Mark, My name is Dale Griffiths and I had a 1970 VW Bus. Loved it very much. Been thinking about one like you have. I watched you video and that is a very nice camper that will last you a long time. Thank you for taking the time to post this.
Excellent restoration and you obviously are very skilled and know exactly what your doing. I enjoy these videos to see a ruff vehicle transformed into virtually a new vehicle, in fact better than when it was new. Thanks for taking the time to make this video, considering all the work you did and allowing others to see the whole process and the finished product.
I love this comment: "...you obviously are very skilled and know exactly what your doing." Nope. I started out with no idea how to get a Subaru engine out of a Subaru or into a Vanagon. I knew it could be done and I spent a lot of time researching and planning. The Samba website was an essential resource as well as Rocky Mountain Westy, Small Car, and GoWesty for providing advice and good explanations of their products. I bought my first MiG welder for this project. I had welded before but my welds were never good. Now I can weld anything at this scale. I put hundreds of hours in and loved it! I can say at the end of this odyssey I do have the skills but I didn't when I started. If you want to do this and you are good at research and planning and have enough patience, it can be done and it's worthwhile.
I loved your video. Saved of course. I restored an '81 AdventureWagen several years ago. Today I bought an '83 Westfalia water cooled to restore. This has given me a lot of thought fodder. I also have a 2001 Outback with the H6 that I may be installing into the Van. Thanks again, great vid!
We're taking a Greyhound bus tomorrow morning to Almonte to pick up our '88 Westie from Frank. He's got the old beast really dialled in mechanically. It's exciting to have it back on the road after many years in storage. Need a shakedown cruise to get reacquainted. Next year - body work! Man, I wish I had your skill set. Great job!
Nice video. Ive found yours to be one of the better Subie swap. Vehicles Because of camera angles and the overall clean installation i really liked how you prepped and cleaned up the " problem" areas etc. one of the reasons i like this conversion is because of how well the engine fits and looks like it is made for the vehicle or original of course the power increase is important as well
Hi! Even if it was mostly a slideshow, it was a really beatifull one. Allmost made me cry beatifull. This is as good i'm going to try with my upcoming project. :) Thak you for the videos! :) Greetings from Finland
This is awesome! Very inspiring. I'm about to do all the same, but so far have gotten lucky and already have a doner subaru that I got for $100. Northern Minnesota is tough on these things so I definitely have my work cut out for me.
I have an air-cooled T25 with 213000 km's on the clock. It's in iceland, but it just passed a 2 year inspection with new starter, new belt, new brakes in front. Shipping to germany is like €1000 from here. Still want one?
Mark Griffiths I’ve been restoring mine for the past two years just got it back on the road and it feels good to be driving her again after not having her for two years but she shouldn’t need much for the next 10 or 15 years other than upkeep and general stuff . Good to see them end up in hands that treats them the way they should be treated .i’m lucky mine had zero rust
Awesome! I have an '87 Syncro tin top, in admittedly much better shape, but considering an engine swap and color change. Your video was inspiring for sure!!!! Incredible amount of work. Awfully well done.
An amazing job Mark. Thank you for putting the whole process up on RU-vid for others to enjoy and potentially follow your lead... Any chance you have /kept a list of suppliers you can share?
Sure. For starters GoWesty, Van Cafe, Bus Depot, California Import Parts, Concept 1 in Calgary, Subaru Calgary, Rocky Mountain Westy, SmallCar, Summit Racing, Auto Value, Princess Auto, Green Line Hose & Fittings, Country Campers, Hobo Campers, Go West Campers, Calgary Auto Body Supply, National Transmission, Fifth Avenue Volkswagen Calgary, U Wrench, Speedy Glass, Malahat Auto Recyclers, Pick n Pull,
How did I only see this video for the first time after talking Westy with you so many times! You are a true genius. I am just starting my restoration now. Can you recommend your panel welder?
Too bad you had to deal with that rust. I'm sure its near impossible to find a dry bus up there, eh? Awesome, articulate job. Wish I had the money to do this. Cheers from Salt Lake City
and how the gearbox and the motor were spliced there is a difference in the bell (in its height and diameter), how are things going with the clutch release, how are the discs themselves being bigger than the disc from the Volkswagen?
Hello Mark. I just noticed your Alberta Plates. I too have a Vanaru. I am in Edmonton. I did a '85 over with a EJ22 but the same old body remains. I am now having overheating problems. As of today I of the opinion that my rad is a bit blogged up. How is your project?
Hey there. I'm in Calgary and I've been driving the van every day since completing it. Your overheating may be the rad or rad fan, or possibly you need to check that the system is completely bled of air. It's tough to do. Your main coolant tank should always be full to the top, and should pull from the overflow.
Nice work. Looks great. I have one question. One pic showed a rather small looking drum brake. Have the brakes been upgraded and, if not, how do they cope with the bigger powered Subaru engine?
So far the brakes are stock and like everything else on a stock Vanagon, they are undersized. I have a front brake upgrade in progress to Audi 5000 Turbo bigger rotors/calipers. However the Subaru engine doesn't requires bigger brakes because the idea is to have enough power going up hills fully loaded, not for going really fast.
Very nice job, I love the engine conversion. I did not know that was possible. I just found a pretty clean Westfalia in a storage yard tucked away. I am going to make an attempt to buy it what was your investment after purchase. I have a 1983 Lotus Esprit I just finished bringing back to life and I am thinking of selling my Coleman popup and switching things around some.
The purchase price was $3200 but the final cost was almost 10 x that in repair and upgrades. Yep, it's a lot to spend but it is as reliable as an a new van and way cooler!
I have a 1985 Westfalia. It still has the original engine. Am I missing something? Everyone seems so excited that a Suburu engine was installed. But my 1985 Westfalia runs great. Am I missing something?
Excellent job on this beauty. It looks perfect! I'm wondering, does replacing the engine and the pipes that way you did prevent the vehicle from breaking down as frequently? I've always wanted one of these but the failure rate has always been a major detractor. If building it out from the ground up the way you have would change that then I would be very interested in taking on a project like this myself.
iReturnV1deotapes Yes it definitely improved reliability. The mechanical upgrades make this a very reliable vehicle. I have had 3 great camping seasons, done some light off road travel, mainly forestry mountain roads, and I use it in the winter here in Canada without any problem.
I have no regrets about replacing the engine or with my choice of the 2.5L Subaru. It's very reliable. I have been driving the van daily since Spring 2015. It handles cold and snow, long hot highway trips, mountain passes and I have never had a mechanical issue. To be truthful though, I had the transmission rebuilt and it failed in less than a year due to overheating. This is a design issue that I solved by running a separate transmission radiator up in front of the main radiator plus an inline cooler and temp gauge. You won't have this problem if you have a manual transmission.
They are a copy of Mercedes rims produced in Europe and sold by several Vanagon parts places. They are rated for the Vanagon Camper and are bigger so you can put on bigger brakes.
