Projects from THE COMPOUND

[Longroof79]

That van definitely is an oddball . It does look like it started life as a panel van and converted over with windows and a small pop-up.
I normally see the small pop-up tops in the split window (earlier) buses. Pretty cool find. The body looks pretty decent for something that's been laying for 10 yrs. I know that they're rust buckets.

 

[DRIVEN]

My brother stopped by last night and looked it over. He's the in-house bus expert. I was showing him the big stack of receipts I found along with the original owner's manual and purchase paperwork. We verified that it's an early Riviera. Here's the history lesson: Back in the day the factory authorized and sold campers that were built by Westfalia. These are far and away the most common camper you'll see around. The problem was that they sold like hotcakes but VW corporate would only allow dealers to buy a percentage of Westys. So, to get 10 campers, dealers were required to also buy 10 transporters (regular buses), 5 pickups, and 5 panels. <<Those numbers are probably not accurate and were meant to illustrate the circumstances<<. Many dealers just couldn't justify buying the harder to sell body styles just to get the Westys. So, Riviera Motors in Beaverton, OR (5 miles from me) decided that they would just buy panels (which had no purchase restrictions) and convert them. They quickly became popular and soon they were distributing their conversions to dealers all over the USA. In the '70s and '80s the Riviera was a strong seller and was similar to the Westy but had a larger pop-top and the interior cabinetry was different.
According to the paper trail it appears that this thing has had about 8 owners but never lived more than about 100 miles from where it was originally sold. Pretty interesting to see a receipt from 1970 that covered an "engine inspection" along with a valve adjustment and new valve cover gaskets. Total parts and labor cost was $5.90 :? .

 

[Longroof79]

Pretty interesting history. From the Rivieras that I've ever seen. They had the large fixed roof. They seemed to have a rather high center of gravity.
I like the Westy's, but it seems like all the old buses, panels, campers, pickups are commanding stupid money these days.
I wish I still had my old buses. Last one was a '72 Type II with the 1700 flat fan (Type 4) engine. It had the dual single barrel Solex carbs. I later replaced that with a single Weber progressive and a 009 distributor, and a quiet pack header.
I also had a '67 sunroof bus. I wish I still had that puppy today. That was a non-running project. It had a great body..

I'm sure you'll be able to use that engine again. Try soaking the barrels with a good penetrating oil. Try a 3/4 drive breaker bar and a length of pipe on the flywheel end. I believe it's a 36mm (1 7/16") socket.

Good score. My wife actually wanted me to find a Westy. I showed her what people were asking for them, and she nearly choked. :shock:

 

[DRIVEN]

I don't get it either. There's still deals out there if you look under the right rocks. My brother's '72 was abandoned at his friend's house 8 years earlier by a 3rd friend after it lost power and no one could figure it out. He got it for a case of beer. Turns out the power loss was due to the throttle rod falling out of the slot in the bottom of the pedal. He cleaned out the inside, recovered the seats, put in a laminate floor, painted the wheels and bumpers and restored the poptop. He'd have no problem getting at least $5k for it today.
When I was building my sandrail a few years ago I bought a '71 Overniter (full camper without poptop) for $250 off ebay just for the transmission. Turned out that the engine was freshly rebuilt too. The body had rust but was certainly saveable (actually looks way worse in the pic than it really was). The interior was pretty nice too, just needed cleaning. Had I known then -- I would have saved it. In the condition I bought it I probably could get $3K today. Who knew?

If you think prices are crazy here you should see what they go for in Europe. I wish I had an import/export hookup so we could make some serious money.
The market is hot right now so he had to pay a little more than the other two but this is intended to be a quick flip for max profit. Depending on the circumstances he may drive it through the winter to keep his El Caminos and Harley out of the weather. Stay tuned.

 

[Longroof79]

Have you ever checked out this site? http://www.thesamba.com/vw/
That '72 looks pretty complete.

I know what you mean about the insane prices of these vehicles in Europe. The Samba classifieds show examples of the crazy prices across the pond.
I suppose you're right, that there is deals to be had out there. On occasion, I've seen vans/ buses with Suburu engines installed in them.
As much as I like the older Type II's, the Vanagons do drive nicer and are more stable on the road.

 

[DRIVEN]

Pulled the engine out and set it on the ground so I could have better access to everything. Poured 1/2qt ATF down the carb plus some Marvel Mystery Oil in each cylinder. Couldn't get it to budge.

Thought I'd pull the clutch off so I could get a big breaker bar on the gland nut. What disc?

Hopefully that's the reason the engine was pulled and it's just stuck in the bores from sitting not at the crankshaft from being blown up. It had oil in it so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'll just let the chemicals do their thing for a couple more days.

 

[Ringers]

I love this thread...

 

[DRIVEN]

My dad came by last night after work and scrubbed off some of the moss. I was amazed at how straight and shiny(ish) it actually was. I assumed that under all the green fuzz was some unseen bodywork sins. Sometimes I don't mind being wrong.

He picked up a replacement engine for it last weekend. It came off a sandrail and was advertised as a 1600 but the seller said he suspects it's actually larger. Without pulling a head to measure bore and stroke there's no easy way to tell. The alternator and electronic ignition are nice upgrades. Either way it's an improvement over the single port that would have been original equipment. It'll get a reseal and a Krylon rebuild before it goes in. Haven't decided what will happen to the stuck engine that came with it.

 

[DRIVEN]

Tangent alert!
All this recent VW activity has me in the mood to build a street baja. I know it's wrong on so many levels but I ran across some pics of this one in Japan and can't stop thinking about one. Is it lame or super-awesome?

 

[boatshoes]

It's super awesome. And totally wrong. But still super awesome. Do it.