What did YOU do to your van today?

[leecat]

I'm so going to hog this thread! :p

FINISHED my ABA swap at long last today - mechanically my little van is complete and ready to hit the road come spring (except for the Westy pop-top transplant). I mean, it can't possibly break down now, right? Many thanks to all those who helped me so much with some technical aspects of the swap - very excited to be 100% done.

AND found a great place to mount the fishing net that I trip over every camping trip too. An old broom mounting bracket worked great to clip the net handle onto the underside of the engine lid, then common plastic luggage snaps on short straps for the other two clips.

[kingquad]

Pulled passenger side front axle out of my 1991 Syncro DOKA. Im putting a set of BFG Mud Terrain 30 x 9.50 x 15's on it and decided to put all new axles front and rear. 944s going in the rear. Also adding longer studs for the Mercedes wheels.

[82westyrabbit]

Yesterday actually. I drove it down the runway at work. it went 65 in the 1/4 mile. I didn’t time it. Compared to 85 in Mazda Miata or 118 in Tesla model S (not mine). Inquiring minds need to know. John

[AZ Landshaper]

torqued my cv bolts. Replaced my subaru coolant sensor. bled my coolant system.
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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.

[AZ Landshaper]

1. Found the pesky vac leak thats been tormenting my early morning start ups.
2. Installed my LED bar on the front bumper.
3. Ran some extra wire from the engine bay to the dash in prep for installing my VDO gauge and temp sender.
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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.

[westydriver]

Greased up and added some new 944 Lobro joints and a new hi torque starter. Gas tank and fuel lines will be plumbed this week and hopefully have a good response to the 2.2 conversion #fingerscrossed

[VWeGoBeachNow]

Hey hows it yall. It's been a while since I posted anything but I just got an Alpine ktp-445u 4 channel amp 45x4 installed and it's concealed perfectly under my 10 year old Pioneer DEH-P4200UB head unit. My old Boston Acoustic RM6 1/2's custom mounted in the front lower door finally crapped out and so did my 4 inch JVC's in the back. My front Pioneer TS-D1002R 4 In. 2-Way speakers from 2010 in the stock location are still going strong They fit perfectly with the grill on. For my new speakers I chose JBL GTO629 6 1/2 in 2 Way for the front and JBL GTO429 4 in 2 way for the rear. The rear grill didn't fit and and I didn't want drill new holes to make it fit. Looks fine to me without it. Wow I can't believe what a difference this little amp makes. No more distortion and I can actually hear my music now when I'm driving. The bass from speakers is just enough. I don't want thundering bass so i opted for no subwoofer but I can easily add a low profile sub later. I also added the Stereo Keyed Power Toggle Kit from Gowesty but it's wired to turn the key to the ON/RUN position to power it up since my ignition cylinder has a worn out KEY IN switch. In the future I will ad an aux battery underneath the driver seat. If you have any questions on the amp or speakers let me know!

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88 Wolfsburg Limited Edition Vanagon GL Tin Top
Vesuve Grey underneath cheapo Vesuve Grey paint job
2.1 L
4spd

[Paulbeard]

Pulled my dash to get the heater core out for fixing…it has a leak so now I just have to find someone local who can fix it. What a mess all that wiring is under there, given multiple POs and my own slow progress up the learning curve. A chance to clean it up, and do the other "while yer in there" jobs…I expect the core will take a few days to get done.

Any local to Seattle recommendations are welcome. I think it's the OG/all-metal core so a good radiator shop should be able to sort it out. Not that there are a lot of those about these days…

EDIT: well, it's not repairable, from a local shop can say from the pictures. They'll make a new one for $3-400…not sure I want to go that way.

MOAR EDIT: Van Cafe wins the sale. The local shop would be having the work done in BC for twice what V-C's highly-rated product will cost. Now to get busy cleaning up all the other &^&** while I wait for it to arrive.
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Currently -> Frida: 87 Tizian Red (mostly) Vanagon GL Westfalia w/ 2.0L ABA conversion
Formerly -> Steward of a 73 Super Beetle (Beater) and 67 Beetle 1300 (Little Max) both names by POs

[campism]

Roused the camper from its nap to shake off the cobwebs and do a couple of little things in preparation for state inspection. Horn did not work last couple of tries so went first to the fuse in the dual Fiamma setup and it was still good, so sprayed the connections with some contact cleaner and that must have done the trick. Noise on demand. Next came a bad turn signal and that was a bulb. Finally, looked at the sticker and realized I have until the end of February before inspection, so I can claim this was "dedicated owner maintenance" and not just a last minute fix.
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'87 Westy in Wolfram Grey Metallic

[bobbyblack]

Salted her, just a little. Had proposed to get the last 70 miles in today, but the weather closed in. Should have been easy to make my 290K Mi. mark by the end of the year. However, the weather closed in. Just a few miles short. Will have to see how next year goes If it dries out later this week or next, I'll get her back out. For now, she's drip drying on the docks.

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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

[16CVs]

Is that a pit you have there under your van?
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1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread.

[dhaavers]

^^^ Yeah...whaaaaat?

(Maybe it's an IA thing...???)

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

[bobbyblack]

Well,in fact, yes. Or, maybe no. Here's the other end:

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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

[4mymalamute]

Hooked up some led lights on roof rack.

[Paulbeard]

Put in the new heater core from Van Cafe…a tight fit with the closed cell foam they put around it. Some of it had to be trimmed away but it did fit eventually.

Then the fun begins…putting the dash and wiring away. It did go pretty quickly. And to my relief, it started right up once I had it all buttoned up enough to test it. I need to burp the cooling system but that will wait til tomorrow. Nights come early and with them, cold…I don't think it got above 40 today and once the sun gets below the ridge, you can feel it.

My oil pressure light is staying on which is a new feature I could do without. It seems to pulse gently as well. I probably did something when I plugged in the multiport connector.

But that meant I had to accelerate my plans to re-hook up my gauge pod. The sender wires became unlabeled and I had to do a continuity check with scraps of wire, alligator clips and jumper cables to identify them, but that was better than crawling underneath and dropping the spare to trace it.

I was able to get power from the rear window heater switch for the key on terminals (thanks to crazyvwvanman for that tip). I thought i had the right kind of piggyback terminals but I ended up just shoving a stripped wire down where that terminal is and zip-tying them together. Barnyard fix but better than those *^^*&^ing taps that I removed a dozen of yesterday. The gauges work (still need to run grounds for the lights) so I know there is oil pressure. Checking temperature will also be part of tomorrow's testing.

Also re-did the console lights with LEDs from VC. These ones work, though th one over the tach gave me a lot of trouble. The foil there is rough after catching fire when I tried to replace these another time.

Still to do:
• figure out what to do about the radio harness which somehow ended up on the floor instead of up where it was
• reseat the console to see if I can fix the oil pressure light problem. These OG gauges are a trial.
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Currently -> Frida: 87 Tizian Red (mostly) Vanagon GL Westfalia w/ 2.0L ABA conversion
Formerly -> Steward of a 73 Super Beetle (Beater) and 67 Beetle 1300 (Little Max) both names by POs

[16CVs]

Changed My ground cable at the nose of the Transmission today, I've been chasing an intermittent Non start issue lately. I've been pushed a few times and have had to mess with it to get it started.
About 3 months ago I ordered one from Buslab and its been kicking around on my bench. It was nasty and had corroded wires inside the cconnector.
Time will tell if this does it. I'm a patient man and am hoping for the best.

391450

Stacy
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread.

[B.O.B.Wanders]

Well, yesterday actually. It was 64 degrees and overcast in Atlanta so BOB got a pop top cleaning for the new year.

Turtle car wash soap + Dawn + a little Borax with stiff brush and a nylon scouring sponge did the trick for me. Everything was pre-soaked from the incessant rain we've been having and came off with just a moderate amount of elbow grease.

I need to just give up and have the top re-coated, but that will probably be a project for next year...

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83.5 WBX 2WD Assuan Brown Westy, B.O.B.

"It feels good to be lost in the right direction” - unknown

[4mymalamute]

Finally got an alarm put on the Syncro. I was feeling a bit uneasy due to my other cars have been broken into over the past few months.

[16CVs]

Well my truck is in a shop getting its starter replaced, I had high hopes for the ground strap though. It started once in the morning and after that it let out a hard groan and that was it.
I spent the day having it pushed and letting it idle. I am capable of putting a starter in a Syncro but just don’t feel like doing it.
I’ve done the job laying on the ground and it is just no fun. It’s the same job as putting a starter in a bug just a lot more crap to move out of the way.
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread.

[calo1956]

Had the instrument cluster out for some unrelated work, and decided to fix the two broken tabs on it. I cut one of the long tab arms off my old cluster and epoxyed it on building up the epoxy in the corners, then decided to do the small back tabs the same way.
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Enjoy the ride....
72 bug
80 westfalia