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Date:         Sun, 3 Jun 2001 18:57:08 -0700
Reply-To:     Mark Drillock <drillock@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mark Drillock <drillock@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      Clean Westy at junkyard, sad, happy day, long
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Yesterday I went junking with a couple other list members. It was 1/2 price day at a chain of self serve yards we frequent anyway so we each bought good stuff for almost nothing. We all met early at the yard to help a list member pull a pop top he had spotted the day before.

Our main target was a really clean 82 Westy full camper. Written on the outside was "bad motor" or some such but otherwise it was a clean, rust free thing of beauty. It had only just arrived so almost everything was still there. Dan bought a clean complete pop top with perfect canvas and seals and upper bunk for $50. I bought the lower Westy bed, water tank cabinet with tank, perfect front seat with swivel assembly, instrument cluster, front carpet, and a few odds and ends for $75 total.

The sad thing was that such a clean and clearly recently well loved Westy ended up at a bone yard like it did. I always wonder what circumstances resulted in such tragedy. This thing was dent free, clean in and out, garage kept, all good glass, original unused spare, etc. I have become hardened to seeing clean passenger models end up like this but a Westy in this good shape is a rare find. A few days ago it was a dream Westy and today it is a stripped out shell, nothing of much value left.

If Subaru engine conversions or ANY other conversion options can help keep this from happening I am all for it. This nonsense about keeping them original to maintain "collectability" ignores that fact that if something is not done to make them reliable the main "collectors" will be car crushers.

Incidentally, the crowd on half price day was beyond belief. The checkout line was at least a hundred people long and took over an hour with 3 cashier windows running. Yard security was busy keeping the line feeding the cashiers in an efficient manner. Even at near giveaway prices they must have raked in a bundle.

As my friend Mike remarked yesterday, asking us where our favorite yards are is like asking us where our favorite fishing holes are. PLEASE DON'T!

Mark


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