Hell In A Bucket! WildIdea's 1977 Sage Green Westy

[wcfvw69]

Great thread! I've enjoyed following along. Nice to see a bus brought back to life to such a high standard.
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Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

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[WildIdea]

[cliveawn]

Looks very nice! have you had the bus on the dyno yet?
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Green 78 Westfalia Helsinki,

2056 with 41 x 34 valves,ported heads
Fully balanced
8,5:1CR
JPM Custom made cam
JPM 7075 dual taper pushrods
IDF 40's with 28mm venturi's
Python CSP 42mm exhaust.
115 HP

Daily driver 2017 Volvo V60 D5 hybrid
Rica stage 2 tune 345hp.

''Funny thing about common sense is that its not very common''

Seismic gun mechanic

[WildIdea]

[WildIdea]

One of the things I took care of this winter was the table I bought from Bus Depot. It wasn't high on the list but I will be needing one, so I picked it up a while ago. The labor involved with constructing the piece from scratch and the cleanup was well worth the price and I didn't have the hardware anyway.

When it arrived, I was rather pleased with the construction and overall quality although I knew the underside was going to need some attention. The wood underneath was raw and it started to pick up dirty fingerprints.

Not wanting to break my momentum, I had it spread out for about a week while I sanded, stained and cleared it to match my interior better.

I think it looks way more authentic now and matches a lot better as well as having a layer of protection that will wipe down when it get dirty. Little simple things like this really add up over time and nicer to have the products on the piece that drying out on my shelf in the garage.

The buddy seat will be the last piece to get into, shouldn't be a problem, and actually probably kind of fun to work over.

[WildIdea]

[WildIdea]

It's been quite cold lately. My best VW update is some fun time with G man. This guy is hardcore into Legos, so we got him this set for Christmas and we sat down one snowy day and assembled it together.

I would help him by sorting and hunting some pieces and he assembled them from the instructions. Took us about 8 hours, with no breaks! He started complaining about a sore neck and when I suggested we take a break, he just wasn't having it! Demanding my complete attention too, wouldn't even let me check my phone texts! Well, I guess he's like his Dad, I always want to complete what I started or I just don't feel right.

It was fun building a Bus together, almost like the real thing! I feel this is building the right temperament and a connection to each other and an appreciation of these vehicles.

I guess it's working. Cat showed me this piece of schoolwork where he chose to talk about the Lego Bus. I think I'm getting through! Looks like a typical bus man to me! I thought I would share because I thought it related to the VW lifestyle at our house and thought it pretty cute.

Talk and prep is bubbling for a spring outing in the Westy, updates soon!

[WildIdea]

Ducked out to the garage to see about fitting some easy parts. Ha! I guess nothing comes easy with a bus and the ceiling interior sill is no joke.

My OG piece was really and eye sore all warped and wavy and after I had worked my cabinets and things it is about all I have left, accept repairing or replacing that broken zipper on one of the upper bunk cushions.

I found a repo piece on NLAVW and thought I would get the ceiling trim piece coming this way. I think 60 bucks with shipping. I don't mind spending a few bucks on the bus here and there, feels good actually. It has been sitting out in the bus and I felt I could slip it on while everyone still slept.

The OG piece really didn't want to come off and it had warped in a way that covered up access to two of the mounting screws. Who would have thought I needed eye protection here! I grabbed at the piece with some players and the plastic exploded shooting tiny pieces of crispy plastic all over the bus. Mildly irritated, it takes a certain level of patients and a calm approach before I even begin a project on the bus and I just cleaned it up and took a few deep breaths. Man, I really had to tug to get this piece off. It's really wedged between headliner and body along the back.

Once the OG piece was off I compared it to the new piece side by side. I wondered if I would need to cut it down, but the old piece had apparently shrunk up that much.

I was checking out the new piece and trying to get a game plan on how to get the holes drilled out right and noticed that the strip has two edges that look to clip over the body. The wider edge to go over the front lip and the small one to wrap around the back of the body and slipping between the headliner piece and the metal of the body. This piece would have likely gone on the body first before the headliner or any other interior pieces are installed, and we know I'm not about to do that so I'm scratching my head wondering if I can get the piece wedged between all this material after the fact.

It's going to have to flex a bit to get on no matter what and with a little bit of pulling back on the wide lip, it cracks right off. I didn't pull on it hard, believe me. It was quite brittle and I pulled the whole lip right off.

Well, I thought, that's no good. I then went to just see if I could salvage the piece. I set out to drill the holes and see if I could get the back to fit and realize the whole pice is basically brittle and its cracking up before my eyes. I don't believe that if the bus was just a body and this was all I was installing, that it would have flexed enough to get both edges over the body without breaking.

The thin lip just cracks right off too, with very little pressure and I go to cleaning up the edge with a razor blade. What do I have to lose now.

The 4 mounting screws pretty much hold the strip up in place and at a casual glance, it looks like its mounted proper, but I know. I think it looks better than what I had and will just run it this way until I come up with a better idea. Maybe make a piece out of the material that goes along the sides above the windows, of even cover it with plaid or laminate. Frankly, the green body paint didn't look that bad if I wanted to run it bare. I suspect that when someone goes to get out of the bus from the bench they will naturally grab there and pull it down and maybe crack what is left and it's not attached there with the lip missing and I'm not going to glue the part to my bus or anything silly like that.

[white74westy]

Hey man...looks great! The interior looks amazing!

I literally did this same thing yesterday. My old one was a little beat, but not too bad. Some warps etc. First attempt was a no-go. I left it out in the sun for a while, and started messing with some other things. Once she had warmed up, it was easier getting it on. Nevertheless it was still a pain. I put the little side on first and used a 90* dental pick style tool to pull the long side over the lip.

[WildIdea]

[Chochobeef]

Man for 60 bux you got jipped, but atleast you made the most of what you had to work with.

If it were me, I would send a polite email to them and let them know what happened. Not saying you are looking for a refund, but that the piece is brittle.

Good to see updates. Do you have a thread for the other bus yet? If so, throw a link in your sig. I'd love to follow it as well.

[white74westy]

[WildIdea]

[white74westy]

[BUSBOSS]

[tommu]

[WildIdea]

[BUSBOSS]

[Hoody]

Adam is the only person who is reproducing these. Sorry to hear about your experience. Jon aka Eche installed his with no issues. But it was in a heated garage. My experience with plastic is that it needs to be warmed up. I like using really hot tap water. The original ones almost always look like your original one.

[WildIdea]