1974 Safare Custom Camper Build

[Cvannoy]

Hello All!

I decided to start a build thread so that I could document everything that I do to this bus. I plan on posting the cost of everything as well because to me that is an important factor and I generally like to see cost in build threads.

First cost, we picked up the bus for $3000 (a pretty good deal in my opinion). Although it was not running and driving when we got it.

Some background, my wife and I have been looking for a camper bus off and on for 3 years. On a whim I got the OK from the wife to start looking again. This bus had been posted on craigslist for only 45 minutes when I started looking. I sent it to my wife and we knew it was the one so we grabbed a trailer, drove up past Seattle, bought the bus, and brought her home that same day.

I was also given a lot of extra parts. Fuel pumps, ignition coils, distributor cap, accelerator and clutch cables, and a radiator for a subaru engine swap to name just a small portion of the extra's I was given. But most importantly I was given these books.

One of my favorite parts of the bus was the look of the heater that was in it. But alas, my wife wants to use that space to return to the original layout by putting a fridge and gas grill there. I'm not too bummed about it though because those are necessities that I wanted as well. Here's some pictures of the layout for the furnace.

In this first photo you can kind of see the original set-up for the Safare Custom Camper. There's a large propane tank (looks old and original, definitely going to be replaced) that was not used for the furnace. But I like the layout and using the space under the bus so I don't have to take up interior space.

Because we are removing the furnace I am going to have to patch that hole that was cut in the roof. I may soon have the furnace on the classifieds or if anyone reading this wants it you can PM me. It's a Dickinson Newport P9000.

You may have also been able to tell by the picture of the propane tank that we started removing the interior. My wife plans on turning this into a pintrest bus which I am alright with because she has some pretty good interior ideas. My job is to make sure everything is as functional as it can be so that we can use the space wisely.

[Cvannoy]

So onto the interior being ripped out portion. We tore all the "custom" plywood built interior out and threw it to the side because we won't be using it. We did store all the Westfalia specific interior stuff like the Z Bed which will also be going up for sale soon (or you can PM me). Then we were left with aluminum tape covering the floor with tar under the aluminum tape. I'm thinking this was used as insulation? or sound deadening? or both? Who knows, but it was a pain to peel off. 3 hours of peeling and we only got about a square foot done. Then I remembered dry ice works wonders. Here's some pictures of that.

It only took us an hour to do that! As you can see there's a little bit of tar left, but dang these floors are in good condition! One thing I didn't think of though is that the dry ice also gets rid of the under coating... So now I need to break off what is delaminated down there and redo that.

This is as far as we are now, I am actually going to the store right after this post to get more dry ice to get the rest of that tar off and then we will try to completely clean the rest of it so that we can respray the interior after we pull the furnace and the front interior out.

[KentABQ]

Looking good! And from the pics, it looks like you did score a good deal on it.

Keep up the good work, and keep us updated. These are my favorite types of Samba threads.

(I wonder if mcdonaldneal knows about the dry ice trick.
He's been scraping the underside of his van/bus for weeks now. )

[Cvannoy]

KentPS thanks for the support! Definitely tell mcdonaldneal about using dry ice if he is working with a cleared out interior. After a minute with the ice on the floor you will hear cracking, that's the undercoating delaminating, and it will come off in sheets (WAY easier than scraping).

I also forgot to mention that the previous owner also gave me an under dash AC unit. Just with the couple hours I have spent in the sun in the bus I can tell that I will want AC and this is definitely a topic I have been struggling with for the past few days. Here are some pictures of the DPD AC unit.

I have a box and a large plastic container full of parts from the previous owner that I haven't dived into yet. I am hoping to find more components so I can install this under dash AC so I don't have to buy a compressor and all other components that are needed. I also am planning on building a custom AC unit for the bus. This is where I have been struggling. I was considering just getting a rooftop AC unit like the Coleman Mach 8 (because it has a super low profile) but it weighs 90lb and I don't know how I feel about putting 90lb on top of my already top heavy bus... So my new thought process is to build a unit that vents from under the bench seats with the major components being secured under the bus. This way I am lowering the center of gravity and it won't look as bad as putting a rooftop unit on a hightop. Thoughts? Concerns? Has anyone else done it? I saw a thread on samba of someone talking about it but it looked like it never happened.

I know a major concern will be power. I'm going to have to figure out the power issue once I figure out all the components I need and can determine how many watts I will be pulling just to run the unit. But I know if I'm camping somewhere where I can use shore power I'll just plug in and use that instead of just battery power.

[vwwestyman]

Following along if for no other reason than I really think the high top Buses are pretty cool!

There is a thread or two about using those under dash air conditioner units, along with modernizing basically the rest of the system, including the compressor.

I think those that have done this, are happy they did!
_________________
Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

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

[wagohn]

Nice camper. We are over near Duvall, WA and recently bought a '76 tintop. Perhaps we will bump into each other some time
Don't throw anything away, even if it looks like junk. We got a box of "stuff" with our '76 and still realizing "wait, I think I have that missing part in my junk box"

[Cvannoy]

[Cvannoy]

Second update on the engine. I was told to check for vacuum leaks. I had a vacuum advance distributor so I tested to see if it was holding a vacuum and advancing and it still was... I also checked the points and they were good. Either way I wanted to get a mechanical advance distributor and hoped that getting a new distributor would help the problem. I also made sure the spark plugs were still clean and that the gaps were right. I was having a hard time connecting the plug wires to the spark plugs too so I made sure they were clicking in and absolutely secure. I think that was everything that I did...

I had my wife start it up because I wanted to make sure that the timing was right with the new distributor and sure enough the engine started right up (the engine starting was very hit and miss before). Not only was it running, it was running well! I got the timing to where it was supposed to be, got the mixture to a good spot, set the idle, pressed the throttle and wasn't having any more lag problems. The engine was running super smooth. So then my wife and I went on our second test drive. It went so much better! The bus drove like a bus, I was able to get over 14 mph, and I didn't feel like it was going to stall out. I now have a good running and driving bus! It's completely gutted but I am now able to take it places and am so happy!

Tomorrow we are going to clean out the interior a little more by pressure washing it, prep a little more at the surface rust, and then re-spray the interior (probably won't be tomorrow because that would be ambitious). But definitely getting progress!

And once again, am so happy that it runs and drives well now!

[wagohn]

Great work! Nothing like being able to move your bus around. We bought our bus not running too. We had it a little easier than you, just a vacuum hose "off" issue.
Are you painting yourself? With what?

[Cvannoy]

Hah, I was hoping it would be that easy. I will be painting it myself. My friend was telling us to use KILZ but I don't think I want to do that considering its a latex paint vs using the typical epoxy paint that automotive uses. So I am currently looking at different primer options for the initial spray. Preferably a white primer because it will make painting the rest of the interior white that much easier. Currently the Rust-Oleum Automotive White Sandable Primer is looking like a good option. Proven rust preventative qualities, sandable so it's somewhat forgivable, and it's white.

I'll make sure to post on here what I end up using. He could have a good reason for thinking to use KILZ, such as paint matching our cabinets to the walls because the paint on the cabinets will be latex I'm assuming... We'll see.

[Cvannoy]

Wow, so much to do, so little time. My wife would like to go on a road trip in the bus next weekend but first we need to get the interior all cleaned and she would like to get it painted. We will be using KILZ because it'll match better with the cabinets. In the meantime I have been working on getting the fuel gauge working again because I would really like to know how much fuel I have in the tank. The previous owner gave me a new sending unit but I was hoping not to have to replace it considering everything I was reading in the manuals was to pull the engine and then I can pull the tank to replace the unit. I was able to pull the panel off that showed the fuel tank after I removed the carb.

My first goal was to find the brown wire coming from the sending unit and ground it to see if I could get the gauge to read. I found it, grounded it, and got nothing... I then looked at the sending unit and the wire that supplies power was no where to be found... I was able to read the resistance of the sending unit though and considering there was fuel in the tank and I was getting "OL" from my ohm meter I determined that the sending unit was bad anyway and needed replacing.

To my delight, as you can see in the pictures above, I looked at how much space I had and determined I should be able to just shimmy the fuel tank out enough to replace the sending unit without removing the engine. This is all thanks to the access panel they started adding to these buses in my model year.

Pulled the tank out, pulled the sending unit out and tested it while moving the punger up and down and it was definitely bad. Tested the new unit and it was good, put it in, wired up the positive and negative, put the tank back in place, the panel back in (it was actually extremely difficult to do this and took forever...), and then secured everything. My new issue is that I need to find the wire that originally goes from the fuel gauge to the sending unit... I thought I found the wire but when plugged in to my sending unit wire I am still getting nothing... So that will be an adventure for tomorrow I guess.

[skills@eurocarsplus]

[Cvannoy]

Another update. I removed the tire from the front. I personally like the look of the bus better without it. I think it's such an iconic look and I feel like the tire on the front just makes it look like it has a clown nose. But these are all just my opinions of course. I also don't believe the tire will do much in helping save my legs in a crash, the sheet metal is just too thin on the front. Maybe someday I'll think of a way to brace the front so that it's stronger and I'll feel a little more safe. But that's a project for another day.

I knew there was a little crunch under where the tire was. I believe the previous owner must have bumped something at a pretty slow speed. It's not too bad and I should be able to fix it. But the crunch on the side of the front will be a little more difficult to straighten out as shown in the last photo.

There also is pretty good discoloration from the tire being there so long. I'm not sure what to do about this other than clean it and hope that it helps. But I know that's not going to do much and I'm going to have a circle mark until I repaint the bus.

Another thing to note is that my wife and I would like to get an awning. Specifically one like this.

It seems that our bus used to have this exact awning set-up as there are plugged holes where the awning would bolt to and where the arms would come down and attach. I like this system because I don't have to tie down the awning to prevent it from blowing away because it is attached to the bus. I have seen a couple names, Insta-awning, trans-awnings 2000, and more modern ones ARB Awning, EZY Awning, and Fiamma. So many choices. I personally like the flat awning the best like the picture I posted and if I can't find a vintage one like that to buy or refurbish then I might need to get a new one and modify it so that it will function like the old one.

[Cvannoy]

[Cvannoy]

Not a huge update today but exciting to me. We prepped and pressure washed the interior (it looks the same...) so it is seemingly much cleaner and just about ready for paint. And while we were in the cleaning mood (because we had all the supplies out) we cleaned the exterior too. These pictures don't do justice though, it looks SO much better. A lot less grimy now.

_________________
1974 Safare Custom Camper
1978 Datsun 280z

[60vwnewengland]

Do you know the history of this bus? I spy with my little eye a Virginia inspection sticker and either an Arlington or Alexandria tax sticker on the windshield. I’ve lived in the DC/NOVA area since 2012 and I don’t remember seeing that bus around.

My bus is almost the same as yours. See my build thread here https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=665257&highlight=

You’ll be driving sooner than you know it!

_________________
77 Westy - Cape Cod Sage
LLAP

[Cvannoy]

[Cvannoy]

My wife and I took it for it's first drive not around our neighborhood. What a fun adventure we had going to the gas station! The bus was running pretty good, the engine still sounds like it has something going wrong and I have my suspicions. But there were other things more pressing on my mind during the drive.

To start off, I need to go into reverse to get out of it's parking spot. I have the hardest time finding reserve. It's almost like the gear doesn't exist. Even when I get into the gear it doesn't feel like I am in a gear like when I go into 1st-4th. I'll be looking up how to adjust that so I can take less than 20 min next time to get into reverse.

The most notable thing on our trip to the gas station though was the brakes. I have driven around our neighborhood a couple of times now and the brakes have been fine. Not great, but not terrible, definitely felt like they needed to be adjusted. But on this trip the brakes were sometimes non-existent and it would take some frantic pumping to get pressure again in the pedal so I would not hit the mustang in front of me. So that's definitely a top priority to fix before we go anywhere else. I'll open it up, look at the condition of the brakes, potentially (probably) replace them, bleed the system, and make whatever adjustments necessary. In the future I would like to move over to disc brakes but for now I will just fix the drums.

Now onto the engine suspicions, first is the carburetor. When I cleaned the carb I reset all the settings. Then I tried tuning the carb and found that no matter where I put the mixture knob the engine still runs the same. Even if I have it completely shut the engine still runs the same. Not perfect, but not terrible either. So I need to figure out what is going on with that. Any ideas from anyone?

The engine also has issues on start-up, it starts at a really low idle and struggles to start sometimes but then when it warms up the idle goes up to where it's supposed to be. I am attributing this to the carburetor issue as well.

AND the fuel gauge still isn't working... Although I think it may be the voltage regulator because when I check the wire that goes to the fuel gauge it is supposed to be getting 5V and it is getting very little voltage if anything. I still need to check if the input voltage for the voltage regulator is good or not but I was too busy on getting the bus on the road yesterday to check it.
_________________
1974 Safare Custom Camper
1978 Datsun 280z

[cmonSTART]

Well hooray for the first drive around the neighborhood - that's a win in my book!!
_________________
'78 Bus 2.0FI
de K1IGS

[Cvannoy]