1978 Westfalia rebuild

[otiswesty]

The closet fix up is complete. The padded trim at the front had chronically been falling out before the resto. Turns out the plywood was cracking in the middle, deep to the trim groove. So I got that well glued, plus a bit of laminate regluing. The padded trim seems to be from an old headbanger cabinet. That was glued in and trimmed off with a big sharp carving knife from the kitchen. Like butter.

I had to search around a bit for the missing hardware, but managed to locate everything. Reinstalling was a little less complicated than I remembered and it is starting to feel more like it is really coming together with the back section and the top bunk done. I do have a new hinge cover for the passenger side, just need to cut that down and install it.

The front doors and louvered windows are taking some time right now, more pictures to follow.

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1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1989 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy

[orwell84]

That’s exceptionally good work. Thank you.

[The Volkswagen Ranch]

Let me know if you need any “ missing” hardware. Just finished my cabinets! I bought a whole set of cabinet doors off a 78 Westy, the owner’s bus had fallen off a transport and his bus was totaled. Transferred laminate , some hardware. What you are doing is a LOT of work! Bob

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1963 Convertible (Lizzie) and 1964 Convertible (Patience) 1976 Westfalia (Winnie)

[otiswesty]

That looks great Bob!
My Bus originally had the sink cabinet as well as the P22 model standard Westfalia. I found a cheap kitchen cabinet with the stove in Sacramento a few years ago, so that's what have in now. All your interior looks to be in exceptional OG condition, that's definitely not so easy to do either.

I hope my Bus doesn't end up totaled or stolen. Doing all this work on it is starting to make me a bit worried about those possibilities.
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1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1989 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy

[otiswesty]

Got a couple pics of my M plate as well

I used this M-plate decoder. Pretty cool.
http://www.vw-mplate.com/mcode.php

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1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1989 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy

[The Volkswagen Ranch]

I remember when nobody was “ interested” in campers, especially at shows! I bought an identical bus to mine ( now) in 1999 back in Boulder CO for $1200! All it needed was a clutch. It was just dirty… but MINT! Drove it out to Mesa, AZ where we moved in 2002, and sold it the year after. Just too damn hot! I will have to put the pic I have of the interior in the gallery, so I can post it here. I have also restored a set of jalousie windows in the past(and will be doing on my bus) so, feel free to ask me questions when you get going on yours. The process is in the Tech articles here in the Samba. Each complete window took me about a week of evenings. They look incredible when done. And you will be careful where you park your beautiful bus from now on! Bob
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1963 Convertible (Lizzie) and 1964 Convertible (Patience) 1976 Westfalia (Winnie)

[otiswesty]

Yesterday was louvered window day. I did the driver's side first as the other side has the screw broken off in the winder mechanism. Still need to order a new one of those. I had bought a drill buffing wheel and some compound at HF, but after using it relatively ineffectively, I decided that soap and water scrubbing and rubbing the aluminum with the abrasive dish sponge was good enough.

It came apart easily now that the screws were loosened. They are all the same longish screw. Heads cleaned up on a wire wheel.

The seals were the biggest reason to get this done. The louvered window kit is excellent and the small and top flap seals are a perfect fit. I couldn't get the small seal behind the louver hinges, so I just cleaned and reinstalled the original which was still supple and only a little shortened by age.
I decided not to take the glass panes apart as they looked really good after a little bit of scrubbing.

They aren't shiney or completely new looking, but they cleaned up quite nicely and I got a lot of grime off, especially in the "floor" of the window behind the screen. There remains some speckling on a few of the surfaces.

A buddy of mine, who is a Samba member here, is a pro glass guy and he uses WD40 for lubing the window seals for glass installation. It makes it a lot easier than the soap and water bit. The residue cleans up easily with some Windex afterward, and the WD40 eventually dries out and is benign chemically.

The inside mounting screws are #6 3/8" with a thin washer to protect the new paint. Stainless and non magnetic. 16 screws per side.

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1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1989 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy

[The Volkswagen Ranch]

The windows look nice! Steel wool will get the little “spots” out. That inner bottom shelf is a bear to get looking nice again. Thanks for the tips on the WD-40 and the “ border” screws… have not done my jalousies yet, but mine have an interesting collection of several different types and sizes! Bob
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1963 Convertible (Lizzie) and 1964 Convertible (Patience) 1976 Westfalia (Winnie)

[otiswesty]

The driver's door is almost done. Working on it after work yesterday. My original driver's vent window was pretty thrashed and I ended up just buying a complete new unit from Wolfsburg West. For sure I would have liked to keep correct glass in it, but I still have the glass piece should I decide to change it out later.

I'm not sure why I haven't put on the outside handle yet, that'll happen soon for convenience sake if nothing else.

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1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1989 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy

[junkmanherman922]

I'm actually the wife of the junkman, but I'm in the middle of a 1978 Westy project myself and want to thank you for all the pictures and info you shared on this thread. You answered a lot of my questions.

[otiswesty]

Sorry for the absence and lack of updates. I was in Denmark last month visiting family there and saw this sage green baywindow in the show room. It's a 76.

They had a nice fresh new VW T6 California full camper as well.

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1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1989 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy

[otiswesty]

Last weekend I got my new winder mechanism from Bus Depot for the right sided louvered window. They list both right and left side. The crank handle goes at the back, so with windows getting swapped between vans sometimes the left and right get mixed up. I had some concerns about getting the wrong sided part, but all was well and the window resto began.

The crank mechanism is made in USA, so the broken off screw in my original part may have had its demise on that premise. I believe it is a #8-32 screw, I just got a couple different versions at Ace and got one that works great. I do still have one of the original screws for comparison matching The oval head and allen socket versions both fit in the handle opening easily. I opted to use the phillips oval head machine screw for the handle.

The mechanism was held in originally by three long rivets that need to be drilled out and removed, I used one for the sizing at Ace and picked up some lock nuts as well. All of it stainless hardware which should be fine. The original winder mechanism had a flat surface for the rivet to seat on, the new replacement mechanism has a countersunk mating surface which is perfect for the oval head phillips replacement machine screws. The lock nuts have limited clearance to the sides on the back and needed some clearance work on my bench grinder, but the depth was not an issue.

Here's a pic fully installed after a full week of on and off work on the bus. I just scrubbed all the parts again with warm soapy water and a mild abrasive dish sponge. The sealed are crimped in to prevent shrinkage and I had more trouble with this one opening up the crimps to remove the old seal and reinstall the fresh rubber seals. The second one went in easier after figuring out on the first one that the upper edge or the window needs to be inserted first or it hangs up on the window frame in the body.

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1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1989 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy

[otiswesty]

I picked up the rear hatch door trim pieces. They only sell them in set of L & R for about $60 at all the vendors I saw. No one would sell me just the R side. So I bought a set and cut down the new flimsy piece t match the old one. It'll do for now, but I wish I had put up the OG frst as I would have made my new piece a little larger to fit the space rather than just to match.

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1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1989 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy

[dodger tom]

[quote="otiswesty"]Last weekend I got my new winder mechanism from Bus Depot for the right sided louvered window.

about 10 years ago I replaced my jealousies mechanisms. found them at an rv-supply house. less than $10 each.

bus depot wants almost $30. amazon is around $9.

sorry this is too late, otis.
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1978 Champaign Edition 2 Westfalia
Would never find the time to keep up another classic air-cooled.

[otiswesty]

I was able to finish my front right door windows. The original was not original. It had an aftermarket watermark on it and rattled loose in the frame for ever and ever. I think the original owner in Venice, Calif must have had their window busted out at some point in the first 9 years of ownership. I got the spare glass in a junk yard many years ago and it has been at the bottom of my to do list for nigh 30 years.

It was pretty straightforward after watching some Youtube videos and reading tutorials on the Samba with regard to order of installation. Since I had done the driver side already, it was a breeze. I forgot to mention on my driver window that I am using new vent windows, complete units, from Wolfsburg West. Very nice product, almost as nice as OG. The tension bolt at the bottom is a little long and needs to be trimmed down to facilitate installation however.

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1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1989 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy

[otiswesty]

[otiswesty]

I got my Wolfsburg West front seat pillar surrounds mounted finally. I used some 3M spray adhesive also from ACE. It worked great. I precut the hole for the sink pump power, but still need to open the seat belt mount holes and remount the middle box strap securing cleats.

I have also been stumped by my overly thick subfloor. I had cut some 9.6mm marine grade ply, plus a 6mm baltic birch overlay. In the end, I decided to pick up some new 3mm baltic birch overlay in a 5'x5' sheet and cut it to match the first version followed by polyurethane sealant on bith sides. I did put in a small strip of 3M VHB tape under the smaller subfloor section, just to prevent any potential rattling.

The thinner subfloor resulted in lining up the original holes on the walkthrough trim and the holes in the body. Yay, a win!

New threshold pieces from Bus OK finish off the entry quite nicely and the metal trim for the walk through and side edge were re zink plated last winter while the bus was in for repaint. The aluminum edge piece did need trimming as well described by John in his Eche Bus thread.

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1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1989 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy

[otiswesty]

With the floor in, it was finally time to get the cabinets back in. Seems to me like it's not really a camper without the camping cabinetry, so yesterday was exciting and very busy for most of the day working on this part. Cleaning, vacuuming and scrubbing all the cabinets before reinstall. The rear bench is a bit heavy and awkward, but I managed to get it in without scratching the fresh green coat.

There are a couple of veneer chips where the extinguisher sits on the passenger edge, some of them have been there for many years dating from when I had the cabinets out for the Eberspacher heater install in 2001. I'm looking for a good modern extinguisher to mount there. I still have the OG, but would like a new version maybe in raw aluminum or I could stick with
the original red motif. I'll look around and post what I end up with.

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1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1989 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy

[Xevin]

Looks amazing!
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Keep on Busin'

[otiswesty]

The wiring attached to the bench seat got run up to the electrical box. At first I hooked the white and black up backward, see pic, and went to switch them and ended up breaking off one of the contacts. Looking for a new one tonight in the classies here. Errr.

The Fridge/cooler cabinet has been modified by me to accept the electrical panel. I pulled out the styrofoam cooler box many years ago and just love the extra storage. I figured I would add the panel down there and have a switched DIN1 outlet for my 12v fridge down by the floor. I have the nice little wood cover for it that was used in a 1975 Westfalia models, and I have added an Eberspacher heater switch there for turning it on while laying on the bottom bunk. I used to have a fitted plaid cushion on the side top loader cabinets, we used it as a bassinet for our baby, and I didn't want the switch up by where he was sleeping. He's a 24 year old programming engineer for Amazon now, not a baby any more, so this may be a good time to move it up where the factory put it.
Oops no patience for that, maybe next decade's project list.

I forgot to take any more pictures, so I'll get back to this tomorrow or maybe over the weekend.
Good news is that the heated windshield arrived at PDX from England today and I should get it tomorrow once it clears customs. More updates on that here and in the heated windshield thread in the following days.
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1978 Sage Green P22 Westfalia
1989 T3 Syncro Single cab

Just a regular guy