Hi Brad -- as the owner of an 84 -- I see nothing wrong with them :-)
Slightly less horsepower and slightly harder to find parts. The 86 and up
had things like power windows and heated mirrors which I consider to be more
things to break :-)

Cheers,
Doug

On Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 4:08 PM, Brad Pauly <bpauly@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Doug,
>
> I might be looking at an '84 Westy this week. Thanks for the straight
> advice on what it could cost. I am definitely leaning towards spending
> more money up front. I think I need to take a big step back and add
> some padding in my "what am I willing to spend" calculation to account
> for whatever might need to be done to get the van where I want it to
> be. These numbers are really helpful. I know every van is different,
> but even a ballpark helps.
>
> Cheers,
> Brad
>
> On Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 11:15 AM, Doug Alcock <doug.alcock@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>  > Hi Brad -- welcome to the list. You've already received some good links
> to
> > peruse. I bought an 84 Westy 12 years ago. My advice is to spend the most
> > money you can upfront to get the best van you can afford. The expresion
> > 'needs a little work' ranks up there with with 'the cheque is in the
> mail'
> > as one of the big lies in history. If you can't/aren't willing to do the
> > work yourself you're going to be buying your mechanic a Mercedes.
> >
> > One of the replies to your post said you'd be looking at 5 to 10K to get
> > your van in shape. I agree with that. It may not come all at once -- but
> it
> > will. I paid $6500 to get my van on the road 12 years ago -- since then I
> > estimate I have about $30K invested in it. New engine, new trans, new
> darn
> > near everything.
> >
> > Took a lot of years to work out but now my van is reliable, looks great
> and
> > is much less likely to be seen stranded at the side of the road.
> >
> > You can't put a price on the travels, adventures, and places we've seen
> --
> > but if you were going to it adds up to $250 a month about the price of a
> car
> > payment or a lease.
> >
> > But it really is best to put the money in upfront rather than dribs and
> > drabs (some of them large) along the way. I bought a cheap fixer-upper
> > because I was unconvinced that my wife would be into the Westy lifestyle.
> > She turned out to be an instant die-hard (who knew).
> >
> > If I was doing it again I would look for a rust-free hulk with a blown
> > engine and trans. Rust-free is very important. Then I'd get someone to
> put
> > in an engine conversion (I have an I4 in mine) and a rebuilt trans and
> while
> > that was going on I'd look at stuff like rad/gastank/brakelines. You
> could
> > probably do that for about 15K --- but you'd have a van that was going to
> be
> > trouble free for a long time.
> >
> > I wish you good luck and hope to meet you down the road someday.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Doug
> >
> > On Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 12:27 PM, Brad Pauly <bpauly@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi Everyone,
> >>
> >> I think I'm finally ready to take the plunge. 10 years ago I was
> >> searching pretty seriously but never pulled the trigger. This time I
> >> think I'm ready. I was hoping to get some first time buyer advice.
> >> I've been looking for '86 and newer Westys. Originally I was set on a
> >> full camper, however, I think I'd be really happy with a weekender (at
> >> least at first).
> >>
> >> I'm not really a "car guy." I'm actually an engineer on paper so I can
> >> understand most of that stuff. I do like tinkering, but it's been with
> >> bicycles all my life which are decidedly less complex. I have two main
> >> questions.
> >>
> >> Should I avoid out-of-state vans? Not having experience working on
> >> cars it makes me a little nervous. If I could find a good local
> >> mechanic to make sure things are okay I'd feel much better though.
> >>
> >> What about older vans? Am I needlessly limiting myself with '86 and
> newer?
> >>
> >> Thanks for any advice or feedback!
> >>
> >> Cheers,
> >> Brad
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > http://www.dougalcock.com
> >
>

--
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