i became curious and started looking at the westfalia's that some of you have. i have a couple of questions. i noticed that some are made a little different from others but i see they all have some sort of pop top. what is up there? is it just more room to move around under or do some of them have a sort of bed up there? do they have an extra generator like an RV? how easy are they to rearrange all of the things in them? do the front seats move/fold so you can have more room? what was there price new? all of the awnings are something to make you have a tent or just a 'patio'?

lots of questions i know. just curious.

any pictures of them opened up? i saw a lot on google images but they are more like sales images it looks like? what does it look like with the bed laid out or with the top popped?

thesamba.com has all the answers

i've owned 3 vans (59'76 & 87), the 76 was a westy. loved them all, lots of fun to drive. sitting over the front wheels makes for an odd feeling when turning. as far as i know they didn't have generators, mine had an exterior plug to power inner misc. yes it had a upper bed that folded out after opening. the earlier models opened backwards. there were after market manufactures that built permanent extention caps

i always get sidetracked on there web page looking at classified porsches



could it run off the engine? water pump? or the stove piece?

The poptop gives headroom in the living area and also has a 2 piece bed that folds out at night so you have an upper bunk. The back seat folds flat into a bed also. In the Vanagon Westies, the passenger seat swivels 180* for another seat in the central area. There are no generators, but there is room for an aux battery under the driver's seat. The frig operates on 12v, 110 and propane and the stove on propane. There is also a sink and 13 gallon water tank. The full campers also have many storage cabinets, a closet and other little shelves, nooks and crannies. It's a lot like ship board living, where everything has it's place and many things you pack have dual functions.

They are perfect for two people but many families also use them as a great base of operations with extra tents, etc. There are many variations on the awnings and side tents. The air-cooled buses even had factory made side tents that can stand alone in your campsite while you drive off for sight seeing.

Like the 914 community, you meet some really nice people when traveling in a Westy. There is a large enthusiastic community out there.

awesome, thank you for the information! they are a cool vehicle! maybe one day when i have more room after this porsche project!

Up through 73 they had only a cot up above. In 74 they switched direction of opening (opens facing forward) and added the "double" bed upstairs. IMHO, the 74 is the best. Due to smog issues in some states, you can still modify (like I did) your bus. The TIV also started in 73 if I am not mistaken. 73 and 73 are transition years so that is sometimes a PITA, but not a major one.

Type IV started in '72 and they added the top engine access panel in '73.

Ah, that is what I was thinking.

Not to mention that in 74 there are vac assisted brakes, front disk brakes, and other upgrades I love my 74

When you come over with that '74 FI system I will give you a tour of my Westy. It is the Weekender version so does not have the stove, fridge, etc.
I had an '85 several years ago that we camped in. Great fun. My current '91 needs frame adjustment and motor installed. The Westy is next in line after the LE.

the best are the Vanagons,. the best years are after the 2.1 liter wasserboxer was made, 1986 and newer. the suspension is fabulus for a van, the wasser boxer is quiet and much more powerful than the air cooled motor and will last longer. these are roomyer than the bay window body busses. there are stilll nice late model vanagons to be found that dont need much work, and look nice. the bay window ones are gettign harder to find in good shape, and if you got to smog them, they are much harder to pass (egrs or thermo reactors systems that overheat on already hot running, undersized aircooled motor.

then again aircooled is nice and VWish! youcould go for the even smaller microbus (1967 back) that has lots of class, however they have become very collectable, and the prices are outlandish!


generally the newest van you can aford is the best, the vanagons with the 2.1 liter are really nice. much better hiway cruiser. just be aware of the radiator / heads/ collant issues, make usre it has had good maintanece, like any other car, if they have been wel mainatrinaed , they are great, reliable more so than teh older busses.


have fun in your camper!!!!!!!!!!

The vanagons are nice but most are a little too plastic for my taste. The 2.1 is pretty gutless as the vanagons are heavier than the bays. The propane refer is nice too.


I really like my 77 Baywindow Westy for 2 or 5 with a tent for the extra folks. I sleep on the lower bed with its thick foam, the upper is good for kids. I have a new poptop canvas with 3 windows which gives you way more air than the stock single window.
I only use the built in stove for morning coffee as cooking inside makes the bus smell so we cook outside on a colman stove. Been meaning to make one of those brackets so you can take the inside table and use it outside with the bracket stuck into the jack mount.
The passenger seats started swiveling in 76 1/2 and its a cool feature too. I like the dual batterys so you can camp with plenty of 12v power although it night I hang a colman propane lite inside instead.
Power wise I am running a Camper Special engine which is just a bus motor with bigger valve heads like a 914 2.0L and a Raby cam. 100hp with the stock Ljet means I have plenty of hp for most hills and cruise at 70 all day plus get 22-24mpg. CHT's run 350-410F, oil temps are 210F.
I prefer the 76-79 layouts as they are the most open interior and they carried it over into the vanagons.
If you look at vanagons get a synchro as they are around too.
I have found a old double cab vanagon truck here in Suriname and working on a deal for it. I want to use it for a company truck.

.... and ....
Drivers seat also swivels 90+ degrees to 1/2 face back & the 2 front seats can swivel 90 to use the front swing-out table, with the rear table swung for the rear bench.

We regularly traveled in our 88 2.1L wasserboxer Westfalia with 2, 3 or 4 ~ 1-2 adults & 1-2 kids ~ on 2-4 week long trips of 4-6000 miles XC every year or two, plus various week 7 weekend local ones throughout the year. We have a tad over 200k miles on it now, as it also doubles as my wife's DD, & was both our now grown kids' "first car" to lear to drive in, since it's an automatic 2 WD at my wife's preference.

We'd sleep 2 up & 2 down when traveling, adult up top are fine & it's a little narrower than a full size bed - so the tent wasn't necessary, although we carried a dome tent for the "play room" for the kids. All windows except the cab side windows had insect screens, but you can get aftermarkt screens for the fronts too.

Cooking inside is good in cool/moderate weather, but the portable propane stove outside is a good idea in hot weather, in order to keep the van cooler. We used the outside city water hook-up &/or 110 V power when at a campsite with that, otherwise battery & water tank. We usually also carried a 48 qt Igloo Ice Chest behind the passenger seat for extra food, cuz the fridge is so small.

Tip - wash out & save your plastic 1 gallon milk/juice jugs, then fill 80-90% full with water & freeze for "drinkable & non-leak ice blocks" in your ice chests!

A few Euro Westys' had a 5th jump seat with a storage box under it for a porta-potty located behind the front passenger seat, & you'll see a few in the US. I've seen folks carry porta-potties, portable generators, portable "bag type" showers/enclosures, side tent, rear &/or top mounted bike/ski/boat racks, 110 V AC on the luggage roof rack for when in camp, an a plethora of other goodies & adaptations for all weather camping & fun-n-games!

Hey - does anyone know who/where to get the aluminum under floor mounted storage boxes that went under the side of the sliding door, where the door to it flipped down & served as a side step when open,but you could store 6-12" of gear, folding chairs, etc. under there? I thought I saw them at BusDepot.com a couple of years ago, but now cannot find them anywhere!

Wow so a lot of you have had these. this is definitely a lot of information and more than i could find just searching and not knowing where to look!
you all should update the wikipedia lol.
thank you all

Yup - I like to think of them "as the box the 914's came in"

Pic of our son taking off in our 88 Westy ...

Click to view attachment


Owned it since new 4/88 & it's seen all 4 drivers in our family!

You can also check out www.smallcar.com, it's suby conversion for vanagons site, they even use the suby six. Thats also been done for quite awhile.

This is what I REALLY want to do.
Except I want to do it to a Syncro westy.

Zach

I'm working with a guy who's a Syncro guru on my conversion. He has an '06 2.5 Syncro Subie that absolutely screams and climbs terrain like a spider. He's getting 22-23 mpg. Very impressive machine.

I've also done several 2 week explorations with my brother in his Syncro Westy and it opens up a whole new realm of camping. Truly amazing the beautiful places you can get to without having to deal with motorhomes, generators, etc. Syncro Westies are almost as cool as 914s.

here's the guy I know who had the Zetec 2.0L Ford motor installed after pulling the subie.
http://www.aatransaxle.com/turbo.htm

I had a 1979 Westfalia

Propane furnace installed under the sink

I loved that van - sold it when second kid was coming along.

They rust like 914's in Chicago

Still fond memories and miss her

First type 4 motor I rebuilt, same deal, just past stock to keep EFI

Loved that van. Fishing and bikes in it all summer, skis in it all winter

Great times when we were first married and young

Damn Why did you bring this up?

I've seen Daryl's Westy. Very simple looking engine bay, lots of open space to work.

He is also the man for Vanagon tranny's. He rebuilt my 2wd unit and installed an LSD which I love. He also rebuilt my Syncro tranny, regearing 3rd and 4th for the SVX power and adding a driveshaft decoupler. People send him trannys from all over the country, kind of the Dr. Evil of the Vanagon world.

cause i wanted to open up all wounds jk