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Abscate Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014 Posts: 22568 Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 9:42 am Post subject: Re: The mania deepens: 1991 Full Westy rescue |
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Easy to fab. Pm me where you are in Philly, I could always use a crash pad in exchange for AC work. I need someone help me export good quality Volvo’s from PA too
_________________ .ssS! |
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khughes Samba Member
Joined: July 13, 2013 Posts: 736 Location: Phoenix AZ
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Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 12:10 pm Post subject: Re: The mania deepens: 1991 Full Westy rescue |
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dabaron wrote: |
campism wrote: |
dabaron wrote: |
... i stepped on the ac drip tray broke it. |
I told you to strap it into place! |
it was in the pile of stuff to be cleaned, it had dead mice in it. it fell and i wasn't watching where i was walking... i have all the pieces. maybe i can save it. maybe someone out there has one they don't need
it's cold out there and my tiny garage is stuffed full. time to get organized |
Pretty certain all that A/C stuff is ABS. It was in the late model I installed in my '86. Easy to repair with ABS cement or plastic welder - I used both to very good effect fixing cracks in my stuff (like the bracket for the fans). _________________ '86 Westy FAS GenV Turbo (Marvin) |
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dabaron Samba Member
Joined: June 21, 2018 Posts: 2558 Location: Philly, mang
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Posted: Mon Feb 17, 2020 6:18 am Post subject: Re: The mania deepens: 1991 Full Westy rescue |
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had some great weather Sunday and spent about 4 hours working on the Westy.
i spent about an hour cleaning up a layer of dried mud from under the rear heater to the driver side wall. the source of the mud has to be the lack of a seal around the water tank drain. the factory part is NLA. any suggests on a seal to use to keep the dirt and mice out?
once i had all the caked mud cleaned up, i turned my attention to the rust by the battery box at the sliding door. it's a bit worse than i thought, but it's not rusted hole thru the floor, yet. i chipped away all the rot and hit it with the wire brush and treated it with rust converter. i'll need to pickup a grommet for that hole after i rattle can a top coat on.
while i was poking around the B pillar, i found this. well, this is what it looks like after i hit it with a screw driver and the shop vac. i treated it with the rust converter and will be applying some foil tape over it to keep the water from collecting in there. yippie, the full experience!
speaking of the full experience, the duct tape and silicone fixer really did a number on the engine hatch seal. instead of buying a replacement for 25 bucks and doing it right, gobs of goo were applied instead. so fun to remove.
with the closet out of the way i found some more rust. more wire brushing and treatment with rust converter.
i want to have the wallpaper painted and the subfloor in place this week so i can put the Westy components back in as i clean them. it's kind of hard to believe how much stuff fits in the chassis, my garage is full!
this is the flooring i picked, a little bit lighter then the factory color, but it was inexpensive and is durable. _________________ 1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic
"burnin oil and cookin coils" -- Destructo
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dabaron Samba Member
Joined: June 21, 2018 Posts: 2558 Location: Philly, mang
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Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2020 11:05 am Post subject: Re: The mania deepens: 1991 Full Westy rescue |
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not much happening other than cleaning and who wants to see pictures of that?
well ok. here are the before shots of the cabinet. i used dilulted SimpleGreen and a scrub brush on the vinyl coated surfaces and the melomine foam pad on the laminate and rubber.
the after photos seemed to have failed to upload, i'll try again when i get home. _________________ 1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic
"burnin oil and cookin coils" -- Destructo
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dabaron Samba Member
Joined: June 21, 2018 Posts: 2558 Location: Philly, mang
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Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2020 3:33 pm Post subject: Re: The mania deepens: 1991 Full Westy rescue |
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here are the after pictures... it came out really well. i pulled the vinyl from the bottom shelf, it was chewed up and very gross. i'm going to put a piece of the flooring down in its place.
i had to do some gluing, and it came out nice. the wood was de-laminating and the glue got that all sorted.
this is a test of the spray i picked up. it's a bit brighter, but i think it works well with the grays in the bus. _________________ 1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic
"burnin oil and cookin coils" -- Destructo
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dabaron Samba Member
Joined: June 21, 2018 Posts: 2558 Location: Philly, mang
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Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2020 4:48 pm Post subject: Re: The mania deepens: 1991 Full Westy rescue |
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it's coming up on decision time for the engine. i made the mistake of crawling around under the engine this afternoon.
both sides look like this. not terrible, but the pile of sludge on the lawn, well, that's not cool. i ran it twice for less then 5 minutes total and apparently this thing is leaking like the titanic.
oh goodie, a welded muffler to the welded brackets. _________________ 1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic
"burnin oil and cookin coils" -- Destructo
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Zeitgeist 13 Samba Member
Joined: March 05, 2009 Posts: 12103 Location: Port Manteau
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Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2020 5:12 pm Post subject: Re: The mania deepens: 1991 Full Westy rescue |
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dabaron wrote: |
this is the flooring i picked, a little bit lighter then the factory color, but it was inexpensive and is durable. |
Where did you find this material? _________________ Casey--
'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik? |
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Eric_Taylor Samba Member
Joined: January 21, 2011 Posts: 291 Location: Bend, Oregon
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Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2020 6:13 pm Post subject: Re: The mania deepens: 1991 Full Westy rescue |
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This is quickly becoming my favorite thread right now. I feel like there haven't been a ton of DIY documented stock late model westy rescues, I might be wrong, but it's a sense.
Thoughts on the motor if it's a tear down? Rebuild?
Since you mentioned you're putting the interior back in, are you going to just let the body work be for a while and just get this thing going? That would be tempting to me. It looks solid "enough" to use if the interior/mechanical were up to snuff. Could be a fun way to get motivated about saving the body. |
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4Gears4Tires Samba Member
Joined: October 08, 2018 Posts: 2982 Location: MD
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Posted: Mon Feb 24, 2020 7:06 pm Post subject: Re: The mania deepens: 1991 Full Westy rescue |
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Zeitgeist 13 wrote: |
dabaron wrote: |
this is the flooring i picked, a little bit lighter then the factory color, but it was inexpensive and is durable. |
Where did you find this material? |
Online. Search for coin pattern rubber mat.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ader-1-8in-Solid-Rubber-M...GuW8LWMRwg _________________ '87 Syncro
Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition |
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dabaron Samba Member
Joined: June 21, 2018 Posts: 2558 Location: Philly, mang
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dabaron Samba Member
Joined: June 21, 2018 Posts: 2558 Location: Philly, mang
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Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 6:35 am Post subject: Re: The mania deepens: 1991 Full Westy rescue |
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Eric_Taylor wrote: |
Thoughts on the motor if it's a tear down? Rebuild?
Since you mentioned you're putting the interior back in, are you going to just let the body work be for a while and just get this thing going? |
my goal for 2020 is to recondition the interior, make it mechanically sound, and go camping. the exterior will be a bit rough, i'll do what i can to delay the decay and then address it in 2021.
the Westy's engine runs, but it pours coolant from both heads. i have not run any tests on the engine, but given the mileage and the leaking head seals, i think a full rebuild is warranted. to get the Westy up and running as soon as possible i was going to swap in the tin top's 2.1 that i rebuilt last year. that is problematic since i don't have the space to pull the engines at the same time. i might be able to borrow a neighbor's parking pad for a few days... _________________ 1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic
"burnin oil and cookin coils" -- Destructo
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dobryan Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006 Posts: 16473 Location: Brookeville, MD
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dabaron Samba Member
Joined: June 21, 2018 Posts: 2558 Location: Philly, mang
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Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 8:02 am Post subject: Re: The mania deepens: 1991 Full Westy rescue |
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dobryan wrote: |
How bad is the pouring? If not too bad and you want to try an experiment you can throw in a couple bottles of that Subaru treatment and see if it helps at all. |
i am going to confirm the torque of the head stud nuts and go from there. it's a bit like niagara falls on the driver's side when the engine is running. _________________ 1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic
"burnin oil and cookin coils" -- Destructo
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markswagen Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2018 Posts: 952 Location: san diego
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Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 8:29 am Post subject: Re: The mania deepens: 1991 Full Westy rescue |
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Pull the head nuts one at a time, clean them and the surface the snug up to, add sealant and re torque, I was recommended to try it for the same issue, it solved that issue. _________________ markswagen {mobile mechanic} san diego area all early VW's cared for.
619 201 0310 |
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colbysmith28 Samba Member
Joined: February 12, 2018 Posts: 54 Location: Sacramento
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Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2020 10:50 am Post subject: Re: The mania deepens: 1991 Full Westy rescue |
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I'm currently redoing my cabinets one by one and refinishing everything, the wood itself is in good shape but the contact paper that was installed is less than ideal. What I decided to do was use a heat gun, remove all the contact paper, paint the cabinets with a killz primer (prevent mold/mildew) and finish it off with a nice light gray. Added some nice 12v rv lights to the headache cabinet(I don't have AC) and 1 in the closet. If you'd like you can check out my vans instagram page for pics (@Harrietthevanagon) |
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simd0ggie Samba Member
Joined: April 24, 2008 Posts: 418 Location: Chincoteague, VA
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Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 10:19 am Post subject: Re: The mania deepens: 1991 Full Westy rescue |
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Looks like you're making plenty of progress pal, can't wait to see this thing this summer. _________________ -Matt
'85 Westfalia w/EJ25, '14 Tiguan R-Line 4 Motion
"There are two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery.” |
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dabaron Samba Member
Joined: June 21, 2018 Posts: 2558 Location: Philly, mang
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Posted: Fri Feb 28, 2020 12:24 pm Post subject: Re: The mania deepens: 1991 Full Westy rescue |
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simd0ggie wrote: |
Looks like you're making plenty of progress pal, can't wait to see this thing this summer. |
it will all start coming together quickly, just waiting for a warm day to mask and paint the vinyl "wallpaper" - the test came out very well. _________________ 1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic
"burnin oil and cookin coils" -- Destructo
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dabaron Samba Member
Joined: June 21, 2018 Posts: 2558 Location: Philly, mang
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2020 9:29 am Post subject: Re: The mania deepens: 1991 Full Westy rescue |
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took advantage of the nice weather yesterday to do some planning and a little bit of work on the Westy.
laid out the old flooring to plan out my cuts and where i will need to drill holes. i'm going to remove the rear heater to gain storage space. winter camping heating will be from a catalytic heater.
the top is the factory "wallpaper" dingy color and the bottom has been sprayed with the SEM Color Coat Super White (15103). i had planned on only doing the cards and area around the windows, but i think i'll have to do the headliner over the front seats and the top bunk as well, but i might do them in a gray color.
making progress, the floor and wallpaper should be finished this weekend. _________________ 1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic
"burnin oil and cookin coils" -- Destructo
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bobbyblack Samba Member
Joined: May 21, 2015 Posts: 4332 Location: United States, Iowa
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Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2020 10:26 am Post subject: Re: The mania deepens: 1991 Full Westy rescue |
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I dig the background of that last pic with the TinTop stuffed to the gills with bikes and other stuff, makes me chuckle! Its all going good, keep it up!!!
-bobby _________________ '87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch |
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dabaron Samba Member
Joined: June 21, 2018 Posts: 2558 Location: Philly, mang
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Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2020 7:50 am Post subject: Re: The mania deepens: 1991 Full Westy rescue |
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the problem with really nice weather? it's difficult to "waste" it working on the Vanagon... but between doing fun stuff in the sun, i managed to make some more progress.
spent almost 4 hours on the Westy, most of that was on the kitchen unit.
it was pretty gross. this was after dismantling it and giving it a first cleaning. nylon brush in the drill and diluted Simple Green are magic.
the tin top stereo was providing the jams while i toiled in the muck.
WAY better, wow. still have to address the shelves, lid, and stove/sink, but it's a start.
Sunday i attacked the rust inside the rear panel that has rotted out the seam above the rear wheel. wire brush, shop vac, rust convertor and then a top coat of rustoleum... not a fix, just a stop gap until i am in a position to fix it correctly.
after wire brushing the loose and flaking rust away and hitting it with the converter, out came the foil tape... there were several pinholes that needed sealed up to keep moisture from coming into the void.
and i installed the license plate. _________________ 1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic
"burnin oil and cookin coils" -- Destructo
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