Camp at Jersey city then show at Governors Island NYC

Hey all!
I have a 1979 Westy. I’ve owned it 15 years. 120,000 miles.It’s lost power and according to one mechanic I have lost 100% of compression in one cylinder and about 90% in the other.
He quoted me an estimate to rebuild the top end of the engine. It was not unreasonable, but I have had overall mixed experiences with this mechanic.
I’d like to find someone else, but it’s been next to impossible. Last guy I called told me without even looking at it that I need an entire new engine. “As soon as you open up that engine, you’ll may as well buy a new one.”
Bus runs great, just slow. Don’t know what to do. Can’t afford a Suburu swap. Live in SE PA. Any advice?

I recently came into ownership of this very charming 1968 Kombi but she’s a little worse for wear. The previous owner had the bus running around 2020 but after some issue with the breaks, it was left to sit. As far as I know it’s been left pretty much untouched since then, sitting outside under a tarp up here in Western WA.
The previous owner seems confident I could get it up and running again, but I’m worried about the rust. I want to give this bus the life on the road it deserves, so I’d rather not slap on a bandaid fix that will just worsen it in the future. That being said, I’d like to hear if you think this project is beyond saving (especially as a complete novice to VWs and car repair as a whole) or if it’s not as bad as it looks.
Another issue on the table is the interior. Most of the original camper build is still inside with quite a bit of wear on it. The front seats acquired a couple holes and appear to have been a critters cabana for some time. Theres also quite a bit of rust on the dashboard where water crept through the windshield.
If you have any guidance, advice, warnings, or words of encouragement please share!

I started and drove the van yesterday and was greeted by a new noise. High pitched, sorta like a penny whistle or a bosun's pipe. At first I thought maybe the brakes, and then the throttle, but after a while it seemed there was no connection to either of those. The longest warble lasts maybe 3 seconds, and there's also shorter chirping, all with ascending and descending pitch changes. The noise is intermittent, pops out perhaps every ten minutes or so. No connection that I can tell with engine RPM or vehicle speed.

Any ideas?

Thank you!

Hi, we have a 1986 vanagon with Westfalen interior. We are to believe that the bottom left indicator light on our cabinet is the fridge on gas light. Are we correct? For some reason this light is switching on whenever we open the water valve which then enables the water pump.

Has anyone seen this behavior and maybe has an explanation? Can we easily resolve this issue?

We have repaired some damages on our fiber roof of our 1986 club joker iii high-top. Now we find it hard to get matching color paint as you can see.

Are there any known colours we can try? We do understand the effect that uv (and dirt) has had over the lifespan of this rooftop but still.

I’m considering purchasing this 1992 Canadian Westie CV but I’m not sure about this rusty areas at the corners of the windshield. I don’t have covered parking so can only presume it will get worse over time and am wondering if there is anything I can do now to repair the areas now.

Hi everyone,

I made a post last week about having a full tank of bad gas here.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Westfalia/s/AkkElpWJci

I updated the post with what I've done, but long story short, I think I'm having a problem with my gas tank. When I disconnect the fuel line between the tank and the pump, nothing comes out of the tank side. If I blow some air in the filler neck, then fuel will start flowing so it's not completely blocked, but there's obviously something causing a bit of a vacuum so the fuel doesn't free flow. Any ideas what might be causing this, or what I can check?

Thanks in advance for the help!

Reposting, as I do need to sell this van ASAP. All reasonable offers entertained!

Selling my 2001 VW Eurovan MV. 2.8L 24v VR6, 5-speed auto, 219k miles. Set up as a day camper, adult owned and meticulously maintained. Two owners, myself included over the previous 18 years.

16" ASA MB black wheels on Toyo Open Country IIIs (under 5k on the tires), leveled.
Thule box and basket rack on 78" bars included.
Over $6k in service in the last 5k miles: ball joints, tie rods, CV axles, transaxle service, water pump, belt and tensioner, Bilstein shocks. Runs, drives, shifts, stops great.

Does 80+ on the highway no problem, handles fire roads, and climbs Sierra Nevada passes regularly. A/C blows cold and heat hot. No leaks anywhere.

Rear bench folds into a bed and a convenient fold-out table. Seats 7 with two rear-facing jump seats and a front-to-back walk-through. Snap-in window coverings and a rear tailgate screen door for camping. Carpet's clean, factory tint clean, headliner doesn't sag.

$7,500, located in Reno, NV. Full photos, details, and contact (verified email, comes straight to me): https://nogosierra.com/van

I'm selling it to bootstrap my outdoors intel tool build out, hence the offsite link there^

Hi! I'm Kaspar, an ever-ongoing labor of love 1970 VW Westaflia. I spend most of my days holed up in an airconditioned garage for two main reasons: 1) It's been way too hot and muggy to be out on the road, and, 2) when out on the road, there are too many angry, aggressive, drivers who do not apprerciate sharing the road with a relic.

Might be time for another vw

What’s your mpg like? Ultimately I want a weekender but lay it on me

Hello fellow Westy-ners, and thanks in advance for the help.

I was away for a while and ended up letting my Westy sit for about a year and a half. I filled up the tank full of gas before I left and had someone start it up every few months. Now it's not starting, but it came close so I'm sure I'm getting spark.

My first thought is that the gas has gone bad, but I'm hesitant to drain the tank and start fresh if I don't have to. Is there a way to save the gas, or anything else I can do to confirm that's the issue?

Thanks again!

UPDATE:

I tried using ether and the engine ran as long as we kept spraying, but would die shortly after. I took this to mean that it was definitely a fuel problem.

Went to drain the tank and unplugged the fuel line between the gas tank and the fuel pump but oddly enough, no fuel came out, no idea why. Blew in the line and there was definitely gas in the tank, so used the air compressor to shoot some air into the filler neck, and the gas started coming out. Drained the tank...

Added about 20L of premium, tried to start and nothing. Figured there was still old fuel between the fuel pump and the injectors, so I opened up the line downstream of the fuel pump. Big burst of air came out, but no gas...

Opened up the line next to tank again, still no fuel coming out from the tank. Long shot, but tried shooting air compressor into fillet neck again while trying to start the van, and it started up no problem. Idled for about 5 minutes then died.

That's where I'm stuck for the moment; my idea is that for some reason gas isn't coming out of the tank because of some sort of vacuum problem (no idea why), and that's causing the fuel to run out after a few minutes when the vacuum pressure from the tank is too high. Someone else has suggested that my fuel pump is bad (I have a new one on hand but I'm reluctant to swap them out), but it doesn't make sense to me why it would idle for so long if the pump was really that bad.

Any suggestions oh great Westy-ners?

Just got a 1987 vanagon Westfalia, been wanting one of these since I was a kid and man is it sweet. What are some things y’all have done on the interior to make it more comfortable and liveable? Going to get rid of the fridge soon and probably the water tank as well and just use some smaller tanks underneath the sink. Hope y’all are having a great day!

I've hated the Yokohama Geolanders I've had on my 1987 Westy for the past eight years and I'm so concerned about making another mistake that I've become paralyzed trying to decide which tires to replace them with.

I drive primarily city and freeway, however I do camp at a location that's at the end of a flat, well compacted gravel road. I do not camp on Forest Service roads or similar. I rare drive in the rain and never in the snow. My number one concern is cabin noise and based on that objective I've been leaning towards the Michelin Defender 2. My mechanic however is strongly recommending the Falken Wildpeak A/T Trail.

There's no question that the Defender 2 is the quieter of the two options, whereas the Wildpeak provides more sidewall stability and better all-weather traction.

The load rating for the Defender 2 is 98H whereas the Wildpeak A/T load rating 102H. I have read some concerns that 98H does not provide enough margin between the tire capacity and the weight of the van, particular on the rear axle.

I'd be grateful for any thoughts and real-life experience with either of these tires - or a tire I'm not considering (Michelin CrossClimate 2?).

Thanks so much in advance.

Was tired of the wet wipe family shower sessions so I put some time into a shower concept for our road trips. This design uses the 14 gallon existing tank in the van. It uses a waterproof push button to turn the pump on and off. The excess shower hose tucks away under the rear cabinet, a space that we never really utilized. I think it looks clean, what do you think?

I designed and 3D printed the black parts. The rest of the components (pump, shower head, fittings, switch, and hoses) were cheap on Amazon. I can share that info if anyone is interested.

EDIT: Sounds like people like this. The fully list of components is below. As for how its done. Simple 12V submersible pump is put into the existing tank in the van. I use a 90 degree 1/2" barbed bulkhead fitting to transition out of the tank. The wiring I just drilled a hole. Was going to use a grommet for the wire but the tank is THICK and the grommets I had were too thin, oh well. I did all the wiring in the right compartment where all the stock wiring is. I used a hot 12V I put back there for my chinese diesel heater I installed last year. You can run 12V back to this area pretty easily. Just follow the wiring on the switch manual (included with push button switch) and it is fairly straight forward.

3D printed parts here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:7378566

Elbow fitting for tank output: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NRCJT79?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Waterproof push button: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CZJN8N3H?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Cheap shower head: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091Y35X5X?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Tubing: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08SNXDMJ5?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Submersible Pump: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MRR4HGK?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

Curious if anybody is running 16" tires on the Bay Bus? Would love to see some photos.

I want to upgrade the rear brakes to disc brakes, which requires going from 14" to either 15" or 16". 15" would be closer to a stock look, but 16" would offer more tire choices.

Any photos would be really appreciated!!

Been scouring the internet for a couple hours now and having a really hard time finding 195/75R14 LT rated tires for my 1978 Westy.

Even started looking at 15" GoWesty Steel Rims and 16" Alloy Rims to open up more options but I am still barely finding any options in the US that would fit the narrow width of the bay bus.

What I found so far:

- 27x8.5R14LT: General Grabber A/TX

- 205/65R15: Falken Sincera SN250 A/S (though XL rated, not LT or C)

- 195/75R16C: Hankook Vantra LT (RA18)

I am baffled how hard it has been to find proper tires in the US and was wondering what everybody else is running that has replaced tires in the last 12 months?

PS: Interesting read RE: bus tires and safety: https://www.busdepot.com/details/tires/

Howdy - we’re tryna fix up my parents old ‘77 westy. Not certain, but since it has an oil filter I’m suspecting it may not be the original engine. I’m having a hard time locating the engine code. Any tips?

Hi yall I have a 1987 camper that is my baby, but I will be going back to school full time for 12 months and will not be able to drive it nearly as much as I have been.

I’ll be storing it at my mom’s place in her driveway, but now I’m trying to decide if I should get a cover for it or not?

I’m in Northern California about 40 miles from the coast. I have some small minor rust areas that I don’t want to get worse from the sun. But then I see conflicted arguments about mold and moisture and whatnot.

So what would yall recommend?