What did YOU do to your van today?

[dhaavers]

FINALLY got WonderVan back on the road (after having FUBAR'd the PS front spindle for lack of adequate wheel bearing work)...

Only real struggle was holding the end rod link snug enough to reinstall the castle nut, but got it done like so:

...and here's the job finished, just before reinstalling grease cap & the wheel itself:

New Zimmerman rotors, turned & trued, then cleaned & dried, new MB axle nuts, ready to roll...
Only <other> surprise I had was I came back from the test run short the grease cap, so now I'm
shopping for a grease cap. Wish me luck!

- Dave

PS: Sincere thanks to jberger for hooking me up with a good used spindle, and for much less
than the $250-400 they wanted from the online parts houses...
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86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS>

[jlrftype7]

Replaced side axle seals at the final drive- Finally installed the muffler correctly with regards to orientation of the Cat to muffler flange, and added GoWesty Stainless Steel strap. Amazing how it all lines up correctly once correctly installed...

Removed my rear bumper, drilled out and retapped the lower bolt holes since the two bolts snapped during removal. Sanded rusted metal in a few places, sprayed primer, then color matched top coat with Assuan Brown, which really matched the OG paint....

Replaced some broken impact strip clips on the bumper.

Buffed more paint with cleaner Wax.

Took apart the rear hatch lock cyl. to key the tumblers to match my key, this was the last lock I needed to match for a single key operation of the vehicle.
Nice to finally have that lock function...
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'68 Westy- my first VW and vehicle/Bus- long gone.- sold it to a traveling Swiss couple....
'67 Type 3 Fastback, my 2nd car- gone
'69 Semi-Auto Stick Shift Beetle-gone
2017 MINI Coopers, our current DDs
‘84 Tin Top - Hilga....Auto

[Jake de Villiers]

[dhaavers]

[Jake de Villiers]

[dhaavers]

OK, I guess I'm not really sure what "full set" means either, but I do have pairs
of 3", 4" & 6", although now only one 8" (lost one but haven't replaced)...it was
all the local hardware store carried at the time...anyway, yeah...all good stuff...

Basic hand tools FTW!

- Dave
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86 White Wolfsburg Westy Weekender
"The WonderVan"
<EDITED TO PROTECT INNOCENT PIXELS>

[pathao]

[dhaavers]

You're not the first to ask!

Discussion from my spindle-specific thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9056565#9056565

[Jake de Villiers]

[Gnarlodious]

Got the LEDs from superbrightleds.com installed all the way around! This should improve my license plate visibility:

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Vanagon ’83 diesel AAZ w/Giles injection, 5spd 4.57R&P+TBD and a '78 diesel Rabbit

[MsTaboo]

Finally added some truck mirrors to the Westy. Have had on other rides so knew what we were getting. Great addition!

Better visibility and cleaner side windows. For some reason the power mirrors direct airflow in just the wrong way to smear bugs on the driver's and passenger windows. Not so with these!
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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.

[shagginwagon83]

I replaced the brake master cylinder. It developed a tiny visible hole near the 2x 10mm mounting points. I wonder if it can be welded to fix. However its pretty rusty and old anyway.
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Brandon
"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin
Instagram @joannthevan

[Crooked Designer]

bent a new copper line for propex under fridge replacing dometic LP line.

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'85 Westy full camper, Subaru 2.5L, 5 speed SubiGears + 5speedbus shifter kit

[Crooked Designer]

Replaced blue foil on dash cluster with Instrument Cluster Foil Repair Kit from vanagon.org. Super easy and very satisfying.

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'85 Westy full camper, Subaru 2.5L, 5 speed SubiGears + 5speedbus shifter kit

[Crooked Designer]

Replaced paper baffles with new plastic set from GW

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'85 Westy full camper, Subaru 2.5L, 5 speed SubiGears + 5speedbus shifter kit

[Crooked Designer]

Replaced rear speakers with modern JBL 3.5" speakers mounted into OEM grill covers.

New speakers came with "ears" to flush mount. After knocking out Blaupunkt OEM speakers from plastic cover and cleaning up glue, needed to cut off ears to fit into plastic cylinder.

Added hot-glued ring of insulation foam to create seal around perimeter of speaker. Screws to attach to housing on side of speaker.

Added screw in the side threads that fits easily in the gap between the hole in the back cabinet and the diameter of the speaker cover ring. The flange at the front covers the gap. Just make sure to keep it close enough to the front to let the retaining ring screw all the way on in the back. (so put the screw far enough forward toward the flange that it will be in the gap between the hole in the cabinet when everything is installed)

Between the foam and the screws, the speaker is in the speaker is a very tight fit in the cover cylinder.

Wired up resistor that came with speakers using two butt connectors so I didn't have to do that in the cabinet.

Screwed on the OEM retaining ring on the back and wired into factory wiring. (could have been PO wiring, not sure)

Factory look, modern sound quality:

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'85 Westy full camper, Subaru 2.5L, 5 speed SubiGears + 5speedbus shifter kit

[riceye]

This past weekend I got her out of the garage and recommissioned. She started right up with no lifter noise! We took her out for a drive and she shifted like butter thanks to the new shift linkage repair kit and rear bushing I installed late last fall. Prior to that I had to gently depress the gear shift in order to find first gear. I used a 23mm block of wood to properly adjust the splined connection, and all is well.

This past week I made my own BZ shelf out of a 1x11x48" oak stair tread. I followed the instructions provided to me by Tom Buese (Thanks Tom!). The only difference was the thickness of the wood (about 7/8" rather than 3/4") and I incorporated blind barrel nuts to secure the u-bolts.

This is going to be great when camping! Plenty of room for all the stuff we never had room for up top, even the 20v DeWalt fan when the temps are insufferable. PS - the dogs love this fan when we're parked and they need to remain inside.

Yeah, I know. That's not a fan, but rather a DeWalt impact driver. It just happened to be in the picture.

Next I need to address the Timesert on the oil drain plug. While changing the oil last fall before lay-up the insert unscrewed with the plug. Being short on time and not having the part or tools at hand, I just screwed the boogered up mess back in and filled the crankcase with fresh oil.

Guess what? It drips oil.
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'87 Westy Weekender - daily driver on salt-free roads

There's gonna be some changes made.

“I find that things usually go well right up until the moment they don't.” - Ahwahnee

"Quality isn't method. It's the goal toward which the method is aimed." - Socrates, later quoted by R.M. Pirsig

[vegpedlr]

Put in laminate flooring leftover from my parents remodel. Looks nice, and might actually tie together some otherwise conflicting color. Next up is to finish the Westy kitchen cabinet with hand pump faucet, converted 1lb green can propane, and mount in the van. Syncrofest in only a few days!
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1985 Tintop 4 sp GW 2.3 “Connie”
2006 Mk V GTI 2.0 FSI “Penelope”

[Gnarlodious]

I thought the aluminum ones looked stupid, so I had them powdercoated!

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Vanagon ’83 diesel AAZ w/Giles injection, 5spd 4.57R&P+TBD and a '78 diesel Rabbit

[4mymalamute]

Put in the rear abs panels.....had to take both the bench and the middle seats out to get all the panels in place. Looks nice and no more warped and worn out panels.
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1989 Sally the Syncro.....she is a work in progress. 1.8T and tuned...she scoots up the hills...watch for flying dog drool out the windows.

1969 Bucky the Bug Convertible...red, rusted, work in progress....LOTS of work.