Project Crunchie '87 Syncro Tin Top Overlander. (Pic Heavy)

[dkoesyncro]

I like it as you know! it's something to be said of the level of quality and detail and then to honestly put in into use above and beyond its design. Enjoy the fruits of your labor

[Signalocity]

[Signalocity]

At the time, the polyurethane drive line mounts were not available. My stock ones were in pretty good shape overall, so I cleaned them up and installed them as a place holder. I positioned a few other odds and ends and set up the vacuum switches for the decoupler and front diff. lock. I will install the dash trim bits a little later on.

[scottychop]

LOVE the upside down JVC!

[Signalocity]

[Signalocity]

So the time came to begin the cooling system install. I started with a new radiator from Van Café and new shields from GoWesty. I picked up a new fan thermoswitch from my local Flaps. I didn’t quite have the clutch line in the right position and later moved it back into that pocket. It would have likely rattled against the radiator mounting bracket. I replaced the factory heat shield on the drivers side, with some of the material I had leftover from the engine compartment lid (I did not get a decent pic, but you can see it in the 5th picture). I did not install a condenser at this time. I do plan to have AC in the van at some point, but that is a good bit down the road.

TIP:

There are 4 little rubber washers (VW part number 171-121-276D) that go around the nipples for the radiator mounts. A couple of mine were missing and they could be easily overlooked.

[danfromsyr]

I don't recall mine looking anything like this underneath at all.
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[Signalocity]

[Signalocity]

In prepping for my install on the new coolant hoses and pipes, I had to address my aging plastic tees and heater hoses. The half of the heater hoses inside the van looked pristine, but the external half were looking pretty worn out. From what I was able to research, both the molded hoses going to the front core, and the size reduction hoses going to the rear core are both NLA (correct me if I am wrong). I had planned to order a bleeder port for the Bostig return hose, thanks to Samba member Kjag …

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_search.php?search_author=kjag

as this seemed like a really good addition. In searching the site …

http://jagsthatrun.com/index.html

I had noticed that they offered a variety of products for conversions, but I was mostly interested in the coolant tees and fittings. They offer them in just about any configuration you can think of, and I was able to get almost everything I needed from them. The site is a little weird to navigate, but the prices were reasonable. They had everything in stock ready to go, with fast shipping. The Bostig conversion makes use of a plastic tee, from one of the Rock Auto order hoses. This has a ¾ inch branch off the main radiator return line, and I would assume this is why they provide a ¾ inch heater hose and nipple in the kit (opposed to the ⅝ inch heater hose that is in the van). I ordered a tee (with a ⅝ inch branch) to replace the Bostig plastic tee and a reducer to adapt the ⅝ hose to the ¾ inch hose. It dawned on me later that I would not need this reducer (crossed out in picture number 4), if I just replaced the barbed fitting Bostig provides for the coolant tower (picture number 10) with a ⅝ inch fitting (local hardware store) … thus eliminating the need for any ¾ inch heater hose. I preferred to keep the ⅝ inch heater hose in the van, because the heater cores have ⅝ inch fittings. It is also easier than trying to cram ¾ inch heater hose through the frame rail, body grommets and behind the glove box. The factory molded heater hoses coming down from the rear heater core to the plastic tees, reduce from a ⅝ inch hose to a ½ inch hose (if I recall correctly) and some have a reducer inside the hose as well. Since these hoses are NLA, it is necessary to include a reducer (picture number 8 ) between the tee and the valve on the feed line (preferably) to the rear heater core, in order to replace it with straight ⅝ inch hose. This restricts the flow to the rear heater core, so you do not starve the front. All of this together will allow me to run straight ⅝ inch heater hose throughout the van, also making field repairs that much easier. Confused yet? … I will be posting some more pictures that should help clarify it a bit more.

TIP:

The radiator return line tee is 1 ½ inch with a ⅝ inch branch.
The bleed port is straight 1 ½ inch.
The heater tees (qty. 2) are ⅝ inch on all 3 branches.
The reducer is straight ⅝ inch.
The barbed fitting is ¾ inch NPT with a ⅝ barb.

DISCLAIMER:

This has nothing to do with the Bostig conversion. There is nothing wrong with the way Bostig has their conversion configured. Since I am changing everything out, it made it more viable (and more sense) for me to make these changes.

There is no need for the bleed port with the newest version of the Bostig coolant tower. It is nice to see any trapped air though.

There are also no issues with clamping a ¾ inch hose onto a ⅝ fitting, and beware of cheap plastic adaptors.

[flomulgator]

I really like that hose shield, did you build that?

Food for thought: I once suffered a (nearly) catastrophic loss of coolant way out in the sticks at night, in the winter, when a heavy object got itself perched on the upper rear heater hose and then bounced hard one too many times on a bad road. The supply hose fitting/barb on the heater core is just a plastic on plastic and is subjected to constant heat cycling. Well it ripped the barb right off the housing, and coolant immediately and aggressively pumped out into the bench. As soon as the smell hit me I shut it off and found the problem, but having only a leatherman at the time I had to resort to pinching the hose under the z-bed lip with my wife sitting on top of it in order to limp into civilization

The outcome of that story (asides from new parts and an appreciation of my wife's patience and understanding) is that I've been mulling "armoring up" the hose from the firewall to the heater body. Do you have any plans or ideas for such?
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She's built like a steakhouse, but she handles like a bistro!

[tschroeder0]

hey, don't miss out on the rocky jennings rear heater valve upgrade

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1407932

[LemonCove]

Among all of the things I admire about this build, are the improvements you're figuring out.

Good catch on the 5/8" barb connector. Only after eliminating my rear heater (I live in Vegas and have a propex) and using the "Jags that run" 3/4" to 5?8" adapters did I realize I could have done the same.

But I'm still happy with the adapters . . . used to always worry about one of my plastic adapters failing.

I don't have the latest Bostig fill tower, so I added a bleeder . . . nice to have and simplifies filling significantly.

I LOVE this thread!
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'88 Bostig Westy

[Signalocity]

[Signalocity]

[Signalocity]

[imtb]

Very impressive results.

I wanted to ask what size tires you went with. I am looking at the yokahama Geolander same tires you have but trying to decide between

215/70/R15
or
215/75/R15

Do you have any pics with van on ground with wheels on?

thanks

[flomulgator]

[Signalocity]

[Signalocity]

[Signalocity]

I opted to go with the stainless pipes from Van Café. I know the two piece pipes mean an extra connection, but I figured it would allow for a little more adjustment and easier installation. I was quite happy with how they turned out. I will say that it is not a job to rush though. First and foremost is to make sure that you have the pipes in the right orientation of course, but the time consuming part is the fine tuning. Every time I would tweak one end, it would throw off the opposite end or the middle connection. There was a fair amount of back and forth to say the least, but it pays to get it right the first time. The Bostig instructions state to cross the front radiator hoses, to retain the stock flow pattern of the cooling system (see diagram). I chose not to do this for the time being, as I know of a couple of Bostig converted vans that left the hoses in their original orientation (reversing the flow through the radiator) without any issues. I will report back on this, after some testing. The stock NLA front heater hoses were molded in such a way, that they snaked their way into position behind the dash. Since I am running straight ⅝ inch heater hose, I had to make a gentle sweep. There is plenty of room behind the dash, but I ended up having to heat up and form the back of the glove box a bit. I could still latch the glove box, but it pressed firmly against the heater hoses when closed. It is not hard to do, and not at all noticeable. I inserted a shut off valve (hot foot) under the van, on the feed line between the tee and front heater core. I decided to place this under the van, as it is not something I wanted failing behind the dash. It is easy enough to reach, and not something I would be turning on and off often. The handle is positioned higher then the crash bar, so I am not really worried about anything taking it out. The factory position of one of the tees was behind a tranny mount, in a very inconvenient place. I decided to bring them both together, inline before the cross member. I then ran the branch lines for the rear heater core back up through the cross member. I really like how this worked out, as it allows easy access to both tees (on a side note, this also frees up access to the rear brake tee). Coming back to that contingency plan …