1971 Volkswagen Transporter Westfalia Camper Van
This is a 1971 model, the most sought after of all the Bay Window Buses from 1968-1979. The 1971 mixes the older classic look with technological improvements needed for drivability and has a large amount of 1 year only features.
The foundation of high a quality restoration is the paintwork. Paint on this Bus was done by Jimmy Braxmeyer of Vintage VW Restoration in Vista California, Jimmy has been winning best of show awards since the 1990s on the Buses he restores. The entire body was stripped to bare metal making a perfect foundation for a top quality paint job. The Bus was painted inside and out, in the engine compartment, wheel wells, and entire underside. VW never put this much paint on them when they were built. A paint job like this takes years to do, the cost was over $30,000 for paintwork alone.
Engine - With todays style driving and modern cars these Buses require more acceleration, better hill climbing ability and higher freeway cruising speeds. The type 1 engine is one of the most modified engines in the world, the right builder and setup was used it increase the torque so that it now keeps up with modern traffic and pulls hills but still looks like an original engine bay. Larger displacement 2074cc using a 78mm stroke 92mm pistons (machine in type).major lubrication and oil cooling upgrades - will never overheat - even in Death Valley. Stock heater boxes with stainless steel Ahnendorp exhaust. Transmission was rebuilt and has freeway flier gears that in combination with the added horsepower allows this Bus to easily pull hills and run 75mph on the highway - keeping up with modern traffic was the goal. With this Bus you can drive up mountains in 4th gear without downshifts. Cost of the engine build alone was over $10,000.
Interior - Restored to original. Cabinets refinished using African mahogany with Baltic Birch side and roof paneling, the cabinet laminate was completely replaced with the correct type. An incredible amount sound reduction and insulation was placed throughout. The icebox for this model was not available new so a new fiberglass reproduction mold was made just for this Bus, the reproduction looks like a Westy part. Sink has been polished and great effort was put into restoring the original hand pump water facet. New curtains in the original pattern cover all windows including front windshield. Everything inside is new and it smells like a new car but you feel like you are in the 1970s. In the cockpit the seats restored with original vinyl, new rubber mats and seals, the dash was restored by Just Dashes. Seat belts were also painstakingly restored with all new webbing and even new silk date labels.
Undercarriage - Please see the pictures before understanding the underside. The undercarriage is where all the equipment goes that makes the Bus drive well or drive terrible. The rebuilding and refinishing of every part means a perfect driving vehicle with tight steering (most of these 40yr old + machines have wobbly steering if not fully restored). Power disc brakes means excellent stopping power. There is even a solenoid controlled fuel system cut off system to prevent fire in case of accident. The amount of paint and material put on the bottom will prevent rust and corrosion from ever happening.
Exterior & Trim - All exterior parts are new or refinished, genuine Hella lights and lenses used throughout. LED headlights. All new glass throughout! New jalousie camper window assemblies.
We have over $90,000 in receipts for the parts and work done, yes we have all the records, this does not include the owner's labor assembling the entire Bus.
Restored methodically over a 10 year period of time. The owner carefully chose who would work on it and what parts would be used. Being his first car he was attached so much of this work goes farther in scope than a paid restoration shop would do. A selection of the best classic Volkswagen minds came together to create what you are looking at. Make no mistake there is no comparable restoration like this anywhere.
Chassis - The entire body was disassembled to a bare shell and stripped to bare metal inside and out. The old paint was chemically stripped or sandblasted off. For metal work the only sections replaced were the battery tray and driver side lower corner tray, the rest of the Bus is all original metal, original panels. The underbody was needle scaled and media blasted. The method used to seal up the metal was Picklex 20, Masterseries, Wurth Chip Guard and then all covered in Glasurit 22 Line single stage Pastel White code# L90D. This Bus is now better protected underneath than when they were new. This Bus was painted by Jimmy Braxmeyer of http://www.vintagevwrestoration.com/press/ Jimmy is an expert Bus painter who has been winning best of show at VW shows since the 90s and all he does is classic VW.
Engine - One of the best features of this Bus. Starting with an AE bus case all Hoover Mods were done - the case was line bored original Bus engine case had extensive oil/lubrication improvements, with the addition of a deep sump to hold more oil, full flow oil filtration system, thermostat oil diverter plate, an external oil cooler, and finally an Accusump oil pressure assist system to give full oil pressure at all times even when starting. A larger crankshaft was used at a 78mm stroke which provides more torque. Eagle 2239 camshaft. I beam VW rods 5.5" length with ARP bolts, piston squirter mod. Larger pistons were used at 92mm (machine in type) which makes a a 2074cc size engine. Cylinder heads are CB Perfomance Panchitos 044 port matched. The original German carburetor and fuel pump was used but both were reworked for the larger engine carburetor jetted, note the stainless steel fuel line on original Bus fuel pump. Controlling everything is a Speeduino engine management system which allows you to monitor RPM, Voltage, Air/Fuel ratio, Lambda, MAP, oil pressure, oil temp, cylinder head temp. Tunerstudio Ultra software to run on your device. You can then tune the engine by adjusting the distributor timing control (original distributor function disabled). Wideband O2 sensor in the stainless Ahnendorp muffler. Winterburn CDI. Restored German generator with NOS German voltage regulator.
Interior - Over the newly painted metal sound deadening has been done throughout the Bus. Methods used -Constrained Layer Damper (CLD) sheets, adhesive aluminum backed butyl sheets which softens vibration and resonance. After those materials were laid down closed cell foam layer for decoupling was used between the CLD sheets mass-loaded vinyl. Finally Hydrophobic Melamine Foam (HMF) was used to absorb sound and reduce heat transfer. New wire harness for the entire bus was installed. Instruments by Instrument Specialties. The cabinets were all disassembled and refinished inside and out. All laminate replaced, fine woods like African mahogany and Baltic Burch was used. The high gloss of all the new finishes look better than the original did.
Undercarriage - Front beam center pin replaced with NOS West German part, needle bearing for control arms replaced, of course all ball joints (Wolfgang Int) , new drag link and tie rods, new damper, new bump stops, Koni adjustable shocks on all 4 corners, heavy duty front swaybar, steering box restored.
2074cc Type 1 engine 78.8mmx92mm, numerous upgrades for modern traffic
Freeway flier transmission. Improved torque - Modern day drivability.
10 year labor of love restoration, 26 year ownership, owners first car
Concours quality. Correct restoration to original
Once in a lifetime opportunity to purchase the ultimate Bus
Website: https://vintageexcellence.com/1971vwbuscamper
