Auto Bus

[autobus]

Well this is the other VW i have that most of you that have met me will probably associate to me
This was a trip i just made to a campsite up just off of the road near Bloedell
On this page i will show the journey of this bus

This bus sat on a road and like all other VW obsessed people i drove by it almost daily .
I use to work with its owner at the refit complex of the BC Ferries located by the George Massy tunnel.
It took me almost 7 years of talking to the owner to persuade him to sell it .

I was about 100 pounds bigger then .

[autobus]

Purchased for $2000 .00 not running
It had lots of problems the 1973 was the first year of disk brakes and the vacuum booster was shot … when i would go and see the bus beforehand the owner was working on the brakes and pumping brake fluid through the booster down the vacuum lines right into the number three cylinder , he couldn’t get pressure so he continued . Then I bought it and tore into everything.

So the system was leaking brake fluid into number three for a long time .
When I finally tore the motor apart the head was severely corroded from it sitting in the cylinder head

[autobus]

So i found a place that was taking your core and rebuilding them , cant remember where i think it was in the USA . So sent it away redid wheel cylinders and carried on .

Its a automatic Bus and the transmission was shot , when i moved over here i got tony at Alberti transmission to totally rebuild it .

[autobus]

So most will understand the journey and amount of work - most of the labor was done by me and my wife

[autobus]

The bus over all was in pretty good shape body wise .
Purchased in Vancouver and shipped from Montreal to one of my friend’s neighbors then he bought it

[autobus]

[autobus]

Horst , my german friend owned this bus and it was parked in his driveway along with other vehicles ,big foot trailer , 1973 blue beetle , Honda accord . Ford festa wagon , in his garage a 70’s caddie.
He liked his stuff ,
Honda Acura,
three Honda ct90’s ,
two ct70’s ,
a Suzuki 550
and a Toyota land cruiser diesel .
And a 1973 Vw Westfalia.
Well he finally broke down needing money to put into the other vehicles .

As i said i paid in 2009 , $2000.00 for it and thought that was lots .
Then i found out how helpfully the Samba would be .



Here are some interesting pictures of a trailer hitch i purchased in cloverdale took it to work and sand blasted it and coated it with 990 epoxy .
This hitch was really not for my year of bus and years ago when i had up for sale a 1974 bus Jerry tyrone showed up at my door a purchased the bus

[autobus]

So Jerry spotted the trailer hitch in my garage while here looking at the bus .

I sold it to him keeping all the carb , distributors and extras that came with it he also got my hitch .

I was glad to sell the bus non running and keep the two brand new carbs and electronic distributors .

Years later i got a call from Jerry saying he had some rust free doors for my 1963 beetle, i went down to see him and paid him for the doors , he then gave me headlight buckets drum brakes and told me the hitch was mine too if i wanted it .
So we went looking for it however he couldn’t find it in his trailers and buildings he said he would call me .

Just this year i heard the Westfalia trailer hitch was sold at the car swap meet at Arbutus Meadows.

[autobus]

This was my first contact with the VW community here on the island and now know more about lots of others deals .
I am not here to make money from VW’s
But restore the two i have and enjoy them .
If people don’t want to talk to me because they think i am abusing the VW seen then that ok i have moved on to be independent .

[autobus]

I appreciate the help shown in the mid Island VW club and hope to meet more and get to know more people

[autobus]

The bus had its original 1700 motor , finally got it to run sorting out vacuum leaks and got it drive able, took off for a trip to Mt Baker and just across the boarder at the first rest stop i lost the number three cylinder ( unknown to me but soon to be )
The brake fluid that had accumulated and destroyed the valve seat ,
So we limped a two ton bus back home to Tsawwassen on three cylinders .

I found this engine for sale in Victoria and picked it up tore the top end off it put new cylinders on it (1800) and its what i have now in the bus

[autobus]

Different way to paint a bus , it seams to work seam to seam . Key is prep painting is easy hours and hours of bodywork and sanding is what it boils down to!

[PICTUP]

Good job Brett, nice Westy!

Jul 30, 2023 21:12:09 GMT -8 autobus said:

1973 was the first year of disk brakes

It was actually 1971. That is why early Bay lovers often like the '71 the best...upright engine, crescent intakes, disc brakes, low lights, wrapping smooth bumpers.

Jul 31, 2023 17:58:15 GMT -8 autobus said:

Just this year i heard the Westfalia trailer hitch was sold at the car swap meet at Arbutus Meadows.

I bought the one at the swap...not sure it is the same one though. It looks better now if it is. And I sure didn't buy it from Jerry! In fact it was priced at $100 and when I was walking away the guy said,"Fifty bucks, I don't want to take it home again", so I couldn't stop myself. I still don't know if it will fit my truck, lol!

[autobus]

Redoing the front seats was a experience for the fingers .
I used tmi covers , thought it was close enough to original.

[Volktales]

Glad you are showing us your "build" of you bus.  It is always cool to see what others are up too with their VWs!  Painting your bus in sections is an interesting way of doing it, but at least it allows you to concentrate and finish one section at at time, instead of being overwhelmed.