Any ever have a VW Bus as a Travel van?

[Fishy]

I drove vdubs for many years down to baja. You just have to not be in a hurry. Their an ideal camping vehicle for two people. More than that and you may need to put stuff outside on the ground to make room to sleep. I didn't like that.
Think about making your installations modular and easy to remove. The vanagon will work a lot better as a daily driver if it doesn't have a bunch of cabinets in the back.

 

[surferchic5555]

Im no expert but my buddy drives an old vw bus because he is a huge enthusiast. The negatives I see are: It's always requiring maintenance, repairs which leave him without a vehicle often, it gets terrible gas mileage, it can't go over 60mph ever, it can't make it up mountains or steep hills without slowing to 30mph or less. I'm a very practical person by nature, so personally I would never buy one of these as a travel vehicle. Just my two cents.

 

[SeniorGrom]

I always wanted a Greenbriar. Drove a '64 sedan as a kid. Nice 6 cyl air cooled engine!

 

[arn2629]

the greenbriar is a beast! And id have so much making the interior. I think thats a good point. Ive been on the samba for couple years now so I'm fairly firmiliar. And this vehicle is 'strictly' summer only as I'm only in college and have a '05 toyota sequoia for the winter.
Im surprised to hear that your friend gets terrible mpg. All the type 1/2 (1400-1600cc) engines were advertised at getting 20-22 mpg and now with all the new performance parts people are getting 25+ with slightly modded stock engines. But your dead on about speed roughly 60-70s top unless i rebuild the chassis and upgrade the engine/drivetrain. and with my knew knee reconstruction coming up i won't be going anywhere too fast (yes those 2 knee surgeries and year of recovery failed and have to get another reconstruction)

I want a project and to have the experience of building up a vehicle which I don't think many kids get to do anymore and the amount of aftermarket parts, memories, and resale make it all worth it... Other than vintage surfboards and college this will be my first investment and a fun one i think.
Ill post a pic up if i end up landing a rig

 

[Fishy]

surferchic5555 wrote:

Im no expert but my buddy drives an old vw bus because he is a huge enthusiast. The negatives I see are: It's always requiring maintenance, repairs which leave him without a vehicle often, it gets terrible gas mileage, it can't go over 60mph ever, it can't make it up mountains or steep hills without slowing to 30mph or less. I'm a very practical person by nature, so personally I would never buy one of these as a travel vehicle. Just my two cents.

A well maintained vanagon is a reliable vehicle. Also very safe and comfortable. They aren't all well maintained though. That goes for just about any vehicle out there.

 

[Murph]

You can probably tell by my avatar that I am a little biased regarding this topic... I love my 87 Vanagon Weekender tintop. I would suggest that you look at some of the older models (87-90) they have a little bit more power, power steering etc...

It's a great car. Perfect for me as a surfer. I can get changed inside and carry multiple boards. No need to strap them to the top - just toss em in the back. The Van handles great, is very easy to see out of and is really a ton of fun to drive.

I have spent a lot of money fixing it up. Now that everything is done/updated, I have not had any major problems in years. Most of the problems occur when I do not drive it enough.

It's my daily driver and I prefer it over my 2013 BMW that I drive for fancy dinners and appointments across town etc.. Almost 200k miles.

Each year I go on a long roadtrip up the coast 1800-2000 miles, camping on the beach and surfing. Never had a problem other than some temporary bouts with "vanagon syndrome" (on long trips with no stops the engine with shutter or cut out..its temporary but very stressful)

I can go about 65 mph top speed.

I will never sell this Van, it's the best car I've ever owned. It's my rolling fort to hangout in.

If you are still interested in buying one and would like to hear some opinions from a long time owner...please feel free to PM me. But just in case I will leave you with this one very important piece of advice: Change the fuel lines!!

 

[SeniorGrom]

Spot On Murph! I only experienced the "Mystery Miss" a couple of times during the ownership of the Sycro. Each time it felt like an engine misfire and only happened during long climbs in the Pocono Mtns. Temporary but not fun.

 

[arn2629]

so here is the one I'm 99% on. New breaks, drums, wiring harness, brand new automatic engine rebuild. New floors put in. OG mileage at 58,000. For some reason I'm in love with the high tops i don't know why. Only needs some rear corner panel fab work which would take a couple hours and then paint. He was asking more but we've been chatting and he's only looking for $2800 because he's a local fisherman who's over the project.

Attached files

 

[aussie-surfer]

Pull the trigger!!

 

[arn2629]

At that price I just don't think you can go wrong. If I snag it and it sits I could just resell and easily get my money back. I won't register or insure until its 100% ready for paint... going to check it in the AM!!!