What did you do to your Eurovan or T4 today?

[02Berry]

Welp.
Here's what I did to my Eurovan today. ... well, it was the other day, actually.
Seems to have happened when I hit a pothole, hard.
(I'll be asking advice in a separate post.)

_________________
Learned to drive in a '67 Splitty.
New to '02 T4 EVW world.
Third generation camper family.

[bikes!]

[02Berry]

[bikes!]

I think it is quieter, but the stock exhaust had a number of pinholes before it let go completely, so it’s a relative comparison. With the windows up and the stereo off, I can sort of hear it. They offer two versions: single and dual muffler. I got the dual.

[HeyCrutch]

Added manual lumbar adjustment to my 1997 EVC driver's side seat.

Full write up here ... https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10059539#10059539

[Scott97EVC]

quote="HeyCrutch"]

[HeyCrutch]

QUESTION + Where did you source those new pulls/latches? Did they fit right into the existing holes? I like the sounds of being able to lock a door.



QUOTE
I went and found some fun peel and stick online, here's my first pieces done. As you said, a few bubbles but good enough for sure. I also found same sized latches in black metal, It was that or paint the latches black because I can't get the plastic ones clean, but since they'll be handleda lot I figured I didn't want to paint them and it would be fussy to get right. So I found some with locks, two will get those and the rest non locking. Fridge getting a black coating of the flexible paint as well. I may remove it, but probably not right away.

[/quote]

[HeyCrutch]

Question: where did you source those new pulls/latches that lock?


Quote: ----
I went and found some fun peel and stick online, here's my first pieces done. As you said, a few bubbles but good enough for sure. I also found same sized latches in black metal, It was that or paint the latches black because I can't get the plastic ones clean, but since they'll be handleda lot I figured I didn't want to paint them and it would be fussy to get right. So I found some with locks, two will get those and the rest non locking. Fridge getting a black coating of the flexible paint as well. I may remove it, but probably not right away.

[Scott97EVC]

The links go to Amazon, you might also find them at a marine supplier?

The locking ones

2 Sets PUROCEAN Solid Metal Marine Lift Latch Full Metal Slam Latch Handle Lift Slam Lock for RV Truck Boat Marine Hatch Cabinet Deck Door with Size 2" https://a.co/d/7tiM1Xq

The regular

LATCH.IT RV Flush Latch Lock | 2 Pack Black Flush Slam Latch | Flush Mount Latch | 100% Metal Boat Latch | Heavy Duty RV Boat Lid Lock | Fits Lock Holes w/Diameter of 2” & Door Thickness up to 0.5”! https://a.co/d/hjbkbhi

They fit the same hole as the gray, but some are going to need modification to the bit of metal the latch latches onto, because the latch bit sticks out further in the new ones than the original gray ones. I also needed to get longer bolts for the locking ones because they were not long enough for the thickness of the cabinet.

[Scott97EVC]

DIY seat covers from Mexican style blankets
Awesome wife did the sewing after I cut and pinned the headrest pieces.

[darrenhatina]

I tried to refill my LP tank recently after a long camping hiatus and discovered a completely seized pin release mechanism. Fairly involved process to unseize everything starting with a WD40 bath but ultimately requiring repeated blowtorch & water quenching to finally get it apart. Packed it full of anti-seize compound and hopefully it will be good for another 30 years.

[Scott97EVC]

.
This was showing its age too well… but no more.

[HeyCrutch]

Learned how to replace coils! When I bought Ghost, the 1997 EVC, last year it had a Firestone inflatable bag airlift system installed. I didn't know a lot about the system and never used it. Installing these new Supplex HD coils was the last step in getting the van back to how it should be. Gotta say that the combination of the Bilstein HD shocks, the 16 alloys/Yokohama tires, and the Supplex HD coils has really improved the ride over what it was before (stock shocks, old air bag coils, and 15 steelies with worn out tires. Thanks to MtnbikeMike for letting me borrow his impact driver. Without that I couldn't get the top shock bolt loose.

Before

After

Working to get the front end up to proper height. Got one torsion bar nut moving but the other is still not moving. Continuing to drench it in penetration oil. It will eventually turn I'm sure, and I'll finally get the van level on all corners (with the required rake up front). One last alignment and it should drive as good as it will ever drive.

And I finally got around the finishing the texture treatment. I did the bumpers last fall as they were easy to just remove and spray. Spraying the wheel arches and lower sills required a lot of taping ... so I had been putting it off until school got out (I'm a middle school teacher).

Before

During

After

[HeyCrutch]

Knowing the front passenger side wing/fender is a known debris trap that can lead to rust, I decided to get into mine to see what the case was. Here's what I found, and what it looks like after clean out. Thankfully it hadn't led to a rust situation.

This next photo with the wing removed was taken after I'd tried to remove a lot of the debris by hand (without fully removing the wing). IOW there was a lot more debris present than what is seen here.

[Scott97EVC]

HeyCrutch - nice work on the cleanout, now I have one more to-do item…

[Scott97EVC]

Removed Norcold, capped the LP line and added sound dampening (gowesty) while I was at it. Ugh, dirty back there, glad I did it for that cleaning alone. I’ll slide my small 12v chest fridge in there for now, have not decided how I’ll use the space yet but I’m camping this week so, that’ll help me think it out. I found a YouTube video pretty easily that gave me the confidence to tackle this project. https://youtu.be/1jUNugWFcj8

[HeyCrutch]

Keeping things LP gas-related here in the "what did you do" thread today ...

The lower skid plate for my under-slung LP tank that protects the valves, gauge, and other controls was in pretty rough shape. Bottom of it was completely rusted over. Top was covered in tar spray, rust, grime, etc.

Popped it off (2 bolts), used Bug & Tar on the safety/instruction decals, gave it a quick once over with a wire brush on the raised rust areas, sprayed it a couple times with a RusOLeum Rusty Metal Primer, then 2 base coats of Arctic White, and a couple of clear coats afterwards. Wasn't trying to make it look perfect; just better than before. The Arctic White was supposed to be a direct factory OEM color match, but it turned out way whiter/cooler than the rest of the van. This might be due to aging on the van's original paint. The Previous owner had the a-pillars done and the paint on those is also whiter/cooler than the rest of the van.

It would probably look better painted black to match the lower sil of the body, but the stuff I've read discouraging the painting of an LP tank black led me to opt for the arctic white.

Anyway, here're are photos - not the best shots but should give the idea.

BEFORE (zoomed from an old photo)

Removing tape from over the safety/instructional decals

Top Side post painting and tape removal

Re-attached to the van

Maybe the cleanliness of the lower skid plate will help any uneasy LP gas attendants go ahead and fill 'er up. Can't hurt.

One day I'll get around the dropping the tank and giving it the same exterior cleanup.

[02Berry]

Finished four more things on the EVW's summer to-do list:

Got new tires
Applied the new Westfalia decals to the front & rear of the repaired & repainted pop-top
Got a new cooler (okay, so that's not exactly doing something to the vee dub, but
Received & installed the VW logo wheel center caps, replacing the plain-black plastic ones.

Not much left on the list, besides going camping!

_________________
Learned to drive in a '67 Splitty.
New to '02 T4 EVW world.
Third generation camper family.

[Joshwa]

Just hauled home this 67 from Los Angeles to Seattle, behind my workhorse 1.9L TDI Eurovan. 101 nearly the whole way, as it was hot as hell on I5. The jeremyrockjock tow bar was rock solid. It was smooth sailing at 60mph on flats, but a pig on some steep hills, having to reel back to 3rd gear. long downhills were a little nerve wracking also. My fuel mileage was reduced to 26mpg from my normal 30mpg average, for the length of the trip. Fun times. Now to figure out where I start with the bus.

This was a stop in the coastal Redwoods, on the Avenue of the Giants.

_________________
93 Weekender TDI conversion (AHU)
93 MV TDI conversion (1Z)
Weekender rear cot
Late model cabin air filter on 93
Euro spec bumper install on 93

[bigfoot_ev]