What did YOU do to your van today?

[jlrftype7]

Did the Passat Rim/Snow tire swap on Saturday. Lubed the body mounted slider track/‘bar’ for Winter. And installed a Jensen CAR813 Touch Screen Radio, with a rear camera kit to boot, both from Crutchfield.
Still dialing in the radio install- but really like the radio , GPS and Rear Camera functions so far. Also applied some more ACF50 corrosion spray protection.
GPS antenna mounts to upper left windshield, pretty unobtrusive from a driving stand point.
Plenty of Video Cable in the Rear Camera kit to reach rear to front. I went with Reverse Light wire from the drivers tail light to act as signal for Reverse Camera signal. Passenger side has the Chris C/10cc oil cooler kit mounted over behind that tail light, so access is a bit tight. Otherwise it was the more logical choice to tie into the Reverse lights since the Video cable was routed against the body and engine harnesses that were always there to begin with.
Cable got flexible wire sheathing to protect it, ran cable along the coolant pipes up to the gas tank, went through the open middle, and then up into the interior through the heater hose grommet in the middle of the Dash area.

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'68 Westy- my first VW and vehicle/Bus- long gone.- sold it to a traveling Swiss couple....
'67 Type 3 Fastback, my 2nd car- gone
'69 Semi-Auto Stick Shift Beetle-gone
2017 MINI Coopers, our current DDs
‘84 Tin Top - Hilga....Auto

[BigPapaV]

[jlrftype7]

[jlrftype7]

Finished up the new radio wiring with the last two connections. Parking Brake ground input to allow settings Mode to be accessed with Parking Brake applied. There’s a whole warning paragraph in the installation instructions about not just grounding out that input to the radio with a solid permanent ground connection, so I guess people have done that as it’s faster and easier than actually making the parking brake wire hook-up…

Added the 2nd , needed Reverse lights On input to the video cable from Camera to Radio cable , this gets Automatic Reverse Camera in Reverse instead of having to select Camera mode manually. I hadn’t understood that when initially running the Video cable as the instructions between the camera and the radio threw me until I confirmed with a call to Crutchfield Technical.

Freed up the seized threads on the Parking Brake Rod nut and rod, added anti-seize , then covered the whole assembly with PB Blaster Surface Protector, which is yet another body wax/cavity wax aerosol, but available readily at Home Depot, versus me ordering my usual CRC spray wax, which never seems to be on a shelf retail wise..
One note about the PB Blaster stuff, it doesn’t self level like pretty much every aerosol spray I’ve ever used. Lays down bubbly for the most part unless you are super light with very brief spray shots. Works, but weird at the same time. Film build was good though, so not a deal breaker.
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'68 Westy- my first VW and vehicle/Bus- long gone.- sold it to a traveling Swiss couple....
'67 Type 3 Fastback, my 2nd car- gone
'69 Semi-Auto Stick Shift Beetle-gone
2017 MINI Coopers, our current DDs
‘84 Tin Top - Hilga....Auto

[Icebox500]

Two main things today. Fixed a whistling wing window and replaced the rear window squirt nozzle.

For the wing window, I did the PITA tightening of the screw but then realized the glass was still loose. Took the bottom screw out and it seemed the rubber washer had dried up. Added a small O ring and put it all back together and it seems correct now.

As to the nozzle, use the same 3 stream ones I’d used up front that came from Amazon. Pretty easy with a heat gun to heat up the tube and remount. Took longer to adjust the three streams than to make the fix!
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87 Westy 2WD “Van Geaux”
2.2 Rebuilt WB
AZ Transaxle + Peloquin Manual Transmission
GW lift springs, solar, Burley front disc, etc...

New Orleans, LA (previously CO, WA, and CA)

Past
87, 90 Westys
64, 65 splittys + various air cooled

[shadetreemech]

'88 Westy. I needed to get to the battery cable attachment points inside the cranking battery box but first I had to remove the Honda Odyssey console shelf I had installed 5 years ago so I could swivel the seat to pull the battery. To do that, I jacked up the right front wheel (hydraulic floor jack and a jack stand) then removed the right front wheel. I put a box end wrench on each of the 3) 13 mm bolt heads (one at a time) and ratcheted off the nuts on the inside wall of the wheel well. Once I had the console out, I could swivel the passenger seat to remove it. There's a tab on the "in" side of the seat frame you pry up while lifting the slide handle on the "out' side of the seat frame. Next, I removed the 4) 13 mm bolts holding the swivel base to the wheel box. Now I had access to the battery with room to pull it. Pulled the battery and the ground cable. Cleaned up the battery box. Mixed up some baking soda in water and dipped the positive clamp assembly in it to neutralize the calcium deposits, then sprayed WD40 on it to chase the water. Wire-brushed both cables, the attachment bolt and the nut in the battery box wall, brushed and cleaned the negative cable clamp, smeared the outside of the exposed metal of the clamps and bolts with dielectric grease, then reinstalled everything in reverse order, cleaned up and took a nap.

Tomorrow I'll clean up the cables and terminals on the starter.
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'84 GL 1.9
'01 Volvo V70 T5
'88 Westy - "MZDRTHY"

[vanis13]

025121058M 2.1 "Peace Pipe" coolant hose - better solution

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=10325323#10325323
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83.5 Westy with Subaru 2.5, 4 spd manual, center seat, COLD A/C on 134a!, Winter camp heated with an Espar B4 gasoline furnace

www.SuperVanagon.com - some stuff I make

[Icebox500]

A minor and simple upgrade. One socket was rusted to bits and one had a shot wire. Used the G class LEDs and they are literally bolt on (and crimp on). Opted for smoked lenses. Brighter than the photo looks. Let’s see if they last!

_________________
87 Westy 2WD “Van Geaux”
2.2 Rebuilt WB
AZ Transaxle + Peloquin Manual Transmission
GW lift springs, solar, Burley front disc, etc...

New Orleans, LA (previously CO, WA, and CA)

Past
87, 90 Westys
64, 65 splittys + various air cooled

[Robsmaze]

Rear heater and climate control lamps had burnt out. New ones are $10 at GoWesty each, plus shipping. Ughhh. Instead I purchased:

Nanpoku T5 LED Bulbs 74 73 37 2721 LED Bulb for Auto Car Dashboard Dash Instrument Panel Gauge Cluster Indicator Lights Lamp(White)

https://a.co/d/iYkaWnB

Modengzhe 10 Pcs T5 Twist Socket Car Dashboard Wiring Harness, Panel Cluster Plug LED Bulb Wedge Light Base Cable for Automobiles

https://a.co/d/6odHE1I

And a pack of little spade connectors:

Glarks 315Pcs Quick Splice 2.8mm 4.8mm 6.3mm Male and Female Wire Spade Connector Wire Crimp Terminal Block with Insulating Sleeve Assortment Kit

https://a.co/d/cjd4YdC

Total cost, presumably less than two bulbs and shipping. Crimped the male spades on the end of each wire and trimmed the tiny twist lock nub off the black connector off with a dremel.

They fit nice and they are perfectly bright and even dim…

Now I have an extra eight setups….
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‘87 2WD 2.1L Westy
‘87 2WD 1.7L Diesel Doka (euro spec)

[jlrftype7]

[vanis13]

[pbrown]

I installed a drivers side A-pillar grab handle. I've wanted to do this for a while. I upgraded to the Syncro Times aluminum handles and found some original plastic bases and screws. I don't trust 3d printed parts in this application.
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Patrick Brown

1986 Westy Syncro EJ25
Flickr --> https://flic.kr/s/aHsmQNUXEF

[pbrown]

I installed a drivers side A-pillar grab handle. I've wanted to do this for a while. I upgraded to the Syncro Times aluminum handles and found some original plastic bases and screws. I don't trust 3d printed parts in this application.
_________________
Patrick Brown

1986 Westy Syncro EJ25
Flickr --> https://flic.kr/s/aHsmQNUXEF

[RicMcK]

De rusted behind front bumper, with Rust-Mort, then 2 coats of POR 15 (note POR 15 not a good choice for winter in Seattle - humidity too high - caused little bubbles). Thus, the sanded them down and painted the area with truck bed paint. Removed the kitchen sliding window to do some minor rust removal. Cleaned everything up applied RUST-MORT, filled little hole with a little bit of J-B Weld, then, POR15, and air brushed some top coat.

Putting in the window was a bit of a PITA. But I got it in.

Did temporarily rust repair of the left rocker panel (will replace next winter).

Removed luggage rack to repaint a few spots and add hose washer screens in the drains.

Removed dash and heater box to lube wipers, added check valves and 3 jet nozzels. Silicone the washer tank inlet seal. Cleaned up some wiring. Added anaerobic sealer to the master cylinder reservoir seals that were leaking.

DE-rusted the bottom of the sliding door with Rust-Mort and truck bed paint. Painted the left rocker panel, bumpers, mirrors and lower grill, with Wesco bumper black rattle can paint.

R&R Left Rear Wheel Bearings.

Repaired both fiberglass bumpers (separate post).
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Rick McK
Seattle
89 Westfalia-2.2L WBX "VINNY"
2006 TDI Jetta
1936 Ford Pick up
70 tin top, 700k mi when sold in 91
58 split window (first car)
58 split window bug - long gone.

[bobbyblack]

Did a bit of a tune up on my daily driver. Odo sitting at 352,388 miles. Plugs, cap, rotor and air filter.

Notes: #1 was (always has been) hard to loosen, felt tight in the bore most of the threads. #2, "normal" feeling. #3 felt as if it hadn't been fully tightened on install, even though I know I properly installed it last time, plus by the look of it, its oiled up, not sure on why. #4, easy out and in, and the best feel of "bottoming out" on install.
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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

[fxr]

Opened up and cleaned up the unobtanium '84 and upwards hazard switch 171953235A. All very straightforward, but look out for the two tiny springs when the switch first flies open!
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Jim Crowther
1984 1.9l EJ22 Westy Wolfsburg Edition
Vespa GTS 300

[fishgo]

[AlfromNH]

Installed 1/2 of the gowesty big brake kit. Seems like a good quality, well designed kit, instructions could stand to be more detailed I think.

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‘88 2wd Auto Westy project

[RicMcK]

My fiberglass rear bumper was in two pieces (cracked when I got the van) , and the front one needed painting.
Then the rear one broke in two pieces at the right mount. Following the advice of Dave - djkeev. Thank you Dave for advice on this. I repaired it.

Started by super gluing it together, doing my best to keep the proper shape. Then laid up 4-6 plys of fiberglass tape and epoxy (had some left over from building a stich and glue kayak), on the inside at the main crack and around both mounting points. I applied some plastic film and tape to the outside as dams. This worked great as it filled most of the holes on the outside flush. Made some chopped glass resin to repair and reinforce the mounts.

A little bit of bondo, lots of sanding to get things looking good. Test fit on van to locate the right bottom mounting hole. I was amazed that it aligned "good enough for me", had to enlarge the mounting holes on the Rt side a little bit to get the height equal. After test fitting, on to the primer, wet sanding, spot putty, primer & top coat (Westco trim / bumper rattle can paint like the SEM brand ).

The front bumper was much easier. Just a few dings to fill then paint.

In total I painted the bumpers, lower spoiler, mirrors, front door covers, wiper arms, and grills. It's amazing what I little paint does it spruce it up a bit.

Next winter will be be the big job of a full paint job. Including new rocker panels.

_________________
Rick McK
Seattle
89 Westfalia-2.2L WBX "VINNY"
2006 TDI Jetta
1936 Ford Pick up
70 tin top, 700k mi when sold in 91
58 split window (first car)
58 split window bug - long gone.

[Icebox500]

Does it count if my wife did it?

I wanted one of those tool pouches to hang on the back of the Westy cabinet at the rear hatch. I didn’t want leather and I didn’t want to make my tools fit into someone else’s vision. Yeah, I’m that guy.

So… we went to Joan’s and got a heavy duty vinyl material, some Velcro and a bunch of of zippers. After a bit of trial and error, we ended up with V1 of our tool solution. Still lots of room left for us to add another bag or so or other things we want to Velcro on. Each bag has a strip of Velcro on it so I can apply some labels like “wrenches” “screwdrivers” etc… I just need to make those now…

The unit is mounted onto the cabinet with stick on Velcro tape.

_________________
87 Westy 2WD “Van Geaux”
2.2 Rebuilt WB
AZ Transaxle + Peloquin Manual Transmission
GW lift springs, solar, Burley front disc, etc...

New Orleans, LA (previously CO, WA, and CA)

Past
87, 90 Westys
64, 65 splittys + various air cooled