What did YOU do to your van today?

[leecat]

I too am into paint today! FINALLY! It's a super, super cheap paint job...as long as you don't consider the 400 hours - literally - of body work and prep. It's a good thing I work for free, because I could never afford myself otherwise.

And my van was 95% rust free to start - cannot imagine starting with a rust-bucket. But she is straight straight straight absolutely everywhere, heaps of prep work and sanding really paid off - a couple very tiny runs on the nose and in a door jamb that I have to wet-sand and buff out in a few days, but overall super pleased with it. Removed and re-did all of the seam-sealer while I was at it (including under the drip rails - that was a lot of work in itself!), de-badged her and removed the antenna too. Lots of fun but lots of work!

[Mckinleyvillian]

swapped ancient fuel tank for that delicious 12mm outlet and relined everything that fuel runs through with that high end Gates FI, excluding hardline. bypassed stupid firewall fitting. Cavitation is barely audible. I'm going to order a new fuel filter and see how that works out.

PO had had a lube rack sort of oil change done with thin oil right before I bought it and van wasn't firing well, so I did my first Vanagon oil change with castrol 20w50 and it's running beautifully. It's so much quieter. Other than the shitty US oil filter that need to be stabbed with a screwdriver for removal, this was the easiest, most accessible oil change I've ever done.

This afternoon, I remove the 1.9 exhaust system to install the 2.1 system.
_________________
so many roads i know
all i want is one to take me home

85 Vanagon GL 1.9 stick

[jlrftype7]

[djkeev]

Washed it.
The wheels were black with brake dust!
Figured why not?
The remnants of Ida are blowing through dropping 5-7” of rain, why not start with a clean Van?

Dave
_________________
Stop Dead Photo Links how to post photos

Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[jcannon]

TODAY? I'm cheating the "today" part. This took a week -- 7 straight days of fixing. It was a small project which expanded.

The "Hauntawagen" came to me 5 years ago. It is a Syncro tintop that was in a barn in New Mexico near the Hauntavirus epicenter. Naturally, it came with a worse than usual mouse infestation. A few years ago I built a camper interior similar to a 1972 Campmobile.

This WEEK:

My wife said "We're not driving this to Phoenix unless you fix the air conditioning". So I fixed it. New drier, new compressor, expansion valve, flushed out the goo, cleaned another old mouse nest out of the blower. Hmm, no wonder the rear speakers never worked. Mice had chewed off the wires. I fixed that!

Then she said "what about that transmission thing". She was referring the transmission still having the original 3-4 slider and 147,000 miles. Can you say "time bomb"? So I installed the spare tranny I had someone rebuild 4 years ago. Usually I do everything myself and have done trannies. For the Syncro tranny I made an exception and paid a local expert for the tranny rebuild. He is not someone you will have heard of and has since retired.

Then she said "And it stinks like gas!" So I resealed the gas tank with the GoWesty kit I bought years ago.... It's a Syncro. See my thread on how to do the roll over valves it without taking out the tranny or tank.

While I was already tired and greasy I put on the all those new coolant hoses I bought years ago from Van Cafe. Then I replaced all the heater hoses that can be done without removing the dash. That kit was bought years ago. I put shutoff valves, bought this week at the local big box, in the heater hose lines to stop the "hot foot" problem. Of course, when I rehosed the rear heater I discovered another old mouse nest in the blower. The Hauntawagen has earned its name.

As long as the hot foot issue was on the table, I bought some Reflectrix at the other big box, and insulated both under the front carpet and underneath by the radiator.

The Reflectrix is awesome stuff so I cut out "curtains" for the windows. These go behind the regular curtains. I used self adhesive Velcro and made Reflectrix "curtains" for the driver and passenger doors. Plus, I put two layers over the engine compartment under the carpet.

I tried to have the wheels balanced but was turned down. They said my tires nearly full tread always indoor tires are more than 5 years old. The to-do list now has a new item. "Make a bubble balancer and do it yourself".

I finished off by changing the fluid in the front diff and reinstalling the skid bars and pans.

While I was under there I saw it! The engine oil drain plug was crooked. The PO had stripped and helicoiled the engine drain plug. He did a poor job. I put two of the crush copper tube ring (beetle type) drain gaskets on the plug and that made up for the crookedness. No more oil drip.

And, while I was fixing oil drips, one more thing. The valve cover gaskets were old, dry, and leaky. I changed them for new and soft ones.

That was my week.

For the first time ever, this van did not mark its place or stink up the garage. Plus, it seems quieter. The Reflectrix may absorb sound.

Part of the reason I got so many jobs done in a week is I had stashed all the needed parts, fluids, and sealers. Even though Van Cafe is nearby, "nearby" is about 100 miles away.

[leecat]

Now I feel really lazy, after reading that. :/

I thought about re-installing my bumpers, if that counts as productive. But you know, that's like four bolts and you have to bend down and everything - seemed like a lot of work.

[djkeev]

[TomInAlaska]

I got ambitious and repainted the whole rear quarter

I also replaced the coolant pressure tank due to finding a crack in the old one

_________________
'73 Super Beetle (resto-mod/rally look, 1776)

'84 GL adventure van project (1.9L, 4speed) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=755844&highlight=

[vanis13]

[TomInAlaska]

[leecat]

I wish there was a sticky that said "What didn't you do to your van today."

Today I didn't install the side slider glass. Not for want of trying, however. The back quarter glass went in in 3 minutes, beautiful - easy as pie.

"I'm a pro at this!" I thought to myself - "Now on to the easy one!"

Six hours of hand-to-hand combat with it later, I'll leave it till tomorrow. I cursed Volkswagen, I cursed Germany, I cursed all of humanity by the time I was done for the day. What a frikkin' nightmare that thing is.

Should have bought a Lada.

[bobbyblack]

Wait 'til you get to the rear hatch glass.. For me, that was a real treat... (took asking 3 other people to help, all working together for it finally to get in)
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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

[leecat]

And THAT...is why I didn't take the rear glass out. Not looking for that kind of fight - luckily I had no rust at the rear glass, only a bit at the side windows. Kudos to you for bravery in doing it.

Got the side window in no problem this morning - the trick is that when you are hungry, tired, and frustrated - don't take a break or re-think things. That only shows weakness to the Vanagon gods and proves you are not fit to be Thane of the Westfalias. Keep struggling and try to do as much incidental damage as possible whilst growing ever-angrier. This proves that your dedication and sheer willpower will triumph over common sense and logic.

I apologize to all of you soon-to-be-filthy Sambanistas for the impending soap shortage. I ended up having to use at least 75% of global soap production for the year. On the plus side, the driver's side of my van has never been cleaner.

[R. Deschain]

New Rocky Mountain Westy bumpers installed. spent last weekend doing it and some other small mods. The paint touch up for the holes drilled took the longest time.

D-rings, brush guard, and 2' Receiver hitches front and rear for my 10K winch mount. I couldn't just leave a blank spot in the front, so I made a Euro plate holder for our German plate (Hamburg, meine Perle!)

_________________
'87 Syncro Adventurewagen
'80 Syncro Doka
'86 CJ-7

https://www.youtube.com/mattofmanytrades

[leecat]

Changed out my bad left side fuel rail. Now I'm no fuel rail expert, but this can't be good:

[Mckinleyvillian]

Worked all day at the new job, so I'll say starting Wednesday...

Drove over to my buddy's house and started messing around at 1030am, we were going to do a pressure test due to some lifter ticking, but with new oil and 50miles driven, it's gone. So I crawled down below and began tightening/adjusting clamps on new FI line, also making sure it was all secure to frame around sending and return. Swapped shitty no-name fuel filter for nice German one. Filled up and added some Lucas FI treatment. Went back under van and lightly greased shifter rod. Firing and shifting real noice now. I worked slow because this was enjoyable. While this was going on I also wire brushed the fuel filter clamp and spray painted 4 coats of flat black before allowing it to dry reattach. While waiting for the last coat to dry I got to work on cleaning wire brushing the metal edges of some FI rails that I left in vinegar for a few days (only the metal section) and the rust and grime came right off. Did the same with the bleeder valve T. Staying on the rust removal game, I'd had some exhaust pipes soaking in vinegar and a small amount of simple green. Wire brushed those for a couple hours and they're looking pretty darn nice. I think it's time to consider buying exhaust paint and any suggestions, other than don't buy it, are super appreciated. Well, since it was my last day before the new job and I wanted the van ready for this weekend, I started the 2nd round of deep cleaning since I bought it. Excluding drivers seat and headliner, I had removed entire interior removed the week I bought it. 36 years of old smoke smell and dog hair, on top of a slippery, gross mess of amor-all, made for a pretty gross, slippery interior (y'all ever try using gas/clutch/brake that's been armor-all doused? accident central). So I set to work with some sponges, wire brush, steel wool, rolls of paper towels, rags, simple green, and vinegar and started the post vacuum scrub down. This took a good 4-5 hours. I then returned the seats, installing and lubricating all hinges, tracks, and springs. Swept out the van, threw a cool looking southwestern style rug I'd found and knew would be good for something, someday and closed the doors. Grabbed that fuel filter clamp from the shed and screwed it back on by headlamp and lantern. It was 1145pm and I had to start the new at 730AM the next day...

Thursday-

scored a sweet wooden foot stool or small table to eat breakfast from the bench seat on or rest my feet while chilling out. Drilled some holes on the corner of drivers seat podium to install the Westfalia swivel table my buddy kicked down. Popped instrument cluster and vacuumed remaining dog hair and grime. cleaned armor-all off the rest of the front cabin. turned on blue tooth speaker, sat in the back and chilled the heck out.

Super stoked. sorry for wall of text but it's kinda how the mad dash of it all went down. peace
_________________
so many roads i know
all i want is one to take me home

85 Vanagon GL 1.9 stick

[djkeev]

[RoryGirl]

[fxr]

Peanut oil...


_________________
Jim Crowther
1984 1.9l EJ22 Westy Wolfsburg Edition
Vespa GTS 300

[TomInAlaska]

Made more progress on the bodywork

(the welding was actually yesterday, but who's counting)

I also converted most of my dash and gauge lights to LEDs

_________________
'73 Super Beetle (resto-mod/rally look, 1776)

'84 GL adventure van project (1.9L, 4speed) https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=755844&highlight=