What did YOU do to your van today?

[Vanlife Geek]

[RasBobre]

My air cooled 1981 Westfalia Vanagon passed CA smog in Truckee! Salty failed miserably the first try and after $4200 work of work it passed with single digits. Fortunately I live in a small portion of Placer County that only has to smog with a transfer of sale. I think that may be awhile. It's now down in Sacramento at the Kombi Haus for a North Westy Sunbrella canvas.

[Blakesinclair]

Not the most glamorous, but I'm taking care of the essentials. Swapped out all the rubber fuel lines, and replaced the fuel filter set up yesterday.

No pictures of the rubber in the engine bay, but I did those too.

Feelsgoodman.

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1985 Weekender Vanagon 1.9L - Manual

[Blakesinclair]

Also drained the gear oil today. Fluid wasn't that gross, but figured it's good to start fresh with a new-to-me van.

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1985 Weekender Vanagon 1.9L - Manual

[pbrown]

I installed vintage MBQuart crossovers behind the glovebox.

Crossover Behind Glovebox by Patrick Brown, on Flickr
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Patrick Brown

1986 Westy Syncro EJ25
Flickr --> https://flic.kr/s/aHsmQNUXEF

[pbrown]

... also installed late model Westy style A/C controls in the dash. It's installed very slightly more to the right than the stock location to give the radio location some future room. It's always fun when I get out the air saw.

IMG_0799 - My Install by Patrick Brown, on Flickr
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Patrick Brown

1986 Westy Syncro EJ25
Flickr --> https://flic.kr/s/aHsmQNUXEF

[pbrown]

I also changed my oil and filter but no photo for that one.
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Patrick Brown

1986 Westy Syncro EJ25
Flickr --> https://flic.kr/s/aHsmQNUXEF

[RasBobre]

North Westy Sunbrella Canvas installed by the Kombi Haus in Sacramento. New windshield too.

[pbrown]

I modified my tach so it will work with my Subaru engine swap.
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Patrick Brown

1986 Westy Syncro EJ25
Flickr --> https://flic.kr/s/aHsmQNUXEF

[Squidfish]

[revolution337]

Started work on installing a low coolant alarm for my van. Being previously air-cooled, now with a 1.8t, I had no way of identifying if the van ever became low on coolant. I only had a temp gauge to monitor via OBDII. I wanted something a bit more in case of sudden coolant loss. This setup uses a capacitance type sensor that is attached to the side of the coolant expansion tank bottle. When the fluid level drops below the sensor, the alarm will sound and LED will flash. No drilling into there tank required.



Link

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1982 Westfalia AEB 1.8t
2017 VW Golf Sportwagen
2001 Audi A4 4.2 V8 swapped
2000 BMW Z3 roadster
-Mark

[Blakesinclair]

The exhaust on my 85 is a mess. Cracks at the elbows and most of the gaskets were busted. So I found a 1.9L from a guy on Craigslist for pretty cheap. Yesterday I took all old exhaust off and as I'm trying to get the rear crossover pipes on, it's not fitting. Nothing is lining up with the collection pipe. So I laid it down next to my old one and sure enough, it's the 2.1 system.

I've never really seen either un-installed, so I figured it was correct. It's in pretty good shape so I'm not worried about re-selling it, just annoyed I spent a couple hours re-installing my old crusty exhaust.

At least all the hard work of replacing old exhaust studs, gaskets and rusted nuts/bolts is over. So when the day comes, replacing or properly repairing won't be so bad.

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1985 Weekender Vanagon 1.9L - Manual

[dhaavers]

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

[BCE56]

Changed oil and filter, replaced fuel filter. 5-way tire rotation. Lubed shift rods, susp. bushings and rubber mounts. Cleaned and oiled K&N air filter.
Found leaking A/C Schraeder valve.

That's it for today.
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=BCE56=

'86 Syncro tintop
EJ22, OBD II early SC adapter plate conversion

Side project: '69 Frankenbug "It's alive!"

[joyfulpursuit]

[dhaavers]

Pulled the WonderVan out of the garage after a long winter's nap...good fuel & oil
pressure, no lifter noise, but some chirps from the alt belt. Snugged up the belt &
blew some dust off on the highway...

On return, looked into sporadic hazard lights operation...pulled apart & cleaned up
connections inside the switch...perfect! Very nice quality time with the van today...

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

[BCE56]

Retorqued lugnuts. Gave it a drive thru wash. Applied dressing to tires and trim.
Took a short drive down by the beach. Looking sharp!
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=BCE56=

'86 Syncro tintop
EJ22, OBD II early SC adapter plate conversion

Side project: '69 Frankenbug "It's alive!"

[andy52]

new muffler,

[union171]

So... here's a slight updated first post.. thanks over the years for info to keep it rolling.

put 3.5 inch kickers in my rear tintop(tankbeast) 83.5 speaker pods- connected to amp- connected to new sounds... I've been waiting on this upgrade a long.. long ...time

1. Pop screens out, carefully- thanks to previous speaker post found.
2. punch out disintegrated old speakers-- fell apart.. hammer and flathead screwdriver did the rest.
3. Dremel out some extra space on inner plastic shell line.
4. Touch up wiring. Ran new speaker line from amp under front seat, under flooring to the back and up.
5. Slap speakers in. Non attached or screwed in yet... (various reasons)-- (testiing sound with 12's subwoofers installed back in 95' //etc// wiring skills check...

6. Utilize badly needed rear speaker mounts... finally found a few -- replace screens over new speakers

7. Rock n Roll. There's hope.

Have some fun

[BCE56]

This may be of some use to interested parties:

1) Several years after new paint job I noticed cracks in paint at body seams, orange rust stains showing.
I applied Loctite Extend Rust Neutralizer to the cracks with a q-tip. After two applications the rust turned black, indicating successful conversion. Cracks can now be filled with touchup paint.

2) Tire dressing: I don't like the "wet look" and I refuse to apply armorall. I have used 303 protectant with acceptable results for many years.
When I purchased new tires for my other car recently, the dealer used a product called Tire Shine. Made in USA by REMA TIP TOP, P/N 90017. Package describes it as a "Water based Silicone Dressing, Non-Hazardous and VOC Compliant."
I was pleasantly surprised by this product- it dries to a non-greasy semigloss finish on tires, does not appear to attract dust and has withstood several car washes relatively intact.

I did not find this product locally, so I returned to the dealer and got a bottle from him. I used this yesterday on tires, grilles, bumper ends etc.
Results are promising.
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=BCE56=

'86 Syncro tintop
EJ22, OBD II early SC adapter plate conversion

Side project: '69 Frankenbug "It's alive!"