1973 Westy "Floy" build

[HunterTheBusHunter]

Its been nearly a year since I bought this bus, but I finally have time to get the build/revival going and figured I would start a thread to document my progress. I am missing alot of progress pictures because I would just tinker here and there to get to where I am today, so I will do my best to get up to speed and document from here forward. Here we go...

In July 2024 I was selling some equipment for work, the guy who came to purchase noticed I had driven my 71 Beetle to work that day and we struck up a conversation about cars that eventually evolved to "Hey I have a bus buried in my garage, you wouldnt happen to be interested in it would you?" That was like shooting fish in a barrel, notice Im driving a Beetle and sell me on your bus! needless to say I fell for the trap hook, line, and sinker. A couple days later I made the trip out to his garage and found this lovely specimen that my wife had dubbed "Floy."

The backstory on the bus: Originally form Florida, the first owner owned the bus until somewhere around 1993 when it made its way to Washington. The second owner drove the bus until the early 2000s and parked it. The bus sat for about 10 years when the third owner made a deal for it and wanted to get it back on the road. Third owner went through the brakes and replaced most of the lines, the parking cables, calipers and a wheel cylinder to get the brakes functioning. He spent quite a bit of time fiddling with the carbs on the engine trying to get it running, but was never able to get it good enough to move under its own power, so there it sat in the garage until I come along in 2024. I drug the old girl home and started off trying to get the engine back running. Pulled the original PDSIT carbs for a rebuild, and discovered whomever tried a rebuild previously really should not have been working on carbs. Majority of the jets were stripped, the mixture screws were missing and replaced with a foam ear plug on one side, and a self tapping screw on the other. I decided to condemn the PDSITs and opted for a set of Weber 34 ICTs from CB Performance. They provide a very nice kit and it is easy to set up. I couldnt get them tuned quite right so I did some more digging.

Turns out somewhere along the line the engine had been swapped for a GE code 2L. It also appears that the engine may have been built, as the lifters definitely are not hydraulic, the fan housing is mismatched and stamped AW code, and the tins are all freshly painted, although freshly was likely 20 years ago. After reading WayOutWesty's guide on jetting the ICTs and getting them dialed in with the jetting he recommends for a 2L I was having trouble getting he timing set due to the marks on the fan not lining up properly. Come to find out the fan hub had spun on the crank and caused some damage.

A new hub and and woodruff key later I was able to get the timing nailed and the bus running like a champ again.

Next step was getting the roof sealed. Ordered up the seal kit for the Westy top from The Bus Depot and got to installing. I am not totally satisfied with the fit of the seals. I wish the kit wouldve come with install instructions that showed how the seals were supposed to be installed. The bulb seal sits on the front of the luggage try and keeps the roof open slightly allowing a gap between the roof cap and the bus body. The flat seal also is incredibly stiff, even after sitting out in the sun for weeks at this point in time, and will not totally conform the the curves of the roof. I am not totally sure I even have this installed correctly as the old roof seal was original, and partially missing and looked noting like this one.

After the roof seal I tackled getting the headlights and taillights working again. Nothing that a couple bulbs and some deoxit for the housings and grounds couldnt fix. I tossed some 27X8.50R14 General Grabbers on fresh powder coated stock wheels as well as new KYB GR2s in the front, and Gas-A-Justs in the rear.

This pretty much gets us caught up to current day. This bus has very solid bones and for a bus that has sat undriven in the PNW for the better part of 10 years, relatively rust free. There is some rust in the driver and passenger footwell and a small hole in the driver floor. A couple other small spots here and there but it is all very repairable.

The Westy interior is in tact, other than missing the jump seat although its currently disassembled. I am planning on building my own custom cabinets for the bus at this point in time so if anyone wants the sink/ice box let me know!

My current plan for the bus is to get it the rest of the way mechanically sound and build an interior so hopefully my wife and I can get a weekend trip out of her before summer is over. Once we get through summer, I would really like to tackle the body work and possibly go a watercooled conversion similar to Sloride's 1.8 Digifant swap. I am definitely going to keep the keep the automatic transmission. It shifts very nice and then it will keep the door open for my wife to be able to drive.

I am sure I am forgetting some things I did, but I am going to try and keep up on the updates from here on. Thanks everyone for reading this far!

Hunter
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"This is air. Air is for breathing and for cooling car engines. Air won't freeze up, air won't boil over. Ask any Volkswagen." (o\_!_/o)

[Shonandb]

Nice. Looking forward to watching your progress.
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76 Westy with a 2.5L Subaru SOHC + Vanagon (010) Automatic Transaxle
Build & Trip Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=758760
Previous 1973 Panel Bus:
Click to view image

[HunterTheBusHunter]

[Shonandb]

[71whitewesty]

Great find and glad you're bringing her back! Just my two cents but the fridge cabinet is probably the best cabinet in the Bus. It's really efficient. Try using it for a bit before you give it way. The fold out table is really handy to cook on and the sink I use to store a pie or veggies or bread in for the most part. Oh and there's a cooler in it too that self drains . I know a lot of folks will take it out and then replace it with a cooler which takes up the same space but isn't nearly as handy as the whole cabinet and generally the coolers aren't fastened down. Then they'll add a couple of boxes to carry the stuff the cabinet would have stored and so you'll end up taking those in and out a lot and moving them around etc. Just my two cents from probably 1000 nights of camping with a family a four in a stock 71 westy. Try it out and see how well it works as is.
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71 Westy 1600 DP, all stock Bus 1
1970's Snow Trac 1600 SP (sold 12/2016)
1968 Tucker sno cat, sold 2021
1969 Tucker Sno cat 542
2017 VW Alltrac
71 tin top stock 1600 DP (project but runs)
Twin 71 White Westy, Bus 2, that I pulled from a 15 year slumber in a dry eastern WA field in 2015.
1966 Sundial Camper "Boomer"

[HunterTheBusHunter]

Small update on this Sunday. Was having issues with the throttle not opening all the way. I swapped the throttle cable out for some generic 3/32 aircraft control cable and that made a world of difference. The throttle cable tube under the bus looks like it previously rusted into a few pieces and someone used rubber hose to patch it back together. I will probably address that eventually but it works fine for now.

Also noticed the 2 cables for the heater box flaps are totally rusted apart, so I will have to order up both cables and get those swapped out.

Spent a couple hours gutting the rest of the bus so I can give it a good clean, rust repair, and POR15 treatment. Current plan for the interior is to mimic the late model Westy cabinets, slide the bench seat all the way to the passenger side of the bus and have cabinets running along the driver side. I will build these cabinets custom and have a simple sink, stove, fridge setup like the vanagons got.

Overall Doesn’t look too bad under the old flooring and cabinets. A couple holes maybe quarter sized. Of course going to need to patch the hole from the original sink cabinet. Most of the issue with the floor is just peeling paint. Noting a wire wheel and some fresh paint can’t fix!

Thanks,
Hunter
_________________
"This is air. Air is for breathing and for cooling car engines. Air won't freeze up, air won't boil over. Ask any Volkswagen." (o\_!_/o)

[mark d]

following with interest. Good luck
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1972ish westfalia

"what good are tractors without violins ?" jose figueres

[HunterTheBusHunter]

Well boy howdy does life sure have a way of getting busy and push all your projects to the back burner! At least we’re going into fall and work is slowing down so we can get back to the important stuff. Lots of plans have changed for this project, but we’re back on track. I will share more details soon, bust wanted to update with a sneak preview!

Thanks,
Hunter
_________________
"This is air. Air is for breathing and for cooling car engines. Air won't freeze up, air won't boil over. Ask any Volkswagen." (o\_!_/o)

[Shonandb]

It looks like you picked up a full interior from a Later model Westy, nice!
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*******************************
76 Westy with a 2.5L Subaru SOHC + Vanagon (010) Automatic Transaxle
Build & Trip Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=758760
Previous 1973 Panel Bus:
Click to view image