Mark, My name is Dale Griffiths and I had a 1970 VW Bus. Loved it very much. Been thinking about one like you have. I watched you video and that is a very nice camper that will last you a long time. Thank you for taking the time to post this.
Excellent restoration and you obviously are very skilled and know exactly what your doing. I enjoy these videos to see a ruff vehicle transformed into virtually a new vehicle, in fact better than when it was new. Thanks for taking the time to make this video, considering all the work you did and allowing others to see the whole process and the finished product.
I love this comment: "...you obviously are very skilled and know exactly what your doing." Nope. I started out with no idea how to get a Subaru engine out of a Subaru or into a Vanagon. I knew it could be done and I spent a lot of time researching and planning. The Samba website was an essential resource as well as Rocky Mountain Westy, Small Car, and GoWesty for providing advice and good explanations of their products. I bought my first MiG welder for this project. I had welded before but my welds were never good. Now I can weld anything at this scale. I put hundreds of hours in and loved it! I can say at the end of this odyssey I do have the skills but I didn't when I started. If you want to do this and you are good at research and planning and have enough patience, it can be done and it's worthwhile.
I loved your video. Saved of course. I restored an '81 AdventureWagen several years ago. Today I bought an '83 Westfalia water cooled to restore. This has given me a lot of thought fodder. I also have a 2001 Outback with the H6 that I may be installing into the Van. Thanks again, great vid!
We're taking a Greyhound bus tomorrow morning to Almonte to pick up our '88 Westie from Frank. He's got the old beast really dialled in mechanically. It's exciting to have it back on the road after many years in storage. Need a shakedown cruise to get reacquainted. Next year - body work! Man, I wish I had your skill set. Great job!
Nice video. Ive found yours to be one of the better Subie swap. Vehicles Because of camera angles and the overall clean installation i really liked how you prepped and cleaned up the " problem" areas etc. one of the reasons i like this conversion is because of how well the engine fits and looks like it is made for the vehicle or original of course the power increase is important as well
Hi! Even if it was mostly a slideshow, it was a really beatifull one. Allmost made me cry beatifull. This is as good i'm going to try with my upcoming project. :) Thak you for the videos! :) Greetings from Finland
This is awesome! Very inspiring. I'm about to do all the same, but so far have gotten lucky and already have a doner subaru that I got for $100. Northern Minnesota is tough on these things so I definitely have my work cut out for me.
I have an air-cooled T25 with 213000 km's on the clock. It's in iceland, but it just passed a 2 year inspection with new starter, new belt, new brakes in front. Shipping to germany is like €1000 from here. Still want one?
Mark Griffiths I’ve been restoring mine for the past two years just got it back on the road and it feels good to be driving her again after not having her for two years but she shouldn’t need much for the next 10 or 15 years other than upkeep and general stuff . Good to see them end up in hands that treats them the way they should be treated .i’m lucky mine had zero rust
Awesome! I have an '87 Syncro tin top, in admittedly much better shape, but considering an engine swap and color change. Your video was inspiring for sure!!!! Incredible amount of work. Awfully well done.
and how the gearbox and the motor were spliced there is a difference in the bell (in its height and diameter), how are things going with the clutch release, how are the discs themselves being bigger than the disc from the Volkswagen?
An amazing job Mark. Thank you for putting the whole process up on TH-cam for others to enjoy and potentially follow your lead... Any chance you have /kept a list of suppliers you can share?
Sure. For starters GoWesty, Van Cafe, Bus Depot, California Import Parts, Concept 1 in Calgary, Subaru Calgary, Rocky Mountain Westy, SmallCar, Summit Racing, Auto Value, Princess Auto, Green Line Hose & Fittings, Country Campers, Hobo Campers, Go West Campers, Calgary Auto Body Supply, National Transmission, Fifth Avenue Volkswagen Calgary, U Wrench, Speedy Glass, Malahat Auto Recyclers, Pick n Pull,
How did I only see this video for the first time after talking Westy with you so many times! You are a true genius. I am just starting my restoration now. Can you recommend your panel welder?
Too bad you had to deal with that rust. I'm sure its near impossible to find a dry bus up there, eh? Awesome, articulate job. Wish I had the money to do this. Cheers from Salt Lake City
Hello Mark. I just noticed your Alberta Plates. I too have a Vanaru. I am in Edmonton. I did a '85 over with a EJ22 but the same old body remains. I am now having overheating problems. As of today I of the opinion that my rad is a bit blogged up. How is your project?
Hey there. I'm in Calgary and I've been driving the van every day since completing it. Your overheating may be the rad or rad fan, or possibly you need to check that the system is completely bled of air. It's tough to do. Your main coolant tank should always be full to the top, and should pull from the overflow.
Nice work. Looks great. I have one question. One pic showed a rather small looking drum brake. Have the brakes been upgraded and, if not, how do they cope with the bigger powered Subaru engine?
So far the brakes are stock and like everything else on a stock Vanagon, they are undersized. I have a front brake upgrade in progress to Audi 5000 Turbo bigger rotors/calipers. However the Subaru engine doesn't requires bigger brakes because the idea is to have enough power going up hills fully loaded, not for going really fast.
I have a 1985 Westfalia. It still has the original engine. Am I missing something? Everyone seems so excited that a Suburu engine was installed. But my 1985 Westfalia runs great. Am I missing something?
They are a copy of Mercedes rims produced in Europe and sold by several Vanagon parts places. They are rated for the Vanagon Camper and are bigger so you can put on bigger brakes.
Excellent job on this beauty. It looks perfect! I'm wondering, does replacing the engine and the pipes that way you did prevent the vehicle from breaking down as frequently? I've always wanted one of these but the failure rate has always been a major detractor. If building it out from the ground up the way you have would change that then I would be very interested in taking on a project like this myself.
iReturnV1deotapes Yes it definitely improved reliability. The mechanical upgrades make this a very reliable vehicle. I have had 3 great camping seasons, done some light off road travel, mainly forestry mountain roads, and I use it in the winter here in Canada without any problem.
I have no regrets about replacing the engine or with my choice of the 2.5L Subaru. It's very reliable. I have been driving the van daily since Spring 2015. It handles cold and snow, long hot highway trips, mountain passes and I have never had a mechanical issue. To be truthful though, I had the transmission rebuilt and it failed in less than a year due to overheating. This is a design issue that I solved by running a separate transmission radiator up in front of the main radiator plus an inline cooler and temp gauge. You won't have this problem if you have a manual transmission.
Very nice job, I love the engine conversion. I did not know that was possible. I just found a pretty clean Westfalia in a storage yard tucked away. I am going to make an attempt to buy it what was your investment after purchase. I have a 1983 Lotus Esprit I just finished bringing back to life and I am thinking of selling my Coleman popup and switching things around some.
The purchase price was $3200 but the final cost was almost 10 x that in repair and upgrades. Yep, it's a lot to spend but it is as reliable as an a new van and way cooler!
I sent it to National Transmission on 14th Street NW in Calgary. They did a great job but it failed in less than a year due to overheating. This turned out to be a design issue and I added a dedicated radiator in front of the main radiator plus inline cooling and a temp gauge. To their credit, National rebuilt the transmission a second time at no cost. It has been going now for 2 years without any issue.
Hey man thinking of doing the same. This was something like 3 years ago but is there any chance you could give me some suggestions? Just stuff like what you would/wouldn't do if you had to do it again :) Thanks tons!
If you need to do any body welding, only replace what you really need to. If I did it again I would never cut the panels back all the way to the seams. Better to cut up the replacement panels and fit only the sections that you really need to replace. The Subaru upgrade is a must. I have absolutely no regrets. This is one reliable old van and it moves! The GoWesty parts are excellent in terms of fit and function. I love the bumpers and recently added a rear mounted spare tire and cargo pan. My only complaint is that the powder coating has not held up well and they have some surface rust.
A lot. The conversion was over $5000 including the donor Subaru and coolant upgrades. The body wasn't too bad but a lot of work. Then there's all the nice to haves like the wheels/tires, bumpers, grill, aux battery, replaced fuel system, undercoating, upgraded trans. A lot !
I'm thinking of using the automatic Subaru transmission, but I don't know if can make it run backwards, my brother did it but with the Subaru manual transmission.
Dear Mark, this is realy a beautiful car👍. I would be realy interested if you would sell this car. Maybe we can get in contact ? Sorry about my horrible englisch 😌. Regards Michael
I had an 84 with the 1.9 and the Wasserboxer is best described as a boat anchor that is good at turning gasoline into heat, noise, and exhaust, but very bad at making the damn car actually go.
Mark, My name is Dale Griffiths and I had a 1970 VW Bus. Loved it very much. Been thinking about one like you have. I watched you video and that is a very nice camper that will last you a long time. Thank you for taking the time to post this.
Thanks Dale for the nice comments.
Good to see a fellow Alberta keeping these old vans alive! Kudos from Canmore, AB! We love our ‘81 Westy
Excellent restoration and you obviously are very skilled and know exactly what your doing.
I enjoy these videos to see a ruff vehicle transformed into virtually a new vehicle, in fact better than when it was new.
Thanks for taking the time to make this video, considering all the work you did and allowing others to see the whole process and the finished product.
I love this comment: "...you obviously are very skilled and know exactly what your doing." Nope. I started out with no idea how to get a Subaru engine out of a Subaru or into a Vanagon. I knew it could be done and I spent a lot of time researching and planning. The Samba website was an essential resource as well as Rocky Mountain Westy, Small Car, and GoWesty for providing advice and good explanations of their products. I bought my first MiG welder for this project. I had welded before but my welds were never good. Now I can weld anything at this scale. I put hundreds of hours in and loved it! I can say at the end of this odyssey I do have the skills but I didn't when I started. If you want to do this and you are good at research and planning and have enough patience, it can be done and it's worthwhile.
I loved your video. Saved of course. I restored an '81 AdventureWagen several years ago. Today I bought an '83 Westfalia water cooled to restore. This has given me a lot of thought fodder. I also have a 2001 Outback with the H6 that I may be installing into the Van. Thanks again, great vid!
Fantastic. She lives another few decades. Good restoration.
Beautiful...Still considering doing my Vw 2.1 Caravelle conversion 1988 model due to availability of engine part's...Thanks for sharing...
Fantastic job on the restoration and on the photography to document it. Extremely cool!
Thanks!
I am so incredibly impressed that you took this on and saw it through! CONGRATS!
We're taking a Greyhound bus tomorrow morning to Almonte to pick up our '88 Westie from Frank. He's got the old beast really dialled in mechanically. It's exciting to have it back on the road after many years in storage. Need a shakedown cruise to get reacquainted. Next year - body work!
Man, I wish I had your skill set. Great job!
This is a lovely restoration job. I'm glad to see you painted it the original color. Thanks for sharing your video. Great work!
Thanks Zala I had fun doing it!
Did a good job there Mark, she looks a Beauty.
Nice video. Ive found yours to be one of the better Subie swap. Vehicles Because of camera angles and the overall clean installation i really liked how you prepped and cleaned up the " problem" areas etc. one of the reasons i like this conversion is because of how well the engine fits and looks like it is made for the vehicle or original of course the power increase is important as well
Absolute joy to watch! Thank you so much and a superb job my friend!
Awesome job mate!!! Good see that kind of pride in your work!
absolutely beautiful video,I've already watched it 4 times.one of the best that I have seen....great job mark..
looks good. it's nice to see someone that takes care of their T3/Vanagon
I have the exact same van/ year /colour just picked it up in Aug. I hope it turns out as well. Thanks for the motivational video
Congrats Mark, You have maked a great job. Thanks for sharing this video.
Beautiful job! the photos of how you did the rear panel sides replacement were very helpful, many thanks for showing!
Great inspiration. My 85 will need a new engine soon. While I'm at it ...
Congrats on a beautiful build. You worked really hard on this and it looks great.
Great work, love that you use it also for its intended purpose.
If you still own it, it's about time for that 2.0 TDI swap.
Hi!
Even if it was mostly a slideshow, it was a really beatifull one. Allmost made me cry beatifull.
This is as good i'm going to try with my upcoming project. :)
Thak you for the videos! :)
Greetings from Finland
Beautiful work on that Westy!
you went ALL out its a dream rig!! love it solid as hell huh cool color
Sweet Job Mate! I love seeing crazy people, like me bringing these back to life, and filming it Wow!
Fantastic! I want to do a similar conversion but with a TDI. Great work. I'm from BC
This is awesome! Very inspiring. I'm about to do all the same, but so far have gotten lucky and already have a doner subaru that I got for $100. Northern Minnesota is tough on these things so I definitely have my work cut out for me.
Incredible job! Congratulations
Amazing process
Great Video , love the coloured epoxy primer never seen coloured epoxy primer before , you have any details on that please , thanks for sharing
fantastic job, in Germany there are only three vanagons in good condition for sale !
Hard to believe. Here they come up all the time but often they want too much for stock vans that need all these upgrades.
I have an air-cooled T25 with 213000 km's on the clock. It's in iceland, but it just passed a 2 year inspection with new starter, new belt, new brakes in front. Shipping to germany is like €1000 from here. Still want one?
Vanagon with Subie engine is MUST !!
totally amazing i hope you get many years of use from your project.
Well done. I live in Alberta too.
My vanagon's engine just died, so I am looking forward to the whole restoration of my baby.
A van is never a baby come on.
awesome video. Thanks so much for sharing. What a great van.
Great Van! Super work mans!
Well done ,lots of love to the dub . 🚎
Thanks, it was fun.
Mark Griffiths I’ve been restoring mine for the past two years just got it back on the road and it feels good to be driving her again after not having her for two years but she shouldn’t need much for the next 10 or 15 years other than upkeep and general stuff . Good to see them end up in hands that treats them the way they should be treated .i’m lucky mine had zero rust
Awesome! I have an '87 Syncro tin top, in admittedly much better shape, but considering an engine swap and color change. Your video was inspiring for sure!!!! Incredible amount of work. Awfully well done.
Can you advise on some of the music score? Its awesome, particularly starting at 3:36. Thanks!
It's just royalty free samples, nothing special, but thanks.
Absolutely beautiful work! Thanks so much for sharing!
and how the gearbox and the motor were spliced there is a difference in the bell (in its height and diameter), how are things going with the clutch release, how are the discs themselves being bigger than the disc from the Volkswagen?
Man Thanks for Sharing! That was a labor of love.
Awesome, and greatly documented.
so sick!!
Beautiful job I want one of these vans so bad
wow the end result looks unreal!! I've got the same 84 vanagon so i may have to copy cat you hahah
Copy away! I copied and was inspired by many builds. You don't get this far without some help.
she is a thing of beauty
Ein tolles Video! Danke. Excellent work!
+ from Latvia. Thank you
Superb! I shall be going down this path soon
A reliable camper van🙏🤟 winning comb9
Epic work
Amazing job, maybe one day, I will have that beauty 🤩
I've only seen this done on vans. Is it not possible to convert Beetles?
An amazing job Mark. Thank you for putting the whole process up on TH-cam for others to enjoy and potentially follow your lead...
Any chance you have /kept a list of suppliers you can share?
Sure. For starters GoWesty, Van Cafe, Bus Depot, California Import Parts, Concept 1 in Calgary, Subaru Calgary, Rocky Mountain Westy, SmallCar, Summit Racing, Auto Value, Princess Auto, Green Line Hose & Fittings, Country Campers, Hobo Campers, Go West Campers, Calgary Auto Body Supply, National Transmission, Fifth Avenue Volkswagen Calgary, U Wrench, Speedy Glass, Malahat Auto Recyclers, Pick n Pull,
wow lots of work
How did I only see this video for the first time after talking Westy with you so many times! You are a true genius. I am just starting my restoration now. Can you recommend your panel welder?
Too bad you had to deal with that rust. I'm sure its near impossible to find a dry bus up there, eh? Awesome, articulate job. Wish I had the money to do this. Cheers from Salt Lake City
Thanks!
damm this is a work off art good job
Great project, Well done...
Do you have more pictures of how exactly engine is attached to frame? Rocky montain have small pictures.
Sure there's a whole thread on the Samba you can check out. If you need more just PM me on that site.
www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=610481
Thank you :)
Great job!!! Congrats!!!
Great job. Thank you for sharing.
Hello Mark.
I just noticed your Alberta Plates. I too have a Vanaru. I am in Edmonton. I did a '85 over with a EJ22 but the same old body remains. I am now having overheating problems. As of today I of the opinion that my rad is a bit blogged up. How is your project?
Hey there. I'm in Calgary and I've been driving the van every day since completing it. Your overheating may be the rad or rad fan, or possibly you need to check that the system is completely bled of air. It's tough to do. Your main coolant tank should always be full to the top, and should pull from the overflow.
Nice work. Looks great. I have one question. One pic showed a rather small looking drum brake. Have the brakes been upgraded and, if not, how do they cope with the bigger powered Subaru engine?
So far the brakes are stock and like everything else on a stock Vanagon, they are undersized. I have a front brake upgrade in progress to Audi 5000 Turbo bigger rotors/calipers. However the Subaru engine doesn't requires bigger brakes because the idea is to have enough power going up hills fully loaded, not for going really fast.
I like da music. Are there TABs out there?
My brother is 18 just bought a 1985 Vanagon how much would a full restore like this cost roughly?
Hi Mark, great job! What make and model is the oil pan donor car?
The engine donor is a 2002 Subaru Forrester
magnificent i have one the same blue....
Good resto! Just curious, but I'm watching this in Jan 2021, do you still have it and how had it held up?
I still have it and it still looks and runs as good
Awesome job !
I have a 1985 Westfalia. It still has the original engine. Am I missing something? Everyone seems so excited that a Suburu engine was installed. But my 1985 Westfalia runs great. Am I missing something?
About 80 HP
Loving the van, the build, the video and the music - tell me the track from about 3:30 please!
Well done!
I have some similar rust issues on my van and was wondering if I could pay you to take care of them for me?
5 years later how is she
Looks great!
are these 1992 Merc rims..???Hope you can put proper brakes all around.
They are a copy of Mercedes rims produced in Europe and sold by several Vanagon parts places. They are rated for the Vanagon Camper and are bigger so you can put on bigger brakes.
Amazing job what color blue is a call? I want to do the same thing you did with a €2003 Eurovan camper
The colour is stock 1984 Vanagon Medium Blue code LH5G
Excellent job on this beauty. It looks perfect! I'm wondering, does replacing the engine and the pipes that way you did prevent the vehicle from breaking down as frequently? I've always wanted one of these but the failure rate has always been a major detractor. If building it out from the ground up the way you have would change that then I would be very interested in taking on a project like this myself.
iReturnV1deotapes
Yes it definitely improved reliability. The mechanical upgrades make this a very reliable vehicle. I have had 3 great camping seasons, done some light off road travel, mainly forestry mountain roads, and I use it in the winter here in Canada without any problem.
I have no regrets about replacing the engine or with my choice of the 2.5L Subaru. It's very reliable. I have been driving the van daily since Spring 2015. It handles cold and snow, long hot highway trips, mountain passes and I have never had a mechanical issue. To be truthful though, I had the transmission rebuilt and it failed in less than a year due to overheating. This is a design issue that I solved by running a separate transmission radiator up in front of the main radiator plus an inline cooler and temp gauge. You won't have this problem if you have a manual transmission.
So beautiful.. you have done amazing work.. how long it took you to finish this project?
turbo? love the van..
Stinkin’ awesome!
Such an awesome job!! Did you change the drums over disc? Thanks for sharing man!
Very nice job, I love the engine conversion. I did not know that was possible. I just found a pretty clean Westfalia in a storage yard tucked away. I am going to make an attempt to buy it what was your investment after purchase. I have a 1983 Lotus Esprit I just finished bringing back to life and I am thinking of selling my Coleman popup and switching things around some.
The purchase price was $3200 but the final cost was almost 10 x that in repair and upgrades. Yep, it's a lot to spend but it is as reliable as an a new van and way cooler!
beautiful
How much did you put in it
Where'd you send your trans to? Great job man. I bostig'd my 89 Westy and have been really happy with the results
I sent it to National Transmission on 14th Street NW in Calgary. They did a great job but it failed in less than a year due to overheating. This turned out to be a design issue and I added a dedicated radiator in front of the main radiator plus inline cooling and a temp gauge. To their credit, National rebuilt the transmission a second time at no cost. It has been going now for 2 years without any issue.
*Awesome!*
Hey man thinking of doing the same. This was something like 3 years ago but is there any chance you could give me some suggestions? Just stuff like what you would/wouldn't do if you had to do it again :) Thanks tons!
If you need to do any body welding, only replace what you really need to. If I did it again I would never cut the panels back all the way to the seams. Better to cut up the replacement panels and fit only the sections that you really need to replace. The Subaru upgrade is a must. I have absolutely no regrets. This is one reliable old van and it moves! The GoWesty parts are excellent in terms of fit and function. I love the bumpers and recently added a rear mounted spare tire and cargo pan. My only complaint is that the powder coating has not held up well and they have some surface rust.
Mark Griffiths awesome! Cheers for the reply. As of yesterday I started putting in the ply floors in my 1991 Toyota hiace commuter.
I got a 90, how much do you spend? I need to prepare my self.
A lot. The conversion was over $5000 including the donor Subaru and coolant upgrades. The body wasn't too bad but a lot of work. Then there's all the nice to haves like the wheels/tires, bumpers, grill, aux battery, replaced fuel system, undercoating, upgraded trans. A lot !
I'm thinking of using the automatic Subaru transmission, but I don't know if can make it run backwards, my brother did it but with the Subaru manual transmission.
very nice job!
great job
Beautiful!
Very cool!!
very good job!
would you be willing to sell this beautiful adventurer anytime soon?
Maybe If the price is right. It would have to be enough to build another.
Dear Mark, this is realy a beautiful car👍. I would be realy interested if you would sell this car. Maybe we can get in contact ? Sorry about my horrible englisch 😌. Regards Michael
I had an 84 with the 1.9 and the Wasserboxer is best described as a boat anchor that is good at turning gasoline into heat, noise, and exhaust, but very bad at making the damn car actually go.