The '74 Westfalia with Offenbach interior has taken my band and me across England safely during two tours. The body is a bit rusty, but it is running great. Possibly due to a engine replacement I did in '94. We replaced the stock 1800 dual carb engine with a 2L dual carb engine that has 40 mm Solex carbs, a 296º cam, Porsche 914 pistons and cylinders, and Vanagon heads, generating around 110 bhp. Below are a few pictures of details of this car. Especially, its options and the engine make it rather unique.
A second '74 Westfalia that I originally acquired as a parts car is now undergoing restoration as well. Interestingly, it was produced during the same week as the other one I own. The previous owners named it Esmeralda and it is very similar to the white car. It features a Düsseldorf interior and automatic transmission.
| | The M-code plate contains a few codes that are not yet accounted for. If you know what EK2, 774, and 793 stand for, please let me know. Among my options, green tinted glass and front seats with built-in suspension are not yet accounted for. These are the ones that have been identified:
|
| This is my driver's seat. This is factory installed option, but I do not know which M-code on my tag identifies it. From what I hear, these were usually only sold for the driver's side but my bus has them on both sides. The two knobs adjust lower back support and stiffness of the seat's suspension (weight). |  |
 | Here is a look at the original seat cover. I have seen these seats both with black vinyl and b/w cloth and in a brown vinyl and brown/white cloth version. I should say the only other set of seat I have seen was brown ... |
| This picture will not surprise as European as retractable seat-belts for standard equipment in Europe, but they were not in the United States. This is a factory installed belt. I hope the picture can help those who have a U.S. market bus and need to fabricate brackets to mount aftermarket belts. |  |
 | This tag refers to heater that was once installed in my car. It is an under-floor propane heater that has long since vanished. If you know the manufacturer and model of the original heater, please let me know. Below are pictures of the heater housing. |
| This is the heater housing viewed from the front right. |  |
 | Here is another shot from the rear. |
| This trap door on the inside used to cover the heater when not in use. Now it is just covering an empty and rusty box ... |  |
 | The aforementioned empty and rusty box. |
| These are the heater controls. |  |
 | A shot of my dashboard. The accessory switches may be of interest to some. Obviously, the toggle switch is not original, but the others are. The green one is for the rear window defrost, the orange one is two way switch for the fog lights (1st stop - rear light only, 2nd stop - front and rear fog lights). The outlet below the glove box was intended to provided power to the compressor for the folding spare wheel. |
| This picture shows three more switches. In addition to the headlight and hazard switch which are standard equipment, the switch to the left of the steering column is for two-speed fresh air fans and the one right of the steering column supplies power to the rear interior light. Also note the factory clock and the km/h-speedometer with trip counter. |  |
  |   |
| I need help adjusting the carburetors on my engine. Theses are not the stock 32-34 Solex PDSIT, but 36-40 Solex PDSIT. The major difference is the lack of a central idling system. Consequently, idle needs to be set with adjustment on both carbs, but I am not sure how. Obviously, references in the manuals do not help much as they deal with the stock carburetors. My major concern is how to set the idle speed correctly - do I need adjust the throttle plate gap to adjust idle speed or is there an idle bypass screw somewhere on the carburetors? Pictures in the left column depict the left carburetor, pictures one the right show the right one repectively. | |
 |  |
 |  |
| I have added Monroe airshocks. Above are pictures of the pressure gauge and the rear left shock. |  |
  | These picture show the front spare tire mount that is part of my Westfalia SO73 interior. It is quite different from the cheap aftermarket spare holders as the spare sits deeper in an extended frame box and thus actually may offer some extra crash protection. The aftermarket ones only cause dented nose-panels on a routine basis. |
