What did YOU do to your van today?

[campism]

It was cold.

...and, I was fully clothed beneath the raincoat. It was not that exciting, honest.
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'87 Westy in Wolfram Grey Metallic

[elizer]

I do that a lot in the summer in a swim suit. I get a lot of weird looks by people driving by.

[jlrftype7]

[VWagabond]

[elizer]

oct 27
Finally drilled out the wiring pass through holes for the vanagonlife console. Its been sitting my room for over a year. Getting ready for a solar install by OTG camper. It was just as painful when I had to drill holes in the poptop for the yakima crossbars.

oct 28
I changed the transaxle fluid. It was the first change after the break in change done by FAS. The first one was done after about 3-400 miles. This one was done 1500 miles after that.

Pretty happy with it. 0 chunks or flakes. Just fine dust. The 2nd fill hole in the aluminum carrier that GEARs provide makes it super easy to access the fill hole. Im talking SUPER easy.

Syncro transaxle.
GTA rebuild.
Every product that Gears carries installed.

[ezmass]

Replaced the OEM Boge shocks with Koni's (at factory rebound setting) on my recently purchased '90 multivan. Night and day upgrade to the ride & handling!
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1990 Multivan

[digthemlows]

Test fit of the high-top roof rack my buddy and I have been working on (really it's all him) .... super excited to get this powdercoated and up on the van!

[djkeev]

[4Gears4Tires]

I nearly threw this part out. It was broken and covered in grime. Didn't realize metal thermostat housings were syncro specific. After seeing how much GoWesty charges for one, I thought well, it didn't leak when it was broken so I'll attempt a repair. My first go around I tried to build the area up with aluminum brazing rod. That didnt work because I couldn't keep enough heat in the housing. Maybe if I preheated it in an oven at 450 degrees. I had a tube of Steelstik so I gave that a shot and then ground it on the bench grinder the next day. I read a thread about people using it to fill the little pockets of aluminum corrosion on the cylinder head with success so I thought if that worked why not here.

Doesn't look too bad. We'll see the long term durability.
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'87 Syncro
Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition

[Vanlife Geek]

I've had some extra time on my hands lately, so I've been having fun with some upgrades and fixes to the van. Here's the first one... I purchased a compass a long time ago and never got around to installing it, but just did. It was only $25, is adjustable and has a soft red light for night driving (I wired it so it only comes on when the headlights are turned on). It took me a while to get it dialed in, but I think I have it properly calibrated. It does do a little dance when I use the wipers due to the metal going by, but otherwise no problems. I got it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2q2XOP8 Some reviewers on Amazon think it's too big, but they don't have our massive Vanagon windshield!

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Vanlife Geek
Current:
1986 Syncro Westy
Previous:
1983 Westy
1981 Westy
1972 Bug (Last year you could buy a new one for under $2,000)
1965/66 Bug (2 bugs from a junk yard combined to make 1 functional bug)
1959 Bug (Pre Gas Gauge Era)

[Vanlife Geek]

Next up... The headliner/wallpaper under the "head-banger" cabinet was peeling off when I got the van. I've been meaning to address it for years. I saw in some thread here on The Samba where somebody had used a map to re-cover that area and I thought I'd steal their idea. I found this map on Amazon (https://amzn.to/34jiMI2) and it is laminated, which I thought it would last longer and would be easy to clean. I had to trim it down to fit, losing half of Australia and Greenland and more. I lost most of Africa to the sub-woofer, but tunes after all! I should have taken a before shot, but trust me, it looks way better.

UPDATE: I found a picture showing the old headliner:

I also realized I had the original picture I found as my inspiration. I must have kept it to remind me to do this someday. Almost looks like the same map! (Same planet for sure )Whoever originally posted this, thanks for the inspiration!

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Vanlife Geek
Current:
1986 Syncro Westy
Previous:
1983 Westy
1981 Westy
1972 Bug (Last year you could buy a new one for under $2,000)
1965/66 Bug (2 bugs from a junk yard combined to make 1 functional bug)
1959 Bug (Pre Gas Gauge Era)

[Vanlife Geek]

I always thought it would be handy to have some 12V outlets and a USB port that was easily accessible from the upper bunk and that would also be available for fans, etc. I found these cool "12V Tents" on Amazon but found them way cheaper on AliExpress, which is my new favorite website. Shipping takes weeks, but ordering directly from China is super cheap. This worked out perfectly for my particular van which doesn't have the traditional spice rack as my van started out as a passenger van. But I'm pretty sure it would also fit nicely on regular Westfalia spice racks. The USB port has an on/off switch built in, so no other switch was needed to combat phantom power loss when I'm not using them. I think I spent less than $10 bucks for the whole setup. Damn near a perfect fit. Too bad they don't come in brown.

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Vanlife Geek
Current:
1986 Syncro Westy
Previous:
1983 Westy
1981 Westy
1972 Bug (Last year you could buy a new one for under $2,000)
1965/66 Bug (2 bugs from a junk yard combined to make 1 functional bug)
1959 Bug (Pre Gas Gauge Era)

[Vanlife Geek]

And yet another one... I always wanted to add some additional lighting to the front of my van, but could never decide between spot/flood or fog. I found this 20" light which is both and more. It has a chip that cycles between white light, amber (fog) light, white strobe, amber strobe and alternating white/amber strobe by turning the light off and on again within a few seconds. The strobe effects are kind of gimmicky, but I could see them coming in handy if I break down in bad weather on a busy highway or something. Wait, do Vanagons break down? The light was cheap at around $40 and we'll see how it stands up over time. It's rated at 288 (theoretical) watts.

I also found a cool little aluminium mount that sort of looks like a mini bull-bar and has several mounting holes for various lights. It also holds the front license plate. This was appealing for a few reasons. It seemed to me that the stock license plate mount was too low, and I have bent my plate up several time when coming down a really steep hill and reaching the bottom when four wheeling. This mount allowed me to raise the plate up a few inches, so hopefully that issue is solved. I had to drill into the bumper to attach it with 4 screws, but no big deal and it's rock solid. It also might provide a little protection for the light from bushes and such when off road.

I used a universal license plate mount and mounted that to the bull-bar thingy. That allowed me to have 4 screws holding the plate so it wouldn't vibrate against the metal.

I got a wiring harness that worked just fine, although I had to extend it a bit to reach the switch on the dash. I ran the exterior part of the harness through a newly drilled hole under the passenger seat with a rubber grommet, and ran it under the van (zip ties along the way) and came out the front. I secured the wire as far away from the radiator as possible and I used waterproof tape to seal up the connection to the light. The harness came with a nice switch, but I already had one of those cool VW fog light switches with the light and I finally had a good reason to use it and of course it looks very stock... not that my van is all that stock. The switch can control two lights, so maybe rear fogs someday? That would be very European!

All for around $100. I'll list some links if anyone is interested:

- Willpower 20 inch 288W LED Strobe Light Bar https://amzn.to/2BZIR2Z
- MICTUNING HD 300w LED Light Bar Wiring Harness https://amzn.to/2PyApiY
- Universal License Plate Mount https://amzn.to/2qUxDdD
- Nilight Led Light Bar Mounting Bracket https://amzn.to/31Y0w5K

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Vanlife Geek
Current:
1986 Syncro Westy
Previous:
1983 Westy
1981 Westy
1972 Bug (Last year you could buy a new one for under $2,000)
1965/66 Bug (2 bugs from a junk yard combined to make 1 functional bug)
1959 Bug (Pre Gas Gauge Era)

[Steve M.]

[4Gears4Tires]

That's so cheap it wasn't even worth repairing! Why would anyone buy the GW version if that one is available?
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'87 Syncro
Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition

[Vanlife Geek]

I replaced my TV mount with a much better "gas assisted strut" version. There is a video out there where a guy shows how to mount a TV in a Westfalia, which gave me the idea and I purchased the same mount he used (Tripp Lite) Although his video was excellent and gave me the courage to put a TV in my van, his choice of mount wasn't stellar. As you adjusted the TV around for different viewing angles, the TV would become not level and didn't have enough adjustments to level it out, making it basically worthless. Also, I had to strap the arms down when in motion because it wouldn't tighten up enough. Then I saw this new style mount with gas struts and full articulation. It is a huge improvement and will articulate however you'd like, including making the TV vertical which will come in handy when I use it hooked up to my laptop as a monitor working on word documents or vertical graphic layouts. You can adjust how tight it is and I left it pretty tight so it doesn't move when I'm driving, even off road. By the way, the TV is 22", but I think a 24" or even possibly a 27" would fit. The TV only sticks out 3.4" when it's all folded up, so it's not really taking up any valuable space.

Here's a link to the mount if anyone is interested ($19.90 on Amazon - NB North Bayou TV Monitor Wall Mount Bracket Full Motion Articulating Swivel Double Extension for 17-24 Inch Monitor) https://amzn.to/334ogq8

You can also see my wireless router tucked in just below the mount

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Vanlife Geek
Current:
1986 Syncro Westy
Previous:
1983 Westy
1981 Westy
1972 Bug (Last year you could buy a new one for under $2,000)
1965/66 Bug (2 bugs from a junk yard combined to make 1 functional bug)
1959 Bug (Pre Gas Gauge Era)

[jlrftype7]

mounted the snow tires on my rims , yesterday at work during my Lunch Hour.
Winter, here we come...
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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

[82westyrabbit]

The side was tv is great if you are laying on your side in bed. I don’t have a tv in my house so I will probably pass in my van as well. It always good to see people make their the way they want them. John

[Vanlife Geek]

I just put this new decal on the van and it makes me laugh. Words of wisdom from Mr. Burns. "It's funny 'cause it's true!" A custom decal for $5 makes me happy. https://amzn.to/33bRmUq

Link

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Vanlife Geek
Current:
1986 Syncro Westy
Previous:
1983 Westy
1981 Westy
1972 Bug (Last year you could buy a new one for under $2,000)
1965/66 Bug (2 bugs from a junk yard combined to make 1 functional bug)
1959 Bug (Pre Gas Gauge Era)

[AZ Landshaper]

Used a little 3m to attach the headliner that has been dangling since I bought the van.
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Support Small Business.

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85 Weekender w/ EJ22
Previously
64, 71, 72, 73, 76, 81, 84, 85 & 87 Campmobiles and Westfalias
and a 67 bug.