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Ernie The REI VW Bus
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notchboy
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 6:57 pm    Post subject: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

Camper, Westfalia or Campmobile. A couple weeks back I was alerted by friends and family that REI had a new gym. I had the chance today to swing in and scout these rumors.

Up on the second floor at the top of the stairs I found Ernie. A retired 1978 VW Westfalia Campmobile. At first glance I saw a nice body on Ernie. Lots of good bits. Why was he put in a position to have countless hands, feets and butts - poke prod and explore his every recess? We may never know for sure other than the description of him posted on the slider.

For us Campmobile drivers, I saw lots of good bits and bobs. Namely the carpet. All of it is in pretty good shape Shocked Shed a tear over that front piece - looks like one of the best Iv ever seen. Nice upholstered vanagon fronts. Decent cabs and bed material. That upper tent looks to have another 200k worth of adventure in it.

What do you see?

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Link

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OK, this thread is over. You win.

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skills@eurocarsplus
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 7:03 pm    Post subject: Re: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

notchboy wrote:


What do you see?


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lipstick on a pig for a store display
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Also the fact that people are agreeing with Skills, it's a turn of events for samba history
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notchboy
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 7:24 pm    Post subject: Re: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

Oh I think it's deeper than that. I didn't look under it - partly as it's propped up on a stage and I didn't want to freak the mothers dronning around any more than I was with my big grape ape ass looking over the bus more than their kids Laughing
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OK, this thread is over. You win.

Jason "notchboy" Weigel
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 7:24 pm    Post subject: Re: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

Unless under the lipstick there's a ton of bondo, it doesn't look that rusted to me? I wonder what the underside looked like.
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busdaddy
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 7:44 pm    Post subject: Re: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

I see what appears to be an OG 79 only mystery hole plug (also found on late 78's), was there a part number under all that spooge on it?

Other than that it's a typical BC bus with all the rust issues that accompany the pedigree, less than many but still rotting.
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notchboy
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 8:03 pm    Post subject: Re: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

busdaddy wrote:
I see what appears to be an OG 79 only mystery hole plug (also found on late 78's), was there a part number under all that spooge on it?

Other than that it's a typical BC bus with all the rust issues that accompany the pedigree, less than many but still rotting.



Looks like it may of been Mexico Beige. Look at where maybe the ambulance fans were removed Think And the switch missing left of the ash tray Eh?
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OK, this thread is over. You win.

Jason "notchboy" Weigel
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zoobum
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 9:47 pm    Post subject: Re: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

Interesting Think ...

I really don't understand the purpose really (other than the story behind it)

Its not a play ground for kids
Its nothing that they sell, so you can't buy it or anything for it there
Its seems more fitting for an RV shop than REI

But...

It does put a smile on your face! Very Happy
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 9:50 pm    Post subject: Re: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

Could just be primer instead of biege, Canadian 79's came in orange. Definitely been raped for it's high profit parts.
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 10:41 pm    Post subject: Re: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

notchboy wrote:
Looks like it may of been Mexico Beige. Look at where maybe the ambulance fans were removed Think And the switch missing left of the ash tray Eh?


Mine never had the fresh air blowers, but my 79 does have the same empty switch position next to the light switch..
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chabanais
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 10:41 pm    Post subject: Re: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

L/T tires?
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alman72
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 4:10 am    Post subject: Re: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

You tilted that rearview mirror! Smile
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Abscate Premium Member
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 4:38 am    Post subject: Re: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

There's another late Bay in a shop near Market In San Frisco.

Well, you told me to never call it Frisco. You don't even live there. Mountain View isn't.
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 6:04 am    Post subject: Re: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

wcfvw69 wrote:
Unless under the lipstick there's a ton of bondo, it doesn't look that rusted to me? I wonder what the underside looked like.


the picture I quoted is a tell tale sign that chip guard porked on that high on a car that didn't have any to begin with means they are hiding something, usually ugly. you can see it kind of beginning to blister
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gprudenciop wrote:

my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese.......
[email protected] wrote:
most VW enthusiasts are stuck in 80's price land.

Jake Raby wrote:
Thanks for the correction. I used to be a nice guy, then I ruined it by exposing myself to the public.

Brian wrote:
Also the fact that people are agreeing with Skills, it's a turn of events for samba history
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Lil Lulu
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 7:00 am    Post subject: Re: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

Love the tatah chip crumbs. Must belong to my kinda gal. Anxious
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Convoy
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 7:30 am    Post subject: Re: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

IMHO I think it fits in just fine. Almost at home to be admired by all ages. If I were a bus and looking to retire that's were I'd like to be!
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 7:32 am    Post subject: Re: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

That bus was born in Wolfsburg? Shocked would have thought Hannover Wink

Also the PO had a serious smoking habit judging by the ashtray.
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Ernie Punkin
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 7:34 am    Post subject: Re: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

Aloha!

Ernie was my first bus. I was going to save the full story for when I finally roll out a 2nd useable bus (Ernie 2), but here goes....

I'm in my late 50's and like many baby-boomers I was raised in a mid-50's barndoor and a 60's splittie, spending summers road-tripping cross country from Boston to everywhere with my family of 2 adults, 5 kids, and a few dogs. My parents weren't hippies. My dad was a brilliant engineer and a WW2 vet.

As an adult, I had been dreaming for years of getting a bus and managed to do so with a boyfriend. After a short and fun road trip, he took the bus on his own to Vegas and Baja and on the way up back to Canada it blew up. He left it somewhere for parts. Don't yell at me. Not MY fault Laughing

Move forward a few years and I impulsively decide to buy my own bus. I was going to park him up in Canada so I wanted a BC bus, also for the heater.

I searched The Samba and found Ernie. As a newbie and a girl I naively bought the prettiest bus I could afford. Ernie was pretty sharp looking when I picked him up for too much money. I had withdrawn cash, rode the greyhound to a casino at the BC border and swapped money for metal late one cold fall night in 2011.

All I knew at the time is that I wanted that high you get from riding on top of the wheels and to hear the put put of the engine that I napped to as a toddler during childhood road trips. After retiring I wanted to spend up to 6 months/year camping and wandering.

No, I hadn't yet watched the bus video. But I can watch it now and have a good laugh at myself. Of course I didn't look underneath or take a magnet or do any other important investigation into his health. The discovery of his true condition came only years later.

I took off across BC and after just a few days in heaven at the wheel of my bus and some amazing off-season camping, I started to have a problem with him puttering out. I managed to make it to a VW graveyard/shop in rural BC. I had to leave him there to be worked on. I'd call and call and he was never ready for pick up. After a few years one day the call came. Friends went out to pick him up and 1 mile down the road the bus stopped. A little fuel additive and some fresh gas and they got him home. I don't fault the shop. The owner was having issues and has since moved out of the biz I think. He was nice, just bad timing for me. Nonetheless, Ernie spent a few years in his backyard under a big pile of Eastern BC powder snow for what was probably just 1-2 weeks of full-time work.

Move forward to 2014 and upon starting work on him I decided to put in a custom cabinet set so I pulled the cabinets and gave them away to a nice kid in my town who was re-building a bus. I hired a family member to make new cabinets for me and then learned he couldn't finish the job.

I called up Peace Vans in Seattle and asked for help and they agreed to check him out. I loaded up all the goodies I had bought from far and wide to resto Ernie and took off for Seattle on yet another very cold, foggy and rainy Eastern BC night. I had removed the door cards and all, so I was driving a metal can. A 12 volt electric blanket, hats, gloves, scarves all made the trip tolerable. Over 2 days Ernie blasted over 7 mountain passes and 500 miles. He just flew the whole way even loaded to the roof with stuff. Honestly I was crying at times en-route because it was such a thrilling experience to be in my own bus almost 50 years since my childhood experiences. Also, he seemed so happy to finally have a "mother" and a home and some attention from every stop I made along the way.

Arrive in Seattle and up Ernie goes on the hoist and with just a little poking through some gunk the amazing team at Peace Vans helped me see and understand that his frame was just a bunch of rust dust and there was a fair amount of bondo. When we poked into the frame near the jack points a cloud of rusted metal debris came billowing out. We decided to set him aside and search for a better vehicle.

Ernie previously lived in Vancouver, so readers who knew him before and the PO are likely to see this post. I was told that Ernie had been used in an Aetna insurance commercial when I bought him. They probably took a rust bucket and intentionally put lipstick on him, so it's not like someone was trying to deceive another, but why the bus was passed along by the PO and sold with a rotten frame with no disclosure was not cool. Still it's a buyer beware situation, and I wasn't educated enough to know better. The experience has made me a better VW owner for down the road (literally). I hope other newbies will read this in the future and be advised to get their bus checked out before buying.

Aren't there children who have probably never sat in or seen or touched a late 70's westy? Peace Vans Seattle created the opportunity for Ernie to show off in REI. What's on display isn't meant to be a postcard stock bus. Some bits and pieces are from other buses including the dash and more. It wasn't practical or affordable for this purpose to make him as perfect as some might hope to see. He's just supposed to lend flavor for a camping theme. Convenient for REI that Ernie already had modeling experience. Laughing

I'm just incredibly thrilled to see him live on and to not be parted out. Better he be imperfectly displayed than have his nose cut off to hang on the wall like at Otter Creek Brewing in Vermont!

http://ottercreekbrewing.com/visit-our-brewery

Yes orange is his original color, but he had already been repainted and had lots of clear coat on when I got him in Vancouver in 2011. He never had a stove since he was a Canadian bus. He did have a BA6. Those are Go Westy revamped Vanagon seats. Not original door cards. I had stripped much of the interior in order to "restore" it before we discovered the extent of rust. The tires might be newer Hankooks (or not). I can't see detail in the pix. I drove him down on brand new 195/75/R8 Hankooks from Bus Depot. They were amazing tires!

I've been loitering a lot here on The Samba for a few years and have learned a ton thanks to all of the generous posters and reference info.

In 2014 Peace Vans helped me vet and secure a 2nd bus (a 77 yellow), also via The Samba that was down in Colorado and they generously sent their Air Cooled expert to pick it up and road trip it back to Seattle. That's customer service!

The 77 was in pretty sad shape but fixable. After body work and media blasting Ernie 2 will be fully re-built from metal out as a custom concept (at my request) by Peace Vans. We'll add some nice upgrades like AC kit, SMEV lidded stove & sink, isotherm fridge, canary wood custom cabinets crafted in Seattle by a boat builder that provide more long-haul storage, toilet box, power steering (from the UK), Dual KH/MPH speedo, Jamie Rivers hitches front and back (bikes up front and small pod storage trailer on the rear), solar panels, BFG tires, hydraulic lift on pop top, mohair headliner, and lots more cool camping conveniences. It's been fun pouring my life savings into the project. I love Westys and I love shopping Very Happy

I have another 77 in hiding that will be restored as stock for caravaning in a few years, so I appreciate stock too.

Thanks notchboy for posting pix and to everyone else for not hating on Ernie 1 too much. It's not his fault he got a little creaky over the years.

Can't wait to see everyone on the road in 2017, 6 years after I first dipped my toes in VW land.

Lesson learned....don't buy rust!
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Bala
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 7:34 am    Post subject: Re: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

Those front seats! Maybe they would swap them out for some stock plaid seats and someone could get some use out of them.
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Ernie Punkin
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 7:56 am    Post subject: Re: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

Working on it!
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Bala
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 21, 2016 8:16 am    Post subject: Re: Ernie The REI VW Bus Reply with quote

Ernie Punkin wrote:
Working on it!


Notice our post times. I didn't see your write-up before I posted! You deserve to get those seats!

Awesome story and I hope you can get Ernie 2 back on the road and camping ASAP!
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