What's the weirdest/ grossest/ coolest thing you've found...

[RBEmerson]

[RBEmerson]

Found between the block and firewall...

At the time, the other engine grounds were toast, meaning the full charging return was through this miserable excuse for a ground wire (note burned end...). The only thing that saved the Westy was the battery ground was so poor it acted as a current limiter.
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Lord, give me coffee to change the things I can change, and wine to accept the things I can't change.

[MootPoint]

Glad to see some XKCD fans here.

Not a decaying raccoon but when I was in college back in the late 60s, a fellow in the dorm offered me a ride into to town in his Splitty. The entire back was filled with a mountain of trash, pretty much up to the windows (come to think of it, it looked a lot like his dorm room). I opened the door, grabbed the panic bar and was about to hop into the passenger side when I saw a mess of...something…there in the middle of the seat.

The guy saw the look on my face and said (and I quote), "Don't worry. It's only a taco." He picked it up and tossed it into the back with everything else. Just then, I suddenly remembered that I needed to get something from my room and hey, no problem, I'll catch a ride with someone later.

Thinking back on it now, I feel bad for van.
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1984 Westy with tencentlife power!

[mrcool]

Lots and lots of black widows. I hate black widows...

[RBEmerson]

That's OK, they hate you, too.

Haters gotta hate and all that...
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Lord, give me coffee to change the things I can change, and wine to accept the things I can't change.

[mrcool]

Haha I'm sure they do! They can probably feel the ground shake when I step on their brothers.

One dropped right next to my head when I was messing around with the transmission. Not cool...

[msinabottle]

[RBEmerson]

Now for the really scary part... This past weekend, at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Arlo Guthry did the 50th anniversary performance of Alice's Restaurant.
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Lord, give me coffee to change the things I can change, and wine to accept the things I can't change.

[mikemtnbike]

The window sticker thread made me think of this thread and the coolest thing I found in my van. Wedged behind the glove box, the warranty book showing 1992 purchase and regular service inspections through 2000 at the original dealer.

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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[erste]

[campism]

Not my van. On my way to work one day I spotted a van on a lot so decided to go back at lunch to see it. The lady unlocked it for me and watched for a few minutes while I checked it out and then told me to bring the key back to her when I was done. She was about halfway across the lot when I called out to her, "Did any of you look under the back seat?" I'd have liked to look through everything but had to get back to work.

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'87 Westy in Wolfram Grey Metallic

[creative native]

My current Bus of 14 years was very clean when I bought it and I have always kept it clean. However, in 1991 I bought a '71 Neptune Blue camper which was in very good shape, but in my initial cleaning of it, I found many joint roaches. In my previous '67 camper, there were even more joint roaches and a partially used bottle of patchouli oil.

[pnwkayaker]

Just curious, there're some posts in the first page that mention a "driver box" or "driver storage compartment" - are they referring to the auxiliary battery spot under the driver seat?
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87 Syncro Westy EJ25 ("Tardis")

Seattle Meetup at Marymoor (link)
A collection of Simple Useful Mods (SUM) (link)

[bobbyblack]

[mikemtnbike]

I keep all my small parts in the called secret compartment driver's side. Ignition switch ,spare blue cap, rescue tape, bag of clamps, bag of hose patches, bag of lug nuts/ bolts if I have to use my mis-matched spare, etc.

My amp is in the space under the passenger seat.

There's a surprising amount of room there.
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1991 Vanagon GL 2.1 AT Westfauxlia. "Frankie" Totaled https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=764510&highlight=carnage
1995 Eurovan Camper "Marzivan"
2020 GTI SE manual

[joetiger]

Razor blades. I found at least ten old, rusty razor blades between the back seat and the engine in my Syncro.

On one hand, it could have been as simple as somebody dropped a box of blades back there, yet they were all unsheathed. Perhaps they were scraping off old tint? Maybe the owner shaved with an old timey razor? Painting supplies?

On the other hand, a van full of rusty old razor blades conjures up images of all kinds of nefarious activities. Late nights with piles of Bolivian marching powder, perhaps. The mind wanders. In any case, after I found the first two or three I was very, very careful with my hands during that initial interior removal and cleaning.
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Joe T.

'86 NAHT Vanagon GL Syncro/ supercharged ABA 2.0 "Pigpen"
'04 GTI 1.8T
'04 Golf R32

"get metaphysical with it. if it's simply a means to get to and from places, it will let you down. if it becomes your zen, it can't fail you." -dabaron

"Still, it's good to be afield."--VWagabond

Available Now! Vanagon to Louisiana--A Two-Lane Reckoning Through Past and Present

www.josephtrussell.com

[the joker]

Our 1st westy ( 81 )had milk eggs butter etc. in the running fridge, a new toaster and assorted camping tools ie ax small shovel

current westy joker (84) when purchased, had assorted tools haynes manual hunting knife and pinkish liquid in the h20 tank

[bobbyblack]

Well, the PO, Mr Lopez, drove my '87 Westy all over North and South America.

Along with a bunch of spare parts, like new clutch master and slave, belts, all kinds of repair bits for odd repairs, and a multitude of kitchen stuff like a coffee grinder, house current single burner table top stove, remarkable added lights, and a variety of interesting mods. But by far the most interesting was a hand made beaded necklace. I got in touch with the daughters of Mr Lopez, to return this precious family piece, bought along their travels when the girls were kids.

-bobby

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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

[Jeffrey Lee]

[mackaymanx]

Bought a Subaru Outback as a donor for $200 AUD, while cleaning it out got $52 in change (we have $1 and $2 coins here). 25% discount!
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