'79 Westy Rebuild

gmag69 · Post by **gmag69** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 7:25 pm

Come on man you holding out on us? Any news is good news ya know.

Vdubtech · Post by **Vdubtech** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 5:00 am

gmag69 wrote:Come on man you holding out on us? Any news is good news ya know.

Snow. And freezing cold. That's about all that's been goin on for the past few days. Weather is supposed to be better next week, hopefully I'll get more done then.

gmag69 · Post by **gmag69** » Thu Apr 09, 2009 5:07 am

I hear ya. I thought Christmas was over already. Supposed to be sunny here for today then Sat-Mon. To bad I'm on 3rd. Won't get diddly done for awhile. Lookin forward to the updates.

gmag69 · Post by **gmag69** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 9:00 pm

updates?

Vdubtech · Post by **Vdubtech** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:14 pm

gmag69 wrote:updates?

Here's the only update so far:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/ ... ?id=771865

Been workin ojn the '74 getting her ready to sell. Spent the past couple of days buffing and waxing it, cleaning the top, cleaning the interior, etc etc. Put the ad up today, and listed it on craigslist. Had a few emails already. Not ecstatic about selling it but I could really use the money and it will help buy all new brake hoses and what not for the beige Westy. I'll be taking the '74 to The Dead show this Friday and then hopefully on to a new home. Lots of memories rollin down the road in this one....

I did however clean out the inside of the '79, went and picked out the fabric for the interior, installed the wipers and arms(after they were freshly painted of course) repainted the shifter and base, and installed another of the set of curtains. Nothin real picture worthy though.....but it will be soon!!

gmag69 · Post by **gmag69** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:18 pm

I saw you put that green bus up on TS for parts along with the '71.Good luck with the sale of the Rivi. I wish I had the $$ I'd be there with bells on for that bus. Man I need to get a second job or something.

hambone · Post by **hambone** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:20 pm

Wheelin and dealin! Man I have enuff trouble with 2 don't know how you keep it all together.

Vdubtech · Post by **Vdubtech** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:35 pm

gmag69 wrote:I saw you put that green bus up on TS for parts along with the '71.Good luck with the sale of the Rivi. I wish I had the $$ I'd be there with bells on for that bus. Man I need to get a second job or something.

Thanks Geno, I have a potential sale already. The guy is in Lake George, NY near the Vermont border and he asked if I could drive it to him, which I have no problem with. Of course I've got the Dead show on Friday and then going out of town for a week, so the earliest it will go would be the 26th. We'll see how it goes....

gmag69 · Post by **gmag69** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:31 pm

Vdubtech wrote:
Thanks Geno, I have a potential sale already. The guy is in Lake George, NY near the Vermont border and he asked if I could drive it to him, which I have no problem with. Of course I've got the Dead show on Friday and then going out of town for a week, so the earliest it will go would be the 26th. We'll see how it goes....

I'm praying you have better luck with this one then that Westy.You don't need that BS again.

Vdubtech · Post by **Vdubtech** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 4:42 am

gmag69 wrote:
Vdubtech wrote:
Thanks Geno, I have a potential sale already. The guy is in Lake George, NY near the Vermont border and he asked if I could drive it to him, which I have no problem with. Of course I've got the Dead show on Friday and then going out of town for a week, so the earliest it will go would be the 26th. We'll see how it goes....
I'm praying you have better luck with this one then that Westy.You don't need that BS again.

You and me both little buddy. Turns out the guy has been looking for a Bus for over a year, saw it on TS and emailed me. He's a kid and I spoke with his mother last night about the Bus. She is going to put a deposit directly into my bank account this morning and then I am going to drive it to them on the 26th and they will pay the balance. I'm going to the Dead show on Friday then I'll be out of town for a week so that's the earliest I can do it. I've gotten a lot of emails about it but I'm waiting to recieve the deposit before I respond to them.....

gmag69 · Post by **gmag69** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:06 am

Sounds like a sure thing then. Enjoy the dead show. I'd like to see them but stuff is so screwed up right now I don't have 2 pennies to rub together. This is always the shittiest time of year for me. Everything always needs paid all at the same time. Registrations and inspections for the cars,ins on the house,spring taxes. Uhh what a PITA!!

gmag69 · Post by **gmag69** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 6:24 am

updates?

Vdubtech · Post by **Vdubtech** » Thu Apr 30, 2009 10:54 am

gmag69 wrote:updates?

I really haven't done much the past couple of days to the Bus. Monday and Tuesday were ridiculous hot and I spent yesterday working on friend's cars. I did manage to fix the slider door on the Bus though. The nylon block on the slider broke and as I was going through parts I found a complete assembly from a deluxe Bus with a factory chrome "U"....and set it aside to put on the camper. I had a few minutes last night to replace it. The door opens and closes like butter now, and she's got a shiny bit to boot!! I'll be working on the interior here pretty quick and I've got about $300 worth of stuff on the way from CIP1.com. All new brake lines, hoses, pads, shoes, wheel cylinders, shift bushing kit, fuel lines, cables, etc etc etc. Once the stuff gets here I can dive right in on the mechanicals. I want to drive this to Dixie Bus Gathering so I'm setting that as my goal. I was hoping to be driving it earlier in the season but I want to do it right and not rush it. It'll be worth it in the end. So for now, just one pic of something that changed....

Vdubtech · Post by **Vdubtech** » Mon May 11, 2009 7:31 pm

Been a while since I updated anything and I'm ashamed to say I've done shockingly little. Well, maybe it just feels like very little. I took out the overhead cabinet and the driver rear cabinet so I could install the driver's side curtains and rod as well as the cord, and start reupholstering the ceiling panels. I also had to do the same thing to my other '79 Westy which was donating it's curtains and rods to the cause, which meant I had to do the same thing to that Bus---all because you simply can not unscrew the rearmost screw in the curtain rod with that caibet in place. At least not in that Bus and with these hands. I took em all out, removed and reinstalled the long curtain rod and it's associated curtains and tiebacks. I started to upholster the roof in the purple fabric that the cushions will be covered in. Got them all done except the front panel, I ran out of spray glue. I was going to cut new wooden panels for the roof and cover those, but I ended up using originals out of the '76 parts Bus. The covering wasn't all that great anyway. Installed everything I had done and reinstalled the trim between the wooden panels and the ceiling...what a PITA that was. I decided I will be making new curtains as well, turns out I have two different color purples and I want it all to match. I'm gonna wait to reinstall the cabinets (replacing the headbager cabinet that has 6X9 holes in it) until I have the curtains done and installed. Much easier to do that one behind the cabinet if it's already out of the way. I'm still debating on wether I want to tint the rear windows or not before I put the cabinet back in. I did it in my other '79 and I liked the way it looked. Just the two rear side windows and the back in limo tint. I also got the key for the ingition to turn....when I Got the Bus the key worked everything except the ignition...it wouldn't even go in the cylinder. The little "door" that covers the tumblers was frozen shut, but a little time with some PB B'Laster and a tiny little flathead screwdriver and the key now works in the ignition. I've gotten three shipments of parts from CIP1.com and everything looks good so far...except the oil filler nut removal socket. I'm putting together a 1600 for my father's super beetle and want to clean up the alternator stand and bought this too to remove the nut. I got it Saturday, used it the first time this morning and it broke. The guy at CIP1 Customer Service was "amazed" and "never heard of one breaking before." I find that awfully hard to beleive....but I digress. All new brake lines, brake hoses, wheel cylinders, shoes, cables, engine seal....bunch of parts just waiting installation. I'm gonna finish the interior up pretty quick and then move on to the mechanicals. Got new fuel lines and F/I seals ready to go. I'll replace the vacuum lines and give her a fresh tuneup when I take the engine out of the donor. I'll take all the tin off and give it a fresh coat of paint, paint the shroud, general cleanup maybe some new seals if need be and put it all back together in the '79. Anyway....sorry for the narrative, but that's where she stands right now. Weather is getting better so I should be able to spend some more time on it this week. I wanna get the gauge cluster installed (with correct Bus clock of course) and button up the dash. Lots of extra wiring for speakers and audio crap floating around down there, I'm gonna get rid of it all and start fresh.
I'm also still on the fence about wether I want to spend the time to remove the refigerator assy from my other camper to put into this one, or just install an icebox. The fridge works, but the cabinet in this Camper is empty. I could switch the guts over and have it work like it should, but I also have a nice icebox I could slide in there. The disadvantage there is that I would have to drill a hole for the drain and I'[m not real big on drilling holes in it. It's so tempting to take the easy way out......
Here are a couple of pics of the roof. Don't mind the mess in there, it's quickly becoming a catch-all, I gotta get that under control.

LiveonJG · Post by **LiveonJG** » Mon May 11, 2009 8:18 pm

Is that... velvet?

-John

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Itinerant Air-Cooled

'79 Westy Rebuild