1974 Westfalia SO 73 Pastel White

[Abscate]

There are plenty of Busses out there that don’t need 300 hours of body work to be put right. Don’t sweat it , your Bus will find you.
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.ssS!

[Bad Hippie]

quote="Abscate"]There are plenty of Busses out there that don’t need 300 hours of body work to be put right. Don’t sweat it , your Bus will find you.[/quote]

Hopefully once I'm done with school in a year and a half, and have the aircraft mechanics license in my pocket, I should be making pretty decent money.

I'll start looking around for another Westfalia.

Honestly I wasn't planning on doing too much body work on it initially. I've been happily driving my '66 for 20+ years. It could use more extensive body work than this one...

[Bad Hippie]

A few photos in the engine compartment. Obviously no engine is present. I had been working towards obtaining one from a buddy, but we are both busy and I haven't even seen what he has available.

I should probably try to tidy up in here a bit more...

[Bad Hippie]

This is the most concerning area of rust on the vehicle. It was the one spot I was absolutely planning on taking care if before the vehicle hit the road.

Passenger side windshield and pillar.

[Bad Hippie]

A few more photos of the interior after cleaning it out and cleaning it up.

When I got this, it came with a blue Vanagon drivers seat. I was told that was what was in it when the person got the Bus. Honestly, it's pretty gross and I haven't taken the time to clean it up yet. It can be included.

Door cards and some of the carpet are obviously green. I'm unsure as to why the M Code translation calls for a red interior...

The original door cards are pretty rough but may be useful as patterns. I've seen some pretty incredible saves of original interior panels as well. Maybe someone will work their magic on these.

Tan basket weave vinyl passenger seat. Probably not original to the Bus, as I'd expect the green and blue Westfalia plad, like the upper bunk. Seat belts are original and for the most part all accounted for. Some are in better shape than others.

Probably one of my favorite parts, for some odd reason. The shift knob has been replaced with this vintage glass doorknob. Looks pretty awesome actually. Feels good as well. Unfortunately the shift rod was ground down to a square to accommodate it.

Washer bottle still under the dash. Looks to be in good shape.

[Bad Hippie]

Moving into the back. Much nicer now that it's not just piled with junk.

Pretty cozy back here, now that it's cleaned up. Even with most of the furniture missing. Note the bit of surviving green carpet.

Carpet is predominantly these individual mats attached to plywood. They cleaned up great, and don't look bad, so I put them back in.

I'm unsure if the prop for the table, is original. I sort of doubt it. But it works and holds the table level.

Camper electric outlets are still in place. I haven't attempted to see if they work though.

[Bad Hippie]

Time for the post cleanup exterior glamor shots. I was thankful for a nice sunny day to snag these.

There's evidence here of previous bodywork on the left rear corner.

The pop top tent, really is in spectacular shape, despite the fact that it sat for along time with parts hanging out from under the fiberglass top. The black is just dirt.

I'll keep posting anymore progress I can make, until it sells. I intend to hand over this thread to the buyer, as I have done with vehicles in the past. Hopefully hey will continue to document this vehicles progress and adventures into the future.

[Bad Hippie]

Always fun how life seems to enjoy throwing those curve balls your way just when you think you've got a plan.

A few years back. I was helping a buddy whose father had just passed away. He had a few vehicles stored on his dads property that needed to go so they could sell the property. One was a 1976 Bus. I went and looked the it over and decided that I had the extra space and cash, to take ot off his hands.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=770344&highlight=

It's a very original and complete Bus. I figured it would be fun to play with for a bit, but ultimately not one I really planned on keeping. I already have a keeper passenger Bus in my '66. Actually when I found the '74 I had thought I would likely sell the '76 and roll the money directly over into the '74.

Issues came up pretty quickly after taking delivery of the '76 however. The title had been misplaced. It had also never been transferred from the original owner. No good deed goes unpunished I guess. I stopped working on that Bus until I could get something sorted out.

When it became apparent that I needed to liquidate some assets, I really didn't feel like I had any other option but to get the Westfalia ready and posted for sale. Even though I wanted to keep it.

Now that this Bus is listed, I figured it's really time to push on figuring something out with the title on the '76. After contacting the local department of licensing, it really looked like I was going to need to need to take the long route to get the title. Towing it to be inspected, 3 year temporary title, a real pain. In a bit of a frustration move, I called my buddy about it. Turns out, he had found the title! I'm not sure when ,or when he planned on letting me know! Needless to say, I was over there the next day to get it in my hand.

So when I was picking up the title, my buddy also mentions that if I want, we can dig out a motor from his shop that he doesn't want. I'm not sure if he just felt a bit bad about not letting me know that he had found the title, or what.

In the middle of his garage he points to this complete two liter Vanagon engine. I agree to take it, as he said it was running when he got it. And it looks to be in good shape. I figured I can always sell it.

After a bit of moving stuff and wrestling, we got it in the back of my truck.

A bit more wrestling and ingenuity the next day, I managed to get it out of my truck and on a stand in my shop by myself.

Since then, I've been stuck with the notion that I can now sell the Bus I had intended to sell originally. I should really try to put some work into it to highlight its potential though. On top of that, I have this Vanagon motor sitting here, that I sort of want to drop in this '74 Westfalia. I've checked some threads, and apparently it's very possible, and not even that difficult.

Looks like I have some real considering to do...

[Clementine79]

That sounds like a good plan to drop that engine in! Funny the way things work out
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1979 VW BUS
Riviera Penthouse Model