1987 GL Westfalia in West Columbia, SC

Last Updated: 7/22/2023 | Ad Source: Craigslist

Asking Price: $18,500

 

More Details & Pictures

As with any borderline insane Westy owner, we will be sad to see our dear Randolf go…if he goes. 🙂

This is an original 1987 Volkswagen Vanagon GL Westfalia camper van, with 2.1 L gasoline engine (recently rebuilt with a little over 2000 miles on it), and customized interior.

I have driven this van for about 34000 miles, from the US East to West Coast, to the tip of South America and back. In addition to our initial restoration after purchase, I just did another massive overhaul prior to our wedding in October 2016. The van hasn’t traveled at all since as we live in Australia.

The body has about 235000 miles on it. The odometer reads less since it was replaced.

I keep OCD records of everything, and had a running calculation of 18.7 mpg during the Latin American trip pre-rebuild. Post re-build, I get an average 20.8 mpg (data range of 16.4 to 23.4 mpg).

The first owner bought this van brand new, but sold it about one year later. The second owner held this van in his possession as a work vehicle until I purchased it from him in January 2013. He had never even used the kitchenette.

I stand behind everything I am about to describe about this capricious vehicle, because after driving all these miles on some of the worst roads in the world, many of the weakest links (mechanically) that could break broke.

And were fixed. Faulty plastic parts replaced with metal. 30-year-old rubber replaced with new rubber to last another few decades. And so forth. Hence, the price tag.

THE GOOD

Hey, it runs.

1. Upon purchasing from previous owner, 6 full weeks of restoration ensued which included:

-Interior restored and modified: my wife made patterns, cut, and sewed all the upholstery and curtains to replace the gloomy and faded grey interior

-Removed flooring and carpets to clean metal and remove rust spots, sprayed with Rustoleum clear coat

-all seats and rear pad completely re-upholstered (blue/yellow/beige plaid pattern) and sprayed with Scotchgard fabric protector with multiple coats

-new flooring (just replaced previous restored flooring with new Tavern Oak boards in October 2016)

-painted cabinets (C+K Pita Bread color, redone in September 2016).

-new curtains, except the large front window curtain (remains original and in good condition)

-3M rubberized undercoating sprayed under all wheel wells for noise dampening and protection

-new pop-top canvas and reseal kit from Bus Depot installed

-fiberglass pop-top cleaned and maintained with oxidation remover throughout ownership

-added an auxiliary battery (Group 41-4 12V) and Energizer 900W power inverter

-new ABC rated fire extinguisher

-Unfortunately, the OEM fridge was ripped out prior to me, so I installed an independent gas line that connects to a camping gas tanks (e.g. Coleman 1-lb propane) stored under the sink, and a 12-V Coleman fridge that can be powered through the cigarette lighter or with an AC adapter to connect to the inverter (in the collage photos, you’ll see a white B&D fridge, but that is not the current one, ours is not pictured, but fits nicely inside the space and blends with the color palette)

2. Virtually no rust (only a few superficial spots initially that have since been cleaned and/or removed), and definitely no rust that would affect the integrity of any metal pieces
3. Several old coolant hoses have been replaced throughout the course of our road trip
4. Well maintained throughout the entire time we’ve had it (timing, sparks, and general tune-up, oil changes on schedule, proper oil filters used, proper phosphate-free coolant used)
5. New Bosch oxygen sensor, Temp II sensor (April 2013)
6. Kenwood CD/USB stereo unit and Kenwood speakers installed (April 2013)
7. New catalytic converter, muffler, fuel injector seals (May 2013)
8. Power steering rack and pinion rebuilt (October 2013)
9. New front rotors, brake pads, and rear drums plus hardware; rear CV joints rebuilt; new front and rear KYB gas shocks *rear driver’s side shock broke in South America and replaced with Monroe gas shock – listed below (November 2013)
10. New clutch kit, rear main seal, CV bolts, flywheel o-ring, temp. sender seal, coolant pressure cap (November 2013)
11. Resealed fuel tank (November 2013)
12. Stainless steel coolant pipes installed in the undercarriage (November 2013)
13. Fuel lines replaced with new rubber lines (February 2014)
14. Reconditioned 091/1 transmission installed (March 2014)
15. New heavy duty Heliar main battery (June 2014)
16. New Kumho radial tires for the rear (July 2014)
17. New Bosch fuel pump and fuel filter (September 2014)
18. New rear springs, Monroe shock for rear driver’s side, and suspension service (October 2014)
19. New front tires (January 2015)
20. New power steering and timing belt installed (February 2015)
21. Engine rebuild work undertaken between late 2015 to mid 2016, and first driven over long distances in August 2016; rebuild was done by a competent VW mechanic and precision machinist, with all quality parts ordered from Van Cafe – everything internal was replaced, nothing old was re-used – and yes, the rods with good rod bolts were used
22. Radiator removed and flushed, cooling system flushed, new radiator fan switch (September 2016)
23. Front door and sliding door panels replaced with GoWesty ABS plastic panels, with brand new upholstery on all the doors (front, sliding, rear hatch) (October 2016)
24. All front end suspension bushings replaced, including urethane lower control arm bushings; upper ball joints replaced (October 2016)
25. Body work done to remove most dents, and van was sprayed white from OEM silver color (October 2016)
26. Entire cabin floorboard carpeting replaced with new, simple, black carpet (October 2016)
27. Brand new GoWesty circuit board replaced the original foil in the instrument cluster; rebuilt speedometer installed (October 2016)

THE BAD

Hey, it’s a Vanagon, remember.

1. Although now we have not had any more trouble with coolant hoses since replacing many of the old ones that burst, there still may be some more that could be close to failure, you never know but just a warning.
2. I ordered and replaced the rear side markers with new ones, but the lights are not operating, probably due to them being touched after 29 years of laying dormant. I can’t say if it’s just a bulb replacement or the entire harness, but they were operational before, so I think it’s just a matter of investigation and simple repair or mod.
3. To my knowledge, I have never had a fully operational Idle Control System. For those that have experience with this, you may already know that it is not a critical part of a well running van. I tested my ICV before and it worked, so I deduced it was the ICU after basic troubleshooting using a working van to test my components. I replaced the ICU with a Van-Cafe rebuilt unit, and now the ICV does not seem to work. *See what I’m saying…Vanagons.
4. The driver side power window wiring is faulty. This was a big disappointment that I ran out of time prior to my wedding to get fixed, because it’s an annoying issue with fairly straightforward solution (of course, patience is always needed). So the power windows do function, but the switches are not secured in the door because you’ll need to twist and turn them to catch that sweet spot where the electricity can move and roll the windows up and down. Therefore, the passenger side power window switch suffers as well when there is a disconnect in the main.
5. Although the van is equipped with A/C, I have never had it running (I bought it with the belt already off, so that makes me think there was something wrong with the system, perhaps the compressor or the refrigerant depleted). In addition, the seriously-hard-to-find A/C switch for the dashboard was burned out, I did try to fix it to no avail, and could never source the switch when looking for it. So, consider this a non-A/C van, although, it is set up for A/C if you would so wish to re-implement it.

THE UGLY

These are all the aspects of the van that do not necessarily affect it’s running and main functionality, but things left unfinished or un-repaired.

1. The previous owner gutted the original Westfalia fridge, and cut one of the propane lines in doing so. Our solution was to install a propane fitting to use portable gas bottles such as the Coleman camping ones, and bought a 12-V powered 40-quart Coleman fridge (with adapter for AC power). It can be seen in some of the pictures, not all, as it can be easily removed (I did so to clean it out).
2. Again, I ran out of time to finish a lot of the other cosmetic, and some electrical, work I wanted to finish prior to having this van ‘wedding night ready.’ So, the door panels do not have speakers installed in them, and as mentioned above, the integrity of the electrical wiring between the driver-side power window switch has not been rectified. You can still use the switches to power both the driver and passenger side windows, but needs to be properly repaired and finished. I bought new bezels from Bus Depot as well, but one arrived with the rear clip broken/missing and the other one had its clip broken upon trying to install (they’re fragile little creatures).
3. The rear shocks are still unmatched – both are gas shocks, but one is Monroe and the other KYB.
4. The sliding door handle snapped in half, so instead of ordering a new one, I put an aluminum plate behind it and screwed the pieces into it (I wanted to keep the same key to open all locks – now that I think about it, they are power locks, so maybe I should have just ordered a new door handle); it is not very strong, so you need to be careful when pushing down, keeping your hand in the middle.
5. The pop-top canvas has 3 windows – 1 in the front and 2 on the sides (this is different than the OEM canvas which just has a single front window and screen). The passenger side window has a faulty zipper that would need to be repaired, but fortunately is kept in the open position, so you can still open the entire window if you like. It does not affect anything when closing the top.
6. This is the worst one, because it is an intermittent issue, but I need to be honest and talk about it. Since the rebuild, I have noticed at times an oil drip. I am not sure if it is from the rear main seal or not, but that’s the general area. The transmission itself seems to get dirty from oil, too, but again, I am not sure if it is motor oil or transmission oil. I don’t think it is from the transmission, but there was this “sweating” phenomenon occurring before from the sides of the differential. I was told from a GoWesty van owner that it is normal with his new tranny. Again, this is intermittent, and does not always appear. It seems more common from driving longer distances where the temperature may get a bit hot (running slightly over the halfway mark on the temp sensor scale), and left parked I will check underneath and see a few small drops. Nothing major, of course, and I have had the transmission oil level checked out to be fine, and I check my own oil level and that looks good, too. I just hate when these strange things happen, after not having leaks and then a full rebuild, I thought everything would be ‘perfect.’ So, I want to communicate it upfront.

THE EXTRAS!

1. I will include brand new, never used snow chains that are difficult to find for the OEM tires (185R14C, $100)
2. Tow straps and ratchets – the real deal, not some cheap junk that’ll snap
3. Luggage rack straps
4. Safety accessories (reflective triangle, glowsticks, etc.)
5. Various nuts, bolts, screws, caps, switches, relays, o-rings, etc. that are, at the least, usable in times of roadside emergencies, and some are brand new backups
6. Used water pump (good condition, I replaced just in case after spending the time in labor to remove it)
7. Used thermostat housing: lower in great condition, upper had a broken nipple for the air relief ‘valve’ that was JB Welded back to working order to get through
8. OEM oil pump (I replaced with high volume pump when troubleshooting low oil pressure prior to rebuild)
9. OEM distributor – good condition, the Hall sensor harness would just need refurbishment but no issues with it otherwise (I replaced it to be proactive and avoid further issues post engine rebuild)
10. Manual transmission shift lever
11. Other brand new items, such as transmission oil plug, washers, etc.

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Last Updated on July 22, 2023 by VanagonAds