Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 20:44:32 -0700
Reply-To: Sean Reifschneider <jafo@TUMMY.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Sean Reifschneider <jafo@TUMMY.COM>
Subject: Re: Howdy, Westfalia Camper Wanted!
In-Reply-To: <C19FD734FFB5D211B8A600A0C9836D3F0AA9C3@FILESERVER>
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On Tue, Jan 25, 2000 at 11:37:44AM -0800, Steve Sullivan wrote:
>travel, so I'm looking for one and having a tough time. If anyone knows of
>an '83 - '91 Westfalia with a manual trannie for sale in this area, I'd love
Sounds like you're getting ready for an interesting adventure. I'm in
a similar situation right now, in the early weeks of what will hopefully
be a fairly long adventure in the shaggin wagen...
As far as power and mileage, I'm thinking that if I really like it,
maybe seeing about putting a TDI engine in there would be a good
thing. It looks like it puts out a bit more power, but should do
a lot better than the 19MPG or so I'm getting right now. And
hopefully won't leak oil like a sieve either... Even though it's
not exactly aerodynamic, I figure a TDI would get a lot better
mileage.
Anyway, on to how to find one. I had a hard time locating one as
well. I was particularly looking for a Syncro. I ended up hunting
around the web and found ep.com. They are basicly a classified
on the web place, and had a few hundred from around the world (mostly
in the states though).
I ended up finding an interesting 87 Adventure Wagen Synchro
(manual trans) in California. About a week later I took the
train out there, did the deal, and drove back in it. I did
some misc work on it and set off on my adventure.
My SO and I have been having issues, and decided we needed to spend
some time apart... I at one point took off in our '86 pickup, but
without a lock on the back that just really wasn't going to do the
trick. Even if I were insane enough to try to live out of it. :-)
I finally decided to try the VW camper way (not wanting a huge RV
or anything). Of course, just after I got it I saw a neighbor had
(over the holidays) a "Diamond GT II" parked in front of their
place, and it looked pretty sweet. It was a bit bigger than
the shaggin wagen, but not much. But, it looked like it was built
on a fairly serious van frame...
Anyway, the Adventure Wagen conversion is pretty nice. The bed is
actually very comfortable, and I like being able to stand up in
the main area without having to raise the top (especially since
It's been freezing and below in the areas I've been the last couple
of weeks).
The idea was that I'd work from the road. It could be going better,
but I'll figure something out. My SO and I own a company together,
so I have a fair bit of flexability in what I do. As long as I get
a good bit of work done, I'm fine.
I've been hitting Kinkos a lot for net access and other misc work-related
stuff I need while on the road. I have a CDPD modem, but coverage for it
sucks. Cellular modems just don't really work... So, I'm mostly
required to get access to a POTS line to send/receive e-mail. A
good national/international ISP helps a lot.
My equipment is a pair of laptops with a delightful wireless network
between them. I have an inverter to power/charge them, but that's
REALLY inefficient. The car charger I bought was DOA, so I've been
using the inverter in the mean-time until the new one gets here.
The motor is a little weak, but so far on this trip it hasn't really
been a problem. The trip we took up to Wyoming the weekend before I
left was really a problem -- I was basicly at WOT from the time we got
on the interstate, until we arrived at the destination, and I was
rarely running anywhere near the speed limit... The extra 2 feet or
so of height the Adventure Wagen conversion adds really hurts in the
wind...
Right now I'm staying in a hotel room in Illinois while doing work for
a client. I also need to get a few things fixed before I really
move on with the living from the wagen though:
The propane "indicator valve" (?) is tweaked, it requires pliers
to shut off completely, and still seems to leak a bit I think
(I can smell gas when around the van sometimes, and I don't think
it's burned gas, but I have been running the furnace on low all
the time to prevent water-tank freeze up...
While doing some jump-starting the other day, we found a leaking
fuel line -- that'd be nice to have fixed.
Still need to get the coolant level/mixture sensor and gasket
replaced. I couldn't find a replacement one when the indicator
was going on, and then it stopped completely.
Need to track down why the coach batteries aren't providing power
to the hardware back there. Just started this weekend. Probably
a connection thing.
I hope to find a propane repair place tomorrow and get back on the road
now that the work is done. The battery thing happened once before and
just started working again when I took the seat out to work on it. So
I'll just take another look at it...
Good luck on finding the wagen of your dreams.
Sean
--
"What do you call it when your software licensing guy's hands start
bleeding? Stig-mata." -- Sean Reifschneider, 1999
Sean Reifschneider, Inimitably Superfluous <jafo@tummy.com>
URL: <http://www.tummy.com/xvscan> HP-UX/Linux/FreeBSD/BSDOS scanning software.
