Vanagon Surf Life Build

[vanagonsurflife]

I figured Id start my build thread on here instead of just my blog site. me posting just a link had made a few people upset, So I figured Id just post in this thread of my adventure of buying and building the ultimate Surf Vanagon and the great people I meet and the adventures I have along the way.

Please be kind as i'm completely a novice

[vanagonsurflife]

The Journey started a little bit ago when my Girlfriend’s Son showed interest in getting a VW Vanagon for his first vehicle. I started looking at sites ranging from Craiglist, The Samba, and Facebook Marketplace. Being a partner in Jeep Accessory manufacture business myself, I obviously was drawn to the lifted and syncro vans, but due to the cost, her son would not be getting one of those. We were looking for somewhat of a project that he could help get it up to tip top shape and have a vested interest in his vehicle.

I was looking for these vans as I had pick up the hobby of surfing again. My family took to surfing as well, were going to the beach every weekend looking at what other people were driving to the beach. I became intrigue by some of the sprinters, econolines and vw Vanagon vans. I found myself talking to people about their vehicles at the beach and even found myself looking at them online.

my girlfriends son only being 14, her and i decided that maybe i get one first for all of us to cruise to the beach in and see what kind of interest he would even have in it. you know how kids attention spans are… and how they can change their minds at the drop of a hat.

being a partner in a small business, I didn’t really have much in the budget so I narrowed my search to a VW Vanagon, I didn’t want a full camper so the westfalia was out… but I am into weird, odd ball stuff so I’ll stayed open to high tops, tin tops and day campers.

Let the search for the Journey Begin…
https://vanagonsurflife.com/2018/06/21/where-it-all-started/

[vanagonsurflife]

After searching far and wide… looking at The Samba, Craigslist, Facebook market place, offer up and LetGo, we are finally taking home a 1985 Vanagon boat anchor. The one I was able to find in my budget is a bit of a work in progress. It started up fine and runs perfect until it gets warm… then it’s like it goes into limp mode… not even sure if this thing has a limp mode but now the real journey begins.

Time to update the AAA card and make sure I have plenty of tows… because it’s getting towed home

I’ll start of by saying.. I’m not a VW mechanic by any means, but I will say with the help of reading article after article on the Samba and all the different Facebook Vanagon groups like VanCafe, Vanagon owners and other groups, I plan on becoming one.

https://vanagonsurflife.com/2018/06/25/finding-a-diamond-in-the-rough/

[rryyoobbii]

Don't let Samba get you down. I dig your blog! Hot running issues are pretty common in Vanagon's.
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92 Syncro Doka 16
86 Syncro Doka WBX
86 Syncro Westy TDI

[jimf909]

Why the new thread?
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- Jim

[vanagonsurflife]

https://vanagonsurflife.com/2018/06/26/exxon-valdez/
Well… I’ve started to work on my Vanagon and so I bought a Bosch Temp sensor off Amazon and put it in… base off a few conversations I’ve had with people. It seems to run way better… I was able to drive it around the block and find out the brakes… well let’s just say my foot was on the floor and the e-brake didn’t seem to work either. But it was running fine until the oil light came on… it started to flicker and then finally stay on only at idle. It also started to hesitate after warm.

To start I’ve pressure washed the motor compartment out so I can see where my leaks are coming from.

After:

It seems to be leaking from a valve cover gasket and the push rod tubes.

Has anyone ever used this push rod tubes? what do you think?

I found them online and at a few stores like Van Café or even Vanagain. I called and talk to Robert at Fast Fab.. He was super nice and was a lot of help..He explained how they work and about the seals they use. He told me to make sure I needed them before buying them. They happened to put me in contact with a few other good contacts for my vanagon. One of the gentlemen that he put me in contact with was Mike from Rancho Transmission… even though I didn’t need a transmission yet, Mike had all kinds of information for me and gave me the idea to have a local shop called Mike’s Foreign Auto Repair to give my vanagon a once over and give me a check list of things to fix. So off it went back on a tow truck.

Follow my Adventure at www.vanagonsurflife.com
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Vanagon Surf Life
1985 Vanagon 1.9L

[Make America Vanagon]

[vanagonjr]

For what it's worth, my valve covers leaked so much, that I thought it was a much bigger problem. I bought cork gaskets from aircooled.net and new bales (metal retainer bars) and 100% solved.

I used only grease on the cork seals, no sealer, etc. Aircooled also sells new valve covers (same as Type 1 Bug engine, BTW)
https://vwparts.aircooled.net/Valve-Cover-OEM-VW-Stock-Type-1-Based-Engines-p/113-101-475boem.htm
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John - 86 Wolfsburg Westfalia "Weekender"
Flint reversed 1.8T W/Passat 5-Speed
LiMBO (late model bus club) www.limbobus.org
LiMBO is on Facebook too! https://www.facebook.com/groups/
FAQ thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=525798

[9.5isCanadian]

Welcome to the Vanagon scene. Your unit looks like it has good bones for you to build your vision.

The Westfalia package is nice but, like you, I had my own vision that doesn’t include the full setup.
I bought a sun roof model and just put the fridge, stove unit in, the full width bed is a nice bonus too.
It’s funny you mention the high tops as that was also something that I liked the idea of.

Anyway enjoy building your surf rig and keep us updated.

Good times ahead.
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9 1/2 - missing a few pieces.

1987 Getaway Hightop
1980 Sunroof Vanagon
2018 BMW R Nine T
2012 Golf tdi