The mania deepens: 1991 Full Westy rescue

[dabaron]

[dobryan]

[dabaron]

i kinda like it like this

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1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic

[bobbyblack]

Just rub some wax on it and call it patina. Watch out tho, I hear rubbing wax on it puts it in the Serious Enthusiast section when you go to VW events..
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'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch

[dabaron]

had some issues with the Westy on an 1,100 mile trip thru New England...

1. the house battery was not charging
2. pulling off a highway to a stop, the engine started running poorly and stalled - it would restart but was running on a few cylinders, revving the engine above 2500 rpm a few times brought the power back to all cylinders
3. the wire from the coil to the dizzy cap broke where it connects to the dizzy cap
4. the coolant temp dash gauge stopped working

none of these issues stopped the adventure.

Issue #1 resolution (once home):

the house battery was charging at idle and would vary from 1 amp to 20 amps. under engine load, it would show zero amps. replacing the alternator voltage regulator resolved the charging issues at idle and under load.

the starter battery showed 12.77V but when i put it on a charger it showed as being less than 3/4 full. clearly the alternator was not supplying the needed current to the Westy.

Issues #2 & #3 resolution (on the road):

i discovered a broken ignition wire from the coil to the dizzy cap. upon further inspection, the dizzy cap and rotor showed signs of severe arcing. John's Car Corner had the cap, rotor, and ignition wires i needed to fix those issues, but the running issue returned.

after some thinking about when and what was happening, the coil worked great until it got hot, after about an hour of driving under about 2k rpm it would drop power and would stall out at traffic lights. swapping the coil did the trick, the running issue vanished.

Issue #4 resolution (on the road):

we pulled into Keene, NH a few minutes after the temp gauge stopped working. the issue was obvious and it was a quick and straight forward fix to rejoin the broken wires.

are the voltage regulator, coil, and damaged ignition wire related issues or just coincidence?

i could have resolved the ignition wire issues had i left the box with the "spares" in the Westy... i removed them when moving things around and forgot to put them back in. i had a 3rd coil at the house, it along with a spare voltage regulator are now on board.
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1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic

[dabaron]

the OG faucet frustrated me for the last time... i could not turn the water on with wet hands and the switch mechanism is giving up the ghost, time to replace it.

i ordered the "gray" version Shurflow faucet since i thought the white would be a bit much. i asked Chris at https://www.uniwerksdesign.com if he could do a black faucet adapter instead of white... no problem.

i have the GSI cook set that fits in the sink and wasn't sure if the Shurflow would move out of the way like the OG Delta 9. no issues with the cookset and the new faucet, plenty of room!

i'm impressed with the flow and the ability to control said flow. not a bad 30 minute Saturday morning project. i used it immediately as i was out camping at Vanagons in the Valley.
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1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic

[dabaron]

i picked up a vent pod thingy from Uniwerks... the goal was to have a light at the slider door and a place for someone in the top bunk to plug in their devices to charge so i don't have to deal with them.

the vent pod thingy

the vent pod thingy wired up

ran wires from the driver's side dome light to the vent, stupid easy to do.

installed and ready to use

bright light

the red light

the charger has it's own power switch... this way it's not stealing juice for the internal circuits and the power led.

i'm waiting for dark so i can see how the red light looks.

quick, easy, inexpensive but not cheaply made. i'm a fan.
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1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic

[outcaststudios]

this thread is awesome. great work!
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'88Doka JX td
'69 westy
(rip)couple bugs
(rip)three type III"s
(rip) '81 vanagon
a bunch of french stuff,and 9 motorcycles.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2573791

[dabaron]

it happened again...

the used VW exhaust valve installed last year failed a few miles from home coming back from camping in the state forest for a ham radio event, Winter Field Day 2023.

i ordered rings and after a long wait, the wrong ones came. then i got a set of Grant and honed the cylinders for #1 and #2. there is no ridge, the jug is within spec as are the new rings. double triple checked.

i had installed another used VW exhaust valve from my stack of heads but decided to install two new TRW exhaust valves. parts ordered and installed.

included this picture because i like the before shot

head installed, valve lash set, sorta... three of the lifters bled down.

the patient being moved from the bench to get the exhaust installed and then shoved back into the Westy

vroom vroom, ready to go.

took it for a tony tuneup and the lifters pumped back up quickly, no more clacking. i did a final valve lash adjustment using compressed air in the cylinder to let me know that 1.5 turns is better than 2 full turns.

drove the Westy to the gas station and went for a quick tool about. i believe it's ready for adventure.
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1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic

[dobryan]

Good on you!
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[kamzcab86]

[dabaron]

[4Gears4Tires]

That before picture is a cleaner engine than most after pictures!
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'87 Syncro
Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition

[dabaron]

[dabaron]

adding the window regulator fix to the build thread...

pushed the fat end of a cable tie over the metal tab after putting the window bracket on the slider.

the window does not move around but there is still a little wiggle to keep things moving.
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1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic

[dabaron]

i've been wanting to address the power window switches and door cards since i began this project. i was planning on relocating the window switches to the dash, but then decided i'd rather keep them in the doors.

i ordered a set of ABS door cards from Small Car and then picked up wire and connectors to replace the existing wiring.

i picked up a box of 6 colors of 25 feet lengths of wire. wanted to keep it as close to the factory colors as possible but the box that came had no brown and no red/black as in the photo... i tried to keep the colors as logical as possible for the future me.

the passenger side is the easier of the two as it only has 3 wires so that's where i started. first i need to pull the existing wiring from the door

i was able to use the existing wires to pull the new wires thru the loom. getting the sleeve back into the door was a bit of a hassle. i did the driver's side next, it had 4 wires but was actually easier to get the new wires thru the loom.

the new wires are in place, just need to secure the wiring in the door and add the connectors.

the new wires vs the old. i had to fix a damaged wire when this project started 3 years ago... time to replace these, but it will be tricky.

to gain full access to the wiring the dash had to come out.

i was able to pull the new wires thru with a little ingenuity...

Super Lube to the rescue. the bundle slide thru with little effort. wish i had thought of this when pulling the wiring thru the door looms

driver's side wiring before replacement

driver's side wiring after replacement with new OEM like connectors.

the gauge pod wiring was pretty terrible, a hodge-podge of crimp connectors and poorly run power to the fuse panel.

i bought a large bag of 2 and 3 pin connectors so why not address this while i have it all apart. totally worth the extra time as it's much cleaner and professional looking. i really like these connectors too. they are slightly smaller than OEM but have that OEM look.

Fluid Filmed the corners of the windshield... maybe it will stop the weeping in heavy rain.

while the dash was out, it was time to do the dash pad swap. i've had the donor dash since picking it up from Destructo in MA while on vacation in 2020.

with the new pad in place and all the wiring cleaned up the dash gets installed

the ABS panels are easy to cut. the door speakers are 5.25" so the pre-scored hole is not large enough. this tool did the trick, but i found it was easier to use my hand to cut the hole than with the drill. it took a very light hand with the drill otherwise it would bog down. if i were to do it again, i'd get a circle hole saw in the proper size, this is just too finicky.

door cards in place, speakers installed, power window goes up and down but the passenger switch needs replaced. the housing is cracked and the switch rocker walks out of the housing when pressed down. i'll replace the switch when i do another parts order for the next project on my list

while i had the big bag of connectors out i swapped out the rear marker lights.

the removed wiring bits and pieces... no more headaches from corroded wires and connectors.

to make sure everything was working we took a trip to Phoenixville via the canal towpath. it was a lovely day and the Westy did what the Westy does... but now with a little more class.
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1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic

[djkeev]

If you paint that rusty nose, you'll be oozing class!
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Stop Dead Photo Links how to post photos

Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[dabaron]

[16CVs]

Have you looked at my wiring protectors I have in the classifieds? You will need them after you build that new harness.

You do know we have brand new top quality harness with all connectors available, right?

Stacy
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1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread.

[dabaron]