thats the issue. I guess I could just lose some weight and get in better shape?

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[Tram]

[notchboy]

It does have the swivel - as it was sold to me. I did think of setting the swivel into the seat base as well. I think the swivel plate is bigger or as big as the seat frame.

I actually looked at your type of seat and thought they were just to big.
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[notchboy]

Headlight update. New LED super output lights.



Link

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[RONIN10]

I'm still seeing spots from my rear view mirror.
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Andrew

Oscar: 1976 Westfalia Deluxe Camper, 2.0L FI, Manual Transaxle