On the street where my inlaws live, there is a house on the corner that always has a car for sale in the yard. As we were going over to pick up our little boy, my wife stated that she wanted me to look at the car for sale there now. "I don't know what it is, but I like it and I want you to make me one."

I was floored.

Then I saw what it was that SHE wanted!


She wants a Vanagon Westy! And she wants one bad enough that she stopped so that I could go look it over.

In either Mark's thread or Mike's thread I talked about wanting a Syncro. Looks like I might have the family capital to get one! This one was just a Vanagon, not a syncro, and it was $$$$. But it looked nice, and was not too rusty. And it was my "I'm not interested in your old cars" wife that said she wanted one!

There is hope for her yet. It may take time, but she will be converted.

Zach

Wait til she drives it.

It's 50/50 weight distribution and handles remarkably well.

Even better if you dump the 14 inch wheels and go with bigger rims.

A synchro will make you go broke.

A lot of people have swapped out the Vanagon engine for a Subie engine for a little more power. Particularly the turbo.

It's not entirely out of this Universe. My wife wants a 64 1/2 Mustang. Go figger....

Awesome!! I love Vanagons.

If you wanna Subaru conversion on it, let me know. I'm looking for Subie projects to expand my portfolio.

If my garage was a bit wider I would have a Vanagon westy instead of my Bay . . . my rents had an '86 syncro that pretty much started me down the VW path.

Make sure the coolant pipes have been replaced or be prepared to do so. Sweet cars and ripe for a subie swap!

-Chris

Zach - you'll love the Westy for an easy camper - if a bit gutless.

We have 204k on our 88 Westy since new (1 owner) & many XC family trips under her belt with our 2 kids when they were younger. In fact I miss the road long trips, & may start doing them by myself now that the kids are grown & gone - since my wife is NOT a road trip person. She uses it as her DD & mobile art studio!

Assuming you get a stock motor one, stick to 87-91 MYs, cuz the water boxer had more problems 87 & earlier waterboxer Vanagons (the first few MYs were 2.0 aircooled up to 85 IIRC). Unless you want to do a lot of gutless off-roading, the Syncro is not needed & will cost a bunch or dough, as Kein W above IIRC said above.

Another option to the Subi motor, is the GoWesty.com up-built 2.1's to 2.4L with about 125 hp IIRC - which is what my wife wants in it next!

Also check out BusDepot.com nearer you in PA for parts, service & advice, & sometimes their prices are a bit better. Beware, while the Westy's are holding their value well, they're now getting into NLA-land parts-wise now, so you'll spend time on TheSamba, the 2 above, etc. too - just like the 914!

Good Luck!

actually the better wasserboxer engine (the 2.1 liter verses the 1.9 liter) started in 1986. so a 1986 and newer vanagon is the best engine type rather than 1987 and newer.


i would not really consider an aircooled vanagon. but the wasser boxxers are nice

Zach, go for it! I've owned two Vanagon Westys -- the first a 1981 ex-diesel converted to VW Golf GTI power in 1998, and the second a 1986 Westy Syncro converted to Suby power in 2001. The Suby-powered Vanagon was great, and I'd recommend it to anyone. Wish we never sold it...

A friend here in Davis built a WRX-powered Syncro several years ago, but the heat of the turbo melted some hoses in the engine compartment and caused an engine fire while cruising on I-5 -- he's convinced there's not enough air flow in the engine compartment for the turbo (he ran a water-air intercooler, with the exchanger mounted up front).

Careful of rust in the seam behind the front door. They also rust on the lower panels, but they're much easier to get to & repair.

Aircooled I think was only until 83, and I remember reading the sentiment on the samba that, while the 1.7 watercooled were gutless, they were very reliable.

Just yesterday, Labor Day I towed a 81 Vanagon Camper to a friend's back 40 to let it rust away, I bought it in Denver last year to pirate the engine for a slick 80 Vanagan I had recieved gratis. I drove 70+ all the way to Dallas, TX and could not get over the difference between it and the Bays I have. Its all the difference in the world. The watercooled I hear are good units, but the simplisty of air cooled makes me think that if I everwanted to "camp" I'd go with the Vanagon vs Splits or Bays. Anyone want this 81? No engine or transmission, but the camper stuff including a ref is in it. I'm trying for $200 on Craigs.

Zach, We had a 91 non-westy that was more of a people hauler. Had an air-conditioning tunnel down the center of the ceiling and a vent to every seat.

It was roomy, comfortable and clean. It handled well, power was ok but not great, did not get very good gas milege (automatic). They are notorius for catastrophic headgasket coolant problems. I traded mine in to a dealer for a new Golf a few years ago, and they used it for a customer courtiesy van until the headgasket failed two months later. If I still had it, It would be a conversion motor.

It was a half year change, I can't remember if it 82 1/2 or 83 1/2 is when they made the change to WC. I know because my dad had one of the first WC's. He drove it from Ontario to Acapulco four years (winters) in a row and at least another half dozen times to Texas and Florida.
The aircooled vanagons were a dog because the van is too heavy for the T4.

The one pictured above was aircooled. Don't know the year, but it was clearly an aircooled engine when I peeked under it.

Zach

I suggest you avoid any air cooled Vanagon. They're financial death! I could write pages detailing the reasons you don't want one ................ I prefer the 83.5 to 85 Vanagons because we see a LOT fewer engine failures than with the 2.1s, which are known to break connecting rods. A little less power, much simpler engine management systems, pretty reliable if you use the correct coolant. The trannies are better, too, because they're less prone to trashing 3rd gear. You need to replace the front-to-back cooling lines in any case. There's a guy that advertises on The Samba, selling nice SS pipes to replace the OE plastic ones. We have a 1.9 that we've been using as a general hauler for 13 years, and the engine we built when we got it is still going strong.

The Cap'n

Sorry, 1.9L WCs, don't think they made a 1.7.

Just to be clear, i am not going to buy the vehicle pictured. Its too expensive, and I am balls deep into my Jeep right now. But, now I have an idea of something that my wife is interested in (that I am also interested in.) This is very exciting to me.

Zach

Here's one I saw on CL this weekend while looking for deals on 914 parts to score while heading to RRC...

http://saltlakecity.craigslist.org/bar/1938395476.html

it's aircooled for sure, though. It would need a subie engine or a corvair engine. (now that you've had one of those in your driveway and know what it entails. lol) It's Mike's fault that your wife likes the old-skool VW buses, she just grew accustomed to having one in the driveway.

If you think whatever the price is for that one, aircooled and all, is too high, you better forget Westie Vanagons. There are believable reports of fully refurbished syncros going in the $80K range, and the high 30s isn't all that uncommon. RWD Vanagon westies regularly change hands for prices in the high teens to mid-20s. One of the pioneering Subie conversion places here in CA won't even look at a conversion job for under $12-132K, done right.


The Cap'n, burster of bubbles ....................

BTW, I know of a Jetta fitted passenger Vanagon that could probably be had for less than the price of the conversion, and I did the work. Can't be sold in California.

Here you go Zack
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/1929166457.html

But it's in Berkley, so you would probably have to evict the tree sitter living in it.

Sounds like a steal to me. BTW, I forgot to mention there is a real issue with Vanagons rusting through at the base of the windshield, and even "cosmetic" rust can be a sign of deeper problems.

The Cap'n

I've got a Sychro Westy coming in in 2 weeks SWEET ride, and the owner is HAWT too....and married I'll post pics somewhere

We had a Syncro years ago. They didn't make a ton of them and of course the Syncro causes just about everything underneath the car to be different than the 2WD version, and (of course) quite a bit more expensive. Not to mention the added weight of the AWD slows it down.

When its time, I could be convinced to go with a 2wd option. And, it would likely get a suby swap.

Zach

I just got back from 2 weeks in the Bighorn Mountains in a Syncro Westy. Awesome trip. We went places with that rig that ATV riders told us would rip out our belly pan....not! And when we got there, we had comfortable beds, 75-mile views and nobody for miles around.

The 2wd will get you almost anywhere you want to go, but you'd better have the LSD if you want to get around in the snow. Westys show up frequently on The Samba with Subie conversions already done and sorted out.

+1 for what the Cap'n said about the windshield rust. The seals also leak in the lower corners, resulting in a puddle of water in the footwells.

A 914 and a Vanagon Westy makes a great combination of vehicles. You really need to support your wife in her quest for her dream car.