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Heli-mech
Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2008
Posts: 44
Location: Halifax, N.S.
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 Posted: Sun May 13, 2012 10:17 pm Post subject: 81 aircooled resto conversion |
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Here we go....... I finally decided to start work on my 81 aircooled project westy. I picked it up in Julyé11 it had been sitting at a local shop for 18 months. PO blew the bottom end from oil starvation. Had the shop pull the engine so he could rebuild it, never happened. Went up for sale......and I picked it up.
Dirty!!!
Engine in the back!
Complete and clean interior + side tent!
Brought it home cleaned it up and threw a 1800cc Bay engine in it to get her mobile.
Winter is gone and my previous motorcycle project was completed freeing up the garage finally. I stripped the interior & exterior and started in on the body work.
Typically vanagon rust " the seams, steps and left hand rocker & windshield. Also decided to strip the 3 layers of paint & primer down to bare metal. It will be getting a full respray back to L567 and body job over the coming months.
Cheers,
Ian |
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Heli-mech
Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2008
Posts: 44
Location: Halifax, N.S.
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| Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 11:45 am Post subject: Re: 81 aircooled resto conversion |
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Well .... that took a.little longer then planned. 
So after five years and another van and a half of donor parts my 81 westy is finally ready to hit the road.
THE LIST
- aircooled to water cooled EJ25 subaru conversion
- all new brakes/hard lines and rubber lines.
- New rad, coolant lines, bottles etc.
- Lowered on Weitec springs
- All new ball joints and bearings
- New gas tank and all lines/filters/pump etc.
- 86 Westy interior
- 88 GL dash and heater box
- 88 GL rear heater under seat
- relays for everything ... fogs/low/high/reverse/fuelpump/ecu/starter etc.
- TDI starter with DIY adapter
- dual batteries with inverter and master combination kill switch for both.
- Mercedes C280 sport 16" wheels
- T3 wheel spacers and hardware
- 91 GL front lip
- DIY badge delete on the grill and entire van
- all new interior panels and fully insulated and sealed.
Last edited by Heli-mech on Wed Jan 25, 2017 12:25 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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danfromsyr
Samba Member
Joined: March 01, 2004
Posts: 15413
Location: Syracuse, NY
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| Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 12:04 pm Post subject: Re: 81 aircooled resto conversion |
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congrats it's a great looking van and an interesting place to put the coolant expansion bottle.
I love seeing H2o Converted aircooled vans..
more power+more heat+more reliable=More travels
_________________
| Abscate wrote: |
| These are the reasons we have words like “wanker” |
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dobryan 
Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006
Posts: 17374
Location: Brookeville, MD
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Heli-mech
Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2008
Posts: 44
Location: Halifax, N.S.
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| Posted: Wed Jan 25, 2017 12:29 pm Post subject: Re: 81 aircooled resto conversion |
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| danfromsyr wrote: |
congrats it's a great looking van and an interesting place to put the coolant expansion bottle.
I love seeing H2o Converted aircooled vans..
more power+more heat+more reliable=More travels |
Thanks. Its a coolant overflow from a Honda odyssey minivan. I don't plan on mounting AC anytime soon so using that space seemed to make sense .... plus the big void left from the missing AC compressor drove me nuts. Lol. |
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