Date:         Thu, 31 Aug 2000 08:37:46 +0100
Reply-To:     Jeff Warner <jwarner@NETWALK.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jeff Warner <jwarner@NETWALK.COM>
Subject:      Thoughts on Tents, Heads, Tires, and Hoses (longish)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

I haven't submitted to the list in a while.  Didn't feel I had anything
to offer.  But lately some subjects have been raised (or raised again)
so I thought I should finally offer my two cents worth.  So you'll know
where I'm coming from, our family of 4 have owned and loved our '87
Vanagon GL for a little over 4 years now.  We use it almost exclusively
for vacations, recreation and trips to the lumber yard.  I've
experienced several of the problems commonly discussed on this list
(A/C, tires, head, Cooling system, fuel pump, etc.  I'm a fairly
experienced back yard mechanic and am not usually afraid to do it
myself.  Although I'd like to think that I'm usually smart enought to
defer to the experts when necessary.  Our Vanagon has 187,000 miles on
it now and even though we love it we are planning on becoming Westfalia
owners eventually.

Tents - I've seen a lot of discussion about tents lately and felt I
should mention one that I've scoped out.  I spent about 2 months
researching my options for a side tent and after narrowing my choices
down to about 4, settled on the Cabela's Truck Tent.

http://www.cabelas.com/texis/scripts/store/+/CatalogDisplay/displayPOD/CabFALL1998/CabFALL1998ASAbAA/IA880F

Although it's designed to attach to the back it appears it could also
work off the side.  After several discussions with the company I've
established that it should fit the back very well.  Even better, it's
only $200!  I was prepared to buy it when I suddenly stumbled onto and
purchased a used Westfalia side tent w/floor in relatively good
condition.  I thought those of you looking for a tent should know about
it and I may yet buy one anyway.  If anyone does pick one up, please let
us know what you think.

Heads - About 5 months ago I suffered a major meltdown when I lost the
left side coolant pipe and got a big hole in the thermostat housing at
the same time (I believe the first caused the second).  The end result
was a badly cracked head on the right side. The reason I bring this
subject up is all the discussion about head gasket repairs and costs.  I
would like to impress upon those in the list worried about this problem
that it isn't necessarily such a big deal.  After repairing the cooling
system I went to this list to purchase a used head that I could "throw"
on the motor so I could find out if it was still okay after the
overheating experience.  A wonderful couple sold me a head they didn't
need for $50.  I doctored up the fairly nasty head gasket I had removed
with some gasket compound and installed the head.  End result was the
engine was fine and the gasket no longer leaks.  I spent a total of $70
on this head repair and that was 4 months and more than 1000 miles ago.
And I don't baby it either.  Once I felt certain it was okay I was back
to my usual 75+ MPH @ 4200 RPM on the freeways in no time.  I'm not
suggesting it will always be this easy.  And I never intended this
repair to be permanent and plan to redo both sides with a new gasket set
and some work on the heads.  By the way I just picked up a complete VW
engine gasket set on eBay for $86 including shipping.  My point is this
really isn't that difficult of a job.  You've got to watch pulling off
the head to make sure you don't pull off a cylinder with it and getting
the exhaust flanges back into place was a bear.  But the point is I did
it myself in one evening and will certainly do it again.  I've pulled
many heads in my life and this was by far the easiest.  So if your head
starts leaking, don't wait, just do it!

Tires - One of the first things I did when I bought the van was replace
the tires.  I checked the sticker on the door jamb and proceeded to Pep
Boys and bought 4 light truck radial tires of the larger size, with a
slightly higher load rating and inflation rating sufficient for the
van's specs. That was nearly 30,000 miles ago and the tires have
performed flawlessly, have almost all their tread, and I was out the
door for less than $200!  They are certainly a store brand but they look
good and drive real nice.  My point is, look for a light truck tire, buy
according to the specs and go for the larger tire size.  Name brand
isn't everything i.e. Firestone!

Hoses - I've read a lot of discussion about cooling hoses but nothing
about the plastic parts in the cooling system.  I've had only one hose
fail so far and it was one of those nasty little elbow hoses at the oil
pump.  But I've had 3 plastic parts fail terribly and so I thought I
should bring it up.  First to fail was the fitting at the rear of the
right head.  It just popped off!  Second was the one on the other side
but I caught it before it stranded me.  VW has replaced both of these
fittings with metal pieces.  The most recent to go was the thermostat
housing which appeared to have developed a small leak which grew into a
gusher when the metal pipe blew out.  The replacement for it is still
plastic.  The point here is check these plastic parts and definately
replace the two at the rear of the heads.  You might have all new rubber
but you might very well have rotten plastic.

Okay, enough said.  I'll crawl back into my hole now.  But thanks for
being there.  This list has been as invaluable to me as I'm sure it is
to the rest of you.  I hope somebody gets something out of these
ramblings.

Jeff Warner
http://www.BENGALCharger.com
'87 Vanagon GL
'88 Fox GL Wagon
'89 Fox GL 4-door
'74 Fun Bug

'74 Datsun 260Z 2+2
'73 Datsun 240Z
'72 Chevelle Wagon
'68 Dodge BENGAL Charger