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spacebiscuit Samba Member
Joined: March 11, 2016 Posts: 368 Location: UK
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 4:55 pm Post subject: My 1972 Westfalia Project |
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I've been posting here and there over the past 18 or so months (mostly asking newbie questions) since starting my project. inspired by the other threads that have been started and which I have been reading today. like the last one I read, I am not sure mine is worthy but the amount of work that has gone into it makes it of interest and if nothing else can be something I can look at when I feel like the project is going backwards.
So this is my 1972 Wesfalia bus:
Notice anything not quite right about it? I didn't back in 1998 when I purchased it for £3,800 from a dealer. Back then buses went cool, there was no Samba and I was literally shopping blind. I was in college and I wanted a bus to take to mainland Europe. Most were priced £2000-2500, but this one although out of my league just became more and more appealing each time I visited the dealer. Eventually the priced dropped and I somehow scraped together the funds to purchase her.
The bus had been imported from the States, I have some garage bills somewhere which I can scan and post. I believe it came to the UK in the mid 90's, I have found some business cards behind units when I striped the interior. There was an interesting feature we found above the headliner at the back of the bus - a metal compartment the width of the bus and about the same in length and about 1-2 inches deep. I have no idea why it was there or how but it wasn't original and was very much a DIY affair.
The picture above was taken in Andorra in 1999, on the border between France and Spain. I did two trips down to the island of Ibiza in her before retiring her to a garage in around 2000. Then in 2011 (ish) the garage she was stored in had a fire and the the front of the dash was burned out. It could have been a lot worse but the entire cab was gutted and the westfalia pop-top melted.
In late 2016 I finally got motivated enough to start the restoration project. I had been having difficulty finding someone local to me to work on the bodywork. That was until a kerb-side tyre company came to fit some tyres on my car, I got chatting and the fitter knew someone who was 5 minutes away. Finally I had found someone who knew about these buses and I felt confident enough to trust to do a good job.
First job was to fix the nose of the bus:
The above photos were taken in late 2016. Since then I have been working on the project on weekends when the weather has been good enough and between having our first child and juggling life's challenges, but progress have been good.
I'll post a brief update of progress to date in my next posts.
Last edited by spacebiscuit on Wed Apr 11, 2018 4:32 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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orwell84 Samba Member
Joined: May 14, 2007 Posts: 2528 Location: Plattsburgh, New York
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 5:17 pm Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia |
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Ok, wrong nose for a 72. Possible accident damage repair. I curious about the compartment. What type of engine? |
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alman72 Samba Member
Joined: October 09, 2014 Posts: 2573 Location: MICHIGAN
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 5:46 pm Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia |
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looks like the nose was amended back to the correct style after the initial work. |
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Xevin Samba Member
Joined: January 08, 2014 Posts: 7599
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 6:28 pm Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia |
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Those air scoops look wrong from the angle pictured. And the front and rear side marker lights. And the wheel arch near back bumper _________________ Keep on Busin'
67rustavenger wrote: |
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo! |
Clatter wrote: |
Damn that Xevin... |
skills@eurocarsplus wrote: |
I respect Xevin and he's a turd |
SGKent wrote: |
My God! Xevin and I 100% agree |
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jtauxe Samba Member
Joined: September 30, 2004 Posts: 5778 Location: Los Alamos, New Mexico
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 6:31 pm Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia |
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incorrect tyres _________________ John
"Travelling in a fried-out Kombi, on a hippie trail, head full of zombie..." - Colin Hay and Ron Strykert
http://vw.tauxe.net
1969 Transporter, 1971 Westfalia, 1976, 1977, 1976, 1977, 1971, 1973, 1977 Westfalias,
1979 Champagne Sunroof, 1974 Westfalia Automatic, 1979 Transporter, 1972 Sportsmobile, 1973 Transporter Wild Westerner, 1974 Westfalia parts bus, 1975 Mexican single cab *FOR SALE*, 1978 Irish 4-door double cab RHD
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dumptuck Samba Member
Joined: May 24, 2015 Posts: 170 Location: BC
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 8:21 pm Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia |
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Nice bus! Glad to see you are bringing it back to life. Not sure why everyone here is immediately pointing out all the flaws, but oh well |
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67ctbug Samba Member
Joined: January 24, 2016 Posts: 3619 Location: CT
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 8:33 pm Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia |
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dumptuck wrote: |
Nice bus! Glad to see you are bringing it back to life. Not sure why everyone here is immediately pointing out all the flaws, but oh well |
He asked if people noticed anything wrong. _________________ '67 Beetle L41
'74 Westfalia
'69 Plymouth "Adam-12"
'63 Ragtop
'73 914
'73 Dodge W200
'72 Dodge Wrecker
Go Cubs!
World Series Champions 2016
KentPS wrote: |
...or the PO envied the terrorists' bus in "Back to the Future". |
mukluk wrote: |
He's fine, just waiting for the dragon in winklepickers to move out of his lane. |
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dumptuck Samba Member
Joined: May 24, 2015 Posts: 170 Location: BC
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 8:39 pm Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia |
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67ctbug wrote: |
dumptuck wrote: |
Nice bus! Glad to see you are bringing it back to life. Not sure why everyone here is immediately pointing out all the flaws, but oh well |
He asked if people noticed anything wrong. |
My bad, I didn’t see that part I thought everyone was instantly tearing his bus apart |
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Xevin Samba Member
Joined: January 08, 2014 Posts: 7599
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 8:44 pm Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia |
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67ctbug wrote: |
dumptuck wrote: |
Nice bus! Glad to see you are bringing it back to life. Not sure why everyone here is immediately pointing out all the flaws, but oh well |
He asked if people noticed anything wrong. |
Yep, and the white exterior electrical inlet is wrong for a U.S. bus plus if it was a US imported back to U.K. it would have had the wrong “Tires” not “Tyres” as jtauxe pointed out Have fun with the bus spacebiscuit. Looking forward to this on the road. _________________ Keep on Busin'
67rustavenger wrote: |
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo! |
Clatter wrote: |
Damn that Xevin... |
skills@eurocarsplus wrote: |
I respect Xevin and he's a turd |
SGKent wrote: |
My God! Xevin and I 100% agree |
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wcfvw69 Samba Purist
Joined: June 10, 2004 Posts: 13385 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 9:16 pm Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia |
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Nice.. I see the bay forum is a bit testy tonight!
To the OP, nice job saving your bus and throwing the $ at getting her back in shape for future enjoyment and memories.
Look forward to watching your progress as it comes back to life! _________________ Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc
Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.
**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours** |
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tommu Samba Member
Joined: November 15, 2011 Posts: 616 Location: L.A.
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Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 11:06 pm Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia |
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Quote: |
I am not sure mine is worthy |
Stop being so British
Nice bus, nice story and very pleased to see it being saved after a scorching. _________________ |
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spacebiscuit Samba Member
Joined: March 11, 2016 Posts: 368 Location: UK
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Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 1:24 am Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia |
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Quote: |
Stop being so British |
Ok I'm going to get all John Clease and start apologising
Yeah so when I bought the bus I had no idea it was the wrong nose, To be honest I only discovered the difference 2 or 3 years ago when my education begun. Of course it was tragic incident but if it meant I got to learn a little along the way and correct my bus then so be it.
I also learned that it had been rear ended since there has been some repairs done to the rear shelf above the engine. That might explain the rear wheel arch that Xevin pointed out. Incidently what is wrong with it?
The white electrical inlet has already been removed and looked ugly in my opinion. The rear marker lights I know are not original but I always liked them, so much so that I am trying to source one to replace the broken one.
Incidently what's up with my tires - I was always quite fond of them 😐 |
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pioneer1 Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2008 Posts: 2068 Location: Ontario Canada
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Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 2:55 am Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia |
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White wall tires are rated as passenger tires. Proper C or D rated tires are blackwall _________________ "Always waiting for tomorrow ruined everything"
'85 Porsche 911 Targa
'76 Westfalia project |
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Abscate Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014 Posts: 22573 Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 3:33 am Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia |
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jtauxe wrote: |
incorrect tyres |
Tires are fine if you drive it like what it is...an Aztec sacrifice with you strapped to front and aren’t loading it with Stonehenge artifacts _________________ .ssS! |
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Xevin Samba Member
Joined: January 08, 2014 Posts: 7599
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Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 9:37 am Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia |
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Again from the blurry photo. It looks like fresh air scoops from 68-71. Hard to tell. The rear wheel flair down to bumper is odd from the photo. I only use an iPhone for this.
Borrowed photos from srogebry gallery
_________________ Keep on Busin'
67rustavenger wrote: |
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo! |
Clatter wrote: |
Damn that Xevin... |
skills@eurocarsplus wrote: |
I respect Xevin and he's a turd |
SGKent wrote: |
My God! Xevin and I 100% agree |
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spacebiscuit Samba Member
Joined: March 11, 2016 Posts: 368 Location: UK
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Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 4:04 pm Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia |
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Xevin wrote: |
Again from the blurry photo. It looks like fresh air scoops from 68-71. Hard to tell. |
My air scoops are definitely rounder than those on the bus you posted which look squarer... |
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spacebiscuit Samba Member
Joined: March 11, 2016 Posts: 368 Location: UK
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Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 4:25 pm Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia |
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Ok here are the photos in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.
Dash warped with the heat of the fire
Looking sad
The original plan was to fix the nose and refit the dash. But the rear of the bus was dirty from the fire and was bugging me. So a friend encouraged me to strip it out and I am glad I did because I discovered that water had got under the flooring.
At this point the project took a change of direction, things were about to get serious. I learned how to use an angle grinder and with it lost all hope of getting the bus finished in time for the coming summer..
I then embarked on a mission to grind back the entire floor and pretty much anything that had any surface rust. Some of the small sections I did with a wire drill bit, the bigger section I tackled with the grinder:
Most of the nose was done with a wire drill bit - it killed my drill
Note the patched repair done to the section above the engine
The floor took about 3 days - the neighbours were not too pleased!
Tomorrow I will post some photos of things looking nice after painiting, |
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busdaddy Samba Member
Joined: February 12, 2004 Posts: 51057 Location: Surrey B.C. Canada, but thinking of Ukraine
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Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 4:52 pm Post subject: Re: My 1972 Westfalia Project |
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Looks more like a 71 with a late nose from here, more photos would help.
Regardless of what it's made from it's a nice bus and deserves all the love you give it. None of those issues are visible from the drivers seat, or dining table as you enjoy a spot of tea _________________ Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.
Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!
Слава Україні! |
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Xevin Samba Member
Joined: January 08, 2014 Posts: 7599
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Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:19 pm Post subject: Re: My 1972 Westfalia Project |
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That rear end is not 72. Did they graft an early bay rear end to this because of damage previously mention? Or is this not a US 72? We need M-platedl decoding, or pictures of engine compartment. Even sticker on the door.
_________________ Keep on Busin'
67rustavenger wrote: |
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo! |
Clatter wrote: |
Damn that Xevin... |
skills@eurocarsplus wrote: |
I respect Xevin and he's a turd |
SGKent wrote: |
My God! Xevin and I 100% agree |
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spacebiscuit Samba Member
Joined: March 11, 2016 Posts: 368 Location: UK
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Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 12:22 am Post subject: Re: My 1972 Westfalia Project |
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To confirm the bus is an August 71 produc0iont which I believe makes it a 1972? I can get a photo of the sticker in the cab.
This is like an episode of "who do you think you are". It's fun finding out about your ancestry but be prepared for some unpleasant surprises along the way! |
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