What does it cost to do a project like this?

Would I sell it?

Rare European model with semaphores

California YOM (Year of Manufacture) license plates with correct '55 registration tag

One of the earliest westies surviving

One of the first hatch models (I don't know of another '54 or '55 westy with a hatch)

New transmission (tunnel case with adapter)

New clutch, motor mounts

New reduction box bearings

New front wheel bearings

New brakes on all four corners

Strong 36hp motor - cruise @ 100+KPH easily

New shocks

New tires

Brand new wiring harness, completely rewired.

6 volt electricals - bright lights due to new harness

New paint

New curtains

All new rubber

New battery

New center pivot bushing

NOS semaphores

Sloped roof rack

Rebuilt hatch hinges

Blasted and painted 15" wheels

KM, clear-needle speedo

NOS European symmetrical (aka 'barndoor') headlights

European taillights (integrated reflector) - no separate reflector

Correct tent in super-duper nice shape

Complete westy interior, with cot, beds, cabinets, curtains - only missing one cabinet.

Took 1st place at Sacramento Bug-O-Rama 44, Type 2 Class - the first time it was ever shown since completed

NOS Blaupunkt Frankfurt 3-band radio, although it doen't work that well.

Correct front seat covers by Lenny Copp of West Coast Classic VW Resto

Complete crank start setup. Crank starts easily.

Rare westy camp stove to go with it

I'll even throw in a July 1955 Popular Mechanics magazine with the westy on the cover

'55 owners manual, in English

Single long-side curtain rod - HTF

New front floors (parts weren't available at the time)

One cabinet in the back

One outrigger

"Claws" that hold ebrake cable to backing plate

New roof wood - Complete wood set is $600 from West Coast Classics

Chronology

9/4/99 - First show! 2000 Bug-O-Rama 44, took First Place in Type2 Class!

9/1/99 - Assembly complete!

9/1/99 - Interior...

9/1/99 - Next to my friend Tom Mink's '66 Karmann Ghia (I painted his car, too)

8/29/99 - Almost assembled!

6/20/99 - Paint!

6/18/99 - Bodywork!

6/10/99 - Correct taillights!

6/2/99 - The tent

3/29/99 - New curtains and front seat covers!

2/17/99 - Here's my new seat/bed material

2/17/99 - Re-working the interior panels
Before

After

2/10/99 - Next step, registration, YOM plates, and insurance! An hour-and-half wait at DMV finally pays off. We're street legal! Oh, and a mangled back bumper!

12/19/98 - Today I moved the westy into the garage and put it up on the dollies. I bought all new brake hardware today, including shoes, wheel cylinders, brake lines, and master cylinder. I also bought new reduction box bearings and a new shift coupler. My goal is to have the car on the road in a couple weeks.
Here are some pix of the inside, particularly the components I have questions about

10/4/98 - I just bought this 1955 Westfalia flip-top camper, one of the older ones around. More as the story unfolds!

Some more pix of it in my backyard.

Here it is in the field where it sat since 1982

Numbers

chassis: -20-124438
body: 121312

Condition: fairly straight, light surface rust in a few spots on the body. Holes in the battery area, front floors pretty bad, cargo area has a couple soft spots. The bummer is that it didn't have to be this bad: if he'd kept the windows and doors shut, and not piled so much crap in it, the cargo floor could have been pristine! There was a bunch of paper-type stuff piled in the front of the cargo area, which mulched the floors. There isn't anything but surface rust on the rockers and 3-piece (aka barndoor) doglegs. Oh the temptation to take them for the '54! The nose has a minor ! in it, which was previously poorly fixed. Completeness:

• no middle seat (duh, it's a camper)
• nice lower section of the rear;
• front seat is here, but covering is wasted.
• one bubble taillight, through which a utility light was put *through - the bezel is fair and the clamp and bulb housing are good - just needs a lense...
• original bumper
• engine lid.
• All windows are original large-logo sekurit.
• Has one of the pop-top latches,
• both inside window latches,
• incorrect front slider windows.

• big nut tranny jammed in the hard way.
• Slightly modified radio hole, which might be covered by a block off plate.
• Utility turn signal switch.
• hack of a wiper switch, but no damage
• slight damage in forward part of engine compartment to get later heater boxes in
• GM rear view mirror
• utility side mirrors - mounted to the stock arms
• utility taillights, but they didn't hack the holes! Yippee!

• only parts of the interior wood panels are there, and about 1/2 the
• headliner. Part of the headliner came out when he unloaded his junk before
• I got there - the paint underneath is beautiful!
• two interior pieces, can't figure these out:
• - a cabinet with a large door that folds down, has large bumpers on door.
• Has a wheel on one side and hinges on the other, so it mounts somewhere and swings.
• - a jump seat - formica top when folded down then pops up into a seat. Black vinyl covering
• only one of the poptop latches
• poptop is a little bent, but easly fixable.
• it has a compartment where a normal westy bed would be. It houses a normal rear seat, but covers the lower section. It has a funky electrical outlet thingy as well, with old-school wiring, looks too well done to be homemade.

• semaphores
• gas door has rubber seal
• inside wheel wells have strange ribs
• single postion rear hatch
• nice 3-piece doglegs
• actually came with the original emblem!
• crank start apron
• dealer accesory front turn lights
• barndoor cargo lights
• (i think) barndoor interior handles - they're different than the '56
• no reflector holes! Why? We couldn't find any evidence of corner replacement.

• 16 (not a typo) extra wheels, mostly bus wheels, some 4-lug junk.
• a very nice later rear bumper with overriders
• a decent later front bumper with overriders
• several engine cases, tin, etc, (shoulda charged him to haul the stuff away!)

• left reduction box bearing *SHOT - wheel wobbled like crazy when we took the tire off. Oh well, it's a bignut tranny anyway
• rust on the forward cargo floors
• front floors are toast

What am I going to do with it? I have no idea. I can't afford two simulateous restos. I think I'll just let it sit for a while, maybe do a little cleanup hear and there, and think about it. I could get it running pretty easily, although it will need a tranny first. I have an extra set of bubble taillights, so I could be rockin' and rollin' in no time!
This bus is actually in much better shape than my '56 was when I bought it!