Waking up a sleeping Westy

Veedoubleused · Posted: Sun Apr 01, 2007 10:57 pm Post subject: Waking up a sleeping Westy

Hello All,

So I have been watching out for the right Westfalia for a couple years now and it mysteriously appeared in my driveway the other day.

What I have is an 84 with 175000 miles on the clock. I picked it up from a guy who had been storing it for a relative who evaporated into the wilds of Africa about 4 years ago with only sporadic contact since. Therefore, I dont have any real history. It has obviously been taken care of. New shocks,brakes,fuel tank,canvas,rubber. Or at least 4 years old new. As far as I can tell it was fixed around 2003 and then driven to Ontario from the west coast. There was a receipt for an engine rebuild to the tune of $3,300 or so dated 2003 with no mileage recorded. The guy I bought it from said that it had died and had to be towed to his yard where it has sat since.

I have had a bunch if VWs in the past and have an 81 vanagon now so I am reasonably familiar but I have never had one of these. ITS GOT HEAT. Dancing

My question is can anyone tell me or point me to a source where I can figure out the right things and the right sequence of things to do to put this sweet bit of engineering back on the road. I was about to dive in but then I remembered how much I hate doing things again the right way this time.

This is my first post and I have to say what a tremendous resource this site is but I guess you all know that.

Cheers

msinabottle

If you want to follow my Odyssey with Winston (which leads through me installing an Odyssey IN Winston), you could start here:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/search.php?search_author=msinabottle

And avoid making the same mistakes I did! Fuel hoses first, ALL fluids second, and then prioritize.

Best!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

Veedoubleused · Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 2:39 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the reply ms. I finally found the thread I was looking for when I searched for "best vanagon manual".

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=219830&highlight=vanagon+manual

I was poking around today and noticed a bundle of grounding wires that run from the ecu I think (that expensive looking box in the rear left of the engine compartment) to the engine just above the left side head. They were all melted. Should I expect a complete electrical meltdown.

klucz · Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 3:03 pm Post subject:

Well, congrats on the buy, hope it was cheap. Any pics? The art of wasserboxing...here's some links for the cooling system.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=198457
http://www.vanagain.com/19lchc.htm
http://www.loam.org/vw/Vanagon/VWtoNapaHoses/

Veedoubleused · Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 3:58 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the links. I have a feeling that I will soon be very familiar with the cooling system. She was $500 metric dollars. I will post a few pics as soon as i figure out how to do it.

msinabottle · Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:40 pm Post subject: Oddly....

And today a Ford F-250 smashed a Honda Odyssey INTO Winston.

Shocked

He's all right, as am I. Need a new rear bumper, though.

Best!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence."

klucz · Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 10:41 pm Post subject:

Veedoubleused · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 6:46 am Post subject:

Here she is

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

and the burnt wires

Wildthings · Samba Member Joined: March 13, 2005 Posts: 50351

Melted grounds are not a common problem on these rigs. I wonder if in a previous life this engine was badly overheated? You should concider contacting a western wrecking yard and buying a complete engine wiring harness, wouldn't take long to replace the whole sheebang. People frequently mention Karl as a source of good used parts.

fatboypaul · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 7:18 pm Post subject:

Well done , nice van, great price................... the front grilles aren't correct and I'm just the guy to send them to in exchange for the correct grilles.
(Everybody else be quiet, hopefully Veedoubleused doesn't realise that he has the very desirable SA upgrades.)

Goodluck, Paul.

Veedoubleused · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:08 pm Post subject:

Well strip my gears and leave me shiftless thats just down right neighbourly of ya Paul. They told me I would find lots of helpful people here.

klucz · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:47 pm Post subject:

Nice looking rig, man. 4spd? Are you thinking to rebuild it yourself?

Veedoubleused · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:26 pm Post subject:

Yes its a 4 speed and aint she sweet. I am still chuckling every time I look at her.

I hope to do what I can which should be most of it. This creates the challenge of getting my patience into proportionate alignment with my laziness but this is such a great find that my enthusiasm is picking up speed.

tencentlife · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:28 pm Post subject:

The engine was rebuilt 4 years ago and it looks like that? I'm skeptical.

Real nice looking ride, though. Love those SA lights.

Doing the whole rear harness would be smart.

levi · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:34 pm Post subject:

Hmmmm....
SA grills, alloys, looks like it used to have a Thule rack, wonder what else ya got in there?
NOT worth 500 tho, look...it's missing the front left bumper strip! Rolling Eyes

Sheesh...

bigdood · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 9:55 pm Post subject:

"NOT worth 500 tho, look...it's missing the front left bumper strip! "

LOL Laughing

_________________
**http://nitsuj.tumblr.com**

"We should all be having more fun. A lot more of the time. " -Randy in Maine

Veedoubleused · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:17 pm Post subject:

I only mention the rebuild because of the receipt so I am skeptical too but someone put a bunch of money into it not long ago. It did have a roof rack and bull bars and a big heavy rack on the back door (that bent it) and a really nice solar panel mounted on the roof. All of these were understandably removed but with a careless approach. There are some nasty holes in the front fiberglass. The fuel pump and driver mirror are missing radio and speakers stolen. The coolant tank was empty but the overflow was full with fresh looking green antifreeze. I added water to the tank and it eventually leaked out of what looked like a small broken plug on top of the rear seat heater. The coolant tanks look like shit inside and the gas is way bad. The bolts on the exhaust header that you can just see above are lose and the gasket half out. So I know I got some work ahead I am just trying to absorb it a little. First thing I need is good manual and a sequence of events.

klucz · Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 11:50 pm Post subject:

The plastic bleeder valve in the rear heater cracks easily. If the PO didn't notice the temp gauge / idiot light (or the smell of coolant) and kept driving, then like Wildthings mentioned above that's probably why those wires are melted...and the motor may be cooked. Here's the manual you'll probably want (you might be able to find one for $25-30 used of fleapay, though).
http://cgi.ebay.com/Volkswagen-Vanagon-Official-Fa...dZViewItem

Veedoubleused · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 12:13 am Post subject:

Whats this about?http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=437539

tencentlife · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 8:44 am Post subject:

So nice that it's free. But S&H on a CD costs what, a whole dollar? For $25 I could send a hundred CD's to Uzbekistan.

Might be worth having as an archive, but give me a good old-fashioned book anytime. Computers are a way-too-slow way to access information compared to a hard copy. And I can't sketch and take notes and write down part numbers next to their pictures on a CD-ROM. That's why real books will never leave us, thank god.


Hello! Log in or Register \| Help \| Donate \| Buy Shirts	See all banner ads \| Advertise on TheSamba.com

	Forum Index -> Vanagon	All times are Mountain Standard Time/Pacific Daylight Savings Time Page: 1, 2 Next
Page 1 of 2