My middie

[240Gordy]

Brilliant. You rock dude.
_________________
Tencentlife said,
"So, now that you know what you're doing, go to town."
2010 GOLF TRENDLINE 2.5
1985 GL now with more! a 2.1L
H&R SPORT(RED) Springs FRONT , SLAM SPECIALTIES RE6 AIRBAGS REAR

[ALIKA T3]

Woow
_________________
Silicone Steering Boots and 930 Cv boots for sale in the classifieds.
Syncro transmission upgrade parts in the Classifieds.
Subaru EJ22+UN1 5 speed transmission
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=416343
Syncro http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...num+gadget

[thummmper]

all this so this spring I can get a vanagon shop back in service--five acres will be better than the half acre of before. A roaring stream to boot.
12 days after haircut posted the get out notice on my door, I certified-mailed a 26 page end of account statement and bill--we'll see just how beastly it is--I predict it will fight me for every penny. If I had left my phone at "home" it would've made up some other false flag op to tee up--it probably already has a tenant for jan or feb lined up--whenever this happens, I am better off just that much sooner. it could just be small claims for it--
temps in the 20's make electronics do weird things==my van radio comes on by itself and none of the buttons work as of last night's freeze-- the intrepid as well--she rattles like a warm day will never see..and just now the throttle pedal stuck to the floor 200 feet from home and I had to shut her off. one more project--oh boy--like a spring came off ,maybe. absolutely clear sky and stars like crazy--the temp will drop much tonight. theres frost on everything but the roads are dry by 11 am. lucky for me.

[IdahoDoug]

You should write a book. The time is ripe.
_________________
1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader

[Aryana]

Wow. What a build.

[VeeDubWolf]

[thummmper]

now I don't have enough to buy land and build on it, so I'm going to be a structure mech at Northrop for a couple of years or more to coin up again.
sis denies we ever had a labor contract, and she is acquiescing all correspondence, which makes a great record for court.
I am in murrietta hot springs until late march resting and shagging parts for a 1958 tractor. I am prepping 2 tin tops for sale, one with a 2.2 suby and the other a nice 2.1. both 7 passengers, and theres a list.
It's nice now because I haven't even thought about last year for almost a month. sis shut off the electricity 4 days before she locked me out a day early on a notice she never registered in court, so the sheriff told me it was unenforceable. but it was so negative there I couldn't stay any longer.

My joints are almost back to normal with soaks and magnets. its scary how vanagons have gone up in 4 years, over 100%. a junker is 3k and a rebuildeable runner starts at 5k. yikes.
thanks about the middie chronicles idea--I went to a movie star autograph show last month and met kevin sorbo, [Hercules tv show] and bought his book about his strokes/ illness. It parallels my life a little in weird ways--he did too much for too long and his left arm clotted up and he got 3 mini strokes to which he still deals with today..he's a real nice guy. My buddy Rod bought a lamp/ bottle and had Barbara eden sign it. shes almost 90 now but still looks great. never been to one of those before--
I just got my other eye lense implanted so I can see really well again--and need cheaters for all the close stuff--

thanks all--------------todd

[Gruppe B]

Hey Thummmper,
Awesome that you don't let yourself get bogged down by the all the lost souls in this world. Keep on fighting man!

I love this thread by the way, every time is pops up again, I end up reading pages and pages of it again

Cheers!
Gruppe B

[VeeDubWolf]

Wow, impressive all the stuff you've weathered! I respect that ability to pull yourself up by your boot-straps like that! Good to hear your health is better in a few ways, and thanks for the update!
_________________
Two Bugs-
'70 rust-bucket sunroof sedan
'69 PO hack-job special
-Plus a wide assortment of various parts'n'junk

[thummmper]

I just read five of my last entries that really don't belong here--but the first 5 months of 2016 I snowbirded to socalifornia and healed my joints and eliminated my last property ties to that beehive.
this is where I park vanny today

and this is the 90 tintop I donated to my friend to help him get back in the car biz-- he helped me do the bodywork and I paid his rent and drove him around and meals and the movies and beer, etc. 900 for the squirt

I bought this van in 09 and did the kennedy conversion with a 2.2. last year I had him pull the trans [we] and installed the rancho .77 fourth gear and he said the bearings all looked good. what do I know? then this year we rubbed her down and painted her. I also got the ac working in hopes of selling her- my friend fred the factory vw mech asked me on the phone why we hadn't automatically replaced the main and pinion bearings--he said that's just what you do with these gearboxes--well, she developed a grinding sound that is probably the main bearing and I just flipped--I had this boat to unload as well that was a real money pit and just donated it to the cars for veterans-- and then gave the van to craig, who is driving in two of my middie viddies--and now hes mad at me for not giving him 500 bucks to fix the trans with--brain damage.....

I was sorting the ac in this photo-- but that's the boat--I made the bimini top for her with 500.00 worth of stainless frame--it fealt so good to donate her to the vets. heavy loads lifted off my shoulders.
I couldn't even donate the boat until it was sea worthy--the 8ooo dollar waterline. the redvan is worth up to 12k so it should help ol bitchen out if he can pull it out and get the trans fixed.
I have been up on old rock candy mountain since june first and digging under another old house, but its just a 20 foot section and I pour the footing this week-- the new wall is sheeted and the cats cant wander in anymore--most of the buidings on this site look like my new garage in the photo

[thummmper]

back to the van--reconfigured the headers and got them ceramic coated totaled 800.00 but it doesn't look like a bugs thorax anymore

the trans bridge and three front engine brackets got powder coated as well

[Gruppe B]

Great work!
How many miles does the middie have since the conversion?

[dhaavers]

I've said it before...you're an amazing man, man!
Keep up the great work!

- Dave
_________________
86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS>

[thummmper]

20,000 miles--I had a glitch when I pulled all the shields and brackets out to remove the manifolds--left a fuel vapor hose off a purge valve and drove around getting 16 mpg and smelling like fuel inside--It depressed me until I got back in there and found it--what a relief. I replaced the oxy sensors when they didn't need to be, but one was almost round outside and stuck. I was told the coating would lower temps by 20% in there--I moved the battery out of the engine room because it was sweating. no other issues except the front jag calipers are leaking--I suspect the rebuild kit was junky--and the dorman fuel pump assembly used a vinyl tube looping from the pump to the top of the tank and it was rock hard and bent flat, causing it to not start but on the third twist--I have a disdain for dorman parts now--she is therapy to drive--I have been to havasu city and san diego and coer d' alene Idaho and she never wavered--put centering rings on the front calipers to smooth out the bumping brakes--thanks guys--todd

[dobryan]

Beautiful exhaust!
_________________
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

[xoo00oox]

Nice to see an update on this Thump', this was always one of my favorite threads here on Samba.

Andrew-

[thummmper]

the outcome on the jaguar front caliper leaks were the banjo fittings I had machined by a local guy in Carlsbad--its difficult to keep the threaded bore and the sealing surface in a 360 degree squareness--so the copper seal washers were not touching on one side. these were relocated to avoid cutting the vanagon spindles--but there is a bleeder casting not used on the lower end that points a strait fitting inboard, which is a better solution. my rebuild seals are in good shape--all dry--

[furrylittleotter]

That exhaust looks fantastic. Nice to hear updates and a great update after all that hard work. What centering rings did you use on front? I may try some as well.

Any plans to utilize that space in the old engine bay?

I was thinking about a trunk but haven't moved forward yet.

Mine is still running great and has had only minor issues..

My Ej22 and 4eat auto trans mid engine setup can tow my 19ft Starcraft no problem...

Neil2

[thummmper]

neil, man!
great job! you are a real innovator--are your trail arms working well? this is what I like to see---my center rings are aluminum and work real well. you did it--how long have you been driving her now? awesome

[furrylittleotter]

Hey Thanks. Yes my trailing arms appear fine. I built an adaptor setup to use 2.5" coil springs which come in a greater variety.

I ended up with 400 lb springs. I also added MX6 adjustable shocks.

Here is the writeup.. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

My van is almost exactly 4000lbs now almost exactly 1000 lb per wheel. The rear arms simply weren't moving until I installed the lighter springs.

I knew altering the configuration might alter suspension performance (and I use THAT word loosely) But I never wouldve guessed how much. Made for an extremely harsh ride.

Ive been driving it over a year now. Mostly around The periphery of Seattle. Mt baker, Rainier, the Olympic Peninsula, Orcas Island.

It does quite well.

A 900+ mile range definitely does not suck.

Neil2