Microbus/Westy conversion tell tale?

[lard]

So have been looking into my m-code and re-entered and is showing my bus as a sierra yellow 8 seater micro bus - had a very good dig about and can't see anything but white paint and westy parts - is there anywhere I can see tell tales to confirm this? Sure it is the case just intrigued and interested in the history of it,

So firstly - where is a really good place to check OG paint colour - I've looked in the engine bay, under the front kick panels and in amongst the door runners looking for that yellow! It's got what look like origanol stickers behind the seats e.t.c. but all on white,

Secondly, I recall something about checking the roof opening and the rivet's/welds to see if it is a genuine westy or a microbus conversion? Could be me - is this correct and what should I look for?

My plate says:



My working theory is that it must have been restored to get a full on repray (unless the microbus was white inside by default?) though the paint looks pretty old so had to have been a while ago - unless a US company specialised in after market Westfalia conversions?

Thanks!

Larry

 

[ib-bus]

It's hard to argue with the M plate and I have not heard of any US company doing Westfalia conversions, my guess is your bus went thru a professional resto and conversion, never a bad thing.

 

[lard]

It's hard to argue with the M plate and I have not heard of any US company doing Westfalia conversions, my guess is your bus went thru a professional resto and conversion, never a bad thing.

cheers - have to say condition is great and must have been a full on resto, I can't find anything to suggest it was a microbus - except for the m plate

 

[aogrady]

Hi!

Is the current colour the right colour for the year - for example, 1970 Pearle White westy campmobile (like mine) If if has been resprayed, you would have thought they would paint it in a colour they like, not necessarily the right colour for the year?
And didn't Westfalia use microbusses as a base for the conversions anyway? There is a extra M code on the plate for factory prepared campmobile - have a look at my codes below to compare.
So on the early westys, the sunroof/poptop aperture is the same - just no sunroof. As a example, my westy poptop hole is the same as robins 69 microbus - though he has the sliding sunroof of course!

Failing all of that, maybe write to VW and get a proper birth certificate? Hope this helps!

Cheers!

Alistair

 

[birchyman]

the big round pressings on the bulkheads behind the seats are cut out for heater vents on a micro bus
these are left solid on a kombi
westfalia might have converted a micro bus special order maybe

 

[AxlFoley]

have you checked behind the fire wall in the engine bay?

 

[Dirty Harry]

Looking at your bus and all details it looks a genuine westy to me :!:
It could be a glitch in the M-plate decoder or the workers at VW mounted the wrong M-plate.

 

[mattyd72]

Does the M plate match the body stamp? if so descreetly scratch at the numbers on the body to see if there is yellow under the white, then try a hidden part of inside the engine bay if you find yellow on both, it started out yellow, if you only find it on the chassis number you have a ringer my friend.
It is quite common in the US to have different tags put on to get round registering problems.

Another thing is wasn't sierra yellow a 72 onwards colour ??? or was it 71 as well

 

[lard]

Cheers for the replies guys - going to go over it and try the plates, bulkhead and fuel tank cover to see - certainly looks like a westy just intrigued with the m-plate - comes up as a sierra yellow 1971 on the decoder so assume this was a valid colour for the year,

all very interesting! My monies on a westy conversion post full on restoration some time in it's past,

Will have a search for the birth certificate link from VW - much more fun than researching my family tree :mrgreen:

EDIT:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&u=http://automuseum.volkswagen.de/urkunden.html

 

[retrokid]

The birth certificate I have for my 71 Westy states:
M517 Preperation for Westfalia camper and
M518 Cut out for Westfalia roof
Suppose the only real way of finding out is to get a birth certificate...