What did YOU do to your van today?

[16CVs]

Spent some time on my Tristar today. My Monkey Mechanics looked past my Freshly powder coated skid bar and engine hanger and put my old crappy stuff back on.
I also went through it and installed a bunch of washers and put some some shorter bolts in place of longer ones and gave it a General look over. I've seen quite a few mechanics and hobbyists alike that install hardware with no washers, WTF.
My ol man taught me proper hardware etiquette, he has a big wooden box he made, full of old hardware and was always digging through it. I just go to the hardware store and buy 100 of each and save my time digging.
Changing the bar and installing the skid plate were about a 3 hr Project. 350 miles on my DJ and just loving it. My 2.2 subie has nothing on this thing except 4 vales per cylinder and over cam and Distributorless ign. Still a contender, This power a Syncro with huge 16" wheels and a constangt load of tools.
Almost 386000 miles. Keeping this one all VW.

Stacy
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1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread.

[Mellow Yellow 74]

I cleaned, lubed and adjusted my rear brakes today - made a huge difference, I am not convinced the auto adjusters work
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1962 Karmann Ghia
1974 Deluxe Microbus
1985 Caravelle (Vanagon)

[Michael4104]

[bobbyblack]

[llilibel03]

I bought a cubby door and added it to the back. Now I can get to the cabinet when the back is loaded.

ps I painted the door to match. It was previously wood grained. I could buy the later model trim, but it would cost $38 with shipping. I figure only a vanagon maniac will notice the difference.

I bought some inside trim. Rather than spend $30 for the slot cutter router bit I knifed, then rasped, then dremeled the slot. I had previously cut the lip of the trim to be shorter. This was the most time consuming of the whole process.

I had to improvise the latch.

Previously I removed the back table and moved the front table's attachment point. Now I can have the table AND open the cabinet.

These two mods make the rear cabinets much more accessible when the van is fully loaded. On e more to do- under the bench. Happy camper!
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87 syncro tintop
90 gl tin top
85 westy 2.0 tiico automatic (present)

[randolph57]

That cubby door mod is the one improvement I might contemplate to the original furniture-Excellent

[bobbyblack]

While waiting for my Insurance Agent appointment (yearly visit on why my bill keeps going up, when I've not had any accidents, or claims) I was buggared by the speakers coming and going, and the 'coin tray' being too full to open/close. So I pulled it out of the dash, fiddled with the wires until I got all speakers back to solid, and tucked wire mess back into craggies..

Then I proceeded to dump out the tray, and select the bits and pieces from the coins left (mostly) by the PO... Didn't count the money, but this picture of other stuff has some interesting bits.

BTW... does $1450/yr seem exorbitant for 4 vehicles, 3 of which are Liability only?

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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

[Zeitgeist 13]

I had some extruded aluminum channel and lens cover left over from our kitchen remodel, so I used them to create an LED license illuminator.

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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[bobbyblack]

Hung the ej22 in Cosmo the BlueBird of Happiness. More holes to go, but it's off the stands!

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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

[16CVs]

It's a european high compression DJ engine, puts out 112HP vs the stock 95 HP. Originally it ran Modified Digijet injection but it runs a Digifant system now.
If you look in my Gallery you can see a picture of the 16" Atiwe wheels mounted on the truck.

Stacy
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread.

[bobbyblack]

[16CVs]

No secrets here.

A true DJ is the same as a MV except for high Compression pistons. No Catalytic converter or Oxygen sensor. Uses a Digijet injection sytem except that the Distributor stands alone and uses a Idle air Control valve and an Idle air control relay like a MV. The MV IAC valves are either B or D and the DJ uses an A or C.
I would not run any aftermarket exhaust system. Every one I've seen leak and rattle, not worth the extra HP it may give you. I have seen more than a few removed and stock systems put back on.
My DJ runs strong and has a PERFECT idle. It was built by a local Machinist here in town, He has a proper cam ground for him, mine had a bug cam in it. It was not cheap or quick. He painstakingly checked everything. Did a 3 angle valve job to my Kolbenschmidt / AMC heads as well as new sodium filled exhaust valves. This had been a quickie rebuild before and suffered from bad oil pressure which was blamed on a bad Printed circuit or a faulty switch and then a bad oil pump which was undersized.
I think that a set of AA 2.2 Pistons will give you the same bang for your buck. The secret is in the quality of the build and attention to detail. I've gone through it and replaced the Throttle body as well as a NEW OE IACV as well as rebuilt IACR as well as the vacuum lines from the vent tower to Throttle body and air cleaner as well as a new Boot and repalcement harness. So those parts coupled with a proper rebuild is Tits on a ritz. If you were closer you'd be more then welocome to come and drive it.
It gives me a big sile when I drive it.

Stacy
e
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread.

[Make America Vanagon]

First off, Zeitgeist 13, two very good mods that I need to add to my list of "What to Tinker With Next." Thank you.

I snapped a piece off my shifter's assembly a few weeks ago which made the original shift knob useless. My $15 eBay shift knob came the other day. Installed in a few minutes. Works really good, just gets really hot in this California sun.

[ELO78]

[Zeitgeist 13]

[Make America Vanagon]

[NSPeters92]

Installed a front passenger swivel seat adapter. Ordered it from Bus Depot, was pretty straightforward install, and definitely adds a ton more useable space in back! Pretty stoked [/img]

[JCTahoe]

Got it ready to sell........
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84 Westy - Jean Claude Damn Van

VW's from my past:
72 Bay
79 Campmobile
81 Vanagon

[elizer]

replaced alternator and ps belts. They were definitely on their last legs. I was surprised at how easy it was.

[Steve Arndt]

Found my alternator bracket mounting studs sheared off below flush with the engine case. Spent many hours trying to extract them. Cruds.
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Steve
Steve's 87 Syncro project