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My 1972 Westfalia Project
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spacebiscuit
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 4:55 pm    Post subject: My 1972 Westfalia Project Reply with quote

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:

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


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:

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


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


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
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 5:17 pm    Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia Reply with quote

Ok, wrong nose for a 72. Possible accident damage repair. I curious about the compartment. What type of engine?
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 5:46 pm    Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia Reply with quote

looks like the nose was amended back to the correct style after the initial work.
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 6:28 pm    Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia Reply with quote

Those air scoops look wrong from the angle pictured. And the front and rear side marker lights. And the wheel arch near back bumper
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 6:31 pm    Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia Reply with quote

incorrect tyres
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 8:21 pm    Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia Reply with quote

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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PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 8:33 pm    Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia Reply with quote

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.
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 8:39 pm    Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia Reply with quote

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 Embarassed I thought everyone was instantly tearing his bus apart Laughing Laughing
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 8:44 pm    Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia Reply with quote

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 Wink plus if it was a US imported back to U.K. it would have had the wrong “Tires” not “Tyres” as jtauxe pointed out Laughing Have fun with the bus spacebiscuit. Looking forward to this on the road.
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 9:16 pm    Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia Reply with quote

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!
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 10, 2018 11:06 pm    Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia Reply with quote

Quote:
I am not sure mine is worthy


Stop being so British Laughing

Nice bus, nice story and very pleased to see it being saved after a scorching.
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spacebiscuit
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 1:24 am    Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia Reply with quote

Quote:
Stop being so British Laughing


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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PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 2:55 am    Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia Reply with quote

White wall tires are rated as passenger tires. Proper C or D rated tires are blackwall
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 3:33 am    Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia Reply with quote

jtauxe wrote:
incorrect tyres


Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy

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
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 9:37 am    Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia Reply with quote

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

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


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

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67rustavenger wrote:
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo! Very Happy

Clatter wrote:
Damn that Xevin... Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy

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I respect Xevin and he's a turd Razz

SGKent wrote:
My God! Xevin and I 100% agree Shocked
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spacebiscuit
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 4:04 pm    Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia Reply with quote

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
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 4:25 pm    Post subject: Re: 1972 Westfalia Reply with quote

Ok here are the photos in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

Dash warped with the heat of the fire

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


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


Looking sad Sad

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


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


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.

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


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


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

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


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


Note the patched repair done to the section above the engine

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


The floor took about 3 days - the neighbours were not too pleased!

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


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


Tomorrow I will post some photos of things looking nice after painiting,
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 4:52 pm    Post subject: Re: My 1972 Westfalia Project Reply with quote

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 Smile
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2018 5:19 pm    Post subject: Re: My 1972 Westfalia Project Reply with quote

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.

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

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67rustavenger wrote:
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo! Very Happy

Clatter wrote:
Damn that Xevin... Very Happy Very Happy Very Happy

skills@eurocarsplus wrote:
I respect Xevin and he's a turd Razz

SGKent wrote:
My God! Xevin and I 100% agree Shocked
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spacebiscuit
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 12:22 am    Post subject: Re: My 1972 Westfalia Project Reply with quote

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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