as you may know, '82 was the final (full) year of the air-cooled
engine -- there may or may not have been any sold as '83s; thereafter,
vw went into a disastrous flirtation with the water-cooled engine and
didn't come up with a good version of water-cooled until late '85 or
'86.  i bought an '82 vanagon (not westy) for exactly that reason,
air-cooled (traditional), the last of a great breed, and cheap -- i paid
$2,400 for a fresh rebuild at 102,000 and am very happy with it so far
altho i don't use it much except to kick around town (san francisco). 
$600 is an amazing price if it's running well, and maybe even if it
isn't running well (depending on local price for a rebuilt or whatever's
needed).  what you do want to avoid is a watercooled per above.  the
good watercooleds, 86 or so or later, are very expensive.  ultimately,
of course, it all comes down to whether the one you are looking at is
any good per se and/or worth the 600 (or more, or less).  price is
suspiciously low, in my view, so get a trusted mechanic to check it out,
and pay him for his expertise, i'd suggest.  cheers...

S. Calvin & A. M. Calvin wrote:
> 
> Does anyone have any advice rgarding possible purchase of an 82 westy?
> Heater is reported to be ther only thing not working.  I haven't seen it
> yet.  I don't know much about vanagons so what do I look for.  Do the 82 s
> have any particular problems, rust to watch out for etc.  Very expensive
> exaust parts or something like that?  At $600 it sounds prettyu sweet but I
> can't afford a money pit.
> 
> Any and all advice appreciated.
> 
> Mig
> 
> A. M. Calvin & S. Calvin                                    ========+===
> s.calvin@utoronto.ca                                       /[ ][==][  ]}|
> Toronto, Canada                                          [|  _       _  |
> Astrid is a 71 Campmobile with 1600 AE and manual trans.  =='O`-----'O`-=
> 
>      "Imagination is more important than knowledge", Albert Einstein.
> 
>  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>               The Way Cool Type2 Map & Listees Registry
>                  http://www.microtec.ca/~jblp/type2/
>        Send SIGNOFF TYPE2 commands to LISTSERV@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM