Emily, my 1968 Colorado Westy

[blue71]

A preview:

[blue71]

Here's a quick version of the story behind Emily (the name given by the PO), my new 1968 Westfalia:

My grandma's neighbors know I like old VWs so they look out for them, hence the few I posted for sale in Duluth. They then found out about another one further south in MN that was owned by the daughter of people they attend church with. My dad went and looked at her with my uncle, as she was only 5 miles from their house. She's been sitting for awhile but looks pretty solid and is complete. The daughter (in her 40s or 50s) stopped driving because she didn't want to be in any accidents since driving in the Rockies wasn't very enjoyable or at decent highway speeds for her. So she was parked in the driveway at the parents' house in MN, only recently moved to the yard. She's missing a few things, but I should have them in my stash. If not I'll be trading for things. This will be a long time project, as she will need brakes, tires, resealing the engine, and probably a few other things. However she has a clean title and original paint. The main rust looks to be in the rockers, a little in the front floor. I hope the frame isn't toast, but if so I have a storage shed. The gas and trailer rental to bring her home from Minnesota will be more than she cost.

[Ken]

Nice find Nick. Looks pretty much complete. Love those early Bays.

[Six Volt]

That's a nice find Nick. Nice to see you haven't lost your VW passion with all that studying!

[blue71]

Thanks guys. I have gotten a little bit more history about Emily:

She's been all over the west coast from WA to CA in addition to living in IN, MN, and CO. Some of that time was spent following the Grateful Dead around. I'll ask the former owner if I can post the stories and what not on here.

We're working on getting her back to Ohio for me to work on during my vacations. Brakes, engine, tires are the first priority; then Gerson orders. This'll be the first VW I've gotten without having Glenn look it over after it comes home and laughing that I found another one.

[wwebner]

When do I get to use Sean's camera

[blue71]

Bill, I'm trying to work out a good rental agreement with Sean for his camera, but I'm not as well versed in contract law as he is

This weekend is the extraction to bring her to my cousin's house from the old owner's house to await pickup by my dad. It'll also be the first time I've seen her in person so I'll also give her a thorough inspection.

[blue71]

As found at the PO's house:
































She'll need inner and outer rockers, windshield, front floor patches, dogleg patches, rear of front wheel wells, door track. The rust is fairly symmetrical. The slider has a dent at the bottom and the body has a few too but they should pop out pretty easily. The ground is mainly sand so there's not a big issue with it retaining water where she was sitting/is sitting for the time being until she goes to OH to stay in a building for awhile. I have hubcaps, a 68 westy sink, stool, many other of her missing parts. I'm keeping the strange homemade bumper though. I'll be learning about welding from you guys during my summer and winter breaks I'm sure. It took about 90 min to get her on the trailer, tied down and on the way to short term storage at my cousin's house.

[SlashKirk]

Lookn' good Nick, keep hunting them down.

[blue71]

Emily's journey to Ohio begins tomorrow, so she will be home for VWs in the Vineyard. Photos of the trip to follow in the coming days.

Hopefully I'll have her somewhat cleaned out by then and will be able to assess what sort of welding/parts she's going to need to be functional.

I already got some shoes from Kirk to go along with the ones Glenn gave me a few years ago. I have the old tires from Olaf to use as rollers for when she eventually goes to visit David's shop for some surgery.