Marzivan- 1995 EVC journal

[mikemtnbike]

Thank you! While I post to this thread mostly for “selfish” journaling reasons, I do hope that I show how fun and reliable these vans can be if you get one in decent shape and have either some DIY competence or a good local shop.

I lived in Flagstaff from 1994-1997; the southwest has it’s own amazingness; Chiracahua is one of my favorite places ever.
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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[mikemtnbike]

Been on a few nice close to home trips this spring- North Mills River campground

and Hot Springs for an organized gravel ride, no pics. Both great times.

Posting live from 3 nights at Hickory Knob State Park near McCormick South Carolina now. Nice park , trails, great site on lake, and going to play golf later today of all things- first time in 25 or so years, was on the golf team in high school so should be funny.

Cooked dinner for 4 adults last night using 4 pots, loved having the inside stove, corn on the cob and roasted vegetables in an omnia oven.

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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[mikemtnbike]

Bandits roost campground near Wilkesboro. Booked it in a flurry of reservations I made during Helene recovery when I needed something to look forward too, wasn’t paying any attention to it being a holiday weekend so only through Sunday. Been in this spot before, has a great view and lake access, so lots of chilling, some paddle boarding and mountain biking. Really peaceful weekend.

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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[IdeaNerd]

Nice!

You are making me feel envious. Not nearly enough camping time this past few years.

Thanks for sharing!

[mikemtnbike]

Camped with some friends at Wolf Ford last weekend, a primitive campground billed for equestrian use but available to everyone. It’s cheap and we reserved all the sites for the weekend so we had the whole place to ourselves. Soooo much fun was had.

No van pics but here’s some neat shots of double trouble danger noodles seen on a stupendous mountain bike ride from camp.

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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[mikemtnbike]

3 nights at Kuykendall group campsite near Brevard NC. Cast of 15-20 characters throughout the holiday weekend, some of my oldest friends and some new ones. PERFECT rain free summer weekend with great food, music, swimming holes, bike rides, and debauchery.

Huge field for camping.

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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[mikemtnbike]

Just posting a few simple updates. Two camping trips since last update no pictures of either. First was at a friend’s AMAZING 80 acre property in Nantahala national forest on Lake Fontana across from Great Smokies. The property is even nicer than that sentence makes it sound, went with a bunch of friends and acted silly together. Since this a journal, reminding myself to be grateful for these experiences.

Second was three nights at Davidson River campground mid-week, great time , part of a staycation this year after we bled money recovering from Helene (live in Asheville).

Finally, the only van project was painting my wheels after we finally lost a wheel cover. Quick dirty real time driveway photo, I think they look great.

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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[HeyCrutch]

[mikemtnbike]

The process was-

1) Remove wheel. Scrub all the metal with 00 grade steel wool.
2) Clean the crap out of the wheel with simple green, rinse well. Let it dry in the sun for a while, then blow dry with compressed air until 100% dry.
3) Mask off most of the tire and the valve stem, but don't worry about getting right up against the rim because...
4) Wedge overlapping playing cards between the rim and tire to act as paint shield, thanks interwebs.
5) Spray with whatever high fill primer I bought at Advance Auto Parts x2.
6) Spray witih gloss black wheel paint from Advance x3.
7) The hub caps are for new beetle and glued on. They are the perfect outside diameter, but the inside diameter/mounts were too big, so I cut them off and glued that crap on. We'll see how that goes.
8 ) I also bought new lug bolts.

I had to re do one wheel because when I was trying to squeeze the last juice out of one of the spray cans it sprayed a bunch of heavy drops of paint and I couldn't handle those runs/drops. Otherwise, this all went really smoothly.
_________________
1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual