46th Van Nationals - Indiana, July 23-29

[brodyjdavis]

Anybody going to the 46th Van Nationals in Rensselaer, Indiana on 7/23 - 7/29?

We got our tickets and will be heading out that way from Chicago Thursday night, assuming the van has its new engine up and gas tank and is running well enough to get us there by that time! what could go wrong!
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1984 Westy | www.brodyjdavis.com

[campism]

You do realize that most attendees will be in the "rolling sin bin" type of American van, right?
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'87 Westy in Wolfram Grey Metallic

[Herr Motorspiele]

Looks like a helluva good time from the Vannin’ documentary. 2%ers know how to party!
Wish I could make it!

[brodyjdavis]

[brodyjdavis]

[campism]

Car and Driver magazine did a story a couple of years ago in which they attended the Nats driving a Sprinter, a Transit and a Promaster, and they reported that they did not fit in. I expect that while the vanners might think your Vanagon is cute they won't think it's a "real" van. Hope you don't get shunned.
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'87 Westy in Wolfram Grey Metallic

[Zeitgeist 13]

Yeah, my anecdotal experience with Merkin van peeps has not been positive
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Casey--

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

[regis101]

You guys are being too hard.

Of course the Van nationals is going to be geared toward the Van era of yesteryear. Deal with it.

Of course anything outside that realm is going to park on the outskirts. Get over it.

Yinz are still Vanners just the same, just different. They're just jealous because you drive cool rigs.

Um, ok, the Red Barn before Kelly Park is a Split thing. Ive been there when a Bay had to stay outside the gate. wtf.

What about the lack of luv from the general Split-Bay-Vanagon volks.

I was a 'Merikan vanner. Still am at heart. Driving a VW now is all.

Just sayin. YMMV
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Peace, Regis

[Zeitgeist 13]

Meh

The issues I've experienced are wide ranging and mostly off-topic, so I'll just drop it for now.
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Casey--

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

[regis101]

Choose yer own battles.

Good luck with all you do.
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Peace, Regis

[brodyjdavis]

[regis101]

Oh yeah. I remember these days.

https://www.pinterest.com/at1z28/70s-custom-vans/

Let 'em have their cake.
All is well
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Peace, Regis

[E1]

Sadly, we too have experienced the disconnect between diehard, 'merican V8 lovers and VWs. Sometimes I think they think we love Adolf or somethin'.

While we go out of our way to greet all as the same, there's times and places all we get back is sneers. But we make them like us anyways.
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‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[Tbob]

Other than being in the shape of a "van", our Volkswagens and the American vans couldn't be more different. The three brands of American Vans are similar in form and execution. Front Engine, rear solid axel. Flat load floor. Radiator up front, with engine right behind it. Relatively few mechanical weirdnesses, and mechanical aftermarket support from, well, everyone. In the 70's, the customization of said vehicles centered on common, easy to achieve modifications. Wide wheels and tires. Fancy, over the top interiors, not focused on camping but on creating rolling pleasure(whatever your pleasure was) palaces. Gleaming paint, often with wild murals about anything the owner wanted. With that V-8 engine, modifications were easy and frequent. So, the people who are involved in those vehicles and their modifications will not understand your van, with it's small rear engine, high rear load floor, completely different way of repairing and modifying the engine. Our enthusiasms are toward different things.
All that being said, as long as you are cool with what and who you are trying to see, and not trying to find compadres who do and understand what you are doing, it could be great fun. By the way, Kelly Park and the Red Barn are California VW events. And even in the vintage VW events, people gravitate toward what they are into, and tend to exclude those who are not into what they are.
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1969 Deluxe, owned since 1973
1973 Westfalia, owned since 1983
1980 Westfalia, watercooled conversion
1985 Westfalia, stock!
1986 Westfakia, Audi I-4 conversion
A couple of trucks and a couple of Jeeps

[jimf909]

At first I thought the Van Nationals would just be another Sturgis like cluster where objectification of women was a primary activity but now that I see it’s organized by an organization named TITT my opinion...hasn’t changed one bit.

The 46th National Truck-In, curated by T.I.T.T. (Truckin In To Tomorrow) will be held at:

Jasper County Fairgrounds,
2671 W Clark St. Renssalaer, IN 47978
July 25-29, 2018

https://www.van-nationals.com/

https://www.vanning.com/threads/ubbthreads.php/topics/726490/1

As with the Sturgis crowd (I’ve gone to Sturgis twice and stayed for a total of about three hours) I’m sure there’s a subset of folks that I’d be happy to chat with but the interests and differences are so profound that I don’t have a lot of interest in finding the needles in the haystack.

Then again, I don’t gather with like-minded motorcyclists much either (1990 was the last time I attended a BMW moto rally).
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- Jim

[Zeitgeist 13]

I took four years of autoshop in high school, and was ostracized by the big three aficionados the entire time. I was considered an effete "pansy" because I liked small elegant European machines, while they preferred brute force and "masculine" stylings. I've found that those prejudices and mindsets have been reproduced time and again when encountering Merkin van folks ever since my high school days. That's entirely based upon personal anecdotal experiences, but the stereotype has a long run of very consistent reinforcements.
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Casey--

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

[E1]

They drive Mopar, we drive for mo' parts.

Tomato, tamahto.
_________________
‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[wooden nickel]

I emailed back in the early spring and they said all vans were welcome so I got tickets.
I love all motor driven vehicles so I intend to look at the other vans. I don't need love. I don't even need like. Don't bother me and I won't bother you.
I'll be pulling my Russian sidecar bike, which is what I'll drive to get supplies. I figure that will get me double ostracized. Don't care.
I do have a Ford engine though.

[brodyjdavis]

[wooden nickel]

I just noticed I had never updated my sig line to indicate my move from Florida to Louisville. It's only been 1 1/2 years.
I will watch for your van there. I will probably go early because I need to be somewhere else on Saturday