I was one for a while back in 2007, had a '75 Westy and an '84 Westy that I put a 2.1 into. When it came time to decide which one had to go, no contest. Power, comfort, safety and H-E-A-T won out. Plus I got a really sweet price for the '75-it was yellow and I think the popularity of "Little Miss Sunshine" helped it sell. 

Jeff Stewart 

----- "Peter T. Owsianowski" <pnoceanwesty@GMAIL.COM> wrote: 

Interesting.  How many "Bus" pilots have both Bay and Vanagon, do you think, 
Greg?   Is Bay/ Vanagon less common than say, Splittie / Bay  - which would 
keep one entirely in the Air-Cooled world. 

Pete 
'79 Westy "Aardvark" 
'87 Westy "JoesVan" 
WWW.Busesbythebeach.com 

On Thu, Aug 26, 2010 at 10:21 AM, Greg Potts <greg@pottsfamily.ca> wrote: 

> Hi Paul, 
> 
> Dunno if I am becoming less of a bus guy really, but I certainly am 
> becoming more of a Vanagon guy. Which is awkward to admit since there's a 
> current thread on another list that is debating the use of the term "bus" 
> to describe a Vanagon. 
> 
> I now have logged 50,000 miles of daily driving on my 87 Wolfsburg since I 
> bought it in April 2008. Camping trips, groceries, hauling lumber and 
> firewood, beach trips and sign equipment service work year round in 
> downtown Toronto, Kingston, Windsor, London, and Barrie. 
> 
> Pretty much ALL of the typical component failures that are common to 
> vanagons have occurred to my 87 since I bought it... Odometer, headlight 
> switch, transmission, tires, shift linkage, fuel injection, exhaust 
> issues, leaky heads, thermostat housing failure... I could go on but you 
> get the picture.  Getting on top of these things sometimes seems like a 
> never-ending process but eventually the frequency does fall. There are 
> still about 2-3 little details to take care of on the 87 (horn, reverse 
> lights, alternator swap) but none of them are critical at the moment so I 
> will get to them in a while. 
> 
> It's a durable and versatile platform that's a good fit for my lifestyle. 
> 
> The baywindow? Well, I still enjoy it; it's also quite versatile and 
> durable. After driving the vanagon I tend to notice that the bay is a good 
> bit smaller and the suspension is a bit more primitive. I also miss the 
> heater come fall/winter. Colleen has been commuting with it for the past 
> month or so; I drove it 800 miles to High Country Bus Festival back in 
> July. Eventually I plan to convert it to watercooled inline 4 in order to 
> make a bit more reliable power to attack the hills with, but for the time 
> being the 1.7L 411 motor I have in it seems to be doing OK. 
> 
> 
> Happy Trails, 
> 
> Greg Potts 
> www.pottsfamily.ca 
> WWW.BUSESOFTHECORN.CA   <--- NEW .CA DOMAIN!!! 
> 1988 Wolfsburg Weekender hardtop Vanagon 
> 1987 Wolfsburg Weekender hardtop Vanagon 
> 1973 Westfakia "Bob the Tomato" 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> > Hey Gregg, it looks like you are becoming less of a bus guy and more of a 
> > Vanagon guy...how does it feel?? 
> > 
> > It's ok to share your feelings... 
> > 
> > I used to be a bus guy...now I kinda hate driving busses...even though I 
> > still think they look cooler... 
> > 
> > :) 
> > 
>