Hi Jeff,

You and I know a guy who bought a running but crusty diesel vanagon
sitting in a scrapyard in VA for $700, who then flipped it to another guy
we know for a double cab without a motor. He then tarted it up a bit,
drove it for a while and flipped it to a third acquaintance of ours, who
then threw an buttload of coin at it before being forced to unload it at
an off-season loss at $5,200. He had it listed a long time and few people
were interested.

I can name the individuals off-list if desired.

Mind you, the last owner had it restored as original. If it'd been me, I
would have at least put a 1.6TD in it to get the power up over the 1.6NA
it came with.

For free, a diesel westy is a great deal. Parting it out you can get a
good buck just for the bell housing, bearer bar and oil pan, and sell them
to someone looking to do a diesel or inline VW gas engine conversion to
their WBX.

$12K from the machine your buddy described is wishful thinking, pure and
simple. If your buddy were to spend $5K in paint and another $5k in
mechanical work plus $2K in tires and interior and, and, and... then he
would have something you *might* get $12K for.

Happy Trails,

Greg Potts
www.pottsfamily.ca
www.pottsfamily.ca/busesofthecorn
1987 Wolfsburg Weekender hardtop Vanagon
1973 Westfakia "Bob the Tomato"

> OK, a buddy of mine has an '82 diesel Westy, I haven't seen it in at least
> a year, but last time I did see it it had been parked under some trees for
> a few years, very dirty on the outside and had the moss/algae thing going
> pretty good on the roof. It hasn't been moved or started in quite a while,
> the last time he did start it it was spewing coolant as the coolant lines
> underneath had rusted through. It has some pretty bad seam rust under the
> outlets, and seam rust pretty much all over. Pop top and window seals are
> shot. Interior *should* be pretty good, but then I haven't seen it for
> years and suspect since it's parked in the woods there is a good chance it
> has turned into a mouse condo. Anyway, he calls me the other night all
> excited and says "my brother tells me I can get 10 to 12 thousand for the
> diesel, what do you think?" Not wanting to be cruel, but honest, I said
> $1,000.00 to $1,500.00. I just don't see someone (of sound mind) handing
> over 10 grand+ for this Westy. A year ago he offered it to me for free,
> and I turned him down because I saw an immediate need for at least 2K in
> parts, not to mention many weekends of work to get it going again. So,
> what say the list? Am I right or is his brother right? Jeff
>