I've joined the dark side: 2001 Weekender

[xavior12]

Heater core huh?

I've done a few of them now, both '99-2000 and '01-'03. Not hard at all. I've always evacuated the A.C. to be able to remove the whole assembly. Be sure to loosen or remove the A pillar trim for the dash cover to clear other wise you'll brake the lower trim from dash. once the whole assembly is out, you can unfasten the clips and blow it clear and clean of trash and what not.

[Zeitgeist 13]

Wow, it's been a while since I updated this thread. Well, I replaced the heater core, which was mostly uneventful. The van's been running great and has been on several camping trips with our local van group. I think I promised to post a pic of my updated dash setup a while back, so here goes:

That pod below the dash is a re-purposed rear heater vent cover.
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[ocelotpotpie]

Can you elaborate a bit on what's in the dash photo?

[CdnVWJunkie]

A lot going on there Casey. Looks a little like a cockpit...

I think the primary think the OP was alluding to was the Double DIN radio.

[Zeitgeist 13]

The switch in the upper left is for toggling between the radio being tied to the starting battery via the ignition switch, or the house battery. The switch to the right is for the aftermarket seat heaters that replaced my non-functioning factory units. The next row down has a rotary switch for the front aux. driving lights and rear aux. backup lights. The next switch is a placeholder for the switch to toggle the video feed on independent of the reverse switch. The next switch is to toggle between a front and rear camera--this hasn't been completed yet. And lastly, the switch in the pod is for the battery gauges. Not shown is a switch in the upper console for the display screen for the aux. heater, which ridiculously has no factory means of shutting itself off. Then another switch just above the driver's headrest to turn on a light up in the poptop.

I love running wires.
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[Joshwa]

I always like the look of moving the hazard switch for a temp gauge.
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93 Weekender TDI conversion (AHU)
93 MV TDI conversion (1Z)
Weekender rear cot
Late model cabin air filter on 93
Euro spec bumper install on 93

[Zeitgeist 13]

Funny thing about that little project is that when I was in the middle, I decided to try and plug an Audi hazard switch in there because it was from appearances exactly the same, but it wasn't. Smoke came boiling out from behind the dash. It was a fiasco. I had to dig deep into the dash to free up the harness and re-insulate all the burnt wires. nuts. Not doing that again.
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[Abscate]

ESPN button tells you that it’s already raining.
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.ssS!

[Zeitgeist 13]

I added a GMRS radio, so we could converse with fellow van travelers while caravanning.

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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[Zeitgeist 13]

I'm gonna leave this here to give you an idea of where this thing is heading

...and yes, it's exactly what you think it is. LWB --> SWB
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[IdeaNerd]

Very interesting! Do keep us posted please!

[shirk]

Interesting conversion. Any updates?

[kourt]

I suggest ditching the original galley equipment and the medicine cabinet/divider to open things up, as I did. Of course, I was working with a LWB EVC, so things were easier for me. I look forward to your updates.

kourt

[Zeitgeist 13]

Thanks for that pic. I'm intrigued with the idea of raising the sink and stove a little higher. I need to maximize the use of all the vertical cabinetry, since the SWB interior footprint is smaller than a LWB or a Vanagon.

My wife is camping in it this week, so I had to stop work on the EVC interior and reinstall the Weekender bits. But once she returns, I get to uninstall the Weekender bits and start work on the EVC interior again.

The rear seat is going to be interesting. I want the seat base to sit stationary, rather than sliding as a unit. The idea is to recreate the Vanagon rock n' roll type seat base with permanent storage underneath, accessible from above. The passenger side rear wheel well kinda gets in the way of making this configuration a direct copy of the Vanagon, so I'm having to do some real thinking; not my strong suit.

I'll post up when I make some progress.
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[Zeitgeist 13]

I'm switching back to this thread to avoid mucking up kourt's informative thread about his galley remake.

I'm currently settling on how to locate the galley cabinets in a SWB van. Apparently the EVC cabinet sits about 9" back from the stepped platform the seat base rests upon, so I'm using that as a baseline measurement. This means I'll need to trim about 6" from the rear aluminum frame--obviously the plastic rear section on the EVC won't fit, and I don't have that part anyway.

I'm going for a hybrid of the EVC and Westfalia SWB interiors, so there will be a headache cabinet bridging between the driver and passenger sides, and the water tank cabinet will be located on the passenger side. As I mentioned earlier, the SWB interior area is pretty cramped with the lower bed deployed, so I'm trying to maximize storage space up off the floor so we can move around without tripping over stuff. This has been an issue even when we sleep up top. Without cabinets, everything is spilled out on the lower seat/bed and floor.

I'm trying to settle on a water tank size and volume Goldilocks option. 20 gallons is optimal for volume, but dimensional size seems to favor somewhere between 10 and 15 gallons.

Since my wife is all in on this project, I'm also fitting a glovebox from an earlier pre-airbag model, but it's not entirely clear how these are fitted, and I'm obviously still missing the trim piece to the right of the glovebox.

Does anyone have pics of how these are installed or have access to that trim piece?
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[kourt]

[almond]

[Zeitgeist 13]

Unless I come across a Winnebago grey water tank, I'm going tankless in that dept. I just pulled the trigger on a 15 gallon tank, KUS gauge, cheap Chinese level sender and a marine access port. I want to plumb a sprayer hose similar to the EVC, with an ability to switch between the sink and sprayer. That hardware seems to be RV specific, as the regular big box stores don't carry what I was trying to find.

I opted for a German in tank water pump, which I believe is the same as the Vanagon Westfalias, but I'm wondering if the flow rate is enough to pump through a filter and still have decent flow for the sink. Anyone here running a filter?
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[kourt]

I had a 10" filter on my Vanagon and also have one on my EVC.

If you use a 0.5 micron carbon filter, it will be quite slow.

Switching to a 1.0 micron carbon filter makes the filtration hardly noticeable, with a minor sacrifice to actual filtration. This is what I'm doing in the EVC. I'm mostly filtering for taste.

My EVC has the filter permanently installed in front of the galley sink. There is a "T" before the filter that allows the water to go to the EVC spray port I installed on the driver side.

Sprayport: you can read about my old Vanagon sprayport project here.

The Shurflo pump marketed to replace the original EVC water pump is an external pump that has several advantages over the Westfalia pump. It can act as a switched pump or a demand pump--meaning you can turn it on manually and it will stop pumping when system pressures reach 30PSI. Then, when you squeeze the handle of your spray nozzle while standing outside your van (taking a shower), the pump turns on and runs until you stop squeezing the spray nozzle. Assuming your system has no leaks and can withstand 30PSI, this is an excellent ergonomic for showering.

The Shurflo can also run dry for two minutes without damage.

I really like this pump, but it is noisy--much noisier than the Vanagon immersion pump style. To give credit, the flow rate of the Comet VIP-PLUS immersion pump is pretty impressive--20 L/minute--and it's very quiet.

I made a drawing of my current EVC system below.

kourt

[Zeitgeist 13]

I salvaged a Multi-Pure MP750SB filter from a kitchen remodel I did a few years ago. It seems like a quality and quite expensive unit, but I can only find .5 micron filters. I'm guessing I might need to get something else to use as a filter.
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?