What did YOU do to your van today?

[AZ Landshaper]

New anti rattle clips on the brakes and rehung the rear curtain w a bungee like cord. Fixed my tail lights so the braked lights and turn signals now work during the day. Night time is another issue

One day at a time.
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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]

Fixed my issue with blinkers. Turns out the front flasher was wired wrong. Corrected the wiring and now my blinkers work while the running lights are on.
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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]

Added the three 5/8" washers to the top of my front shocks to stop the clunking. Now the ride is almost silent. Sahweet.
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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.

[dhaavers]

FOR my van, but won't get TO my van for another couple months...

Finally rigged my quick-connect jumper cable setup for install when new battery goes in...
...(whenever temps consistently get above 32°F...) ...about March or so...???

Also picked up M6x1.0 - 25mm cap head bolts to go with Mercedes front spindle nuts, due
to arrive this week. Everything waits until temps stay above 32°F & can get comfortable
with garage heater running for pre-season prep work...



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

[mikemtnbike]

[AZ Landshaper]

I got this idea from a post a while back. They were complaining of passenger side rattle on bad roads and bumps. Mine do this W new KYB shocks. Turns out its a common ailment.
Turns out the KYB shocks come with a bushing thats too stout and doesnt cover the distanced needed to prevent movement. The three grade 8 washers w a 5/8" D are the trick to taking up the space pronto. I still think theres a bushing out there that would be more appropriate but the noise is gone and my need to medicate is a weeeee bit less. LOL

Sorry man, yes below the bushing is what was recommended.
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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]

New speedo cable today. Now when I get pulled over I know its profiling.
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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.

[vanis13]

Made pop top insulation. More details in this thread

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8988319#8988319

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83.5 Westy with Subaru 2.5, 4 spd manual, center seat, COLD A/C on 134a!, Winter camp heated with an Espar B4 gasoline furnace

www.SuperVanagon.com - some stuff I make

[AZ Landshaper]

Reattached my rear bumper strip today. Used these Toyota clips in leu of the vanagon bumper strip clip which I didn’t have access to.

The Orielly auto parts equivalent.

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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.

[Paulbeard]

[Steve Arndt]

I took apart my hazard switch and cleaned DEOXit'ed it and it works like new again. Hadn't worked for .... the last 15 years lol .

I also fixed my go westy new throttle body throttle switch adjustment. It wasn't triggering the switch at idle reliably. All I did was bend the metal that that holds the throttle stop away from the post to increase the travel back to idle like half a millimeter. This was easier than removing the TB to adjust the actual switch.
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Steve
Steve's 87 Syncro project

[campism]

Thank the Polar Vortex for keeping me inside. Vanagon parts storage was the plan here. Had three spare front buckets stacked for years and dug them out to note some differences for another thread and decided to build a rolling rack for them before putting them away again. One large Harbor Freight furniture dolly (about $17) and some scrap lumber and this now fits in the same "storage footprint" that the stacked seats did before. Yay!

I try to keep one garage rule for order: if it's not up off the floor, it's on wheels so it can be moved easily.

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'87 Westy in Wolfram Grey Metallic

[Paulbeard]

Replaced the inadequate ground for the aux battery with a matching AWG4 cable from my FLAPS, bolted down to the seatbelt bolt. Both batteries are operating at less than full charging and I suspect a weak main cable, as noted elsewhere for the main and maybe a poor ground connection for the other. Had both tested and they checked out at 14.4V inbound. Alternator was new when I acquired the van almost 4 years ago.

Degreased/hosed off the oil filter flange to see if I can isolate an oil leak in that area. Dripping off the pan front and back and it looks like it's running down from near the filter. The FLAPS counterman opined it might be a bad seal on the filter which I had been wondering about as well. Not losing a lot but any amount is too much. It's always messy getting the filter off a 50° angled motor…it puts the filter almost horizontal, ensuring some spills.

Ordered two voltage regulators for the console so I can perhaps get a working temp gauge again.
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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

[4Gears4Tires]

I took the gas tank out to start on the rust repair of the gas tank mounting straps. Apparently the passenger rear shock needs to be removed while doing this. Found out the shock was completely blown. Pulled the drivers side, yep, blown too. But the fun didn't stop there! I went to pull the halfshafts from the trailing arms and found this.

A PO broke an allen key off and decided to leave it there. I think I'm going to try to cut it off with a dremel and try a hex head bolt extractor. If that doesn't work I guess I cut the bolt head off.
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'87 Syncro
Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition

[vanis13]

[danfromsyr]

one of these might do it if it can get past the rubber boot.
just lightly tap it on/home before trying.. keep a good constant pressure on the bolt while attempting.

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[bobbyblack]

vanis13;

The broken hex bolt won't keep you from getting the boot/CV off if you have the other end of the axle free (which I assume is also equally degraded)

You might even be able to get the axle off that broken bolt if the other 5 bolts are out, and you rotate that broken one to the top, then lift the rear so there is a higher angle of articulation in the axle. You might be able to work the axle around, and slide it off. THEN you could deal with getting the broken bolt out. Even if you can only get a half inch clearance, you might consider a hack saw between the flange and the CV.

If you have access to a welder, after you get the CV off, you could start by welding on a normal 6 point bolt head and see if you can free it. At long last, if you munge the flange badly, there are replacements available.
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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

[bobbyblack]

Well, today at zero-dark-thirty, I had to finish up a batch of laundry so kids could have clothes for the only day of school this week, its been so cold, nearly everything was closed, especially schools. Anyway, since it was 40 degrees warmer, and we've been struggling as a 3 generation family using the only car that would run (actually just let it run overnight a few nights for safety -- can't have NO car in case of need to take someone to ER or such) I decided to give Flossie a try.

She said in a quiet, reserved whisper "nope" ... 3 weeks since I started her, and her batt had gone flat. I sure hope the batt will take a charge. Group 41's are no longer made, so I hear. Plus, I just spent my only flexible $'s for the month on my Ford F-250 battery .. $150 2 days ago. Plowing the drive is a must...
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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

[shagginwagon83]

[bobbyblack]

Hmm, My folks are going through Independence tomorrow....
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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