'78 westy resto...paint..seals...more.

[IFBwax]

Willy in Molalla did my brown bus. He did a really nice job. I think it was around $3500 or so but that was a while back and raw materials may have gone up since then. You can see the brown bus at http://www.myvwbuses.blogspot.com If you email me I can put you guys in touch. It will take about 3 weeks or so. sequoiastate@mac.com

Willy has done lots of buses by now and some bugs too. I will have him do my vert when I get ready. They have tons of before and after pictures.

[jmiller]

Ok, I got 5 estimates from different shops, (I decided to pass on the above mentioned individual), some privateers, some recommended by VW repair shops, and one recommended to me by a friend who sells automotive paint. Low end...$4,000, but not too confident in the guys work...(Ya know, I've never worked on a VW Van, but I'd love to do it....NOT!!). High end, $9-10,000..you gotta be kidding me!!
3 quotes in the $6-7,000 range. Ended up going with Arturo, at 'Classicos' out in Aloha, OR.
Great looking work, and an awesome guy to work with.

Pulled off the pop-top canvas today, as well as door cards (gonna re-make them while the bus is in the shop). Tomorrow, off come the lights, and other misc stuff. Sure glad it's not raining this week!
Monday, it's into the shop for a few months.

Oh, and for a replacement car, I picked up a beauty '89 GTI. We'll see if I keep it once the bus is back on the road.

I'll keep ya'll updated on the progress.

[Mike Boell]

My quotes all came in around 6K for body and paint.
Take lots of pictures and do share.
Have fun.
Mike

[jmiller]

It's been a while since I've updated this post

I Bit the bullet!

My '78 Champagne Bus is getting a facelift...well, I guess, more than a facelift, an exterior resto. job.
It's been a long slow process, but the end is in sight!

I hired Atruro at Classicos in Hillsboro to do the job. Great guy very thorough and conscientious.

Pop top and roof of the bus have been painted, and the wheels are back from being powder coated to match the white top half.

Body work is nearly completed., and painting is happening in a week or 2. I'm staying original, mostly, with the original '78 Westy Champagne color scheme...White over Agate Brown...but with a little metal flake in the brown!
I'm rebuilding the Louvered windows, with new Wolfsburg West seals throughout, and polishing the frames.
New West Coast Metric (German) rubber seals have arrived..windows, doors, hatches, etc., new taillight housings/lenses, and side markers, chromed metal headlight rings.

New Bus Depot pop-top canvas is waiting to be installed, as well as a sliding door screen (cool!), aluminum finger plate scratch protectors (gotta protect that new paint), Go Westy mudflaps (ditto the paint), Empi H4 headlights.

Whew.

Not sure how to add my pics to this post...any help out there?

I'll keep ya'll updated.
Hope to be finished in time for Maupin!

Jim

[tristessa]

Empi H4 headlights.

I bought a pair of those ~10 years ago and put the sealed-beams back in the car about two weeks later they were so bad. Spring for the Bosch units at BusDepot ($50/pr last I checked), relay teh headlights and put good quality H4/9003 bulbs in them. Despite what the lighting "experts" say about them, I've been very happy with Sylvania SilverStar bulbs in 55/60W, and haven't noticed any shorter lifespan issues. Still planning to pick up some Osram bulbs in Germany next month .. just to have.

[bajaman72]

Easiest way I have found is to upload to photobucket, then gram the [IMG] line and insert it here on the forum. Hope you get it figured out, I like pics of shiny new parts :)

[Xelmon]

Ahhh, things are rolling along for ya! Glad to hear man, glad to hear!
Are you ever making it over to Quimby for Monday night? :P


On the picture note, I use imgur, then do the [img]<link_for_it>[/img]

[jmiller]

Ya know I was wondering about those EMPI lights...sure are cheap. But Brego, at Discount Import Parts, recommended them...but I don't know if he's ever used 'em!

Here are a couple of trial pics...
before...
during...

[Xelmon]

Sweet! :D

[SlowLane]

Empi H4 headlights.

I bought a pair of those ~10 years ago and put the sealed-beams back in the car about two weeks later they were so bad. Spring for the Bosch units at BusDepot ($50/pr last I checked), relay teh headlights and put good quality H4/9003 bulbs in them. Despite what the lighting "experts" say about them, I've been very happy with Sylvania SilverStar bulbs in 55/60W, and haven't noticed any shorter lifespan issues. Still planning to pick up some Osram bulbs in Germany next month .. just to have.

I'm gonne pipe in here with an alternate recommendation for Hella H4 units. I went through a couple of Bosch sets back in the '80s. They had problems with moisture infiltration. I tried warming them up in an oven and sealing the snot out of them around the bulb base. Nothing helped.

The Hellas, on the other hand, have been on my van for at least 10 years, mostly sitting in rainy Vancouver BC. No water inside at all. Hella also offers a DOT-approved H4 called "Vision Plus". Amazon sells them for $36.30 apiece.

[tristessa]

I've got a pair of old-school Hella H4's on my Westy (I got them used in 1998) and can't complain a bit, but the beam pattern of the Bosch units on our Cabriolet seems a bit better and I haven't had any issues with them on that car either. Might be the lights themselves, might be the different heights involved -- the Cabby is low-slung compared to a Bus.