Introducing Mary Jane.. '78 Westy sweetheart story

[BoltonFTW]

After a few years of lurking here and a recent acquisition of a '78 Westy, I just wanted to finally introduce myself and share my new sweetheart "Mary Jane."

I was fortunate enough to purchase this bus about 3 months ago and I am super grateful not only to once again be a bus owner, but to have access to this community and the wealth of knowledge that lies within this time around. Truly amazing-- Diving into these forums has been one of the best things I could do to learn about purchasing and checking up on this vehicle.

First off here's a little about Mary Jane the '78 Westy:

Again I feel super lucky to have found this bus. The previous owner was the original family owner of the vehicle. The vehicle came with ALL records from a meticulous record keeper of an owner. Starting with the original bill of sale, it was part of the tourist pickup program in 1978 and the original owner flew to Ireland to pick it up (it was shipped there for pickup-- all receipts and cargo vessel names included in records) and then she drove it around Ireland, England, Germany (original Deutchland "D" sticker still remains on the back of the bus) and a few other European countries as part of that vacation in '78. It came with the original European plates (two sets of different plates) that had to be swapped at "Checkpoint Charlie." At the conclusion of the tourist program it was shipped to the port in Alameda, California and it has spent the rest of its life in CA (read: no rust!)

I love the history of this particular vehicle. It was driven by a woman who took very good care of it. She loved it as one of her own by the looks of the meticulous records she had kept for it. She took it to a shop for everything and kept it up regularly. She clearly didn't know the mechanical stuff herself but cared enough about the car to keep it up and take it in for e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g no matter the cost. It was a driver for her for much of its early life and served as the vacation vehicle as well. From the records, it has just over 200k miles on it. And its on its 3rd rebuild of the engine (the 2nd rebuild must have gone wrong as it only seemed to have lasted about 20k miles?). Everything inside the vehicle seems to be original except the stereo and the front driver seat cushion/upholtstery.. original paint, curtains, bucket!, stool, tables (front and rear), cloth, cot, pop-top canvas (1 minor hole), original mosquito net, etc. It is missing most of its headliner.

She kept everything. The overall condition I would describe as well-used but definitely still in great shape for a 40 year old vehicle. The biggest issues I see are that the fridge no longer works (still diagnosing) and she must have had a bra on the front for years because the paint is unevenly faded. I plan to keep the vehicle just as it is and simply preserve it and use it.

A bit of background on myself:

Mary Jane is my 2nd VW Camper. My first was a '77 Tintop Weekender model that my father purchased new in 1977:

When I came of driving age it was mine to learn manual transmission on (and learn how to parallel park on) and to drive. It was a fantastic first car.

Moving on--- it was fun to drive a few years in highschool. But in 1999 we made a hard decision to sell it. (ugh-- i know) for all of $3400-- and it was in excellent condition... but It was a 4th car not getting used and was parked on the street. It started to have issues passing CA smog and the cost to get it to pass was almost half the value of the vehicle at the time... and well, I was 17 going on 18 and wanted something that could keep up a little better with my friends in highschool. I elected to "upgrade" to a 1992 VW Corrado VR6-- another fun car but, man, first year of the VR6 engine is a PITA-- i learned most of my "car fixing and maintenance" from that car and not the bus, ironically.

Obviously seller's regret set it over the years. For both me, my father, and mother. A car like that has so many memories associated with it as a family vehicle. Talking to my father about all this a few years ago-- I made the decision to fix that regret as best I could when I decided that I needed a bay again and it needed to have that late 70s westfalia interior because of the nostalgia factor.

I had specific memories of that interior as a child growing up, and memories driving it in highschool that rushed back to me stepping inside any late 70s westy. I swear even the smell is the same.

So about 2 years ago I said I was going to get another one. Wait for the right deal and pull the trigger on it. I had just gotten engaged and I asked my fiancee if instead of doing a honeymoon vacation to somewhere like Tahiti or whatever if we could purchase a bus and take it on a 2-week road trip adventure of a honeymoon. She loved the idea and that became the goal.

I test drove a handful over the course of a year and a half (and even made a few offers on ones that I was "okay" with but didn't quite hit all the wow factors for me)-- none of them went through, we lost out to other bidders, and now, of course, I'm glad we did.

After our initial test drive of Mary Jane, we spoke to the PO at length about my personal history with our previous bus, the regret of selling, our plans for our honeymoon, and the bus plans in our future. We made the PO an offer, but later, she declined and we were resigned to the idea that we would rent something for our road trip instead and just keep looking.

Two weeks went by and we were in the middle of planning our final details of our wedding and we got a call from the PO. I guess sentimentality won over, as she offered us the vehicle at our original offer price.

In the end she "chose" us because she thought we would be the right people to take it in and take care of it from here on out. We hope we've honored her decision as we immediately made this vehicle a centerpiece in our wedding (signing it over just a few days before) as well as our honeymoon. We plan to keep it as a forever car and have great future road trips planned. Our honeymoon road trip and real initial "test" for Mary Jane was ~2000 miles through northern California [before all the fires (( ] and the only thing that went wrong was the condenser on the dizzy melted at its connection point. (No i did not have an extra at the time but now I carry points and condenser- guess i missed that tip before heading out on the trip!)

I don't plan on selling one of these again. My wife has quickly realized why people love these things so much and is starting to understand the whole community aspect as a result. It has already made for some amazing memories that we will have forever and we are really looking forward to making more. Additionally, I am looking forward to taking care of this vehicle, preserving it, and continuing to learn as much about it as possible.

Cheers,
Drew
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Drew
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1978 Westfalia Campmobile Deluxe 2.0 FI w/hydraulic lifters
1977 Westfalia Weekender Tintop (very first car - SOLD )
1992 VW Corrado VR6 (SOLD)

[Abscate]

Welcome from lurking and love the story - keep working on both the Bus and the marriage for a 50 year Happy One!!
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.ssS!

[22manybugs]

What a great story, thanks for sharing!

I would be leery taking new-to-me bus on a long trip even with good maintenance records, I’m glad everything went well with no major problems.
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Lon

1969 Karmann Ghia convertible
1971 Westfalia camper

[LazyLightning75]

Congrats on the bus (and the marriage). Wonderful story and what looks to be a wonderful bus too!
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1975 Riviera 1.8L FI

[wcfvw69]

Great story and read. Amazing how many of us VW folks have that selling of the family VW story.

There's simply something addicting about these old VW's. We just can't seem to get away from them.

Welcome back to the insanity. Keep updating your thread with updates. I'd also be another vote to go through that buses mechanical systems to insure trouble free trips. Also keep in mind that you want to purchase only the best quality parts you can source. There's so much junk parts sold these days.
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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.

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[BoltonFTW]

Will do- thanks for the advice.
I'm sure there are plenty of people out there with a similar story.

Will keep working on the bus (and the marriage)


I will have more pics soonish (engine, underside, etc) that I'll probably post up to here.
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Drew
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1978 Westfalia Campmobile Deluxe 2.0 FI w/hydraulic lifters
1977 Westfalia Weekender Tintop (very first car - SOLD )
1992 VW Corrado VR6 (SOLD)

[Wasted youth]

Outstanding! Great story, historical narrative and a bright future! Welcome to the fold... there’s always room for one more on this ride!

[vwwestyman]

Nice Bus!

And I agree, cool story. I know that my Bus went on a honeymoon trip from Kansas to the Southwest US years ago with the son of the original owners and his new wife. There is a dent in the inside sliding door panel from a keg tipping over, I think on the way to or from the reception. I'm hopeful that it'll have another opportunity to make such a trip...

I had a red 1990 Corrado for several years in college and after. That was my "has a heater for the wintertime" car. I sold it to raise money for my home down payment, and regret that from time to time, or at least miss the car. It was a very nice original example that I installed some nice Euro parts on.
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

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

[MorkC68]

Nice looking Westy with some excellent history!

Happy travelling
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Major; 1977 Westfalia Campmobile
- Subaru EJ20
- Koni Classic adjustable dampers & Empi Heavy Duty Anti Roll Bar
- 180W Solar System

My blog: https://twolatebays.wordpress.com/

[BoltonFTW]

[Randy in Maine]

Sweet bus and sweet story.

Enjoy the ride.

[Angleofattack]

What a great wedding picture!

[advCo]

Great story, thanks for sharing. It’s funny how deals like that just work out sometimes.

Enjoy the bus!
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"He pulled the mirrors off his Cadillac ‘cause he doesn’t like it looking like he looks back"
'68/'70 Ghia Coupe Project
'70 Westy Project - Champagne I Wannabe
A bunch of vintage Japanese motorcycles
"Much ingenuity with a little money is vastly more profitable and amusing than much money without ingenuity." -A. Bennett

[vwwestyman]

[BoltonFTW]

Time for another update!

From Honeymoon to........... Babymoon. Yikes! Not even a year married and we are already expecting! Been together 9 years though.. funny how that all resets when you tie the knot.

How to prepare for this craziness? Go on a 1200mi road trip in Mary Jane down the coast of California to visit in-laws? Camp in Big Sur? Sure, why not. My wife is a trooper for camping 4 nights while 28 weeks pregnant- I give her a lot of credit.

Here's the full route we took with stops in Big Sur, Solvang, and our destination in Orange County:

And here are some favorites from the trip:

Breakfast in Davenport.

Down the coast.

Big Sur coast

Campsite

Campsite

Wild turkey invading campsite

The wonderful redwoods

Coast Hwy-1 again

Most I have ever paid for gasoline (in the U.S.) Very few gas stations from Big Sur going south down hwy-1.

Near San Simeon, CA

Solvang, CA

Solvang, CA


Overall Mary Jane performed very well. On the way back I was anxious about taking the grapevine up on Hwy-5 but she held her ground with the big rigs doing about 45mph in 3rd up some decent grades. All told she did a 9hr drive on the way back split up with just a stop for lunch and gas. I drive 55-60 on fwy.

The only mechanical issue I ran into is when I returned back to the bay. Noticed that the main seal is now leaking about a tennis ball sized drip of oil when I park it.. calms down as it sits though.

I had changed my oil and filter before the trip and am curious if a slight overfill would have caused this issue (i filled 4qt instead of 3.7) I've already read through the 8 page main seal saga started by SGKent on the matter. Looks like I will replace it in the near future and get some other things taken care of while the engine is out- likely I will go with the SABO seal. Not sure how immediate the need is though.. as no one mentioned if it's okay to drive on a leaking main seal as long as I keep my oil level up?

Cheers
_________________
Drew
---------------------------------------------------------
1978 Westfalia Campmobile Deluxe 2.0 FI w/hydraulic lifters
1977 Westfalia Weekender Tintop (very first car - SOLD )
1992 VW Corrado VR6 (SOLD)

[Spike0180]

[xyzzy]

Awesome pics, thanks for sharing. Love your bus!
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1973 VW Westfalia 2L hydraulic, dual Solex PDSIT
1987 VW Vanagon Westfalia

[vwwestyman]

Nice pics from the trip!

Back in September I commented that I hoped that my Bus would get to take another honeymoon trip...

Well I got married in March, and we're planning to take the Bus on the honeymoon trip in May! Can't wait!
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Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

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

[Manfred58sc]

I did a honeymoon trip back in 91, 7 weeks, 12K miles, every state in the Western US. Best part of out marriage ( alas, it did not last ), still driving the Bus...
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Fat chick owner/operator

[Grateful Bus]

Mary Jane is a sweet looking ride man!! I love how original and the quality she is in!
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Vw For Life!! 1972 T2 Custom Deluxe/ Westfalia Weekender Conversion

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9052832#9052832