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Sat Oct 17, 2020 8:30 pm

I test drove the headlights tonight . Low beam pattern is dimmer in output than my TruckLites, but the beam shape and color of lighting are okay.
High Beams are very good, far, crisp pattern.
So, they’re keepers for now. 8)

Sat Oct 17, 2020 10:33 pm

The fuel gague hasn't worked the four years we've owned the van.
We've also had problems with the fuel filter getting clogged up with what looks like rust. So, we finally dropped the tank and did repairs today.

It turns out the inside of the old tank wasn't in as bad of shape as expected.
I don't know if it's worth keeping, giving away or what. But the new one is on so we'll see if it helps.

The fuel gague was just PO stupidity.
At some point the cluster gague must have stopped working. Brilliant surfer dude drilled out a 2 inch hole and put in a cheap replacement. Then proceeded to wire it incorrectly.
Ground went to ground
S went to +12
+12 went to the send unit
Then the other wire of the send unit went straight back to POS on the battery
:evil: :shock: :evil:

No wonder it always read empty

This is not the worst wiring atrocity PO surfer dude has committed.
We have slowly been cleaning them up as we find them.
At this point we have nearly rewired the whole van.

Oh well.. We have a new Bosch fuel gague wired correctly.
And can finally see when the tank is getting close to empty without having to look at the trip and do math

Cheers,
Matthew

Sat Oct 17, 2020 10:50 pm

Also, my wife and I both have a hobby of retro electronics.
I do a lot with early computers. She's into LED art.

We took a look at the film circuit board when we had the cluster out.
My wife wants to design a replacement PCB that can be sent away and fabricated for a few dollars.

She measured the resistors and mapped out the traces this afternoon.
Making a cheap replacement should be fun.

Sun Oct 18, 2020 10:58 am

"My wife wants to design a replacement PCB that can be sent away and fabricated for a few dollars.

She measured the resistors and mapped out the traces this afternoon.
Making a cheap replacement should be fun."

^^ A worthwhile project. I've been keeping an eye on these if the need should arise:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2367183
(See link to FB page)

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1913691

Mon Oct 19, 2020 11:46 am

Got the replacement windshield installed after encountering a rock on our road trip a coupla weeks ago:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=744529&highlight=rubber

The insurance company pointed me to the national franchise, "Replace-Deface". After 3 cancellations and "Bring it in and leave it", I told 'em to take a hike and found a local guy in Ontario, Calif. I bought the seal from VanCafe (RMW), windshield installed while I waited, $205 out the door.

Dan

Mon Oct 19, 2020 12:33 pm

We picked up a beautiful as-new ARB side tent from some lovely Sambanistas in our local town...super excited, they've been out of stock forever at GoWesty so a lucky find for us!

Now I just need to finish a van to attach it to.

I got no van to drive, but MAN do I got a massive pile of van parts!!! :)

Tue Oct 20, 2020 6:02 pm

I upgraded my Rocky Mountain Westy swing-away tire carrier with their "switch back upper rack" and the lower shelf. This allowed me to move my spare up higher to allow for the tray. My tray now holds my suitcase generator, two FuelPax 3.5 gallon cans and my tool kit. I still have my Trasharoo "clone" on the spare with a few molle attachment bags. Trying to make the most of the space while keeping everything gas related outside of the van.

Before:

After: Note the fading of the "trasharoo"

A locking cable goes through the handles of both the generator and tool kit and routes through the Westy cutout of the tray, which allows for the cover to fit over both

The generously sized weatherproof generator cover fits over both the generator and tool kit

And a ratchet strap to hold it all in nice and tight, plus a cable and lock for the cans

Tue Oct 20, 2020 10:17 pm

epbiggs wrote:

What kind of lift assists do you have on your pop-top?

Tue Oct 20, 2020 10:54 pm

vanis13 wrote: epbiggs wrote:

What kind of lift assists do you have on your pop-top?

Jack Bombay struts in the back and GoWesty HD struts in the front.

Wed Oct 21, 2020 8:00 am

I'm slowly going around the van and replacing all the seals.
Yesterday was the rear hatch. Easy and fast

Wed Oct 21, 2020 7:31 pm

Today was cleaning.

I removed the body panel that covers the sliding door mechanism (possibly for the first time since 1980).
I sprayed out the accumulated gunk with Simple Green, wiped years worth of built up crud off the mechanism and channel, and used a little silicone grease to lube the rail.
The door now slides smoothly.

I finally fixed the windshield wipers (blown fuse)
Then found and filled the windshield wiper fluid (seems like I would have done that at least once in the last four years, but hey - better late than never)
That allowed me to adjust aim of the jets to actually hit the windshield rather spray up in the air like fountains.

Finally I covered the driveway with cardboard and some sacrificial rags then sprayed the engine and transmission with Simple Green and carefully rinsed it with a hose. It's been covered in a thick layer of grime as long as we've owned it.
I've mostly left it alone until now. However, the more time I spend under the van the more I want to avoid chunks of grime falling in my face and mouth.
That, and if there are leaks I want to find and fix them.

I've been trying to do a little each day. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Wed Oct 21, 2020 8:45 pm

Just oil and filter change today. Tomorrow is new turn signal lens for both fronts. I have a crack in the drivers side that started taking out the new bulb socket I installed 2 years ago. Only discovered the corrosion and rust when I needed to tap into the turn signals and park bulb circuit for the new headlights I just installed. So I bought 2 new lens to match , and new sockets since the lens come with the European single bulb set-up.

Thu Oct 22, 2020 6:53 am

mcarlson_sb wrote: Today was cleaning.......Finally I covered the driveway with cardboard and some sacrificial rags then sprayed the engine and transmission with Simple Green and carefully rinsed it with a hose. It's been covered in a thick layer of grime as long as we've owned it.
I've mostly left it alone until now. However, the more time I spend under the van the more I want to avoid chunks of grime falling in my face and mouth.
That, and if there are leaks I want to find and fix them.

I've been trying to do a little each day. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

How did the simple green treatment work? Lets see the engine!

Thu Oct 22, 2020 1:12 pm

Igeo wrote:
How did the simple green treatment work? Lets see the engine!

It's still ugly dirty. It's just less ugly dirty.
I wish I'd taken a before picture - then an after would at least look like I did something

Thu Oct 22, 2020 8:10 pm

Cleaned my engine grounds. Upon tightening the transaxle ground cable, I found the hole was stripped. So drilled and tapped it to m10.

In the engine bay one of the small ground cables showed a lot of corrosion. Cut and put an open barrel ring terminal on it.

My 1.9L no longer stalls at idle during cold. Damn why didn't I do this sooner.

Edit: I actually did this like 4 years ago. This time I used dielectric grease

Sat Oct 24, 2020 7:52 am

Added some skateboard grip tape to the rear table leg clamp, to help keep it from moving around while driving. Worked out very well, simple, effective. No longer do I need to use Hulk strength to tighten the knob. :lol:

Before:

After:

Sat Oct 24, 2020 10:25 pm

New 3d printed drawer sorter. We used the spool of bright green transparent PLA because "what else would you use it for?!?"
This is version 1.0 and the walls are pretty thin. If they end up breaking we'll print it with thicker walls for v2

(older mods that are visible in the picture)
The switches you can see are:
- route solar to either the aux or main battery
- turn on over kitchen led lights
And a homemade battery level indicator for the starter battery.
The stock one on the panel is routed to the aux batteries

I've also installed an inexpensive dash cam.
Since I've been driving around in the van more I've had several times where police run my plates and follow me. Adding a $25 digital dash cam seems like a very reasonable upgrade.

Cheers,
Matthew

Sun Oct 25, 2020 1:20 pm

finished interior front part

Sun Oct 25, 2020 3:48 pm

What year is the van and what materials groups are those? Carpet, floor, door panels, etc. Looks sharp!

Sun Oct 25, 2020 3:53 pm

My clean(er) engine

The air cooled engine after being sprayed down with Simple Green and a light ri se with the garden hose. I didn't use a brush or anything that would have really cleaned it. Just a minimal job to get the worst off.
It was all covered in years and years worth of oil and grime.
Now I can at least see where one part end and the next starts

Cheers,
Matthew