Vw Vanagon to Westy?

[BIGdaddy]

So my dad brought his restored '88 westy down for us to check out this weekend. We very deliberately spent a couple hours hanging out in it with our three girls, letting them explore and try out all the beds, swivelled out the tables and rotated the front seats,etc. Even with my dad inside (one extra person) it really was comfortable with or without the door closed.

So much fun, and we're absolutely sold on this platform as an viable alternative to pulling some type of camper with our jeep.

On to my question:

I'm finding that a lot of base model vanagons here in socal are in our price range, and having looked for a suitable westy for about a year, I had anoth

er thought recently

If I can buy "more" van, as in something newer, in better condition if it's a plain jane vanagon, would I be daft to do that and THEN source all the weekender or westy bits that I want?

Similar to what T.low and Herbie did with their astro vans?

My dad has owned a westy for about 10 years now and seems to think it wouldn't be hard at all and would be willing to bring his van down on occasion for reference and even pull some of his cabinetry to use as a template if I needed to custom make anything.

thanks for your input.

 

[BIGdaddy]

oh, and p.s., I've been over to the samba, and I'll start searching over there a bit, too...

(Probably find a pretty good write-up.)

...Just wanted to see what the portal's thoughts were.

 

[brianjwilson]

Yes, you'll find lots of write ups over there. It isn't that uncommon actually.
If you've looked around a bit you'll know that there is a syncro versions that is 4x4 (awd). They are rare and can be spendy. A Syncro Westy is VERY rare and very expensive. So it is common for people to find a syncro in decent shape, and swap all of the westy parts as that is generally considered easier than swapping the AWD parts.

 

[BIGdaddy]

Yes, you'll find lots of write ups over there. It isn't that uncommon actually.
If you've looked around a bit you'll know that there is a syncro versions that is 4x4 (awd). They are rare and can be spendy. A Syncro Westy is VERY rare and very expensive. So it is common for people to find a syncro in decent shape, and swap all of the westy parts as that is generally considered easier than swapping the AWD parts.

yeah, that's what I was thinking, too. Can't seem to find a good beginning to end write-up, but I'm gonna keep digging.

I was drooling over Rocky Mountain Westy's bumper set last night. OhMyGosh!:drool:

 

[Christian P.]

Let me make it clear and simple.

Buy a genuine Westfalia.

Yes they cost more at first.

But:

-they will hold their value much better
-generally, they have been better maintained than a Vanagon which was usually a work van or just a passenger van
-a converted Vanagon -> Westfalia is never as original/authentic as a genuine van. You can pretty much always tell it has been modified.
-you will end up spending hours doing the conversion instead of enjoying the camping
-the Westfalia are already a lot of work just to maintain properly, you want to focus your energy there.

Second advice - buy a 1986 and up, preferable 1988 and up.

Good luck and let me know if you have more questions!

 

[brianjwilson]

Let me make it clear and simple.

Buy a genuine Westfalia.

Yes they cost more at first.

But:

-they will hold their value much better
-generally, they have been better maintained than a Vanagon which was usually a work van or just a passenger van
-a converted Vanagon -> Westfalia is never as original/authentic as a genuine van. You can pretty much always tell it has been modified.
-you will end up spending hours doing the conversion instead of enjoying the camping
-the Westfalia are already a lot of work just to maintain properly, you want to focus your energy there.

Second advice - buy a 1986 and up, preferable 1988 and up.

Good luck and let me know if you have more questions!

What changed in 88? My syncro was an 86 and the electrical became a nightmare, but if I remember right it was also the first year of efi? I swapped ECUs, traced wiring, grounding straps, etc. I never could figure out the problem, it would just randomly shut off on me in the middle of a trip. 30 minutes of kicking, hitting things, cranking, walking away, etc it would just fire up like normal. My girlfriend (now wife) got to the point where she never wanted to travel with it so away it went. It was frustrating. I wish I could have kept it and swapped in a later VR6, suby engine or something else.

 

[vanderpooch]

The weight in vanagons is incredibly well balanced. I rarely use my 4wd.

If I were to do it again. I would by a cherry 2wd Westy and then buy a Syncro transmission with low granny gear and stock rear locker. Add BFG tires, 2" lift springs and Old Man EMU shocks and call it done.

You will be amazed how far you can travel in 2wd with the comfort/security of a rear locker when jammed.

My 2 cents

 

[BIGdaddy]

The weight in vanagons is incredibly well balanced. I rarely use my 4wd.

If I were to do it again. I would by a cherry 2wd Westy and then buy a Syncro transmission with low granny gear and stock rear locker. Add BFG tires, 2" lift springs and Old Man EMU shocks and call it done.

You will be amazed how far you can travel in 2wd with the comfort/security of a rear locker when jammed.

My 2 cents

We were talking about this very point over a couple brews this weekend. I honestly don't feel like being 2wd will hamstring us at all, when I really get down to what we'll be using the van for.

And actually this set of mods is what my dad has next on his agenda - syncro springs, syncro tranny, and some BFG's...

 

[Dave Bennett]

Awesome choice Brian, I say go for it! :drool:

 

[BIGdaddy]

Awesome choice Brian, I say go for it! :drool:

Thanks, Dave.

I researched the other SUV options I mentioned via PM, and simply couldn't get away from the fact that they were all within inches in size with respect to width, legroom, headroom, etc to my XJ.

Hopping into my dad's van this weekend was simply a paradym(sp) shift in thinking for family travel/camping.

Every conceivable position/configuration was tested out and we couldn't wipe the goofy smiles off our faces..haha!

I really like that there are some quality products available, too, to harden/outfit them for some off-highway travel:

 

[Dave Bennett]

All the Syncros I saw at Hollister really got me lusting for one. Very cool machines and will go most anywhere with a good driver. You can stealth camp in them as well and that can be a great advantage on long road trips.

 

[WillardsWesty]

Hey there,

As other people have mentioned, it can, and has been done before. I can't remember which guys, but there was a really extensive build thread recently on the samba of a guy who did this. It's a lot of work and requires a donor westy as the only way to do it correctly is to cut the entire roof off the donor and weld it on your van. It's not a simple as just taking the fiberglass pop top off the donor and sticking it on the new van. Also, the roof shapes are different on the passenger vans. Westy roofs are flat to accommodate the bed, where as the passenger vans have rounded roofs.

If it were me and I wanted a budget westy build, I'd buy a passenger van, and put a high top on it. There's a canadian company that's making them now for under $2k. You cut a hole in roof, trim it out and basically glue the new roof on top. It ends up being an easy weekend job and seems to be a popular option on the samba. Here you go:

http://canadianhightops.ca/hightopimages.html

 

[vanderpooch]

Wandr did that conversion recently:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40123

 

[BIGdaddy]

Hey there,

If it were me and I wanted a budget westy build, I'd buy a passenger van, and put a high top on it. There's a canadian company that's making them now for under $2k. You cut a hole in roof, trim it out and basically glue the new roof on top. It ends up being an easy weekend job and seems to be a popular option on the samba. Here you go:

http://canadianhightops.ca/hightopimages.html

Wow, now THAT is cool.

 

[RusherRacing]

There is a westy syncro on ebay right now... Doesn't look all that bad for the year. Only 114k miles