1978 Dakota Beige Westfalia Project

busboyjake · Last edited by busboyjake on Wed Aug 03, 2016 12:08 am; edited 2 times in total

It was suggested to me that I post a project thread for my bus, so here it goes!

I have to give credit where its due:
One of the great bus loves of my bus life was my 1977 Deluxe Westy (the Sweet Pea). I had this bus for a very long time and it saw many projects come and go. I sold it about 4 years ago thinking it was a great idea, and bought a 66 SO-42, then a 1969 Westy....... I realized that i really missed the extra power of a type 4 motor, and the functionality of the late westy setup. So began again the hunt for the "one bus to rule them all."

Here's the Pea in all her glory.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

I decided on one of two models; either a '78 Champagne Westy (way too$$$) or a beige '78 Deluxe Westy (P-27?)

While looking at a '77 for a buddy of mine (he bought the '77) I stumbled on this...

It is a '78 Deluxe Westy with 80K miles on the body, From Arizona, so rust-free, with a solid drivetrain, missing a few things, and covered in oxide primer. We settled on a price and the deal was done.

Here is the bus when I picked it up.

Coming Home

We had to go straight to Rudy's BBQ - Thanks for the help Nat and Ryan!

First Issue - Broken CV Axle

Second Issue - I didn't notice that the spring that pulls the thermostat flaps open had never been hooked up Mad

Bus got pretty hot, but its ok.

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1965 Pearl White Caravelle Camper
1978 Dakota Beige Westy
1969 Montana Red Westy (for sale soon)

busboyjake

Interior project (back half):

I decided to swap the refrigerator and all of its unnecessary guts for a cooler unit I had sitting around.

Front:

....More to come.
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1965 Pearl White Caravelle Camper
1978 Dakota Beige Westy
1969 Montana Red Westy (for sale soon)

Stuartzickefoose

Nice pics

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Stuart Zickefoose

2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDi 6 speed manual

206-841-7324
[email protected]

Busstom

Awesome. Can you say with certainty what front seats those are? Vanagon?

Thanks!

BayCreamPuff

busboyjake

Bala

That's looking great! Congrats!
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1976 Westy

1966 Beetle

busboyjake · Last edited by busboyjake on Tue Aug 02, 2016 12:08 pm; edited 1 time in total

This was my first attempt to re-index the rear. Fail. i think just turned the outers up one. It was way too high in the rear before, now too low.

I got it right this time.

With that done, I decided to start taking of the primer and other paint to see what was underneath - maybe salvage original paint.

Took the ol' girl on her first proper mountain camping trip. That's my buddy Ryan's bus - The '77 mentioned before.

More primer removal:

_________________
1965 Pearl White Caravelle Camper
1978 Dakota Beige Westy
1969 Montana Red Westy (for sale soon)

busboyjake

More work on the interior: This is hooking up the gas heater in the spare tire well.

Sorry about the pics - Photobucket seems to be broken and wont let me rotate pics.

Here's the exhaust i fabricated from pipe fittings. I had a piece fabricated to adapt the exhaust to something threaded that I could attach to and would actually seal.

Hole in the floor and heat resistant piece to run exhaust thru.

Test-fit

Kitchenette installation

Modifications for gas heater.
Fresh air Intake

Venting through the kitchenette, routed to the vent under the cooler.

Plumbing for cooler ice melt drain

Added a 12V Outlet

Moving IN!

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1965 Pearl White Caravelle Camper
1978 Dakota Beige Westy
1969 Montana Red Westy (for sale soon)

jmstu76

so you went with a straight piece of vinyl tubing instead of the P trap on the sink drain? I don't really think you need the P trap.
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James

'76 Deluxe Sage Green Westy
2258 cc GD case 78mm CW crank, 2.0 H-beam rods 5,325” 22mm pin, JE forged pistons with 15cc dish, JE rings, type 11 clearanced oil pump, CB Eagle 2205 Type-2 “Torque Special” hydraulic cam with matched lifters fed by CB Dual Weber 40 IDF MX with 6” foam air filters, currently 55 idle, 130 main, 200 air correction, 32 mm venturis. 27in General Grabber AT2 All Terrains, Berg Shifter, stock '76 exhaust HPC Ceramic Coated. 11/18/2020

Kirk

Love this bus. One to rule them all. Love the beige.
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MAKE FORUMS GREAT AGAIN

Bear
Coble
Super
Oppenheim

busboyjake

Bodywork and paint:

The first night

The second

Day 3 - I decided to at least locate the holes for a nose emblem.... Found this:

Ground it off and began hammering. I had to push the nose out about 0.25 inches

A tiny skim coat of evercoat fiber

Sanded it back and a tiny skim coat of evercoat metal glaze

For the record - When people tell you there's no filler in a car that has had bodywork done, its usually BS. There are people that can shape metal with precision and art. I know these people. I am not one of them. I can get it really close, but at least i replaced the Auto-Zone pink crap with quality product and its a minimal thickness when applied.

For the most part, I wanted to prep and paint my own car....

More sanding and straightening and removing/repairing old bodywork:

Etch Primer

Filler primer:

Blocking (the whole bus of course - pics are of the nose):

In the paint booth..... wipe, tack, blow, repeat

Color:

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1965 Pearl White Caravelle Camper
1978 Dakota Beige Westy
1969 Montana Red Westy (for sale soon)

busboyjake

okartguy

Having seen this bus up close within the last couple of weeks, I can attest that it's beautiful. Excellent work!
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JJ
Tulsa, OK
'79 Westfalia / 2.0 + dual DRLA 40s / 16" steelies

'75 Westfalia "Project Orange Peel" https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10164122#10164122

busboyjake

busboyjake

busboyjake

Out of the booth and reassembly:

For whatever reason the passenger door color ended up being off. I may have missed it on the final coat due to fume-induced delirium. Anyhow, I plan to re-shoot the door and the engine hatch sometime soon.