Calypso Restoration Thread, Need Wiring Snorkel Help! Options

[rnellums]

This thread is to document the restoration of the newest member of my family. After my 1973 914 2.0L was totaled a month ago I was heartbroken, but out of the ashes(and insurance money) rose Calypso.

She is a 1974 2.0L. It is not fully loaded(no sways, chrome bumpers, or aluminum sills) but is COMPLETELY original. It has a few blemishes that I have found so far, and certainly I will find more as i get to know her better.

[eric9144]

our 88 Westy had a $28k+ sticker price & that stoopid single indicator & minimal gauges, while a competing & better equipped Dodge/Chrysler minivan was $5-10k less!!!!

And on that note Tom...how many 88 Dodge/Chrysler minivans are still on the street...or to be more exact on the street in working order! Worth the extra $? You bet!

[Tom_T]

our 88 Westy had a $28k+ sticker price & that stoopid single indicator & minimal gauges, while a competing & better equipped Dodge/Chrysler minivan was $5-10k less!!!!

And on that note Tom...how many 88 Dodge/Chrysler minivans are still on the street...or to be more exact on the street in working order! Worth the extra $? You bet!

Actually Eric, there are probably about the same percentage of total production for both on the road today.

But you missed my point relative to the 74> 914s & VW products "cheaping out" on things like that - as it does NOT reflect the quality which they claimed, and their sales slipped so far that they became a minor import player - from being the prominent one int the 1960's when I was a high schooler!

Our 88 Westy now has 209k+ miles, but it's sticker was $5k more than my 85 BMW 325e Coupe sticker price just 3 years later (now with 179k+ mi), and historically has cost me 4x the repair bills than the 325e at the same total mileage level. The BMer was built to quality and it's durability reflected it and IMHO was worth the price, while the Westy was overpriced & under quality wanna be.

For example - out 914s & older VW Busses had Zimmerman disks which could be turned several times before requiring replacement, whereas the Vanagons went to much tinner disks which generally had to be replaced once worn & allowed for little or no opportunity to turn them in a normal wear cycle, and the BMer had disks which could be turned several times. The result was that with every brake job on the Westy we had to replace the disks at $1000+ but the 914 had & BMer does go several brake jobs before disk replacement.

I can say this, because as the original owner of the Westy & BMer, & 2nd owner of the 914 since 12/75, I have the records to show where the costs & quality was & was not, and VW definitely sacrificed quality during the mid-70's to early 90's. Fortunately they recognized their mistakes, and are now back up in quality.

And it's not just me, but Consumer Reports rated VWs the same way vs. other competitors vehicles back then in the 1980's, including on minivans.

Frankly, the main reason we went with the Westy was that it would've been double the cost to have a local van conversion company convert a Chrysler minivan to a Westy-type camper van, which we wanted to use for our family trips. This was the same opinion of my long time VW & Porsche factory trained mechanic in Huntington Beach, who saw a lot more VW products than either you or I.

Today the Westys have a cult following, which distorts their values in the marketplace, and not necessarily in relation to their actual level of quality build.

How else do you explain a restored 23 window `61 VW Bus selling for $217k at Barratt Jackson a few months back!!?? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

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