Welcome, Newbies!

[Jeffrey Lee]

It seems to me there are a lot of new faces around here lately.

And a lot of new-to-you Vanagons getting some much-needed lovin' and TLC.

1. I think I speak for many here when I say, Welcome! Regardless how long we might have been on the Samba, many of us have been running these rigs for 20+ years, and it's awesome to see so many newbies taking up the wrench, and saving so many vintage Vanagons from the crusher.

We're here to help, so ask away. You might get a few faster, more shallow responses on various social media groups, but you will not find a broader, deeper, more experienced bunch of smart, helpful, insightful, and generous shade tree VW mechanics than here on the Samba.

2. If you're inclined, tell us a bit about yourself and your van:

Model, year, is it Westy camper?
Back story, how you first found your van and decided to jump in
Why did you choose a Vanagon, rather than a Bus, EuroVan, Sprinter, an old RoadTrek, etc.
Do you have any previous experience working on VWs or other old cars?
What do you and/or your family hope to do with your new Vanagon? Any big trip plans?
Whatever else you want to share! Pix, if you got 'em!

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Camp Westfalia
Camping Tips • Newsletter • Cool Campervan Apparel
www.CampWestfalia.com

[floodwood]

I'll take this one.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=719761
Dagny is a Maroon 1991 Tin Top GL, with a cabinet installed by the PO who had owned Volkswagen buses & vans since the 60s and took very good care of this one, including an engine rebuild ~35k miles ago.

Looking back now I have always been enamored by the simplicity and happiness of the buses, but the passion was really sparked my last week in college when there were two bay buses parked outside my college haunt. While my soon-to be girlfriend was inside with my friends wondering where I was, they found me outside an hour later squatted behind the bus with the owner checking out the engine. After that I resolved that to get one for myself, and thus the research and hunt began, lasting two years until this spring.

Part of my inspiration for the bus has also been what I suspect is many peoples favorite book here - Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Although I am basically an automotive newbie, the book has thus far served as my blueprint for how I would like to approach my life and learn about the van.

I am an avid camper and hope to use the van to complete my 46 high peaks in the Adirondacks. However, once I feel more confident and have nurtured my mechanical abilities a bit more, the ultimate goal is the alcan & dalton highway all the way up to Prudhoe bay in the arctic circle.

2 years of lurking on thesamba has made me grateful to have stumbled on such a cool community. Looking forward to meeting many of you out there and swapping stories, parts, and adventures along the way.

Cheers, and don't be a stranger!

[E1]

Epic thread idea!

Welcome to All from us as well!
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‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[10degnorth]

My van (yet to be named) is a Bordeaux Red 1988 Wolfsburg Edition Tin-Top.
I found my van on Craigslist (don’t we all) and it’s previous owner was asking for $1500, with blown heads, not running. I had decided that I wanted a van after realizing how prominent vans had been in my life up to that point, my uncle had had a non-running Westy in his garage for as long as I could remember (now running and he wasn’t in the position to sell it) and my parents had taken me camping in their Ford econoline ever since I was a kid. My only previous expierience prior to purchasing this van was working on a 1965 Baja Bug that my father loaned me as a first car. My plan is to continue building out my van to be a capable and reliable companion on frequent camping adventures in the PNW. Over the past year or so this community has really helped me to learn and lot. This van has quickly turned into an obsession and hopefully a lifelong hobby, and maybe even a career as I prepare for college.

Thank you all.
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1984 Wolfsburg Vanagon (Current Project): https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=773912&highlight=

1988 Microsquirted, Wolfsburg Vanagon (Sold): https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=708000&highlight=

Microsquirt Conversion Guide (Work now Discontinued): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1laXykNPbRYS8MT...2imqd2pnx7

[84WestyHobbes]

I’ll jump in. 84 Westy with a 1.9. I’m a kayak instructor and do a lot of traveling for both teaching at events but also for camping/exploring, and my wife and I spend a lot of time camping each year.

For years I had thought about a camper or teardrop trailer so on trips with bad weather, I/we could still be warm and dry to sleep in, especially after being wet all day.

I’ve always loved 70’s and 80’s vw’s, and for over a year I lurked on the samba to see if a Westy could be the answer. We have a 4 year old, so having 2 beds as he grows up is key, and since we don’t have a garage something small was crucial.

I owned several motorcycles back in college and after, always worked on them, rebuilt one from the 80’s. I thought early 80’s vw was just right - some of the newer comforts but still simple enough that hopefully I could handle most repairs.

The list of places to go with it is quite long. Will be taking it easy at first, campgrounds nearby this summer. As confidence in the Westy and my abilities to read it and fix builds, we’ll get more adventurous.

This forum has been instrumental to my decision process to get it, and now diagnosing symptoms and fixing things. It just passed inspection this week so I’m psyched to be legal and ready to enjoy the summer with it.

Thank you all so much!!! Cheers

Luke

[Abscate]

Luke ..just north of you in ALB and usually driving by either onI87 .org on Amtrak

Couple of us here in the lovely Hudson valley
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.ssS!

[84WestyHobbes]

Fantastic. Will have to make my way up north for a meetup someday when I feel more confident on the road for a while. Starting small. And plenty to see up and down 87 and the Hudson. Cheers!

[Steve M.]

Good thread idea!
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This free advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.

There are seven days in a week. Someday is not one of them.

[Russpauly]

Love the idea. I will write something up this weekend and post pics too!
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1988 Wolfsburg Edition - TinTop
2.1L Watercooled
The Space man Van

[Merian]

congrats - some useful things to do or check in my sig.
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....

[MsTaboo]

Yes, welcome to the new owners! You are the people who will be keeping these great vehicles on the road for years to come.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Lots of collective experience around here and people with time on their hands willing to answer. Occasionally you'll get the tired old "do a search" from some grump (and yes, lots of good info already discussed), but fresh new approaches to problems come up all the time.

As for doing a search, best bet is to type in a main term or word in the search box and then check the "title only" box next to search. This will limit the results.

Add your vehicle model and year in your signature line, this helps to narrow down answers when asking questions.
Post pictures, lots of pictures, we all love photos and it helps when asking questions. Remember to post pics within the Samba, this helps them to last.

Don't let the banter between some of the members put you off, these are people who have been here awhile just poking fun at each other.

Most of all, get out there and enjoy!
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Currently:
'90 Syncro Westy 3 knob w/Zetec

The information age has morphed into the age of disinformation and willful ignorance. Agnotology!
Help the fight against Truth Decay.
Defend democracy, support Ukraine.

[fishgo]

I'm a newer owner since July 2018. Here's Spike, my '83 air cooled full camper with 247K miles.

I just got back from a 2000-mile run from Madison, WI to Paducah, KY to Birmingham for an off-road triathlon to Chattanooga, TN for a visit with the previous owner. Spike ran like a champ!

[Jeffrey Lee]

[PauloUK]

Hello everyone. I am Paulo from Wilmslow in the UK. Just wanted to say hi. I don’t have a car yet but I am looking for a Porsche 356 after watching Heidi and Frannys Garage. I have always loved those cars.

Paulo

[DeLvxe]

Thanks for the welcome.

I picked up my 91 Westy only a few months ago but have already put about 4,500 miles on it with my family traveling around Washington where we live as well as through Oregon and California. Why didn't I do this sooner!

Our family does a lot of backpacking and hiking as well as the occasional campground camping. We have been going to Utah nearly every year for the past several years and am looking forward to bringing the Westy down this Fall. Looking forward to using the van for these trips.

I am a devoted tinkerer but don't have a lot of experience working on vehicles. With the exception of a '66 Rambler I had on college, all of my vehicles have been too technical and cramped for me to feel comfortable working on. These vans seems to be much more workable.

Thanks again for the welcome, the insight, and the occasional snark. You all have made this so much more workable for new van owners. I can't imaging getting into this 15 years ago when you all wee still figuring this stuff out.

Pic from our first night in the van in Central Washington.

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1991 manual camper with EJ25

[Merian]

for those who "don't have a lot of experience working on vehicles" it would be nice if people could come up with a sort of Dummies Guide to Auto Repair (is there a DG?)

then you'd have to get more Vanagon specific as it has some... ah... Quirks

Even if you don't work on it yourself, a basic understanding could help with testing or note taking for which conditions cause a symptom to arise

e.g. the recent idle thread had a partial focus on the power steering affecting the idle
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....

[Paulbeard]

[handjammer]

Ok. I'll do this.

My van is an '87 Syncro tintop with a 2.2L subaru. I bought it because I wanted to use the #vanlife hashtag to get more followers on Instagram. That was a joke.

The real backstory- my wife and I are avid rock climbers and backcountry skiers, and our hobbies demand some sort of off-road capable vehicle to sleep in year round. Before the vanagon we had a Tacoma with a shell and crappy bed, then we "upgraded" to a 4WD chevy express for a few years. The Chevy van totally sucked for DIY maintenance. It was impossible to do any real road side work when things went wrong, which they inevitably did.

The truth is, I didn't want a vanagon originally. I already had two friends with vanagons (one is a syncro), so I was well-aware of the pros and cons of buying these vans. But I hemmed a hawed for a few years looking for a replacement vehicle. The options are limited. If Honda still made the AWD Element I may have gone that route. And 4WD Sprinters are too big, expensive, and not any easier to do self-maintenance than my chevy.

Eventually it was a toss-up between a newer Tacoma/Tundra + Slide-in camper, or going with a Syncro Vanagon. Despite the higher vanagon prices these days, it was still the more affordable option (and the extra "cool" factor helped a little). I don't really hang-out in my vehicles much, so the slide-in camper truck seemed like overkill and a thief magnet. Same reason I chose to save a few bucks by getting a tintop.

Even though I done more work on my syncro in one year than the all the work combined for all the vehicles I've owned for the past 15 years (!), I'm completely in love with my van and have zero regrets jumping into the vanagon wormhole.

I've already made two successful trips from Seattle to Yosemite and back, and a number of trips to the interior of British Columbia without issue.

I'll post pictures some day, but not today. I just don't like to share work-in-progress.
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'87 tintop syncro w/ EJ22

[84WestyHobbes]

[?Waldo?]

Those are the wrong kind of fuses for your '84, though. Hmmm.