'76 Westy

I bought this in 1991 for $300 from a guy who didn't even know it ran. He just wanted it off his property. I used it as a daily driver for 6 years but she's been parked for the last 12. Seeing everybody else's buses on the site has got me inspired to get her back on the road.

https://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc140/Peregrine67/76%20westy%20restoration/]











Any and all suggestions are welcome.

looks like a great deal- how are the doglegs on that?

the windshield rust is a really common problem- lots of threads on the samba detailing this repair.

doglegs aren't too rusted out but there's a dent on the driver's side wheel arch that'll take some work to fix.

Welcome to the "Westy" side of the club. We are kind of a minority around here. If ever I can help, just shoot me a note. Long live the stock height bay window campers. There are a few other campers on here, Teddy and Cameron and Jon from the Athens VW will have a 71 on the road soon.

Greetings. I'm Michael. My daughter and I talked to you for a little bit at Beetles last weekend.

peregrine67 wrote:Greetings. I'm Michael. My daughter and I talked to you for a little bit at Beetles last weekend.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.....I remember you guys now. Always glad to put a face with a name.

My goal now is to get my Westy looking as nice as yours. Yours is in great shape.

You really have an above average base to work with. A little clean up, splash of paint and some touch ups on the interior and that baby is ready to ride. Keep us posted on your progress.

Wow, 300 hundred bucks. Great deal. Nice BUS too.

Does look like a pretty good deal. I bought my first bay westy for $800 from the original owner... it didn't really run as it had been sitting for ten years, but with little work I got it running... I still have it parked in my driveway, waiting to go camping soon! My other bay westy is my 72, which I bought and drove home for $100 (or maybe it was 2?) it has some severe rust issues, but it runs like a champ so I couldn't bring myself to part it. It is currently housing a bunch of my vw parts in FL. These buses certainly aren't as cheap as they were a few years ago

The guy I bought it from had a small cabinet shop and needed to buy a new fence for his table saw. He traded me the bus for the fence. the fence set me back $300 bucks.

The problem I'm having now is that I'm trying to fix her up with zero budget. Nada, Zinch, Nothing.

After a full day of working in the yard I decided I wasn't quite through punishing myself so I tried to crank up the '76 Westy after sitting for 12 years.
New plugs, new gas, new oil and new battery and she cranked right up in less than a minute.

But not quite ready to take her for a spin around the block just yet. I have gas leak. I squirts like nobody's business from right here.


Suggestions? Is this the cold start valve? Yes, this is fuel injected.

Is that new fuel lines? If not, I'd definitely replace. If it's a crack in the nipple then JB Weld. You could also cut back on the tubing about an inch and see if the new connection leaks.

I put new fuel lines on this afternoon. Once I replaced one it just moved the leak to the next one. So I eventually replaced everything in the engine compartment.
Now I have a problem with getting her to hold idle that I didn't have before I put on the new fuel lines. Don't know why that would have affected anything. I'll work on her again tomorrow after work if the weather holds out.

I don't have much knowledge around engine mechanics, but if you replaced the old leaky lines (that may have a constricted fuel flow) with new ones..... wouldn't that mean the fuel pressure/volume increased, thus throwing off fuel - air mixture?

Just a thought, but maybe its possible that you knocked some crud free that is now clogging the fuel filter? If you haven't checked it already.

Actually I'd just knocked off a vacuum hose. Put it back on and now she's running just fine. Hopefully I'll be able to drive it on Thursday.

Sweet deal on the bus! $300 is a steal, get the drivetrain right, then interior and then exterior (IMHO).....Once done your a hero, you saved another buses life!

I love westies, they to me are the perfect dub, life is sweeet once you pop the top and cooler, camping with other buses.........


SJ

I'm glad to have her running again.

Are you going to restore her to stock or custom? Just curious, my son is a stock freak and on my rear all the time to restore to stock, but I am for what I want how I want and that is not stock.....

great that you got it running, cool pic of the motor too, that actually was/is a great idea to use on boards.

Keep us informed and with pics as you go.............


SJ

I think one of the beautiful things about VW's is how people personalize them to make them their own. That being said I don't see any reason to fix something that isn't broken. I love the classic 70's plaid and I have a bunch of the fabric so I'll keep that. I like the cabinet arrangement on the 76 so I want to keep them in the same place. I have a few ideas about customizing them to get a little more space by moving the water tank and the spare tire somewhere else. I'm currently working on the new canvas. I'm only gonna put the one window on the front like the stock.
I love the stock "yosemite yellow" so that's a keeper. Once I get the body work on the outside fixed she'll stay stock yellow.

My 7 year-old daughter enjoys tinkering on the bus with me.

Put the new injectors in and cranked it up. It seemed to be running just fine so I took her for a spin around the block.

A mile down the road she started smoking all over the place and lost compression.

<sigh>So, it looks like I'll be pulling out the motor and rebuilding it, unless somebody has an other motor that I could buy real cheap. </sigh>

Your bus really reminds me of my old '76 ('cept mine was green...)
My engine was a VW Crate engine that had been installed in '84 then sat untill 2008 when I bought it. It only had 16K miles on it (had reciepts with mileage on it...) My engine smoked a little at start up but it did go away after a while (as in after 4 months it didn't smoke any more.)
Sittling still isn't good for an engine.
I did what you did with the Marvel's mystery oil in the crankcase and the gastank.
Good luck.
KC