Yo Les.
An 81 Westy without body rust is a very good investment at less than
$1500.00 if it just cranks and runs.
Interiors from later models will fit 80-91 on most interior except not
the 85 up sliding door or inside panels.
http://williamwareagency.com/forsale/stanvan/buyused.htm
http://williamwareagency.com/forsale/stanvan/shapingup.htm
The A/C units never work so don't worry about it, if it has one.
Most oil leaks are cosmetic and are easily fixed once you can locate the
exact location.
#3 Cylinder normally tells most of the story, see if you can get 100 psi
on #3 on a warm engine.
Even with 70 psi on the #3 cylinder the engine is useable as long as all
other cylinders are in the 95 psi range.

Stan Wilder
1983 Air Cooled Westy

On Tue, 25 Jun 2002 23:03:09 -0700 Les Shiaman <lamusicamellama@JUNO.COM>
writes:
> Hello Listees -
>
> I've been keeping my eyes out for late model Westies, but this
> evening i
> saw a 1981 Westy for sale.  Haven't talked yet with the owners.
> Sign on
> van said engine needs work.  (I saw oil on pavement below engine.)
> Asking
> $900 obo.  Cosmetically, things look very nice, engine, and maybe
> tranny
> need work which at this point I'm unable to say specifics.  Question
> is,
> is it worth it to take on a project on an 81 air cooled?  Do the
> air
> cooled vanagons have their own special merits, or not?  If I could
> buy it
> for 700-800, and drop a couple thousand into a new or rebuilt
> engine,
> would I have a reliable, healthy running Westy?  I know nothing
> about
> these air cooled models, but if the van weighs 5000 lbs. as do the
> later
> models, isn't it strange that an air cooled engine could push that
> around?
>
> Thanks for educating me on this,
>
> Les
> Trek 800
>
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