Old Volkswagens- hauling right!

[itlives]

Originally Posted by Mike Magee

My daughter just emailed me, all excited. "I so want this!" she said. An '81 VW Westfalia, the seller wants $7500 and my daughter wanted to know if that was an ok price. I said, I don't know, maybe make him an offer?

It has a hitch and light plug. Kinda tempting to me too! Like I need it...

New(er) body style, still has the air-cooled 2L. Look for rust!!! Get under the vehicle and look for rust. Look under the floor mat for rust. Look at the rubber on the drive shafts. How many miles on the engine? Records of oil changes and valve adjustments? Is the tent in good shape? Does the fridge, stove and sink work?
Have a VW mechanic check it out. Do a compression check.
Just in case she's persistent.
Things I'd consider before plunking down 7K for that old of a vehicle. Oh yeah, check out the classifieds on TheSamba.com :: Volkswagen Classifieds, photos, shows, forums, and information . Also, ebay. There's lots of those around and they're not as collectible as '79 and before.

[CindyL]

If it is air-cooled, it would probably still be cold and hard to defrost the window. Might check on that. There are ways to fix this, but our bus did not have them. When the kids were babies, we had a '73 bus. In the winter, we bundled the kids up to ride in the bus. Kevin would drive it to grad school. One night, he melted the visor, as he tried to keep the window defrosted with my hair dryer.

CindyL

PS: That SC and Tril look SO COOL. Again I say, I am SO jealous.

[Larry,C]

Mike , You have certainly done something right to have a daughter that would like a vehicle like that. Personally I would prefer air cooled to water cooled because of leaks and warped heads. I loved my 83 air cooled but the reason I sold it was I wanted to travel and I could picture myself in the middle of nowhere looking for parts for a 30 year old VW. Have someone that knows and loves VWs check the vehicle for your daughter and even if it is not "the one" nurture the new generation of VW lovers.

[Mike Magee]

Hey, thanks. I've passed these comments on to her. And threw in a photo of "itlives" rig at the campsite for good measure, I bet she'll want one of those too when she sees it!

[CindyL]

While parts might be hard to find, repairs are not, although I remember all the curse words Kevin had about our pancake engine when he was fixing the bus. When old VWs break down at the side of the road, sometimes a screwdriver fixes them.

We used to have only a '69 Beetle (We still have it.) and a bus. One or the other was broken down. I would read the repair books during the day; Kevin would look for what I had read might be the problem at night. When we moved to Des Moines, though, I wanted something more reliable to drive to school to teach.

Good luck! Like small trailers, they draw lots of attention. I still get comments in my 2007 VW that I drive (We have a 2007 and a 1969 Beetle, a 1968 single cab, and a 2003 Eurovan. We have won a tall tacky trophy at a VW show with our Eurovan and our previous Burro trailer.) Kevin draws lots of looks and comments when he drives the '69 Beetle.

CindyL

[RICK H.]

Originally Posted by Mike Magee

My daughter just emailed me, all excited. "I so want this!" she said. An '81 VW Westfalia, the seller wants $7500 and my daughter wanted to know if that was an ok price. I said, I don't know, maybe make him an offer?

It has a hitch and light plug. Kinda tempting to me too! Like I need it...

Mike where in the country is this van located? That makes a big impact on price. It also determines where the major problems areas will be. I know one of my friends has a 81 vw van and right rear suspension trailing arm is rusted clear through.
To me the westy should be REAL clean and complete for $7500. There are good clean VWs out there for reasonable $, just have to be patient. Also a little elbow grease on the buyers end keeps the price lower and you have a chance to add your own personal touches that makes it yours. Just my two cents. RICK

[Mike Magee]

it's in Tulsa. And she has spotted a mid-70s model in Kansas that she likes even better (although it's rusty). But I don't think my daughter will actually buy one, come right down to it. She was helping her boyfriend shop for a car, and he's the one who is buying, but she got sidetracked with what she likes (he wants a 4wd pickup). She already has a car she bought new just 2 years ago, and her work is slow right now too.

[Andrew Gibbens]

I've been following this thread and arrived home today to find a Subaru Legacy in my street with its front wings (fenders) hanging off - it turns out it's my neighbour removing its 2.5 flat four to go into his T3 (=Vanagon). A nice power plant for the job, I should think - he says it will (just) fit in the original engine bay.

[itlives]

Subaru conversions are probably the best. I really like Subaru engines but they are a little more involved then a Ford.
He will have to use the whole wiring harness and CPU for the injection. I'm not quite the techy !

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by Andrew Gibbens

I've been following this thread and arrived home today to find a Subaru Legacy in my street with its front wings (fenders) hanging off - it turns out it's my neighbour removing its 2.5 flat four to go into his T3 (=Vanagon). A nice power plant for the job, I should think - he says it will (just) fit in the original engine bay.

After he finishes with that, he should put a VW TDI into the Legacy. I'd like one of those!

[CindyL]

My uncle was a VV mechanic for years. When he left VW, he worked for several years at a Subaru, because the engines were similar, according to him.


CindyL

[itlives]

Originally Posted by CindyL

My uncle was a VV mechanic for years. When he left VW, he worked for several years at a Subaru, because the engines were similar, according to him.


CindyL

Yeah, they are boxer engines. Horizontally opposed cylinders just like V'dub's.
BUT, a lot more HP and gas mileage!

[Andrew Gibbens]

Originally Posted by itlives

He will have to use the whole wiring harness and CPU for the injection.

Tell my neighbour about it. He thought he was doing so well to get a high specification Legacy model (complete car with good engine $450) as he wants to put its leather seats in his VW.

But..... he is now saying this was a huge mistake as he now has to remove the much bigger wiring loom that the luxury model has, with all its electric toys. His verdict now is that he should have bought the lowest-spec model he could find!

[itlives]

Simple me says go for the carbed engine. If I hadn't got deal on my Ford conversion, I would've probably gone with an early 2.2 Suby.

[itlives]

OK, back at work on the Tril this weekend. I got the brakes wires hooked up. It's too simple to require pictures under the cramped space. Simply run one wire from one brake to the other, then "y" off that wire to the front. I ran the wire all the way up front nice and neat with zip ties. Don't forget to ground the other wire to the frame and give both wires a little travel room for the bounces in the road.
Then, stripped off ALL the old homemade harness to discover A BLUE WIRE!!! (That's the original brake wire). I follow the main harness back to where it comes up into the cabin (to the right and under the front bench) and low and behold, there's the blue wire. So, I take all of my great, neat wire job off back to the hole under the cabin and run it in and connect it to "lonesome blue".
Now, back up front , I start undoing the old and putting on the new wires. I am going to only have a 7-plug connector. If the trailer needs to be pulled by another TV, I'll have some magnetic lights with a flat 4 connector available. It looks a lot cleaner with only one plug. I also T'd off the black and white wires so I can hook into them with and auxiliary battery. I have to go back a connect the red wire.
The pictures also show the wires for the back lights. They are not color-coded and size-spec'd -but they will be. Someone, in the past, hooked up the lights with speaker wire, I can't have that!
Sorry for the "cheap camera blues".
First (blurry) pic shows new wires and the vinyl or plastic paint paint I used. After that dried I heated up the shrink wrap for a good seal. I stripped the wires and inch back and twisted them together "in line" so the wouldn't make a big bump of wires. It's a lot cleaner looking that way.

Next, shows the pretty new bright colors. Did I ever mention, I work with color every day, I've painted just about everything there is to paint. I love color!

Now, the speaker wire that will be removed soon. It's raining today so it won't happen today.


BTW- I did connect the brakes to a battery and ground to the frame. What a great "clunk" when the brakes activated!

[Kevin A]

Thanks for the update and the pictures. It's fun watching the progress!

[Mike Magee]

My daughter called to my attention today this VW bus (not so micro any more). You've heard of stretch limos? How about a stretch bus? 19 feet long, raised roof... pretty amazing.
1971 VW Bus Custom BUSZILLA +Concession Trailer maybe+

[CindyL]

Why would you put in 2 toilets? Still, I mentally plan a Uhaul made of our
VT and a CT that would add more space but keep it a Uhaul (but not two toilets). Kinda look long like this.

I have seen the longer bugs, the limo bugs.

CindyL

[itlives]

I've seen that one on theSamba.com before. If the top wasn't so ugly it would sell.

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by CindyL

Why would you put in 2 toilets? Still, I mentally plan a Uhaul made of our
VT and a CT that would add more space but keep it a Uhaul (but not two toilets). Kinda look long like this.

I have seen the longer bugs, the limo bugs.

CindyL

Are you sure that 2nd toilet isn't just a reflection in the mirror?