1983 Vanagon L: mine after 23-year nap

[ghiafreek]

Just picked up an 83 vanagon. Owner says it something was up with the transmission when he parked it. Other than that was running fine according to him. I'm in need of a comprehensive list of what to do before attempting to start it.

[danfromsyr]

BEFORE YOU EVEN TRY TO FIRE IT UP.
#1 fuel injection pressure rated SAE30R9 fuel lines.. and well quite likely a new fuel tank after all that sitting..

the trans could be just an issue with the linkage bushings..

or a new transmission, but they're not unreasonably expensive and should return another 23years of service.
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[DanHoug]

yup. tow it home and work on the fuel system before putting a battery in it.

-just make your life easy and order a fuel tank, the existing one will be full of stinky varnish and possibly rust and make your life miserable.

- while replacing the tank, order the cross over line grommet kit and install that. don't forget the overflow tank grommets too, they have to be ordered separately.

- fuel lines (30R9 as Dan said) and filter, eliminate the plastic firewall double fuel nipple and just run fuel line right to the regulator. when done, purge the fuel lines, pump, and regulator by powering the pump on and having all 3 lines from the regulator go into a waste can to purge varnish and swarf out before hooking up to the injector lines.

- a smart person might consider hooking a MityVac with a containment vessle up to each fuel injector and powering them on with 12 across the terminals. this would suck up back thru the injector 23 year old fuel. you MAY want to consider removing them, putting the nozzle in carb cleaner, and back sucking. then replace the injector rubber grommets.

- change the oil and filter before cranking engine.

- brakes may be rusted and pistons locked up. it'll sound horrible when the bus first moves but the rust may clean off if the pistons aren't stuck.

i bought a parts van that had sat for 5 years without running. the gas was coffee colored and stank like varnish. but i also bought my old Westy back from a friend that hadn't been driven for 12 years. however, the engine was started annually, stored with non-alcohol premium gas, StaBil put in the fuel tank, and stored indoors. the gas was okay and not varnishy. so. YMMV as they say.
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-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com

[Yellow Rabbit]

Mine sat for years too. Everything said so far is good advice. The tires also look to be passenger car tires. You will want proper ones before hitting the road.

The interior of that thing looks like it is super clean. That should clean up beautifully.

[Paulbeard]

As above:

Tires (so many choices: were it me, I would go with the least costly but accurately rated ones: save the fashion/posturing for later once it's running). Hankook RA08s or the moral equivalent. Nexen Roadians seem to working for me, a set of 4 was $300, installed.
Fuel lines/tank
Send injectors out to be cleaned/checked (Mr Injector has many fans here)
Battery (obvs)
Oil

And a good scrubbing/de-molding. Hoping no mice have taken residence.
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Currently -> Frida: 87 Tizian Red (mostly) Vanagon GL Westfalia w/ 2.0L ABA conversion
Formerly -> Steward of a 73 Super Beetle (Beater) and 67 Beetle 1300 (Little Max) both names by POs

[danfromsyr]

while you have the tank out, remove and inspect the OE steel coolant lines.
they like to blister and corrode thru by the rear transmission and over the fuel tank.
any blisters must be sanded down and galvanize primed. but they will likely need to be replaced with the coolant pipe replacement method of your choice (after some researching on samba).


BRAKES,
while removing and refurbishing the calipers & rotors. do not forget to replace the rubber lines, they are cheap and fail internally.

rotating parts, inspect and re-grease the front and rear bearings.
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[Vanagon Nut]

re: injectors. For the purposes of test starting the engine....

can they be "cleaned" or back flushed using a 9 volt battery and gravity bleed? Or does the cleaning agent or new fuel have to be under pressure (or vacuum) to obtain any real result?

Clean the engine bay. Have a close look at the wiring. Closely inspect wiring to starter. As much as I hate to say it, sitting in grass for such a long time might create a high risk of wire corrosion not to mention under body corrosion.

Neil.
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1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[DanHoug]

the injectors need 12v... just use the car battery or something to activate them open. the injectors have a fine wire mesh screen on the inlet. without a test jig and a new clean screen, i'd just suck backwards with the pintle placed in some Gumout spray carb cleaner you've sprayed into center well of the plastic can cap. if you don't have anything that creates vacuum, just spray into the inlet and shake it out several times. better than nothing.
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-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com

[ghiafreek]

Lots of great advice! Thanks you all. Will get right on ordering parts for it. Hear a lot about Gowesty. Great source I take it.
Surprisingly, under the van looks very clean. I don't see any rot anywhere. I'm super pumped. First bus for me newer than '67.
thanks.

[danfromsyr]

gowesty
vancafe
busdepot

might want to plan to pull the dash and chase the mice out of the heater box before you warm it up and cook the pee into the hot core..

mice also like the ceiling over the driver & passenger seats.

the water lines from the water holding tank to the sink grow some funk inside the old original tubing.. R&R those before you put any water in there.

most often the cheapest one is the most expensive.
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[Vanagon Nut]

[ghiafreek]

Just out of curiosity, I hooked up slow drip battery charger last night. Well I hooked up terminals and turned the key. dash indicator lights came and headlights with turn of the key. One thing that was weird (and maybe its usual for a westy)was a sort of hissing sound coming from the side. Sounded like it was where hookups are. What was this?

[Yellow Rabbit]

The electric fuel pump makes noise when you turn the key. It’s under the right side of the van opposite the hookups.

[ghiafreek]

[DanHoug]

fuel pumps buzz... leaking fuel lines under 35 psi hiss!!!! be very careful.
_________________
-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com

[Yellow Rabbit]

Great point.

[82westyrabbit]

Hi ghiafreek. You have lots of good advice here and certainly fuel lines are top priority. I would put oil in the cylinders before I tried to turn it over. In New England all the metal brake lines would be rotted out. Maybe not in Texas. I would want to do a full a valuation before I did to much. If the van has the usual problems of a van that has been sitting. when the tank comes out to deal with the fuel system is the time to deal with the cooling pipes and the brake lines to. You will end up buying parts from many vendors before you are done. You will find that one has some part that the others don’t. I have had good luck with all the vendors. Good luck with your project. John

[ghiafreek]

Perfect. Gonna pick up complete fuel system replacement parts and brake system first as ya'll have said. Many thanks.