Deal or no deal? Update: Bought it!

[jimf909]

I'm an outlier here but I say don't worry about minor seam rust (rusty, possibly bubbly but not a foot long of rust clear through the panel). No camping trip was ever ruined by seam rust.

My #1 priority is buying a van from a meticulous PO. Someone with years of records of constant maintenance and the care for the vehicle is evident by everything working, broken things have been fixed, etc. The van will probably still need a first flush of maintenance but you won't be cleaning up years of deferred maintenance.

- Buy a meticulously maintained van
- if you find one that is also free of seam rust then you are winning.

p.s. Undercarriage rust is something entirely different. My van has seam rust that's crept slightly over six years but virtually zero undercarriage rust. Nuts and bolts are relatively easily separated, nothing needs to be soaked in PB Blaster for days.

p.p.s. I sure miss Fort Collins. Your reference to Horsetooth took me up the hills and into the Poudre River canyon.
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- Jim

[bnzelener]

[bnzelener]

[Ride-Fly]

[Eric_Taylor]

I'll be honest, that list is a lot better than I expected! If the body was not beat up as much as it is, I would say go for it at $5,500, but ONLY if you LIKE doing mechanical work.

Most of the work on that list is work my van needed when I got it. I personally have really enjoyed picking out the exact parts for each change and going though it. In the end, you have a van that you know a ton about and have drastically improved. A lot of the cost there is the labor, and it's a fair bid from a company that will do quality work.

In the end, it comes down to how much do you want to get into restoring this thing? The big upside in my opinion is that the motor/trans checked out and are solid! The rest of that work is just stuff that's worn out deferred maintenance that could be addressed one bit at a time.

The deal breaker for me is the body work. I would just hate dumping money into a van that is beat like that as I would just end up with an ugly van that ran well and for me it would drive me nuts. Going down the body work path would be $$$$. I would think $15k? Add the $5k of parts, and the $5,500 for the van and the rule follows - they are all a $25k van! This is with a stock motor/trans too.....

[bnzelener]

Hey everyone, I bought it

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9x1NcuHgiO/

Just got it registered and insured this morning.

The seller let me borrow it for a few days to feel out, and overall the condition was better than I had initially thought. It's not the prettiest thing, but I think with a few weeks of elbow grease and fresh parts, I'll be able to get it into safe shape for camping this summer.

After looking for a couple of months, all of the decent-condition vans I could find near me in the $10-20K range were old models (either air-cooled or early waterboxer with the brown interior trim and the older cooling system that wasn't as good), or automatics. For a newer model it seemed like I could either spend $25K and get one in really nice shape, or spend $6K on this one (the price went up after a shop offered her $6K) and get to fix/upgrade it at my desired pace. Ultimately the $6K won out, and I'm happy it did. Now I get to use the thing for the summer, do some basic upgrades, and then decide if ultimately I want to put more into it.

The 2.1L seems to be running strong (it's taken me up some very steep grades around our local reservoir 'Horsetooth' 3 times already). It needs a lot of new hoses and lines, but it shifts well and my god it's fun to drive!

I tried to fill the propane tank at a gas station and they hooked it up, turned on the propane and no gas would go into the tank. I then opened the bleeder valve and gas sprayed out, so I opened the valve to the stove/fridge and voila! The stove lit up perfectly. The seller said this was probably the first time the stove had been used in over 10 years if not ever (and based on the zero heat marks on the metal, I'm inclined to believe her).

Has anyone had the issue of not being able to fill the propane tank? Is it possible mine was just already full and wouldn't accept any more gas? Or is it more likely I have a faulty regulator or something?

I got the fridge running last night on 110V -- damn it's cool! I haven't been able to get the water pump to run yet, and the toggle switch was broken on the kitchen monitor panel, so I soldered some wires on and made a makeshift switch!

Just ordered a new pop-top canvas, LED lights, Sureflow faucet, and a bunch of other goodies from GoWesty. Here we goooooo!

[Love My Westy]

Congratulations!

[Yellow Rabbit]

I fill my propane at the Uhaul on 287 out by Trilby. They have never had a problem. They seem to know Westys.

Although I do have a newer style replacement tank with a modern style valve.

Nothing against Gowesty as they have given me great service in the past, but it sure is nice being able to just drive over and pick up parts at VanCafe.

[jimf909]

Propane: the tank could have been full; or they didnt connect the fill hose correctly and it refused to fill. Both happen.

The huge orange flame in your photo should not happen. That will be a sooty flame. it should burn with a small blue flame just around the burner...like a gas stove at home.

Fuel lines! I recall the RMW/Mr. Mechanic PPI mentioned cracked fuel lines. Cracked fuel lines fail leading to a never-ending flow of burned-out Vanagons. Those are your first order of business if not already addressed.

Enjoy the fun! You'll be at it for years.
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- Jim

[bnzelener]

Thanks guys!

Doing the fuel lines for sure.

I think I figured out the propane issue. For anyone else curious about this, check the first page in this forum: https://www.classbforum.com/forums/f5/auto-stop-valve-propane-1746.html

The old propane tanks have an "Auto Stop" valve which behaves different from the newer valves. Here's the important part from that forum:

"If you have an older propane tank it might have an Auto Stop valve. The Auto Stop is no longer made. It uses a piston rather than a float to prevent overfilling the propane tank. The vent valve must be fully opened in order to fill the tank. If the vent valve is only partially open then the overfill protection will kick in and prevent you from filling the tank.

Notes: The reset button (to activate piston) cannot be pressed down unless the Vent valve is open.

It is functional but propane filling attendants might not know how it works."

[Abscate]

That to do list isn’t so bad, most of the bill is $130 hour stupid labor work

Paying someone $1100 to remove a dash is an example of something you do in your driveway over a weekend for free.

The shop charges are fair, but not where you put your money on one of these unless you shorted the market last week.
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.ssS!

[Steve M.]

Do your dash removal yourself. You will learn a lot by doing it and disconnect the battery before you start as you will be touching wires and moving them.

I say this not to instill fear into you about causing a shorted electrical wire and damage, but as a habit forming practice to get into anytime you are doing any work on or near the electrical system because it prevents you causing damage even though you think you won't!
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This free advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.

There are seven days in a week. Someday is not one of them.

[korfmach]

Hey bnzelener, congratulations on your new hobby/obsession, and good luck with the fixes. There's something very satisfying about making old things work like the new things they once were.

I'm in Ft Collins and recently completed a bunch of things you're likely to do soon, like fuel lines, headlight relay, etc. PM me if you need some help, need advice, or if you have some beer taking up too much room in your fridge. Cheers--
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1989 Westy
2016 Golf TSI

Gone, but not forgotten:
1974 Dorper Baywindow, "The Bleeding Trout"
1998 Jetta TDI, "Trixie"
1987 GTI, "Heike"
1974 Thing, "The Luftwaffel"
1974 Ghia
1966 Ghia

[danfromsyr]

I've traveled the country for 15years in a van more cosmetically challenged than that.. make the engine & BRAKES 100% and enjoy life behind the picture window.

[Squidfish]

Some of those labor figures on time are crazy IMO. Mainly the antenna (1hr), sway bar (3hrs) and dash (10hrs)
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1985.5 - Vanagon Westfalia Weekender Wolfsburg Edition - LH8U - "Penny"
- 2.6i 5-Cylinder 10v (2004)

[bnzelener]

[Vanagon Nut]

Nice to see the progress.

I didn't look closely but if that paint, or some of it, is original, dents aside, that body should last for some time, maybe.

Check the propane tank for excessive rust. The tank wall is thick but if tank has ID tag that's welded at each corner, if that tag is falling off, the tank may be ready for replacement. For some kind of POV, images of old tank on my '81 that I replaced:

https://goo.gl/photos/2Z1VThJmN2XTo3WB6

Lots has been written here on LP line realignment to newer style regulator etc and/or LP line replacement.

Neil.
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1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA

1988 West DIY 50º ABA

VE7TBN

[bnzelener]

Hi folks, just wanted to pop-in with an update and to say thanks to everyone that provided feedback in this thread. I've done a lot of fixes and upgrades to the van since purchase in March:

- Removed & pressure washed pop-top & luggage rack
- Pop-top canvas replaced (this was a job and a half)
- Cleaned camper interior thoroughly
- Skylight replaced
- Sliding door handle replaced
- Rear table replaced
- Hatch struts replaced
- All interior bulbs (including instrument cluster!) and headlights are now LEDs
- Shureflow faucet & water pump replaced
- Truckfridge TF49 installed
- New propane tank
- Power windows fixed (one motor one regulator)
- Pioneeer AVH-3300NEX installed
- Stove panel sand blasted & powder coated
- RMW Twin Peaks bumpers
- ARB awning
- RoadShower 4
- washed curtains and upholstery
- GoWesty Lithium Aux battery
- Rubber floor mats
- Propex HS2000 heater (not installed yet)
- Replaced lower grille

My mechanic friend did a lot of updates as well:

- New GT Radial touring tires
- New spark plugs, wires, distributor cap & rotor
- Replaced drive belts
- Fixed exhaust leak
- Air filters replaced
- Fuel lines & filters replaced
- Replaced passenger CV axle
- Rebuilt Power Steering pump
- Replaced power steering hoses
- AC recharge
- Replaced fuel injectors
- Heater core & front blower motor repair/replace
- Oil change
- Transmission oil change

After it all I'm near $20K. Funny, as this was suggested several times in this thread as just what these vans cost. But I'm happy to have gotten to learn so much in the process and to have exactly the van that I want.

I've taken 3 big camping trips so far, and on my most recent this past weekend to Buena Vista and Salida, the van cranked AC keeping me comfortable on a 96-degree day while cruising on I25 at 65-70mph smoothly. I can't ask for much more than that. It also got 19.46mpg from Denver to Buena Vista (~120 miles)!!!

In the next few weeks I'm going to install a few more house battery mods with more outlets around the van and hopefully the custom solar panel frame that hodakaguy built here: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...;start=480

Here are some photos from the adventures (and across the upgrade timeline) so far:

[Merian]

see my sig.
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[Ahwahnee]

Well done - glad to hear you're already enjoying it.