I'm a new member here and have searched for many hours online for info about my "new" MBZ. Recently, my son who lives near Seattle, purchased (on my behalf ... sight unseen) a very rare US left hand drive 1984 Mercedes 309D 5 cylinder 3 liter Westfalia campervan from the previous owner in Bellevue, Washington. Overall, it seems to be in good shape and relatively rust free but I'd like to simply learn more about it before I travel to pick it up in the next few weeks.

I've owned three MBZ 300 series over the last 15 years and couldn't be happier with their ease of maintenance and durability. I did almost all the M&R myself as I have always been inclined to do all the work on my own vehicles and boats including several engine replacements, new clutches, electrical troubleshooting, typical stuff, etc. You know ... with my German and Italian vehicles (mostly 60s to 80s) elegantly designed cars, trucks and vans, it was actually pretty straightforward.

Over the next 5 to 10 years, I'm planning to drive all over the Americas with this amazing campervan ... a million miles if she'll last that long ... albeit slowly ... so please watch out for me in the slow lane, hehe. Thus, any help with parts, tips, advice, spec sheets and pitfalls would be greatly appreciated in this forum. Realizing I have a fair bit of work to do, I am very excited to get my hands on this vehicle and make a few upgrades over the long term.

I'd consider swapping the engine with a newer one ... possibly a turbo if that would definitely help uphill. I'm planning to add at least 3 large solar panels, 3 bicycles and lots of other gear for boondocking and perhaps even haul a lightweight Hobie sailboat on a trailer once in awhile. What are the ratings and other specs like towing capacity, height, length, width, tank capacity, etc. I know almost nothing about this camper other than it has the OM617 motor. Thus, I'll need to be careful about adding too much weight in general upgrades. It may need re-upholstering relatively soon, so wherever I can, I want to replace the heavy or bulky fixtures with more modern lightweight materials ... for example a pair of used Recaro (or similar) front seats could save 25 to 50 pounds?

My son has driven it almost every day for a month and says it starts and runs fine. He ran it out of fuel last week (though the gauge was indicating 1/4 tank) so I had to send him photos of the hand primer pump online. I'll probably need to remove and clean out the fuel tank to see how rusty the fuel sender and the tank are (being in the PNW hasn't helped in that regard). Apparently it was driven from Florida to Bellevue without difficulty in the last few months. Though, I'm not sure what to expect, I am indeed grateful for all basic working MBZ technology throughout.

I have quite a lot of experience with marine diesels, charging systems, inverters, Gel batteries, electronic equipment, marine hardware, custom cabinetry, building with fiberglass including new water tanks, heat exchangers for H&C pressure water, VW and MBZ parts replacement including hydraulics ... but well ... I don't really want to make this campervan into my next full-time job either! Anyway, there is not a lot of info in English that I have found as yet other than one fuzzy B&W draft of it's side view with fuzzy dimensions that I can't quite read. And I don't speak German ... yet.

I'm sure I'll get lots of use out of this van regardless of the condition it's in currently. In fact, I'm dreaming casually about scouting out locations over this fall season for the upcoming total solar eclipse in August 2017 across the entire continental US. (btw, don't miss it!) I'll try not to get too excited or in a big hurry to get all the upgrades done too quickly ... as I tend to be a Type A sometimes and often very methodical. I'm just now realizing this project may take hundreds if not thousands of hours just in research to do it the way this Mercedes deserves to be restored. I'm not necessarily trying to maintain original equipment status either ... so any advice regarding different rims, racks, ladders, seats, tables, storage ideas, tanks, WVO conversions ... anything at all would be more than welcome. Since it appears there are only about 6 or 7 of these Westfalia campers still running in the entire US, there may not be a wealth of knowledge here in this forum ... but I will persist in my search and will be posting from time to time on my progress.

Please do tell me if I should be posting in another thread instead (or another forum as well)

Initially my first thought for a small but relatively easy project would be to add a few strategically placed opening "ports" along the fiberglass roof line of the thick Westfalia top to add ventilation and light. the marine grade portlights I have installed on many sailboats might look really good up there and make any make interior projects more comfortable to work out.

Tentatively, over the next 3 years, I also plan to build a website and blog about my travels ... especially with regards to the upcoming solar eclipse. Happy to respond if you're interested in participating in any way. I've been to two other total eclipses of the sun around the world. They are indeed something not to be missed. I'm sure this one will be watched by millions.