Brilliant Orange Time Capsule: A 39K mi bus and its OG/NLA parts

[Squeeze Cheese]

Hi guys! I got lucky last November and had a right-place-at-the-right-time moment that ended with me obtaining what I believe may be one of the ten lowest mileage non-museum bay windows in the country, I promptly snatched it up, spent the last few months cleaning it and getting it road worthy, and would like to present it and some of its OG/NLA/rare parts to you fine folks today, for prosperity, for those interested. I’ll disperse some photos between the descriptions below.

Presenting, The Brilliant Orange Time Capsule! It has been driven 39900 miles since new, most of those burned in its first ten years, was stored in a garage for 30 years, and remains almost completely original and basically, like factory new.

It’s a July 4th 1975 delivered Helinski Westfalia in L29B Brilliant Orange and the birth certificate says it was delivered to USA but also seems to have had a Canadian package added. So it has the standard 74-75 Westy setup plus the big Eberspacher BA6 heater, fresh air fans, 70A alternator, three rear seat belts plus Helinski side seat, and combined gas/electric refrigerator. It also has the optional bumper impact strips. See the birth certificate for full details.

I’ve had a bunch of buses but never one that was “fresh like the day it rolled of the dealer lot”. Even those never restored always had been tinkered with, creatively modified, and had parts and accessories deemed “useless” removed by previous owners not realizing what these beauties would be worth some day. And all that tinkering always created their character, but man it’s cool to see what “unmolested” really looks like.

The original owner was the father of the guy I bought it from, who used it for about ten years and 39,000 miles as a third car for family fun and vacations. He died in the mid eighties and it was parked in their suburban garage, where it slept - for 30 years! Eventually the guy’s wife became elderly and asked the son to sell it. He posted an Atlanta Craigslist ad, and I swiped it up with no delay. He told me they drove it once in awhile while in storage but I believe that to be only partly true. It started up and drove fine but the brake fluid had almost disappeared and it leaked oil through probably every single expired seal and the fuel tank was rusted through. So I got it home, pulled the engine for the first time and did a gasket set, and replaced the tank and fuel hoses. Other than that, I replaced the flexible front brake lines, replaced the front seat horsehair that had literally turned to dust, new plugs and wires, and just cleaned it! A LOT of cleaning…

It wears almost all of it’s original paint, which is remarkably bright and ever-so-slightly age worn. There’s some evidence of a battery tray replacement and I did have to have the nose painted due to a tragic (possibly dealer installed?) spare tire mount that rusted the additional drilled and untreated holes. The OG emblem was still in the glove box! Charles Overton of Bremen, GA welded the holes and did the nose paint.

It probably would need a thorough run through (and tires that aren’t 30+ years old) before I’d take it on a long journey, but that would inevitably mean replacing original parts with aftermarket, and that’s just sad. For now, it drives beautifully around town, brakes strongly, steers firmly without a hint of slop, and the still fresh 1800cc is in many ways peppier than my 78s’ high mileage 2000cc. Driving it is like being transported to the late 70’s, and knowing how these cars were designed to ride when they were maintained by the dealer to factory specs, with genuine parts.

I thought photographing and cataloging this bus and especially it’s OG/rare parts might be helpful for people like myself who, while working on their bus often question, “I wonder what this originally looked like?” or “I wonder if this _____ is original?” and also “Is there SUPPOSED to be a _______ here?” Personally, I find this to be the most fun aspect of owning this car, I really geek out on the historical forensics involved in unscrewing a part or something that was last attached by someone in the Hanover factory before I was born. You get a real sense of preserving what once changed can never be “original” again, like some kind of classic car archeologist - very cool.
Everything that was delivered with the bus is there, the owners manuals, the yellow bucket, the collapsible tire with VW air pump, the shore power cord, original curtains - it’s a true time capsule.

So what will follow in the next posts are some of what I consider the cool bits and pieces. Neat-o “rarest of the rare” accessories, parts that were missing on every other bus I had, parts I didn’t know existed. Perhaps this is only interesting to VW history buffs and purist-types like myself, so if it’s not for you, just consider this a waste of your bandwidth and click on. I might make wrong assumptions, please correct me where needed. If there’s anything else you’d like to see, let me know.
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78' Dakota Beige Westy. “Skills” EJ25 engine conversion w/ zero mile factory short block, Delta 1000 cams, heater core and modified Gilmore AC. Matt Steedle 091 transaxle upgrade w/ 4.14 ring and pinion, Folts aluminum gear carrier. General Grabber AT2s on stock wheels. Solar powered aux battery w/ inverter.

[busdaddy]

Awesome!, I'll be the "Westy smell" is almost overpowering in that one, thanks for sharing.
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[tristessa]

Thanks for sharing! It's nifty to see what my Brilliant Orange '75 (built 11-12/1974) Helsinki Westfalia looked like when it was new, long before some Previous Owner decided THE ENTIRE CAMPING INTERIOR INCLUDING CURTAINS was a "useless accessory" and removed it all except for the rear seat. And before someone gave it a mediocre respray in what looks to be Kubota Orange.

I have some extra OG orange plaid pieces, including the side-seat bottom and I believe two sets of upper bunk pads, if you'd like some spare pieces. The BusDepot reproduction orange plaid is good enough for my purposes, but isn't quite a match for the original pattern.

Out of curiosity, are your headliner pieces whitewashed birch or white vinyl covered like the later ones? Mine is whitewashed, but some I've seen are vinyl .. and while the suspicion is a mid-year change, the more data the better.

Watch out that Notchboy doesn't talk you out of the yellow bucket.

[JimmyJagged]

Wow...Incredible!
I have a big smile just looking at the pictures. I'm sure you have a grand smile driving slowly around town
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Current:
1971 Tin Top Weekender Bus
1973 Squareback
1985 Pop Top Weekender Vanagon (my 19yo son's first car. father/son project)
1985 Pop Top Weekender Vanagon w/ 2.5 Subaru

Past:
1976 Rabbit diesel (my first car). RIP. totaled by drunk driver (not me!)
1973 Pop Top Westfalia Weekender Bus. RIP. Blown engine due to 25yo ignorant of VW maintenance (me).
1986 Vanagon Transporter. RIP. totaled by drunk driver (not me!)
1987 Vanagon Syncro. I never should have sold.

[Angus II]

Hello,
WOW.....I'll be Damned. Very nice find you have there.
Every car owner/collectors dream come true.

[noneed]

WOW !
Congratulations on the score !!
You never see them pop up this complete and unmolested anymore.
I'm in awe of the condition throughout !

Awesome bus.
Interesting that it has a euro spec radio with M and U bands instead of AM and FM like we call them here...and none of us would fault you for installing new correct weight rated tires.
There's originality, and then there's common sense & safety.
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Drive your VW... That's what it was made for.

[RalphWiggam]

Very nice. I never saw it pop up on ATL craigslist. You must have gotten it quick.

[Abscate]

Beautiful find. That 1800cc was the best matched engine for a Late Bay, indeed.
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.ssS!

[vwwestyman]

Very, very cool!

What is the little rubber bumper that is above the passenger seat?
_________________
Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[busdaddy]

[Squeeze Cheese]

Thanks for the compliments! I wish I could take credit for preserving the bus, I’m just good at carefully cleaning. Actually, I consider myself only a temporary custodian of The Brilliant Orange Time Capsule, I have to sell it eventually. If I only would have found it five years ago it would be a keeper, but I have so much time, energy, and upgrades into making my 78 our “forever bus” that I can’t go back now and I just don’t have the means to keep two.

Anyway, I’ll start the first round of photos with the accessories and some of the more rarely seen items.

Without further ado, behold, in all it’s glory, The Yellow Bucket:

…I know, it’s just breathtaking! Truly the Rolls Royce of plastic buckets

The collapsible spare tire with the blue VW Coleman air pump:

The Westfalia wedge cushion supplied for the Helinski side seat:

Original left mounted VW antenna and single speaker AM/FM radio. As someone pointed out, a Euro spec? Anyone know the model?:

OG floor mat with the heel pad:

A KAMEI parcel tray (Where these dealer options or a 70s aftermarket item?):

Original curtains:

Original Curtains have snaps where they draw close together and a bungy loop at the slider one to hold it forward:

The Westfalia shore power cord and probably never used rear screen:

The single opening original Westfalia pop-top canvas:

The child cot, certainly never used, still stowed and in its plastic shipping packaging:

Owners manuals:

A 70s era butane burner with spare:

And these appear to be two rare Hanover Chimpanzees:

Thanks for reading! I’m going camping at Stone Mountain for a few days, but the next set of photos will be: Original Placards, Decals, and NLA parts.
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78' Dakota Beige Westy. “Skills” EJ25 engine conversion w/ zero mile factory short block, Delta 1000 cams, heater core and modified Gilmore AC. Matt Steedle 091 transaxle upgrade w/ 4.14 ring and pinion, Folts aluminum gear carrier. General Grabber AT2s on stock wheels. Solar powered aux battery w/ inverter.

[Squeeze Cheese]

[Tcash]

[67ctbug]

Incredible find!
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'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

[Squeeze Cheese]

[Squeeze Cheese]

[Tcash]

Where is the Birth Certificate?
Thank you for posting!
Tcash

[Squeeze Cheese]

[wcfvw69]

Ok, here's the deal. I've got 10g's burning a whole in my wallet. PM me when I can pick it up.

She's a beauty for sure! Damn, all that orange takes me back to the mid-70's!

Where's the engine photo's?
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Contact me at [email protected]
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Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.

**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
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[Squeeze Cheese]