Date:         Thu, 18 Apr 2002 12:06:10 -0700
Reply-To:     John Tullier <elefntkpr@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Tullier <elefntkpr@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      The continuing adventures of The Vanagon Retrofit
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Greetings List,

This post is not one of query per se, but of fact.
After having been told to shut up from numerous
“non-Vanagon” owners, I decided I would come to the
list where I might reveal freely in my vehicular
successes.

Today I have removed the transmission and drive train.
 I must now decide whether to simply sew her up and
fill out an autopsy report…or continue giving CPR.
Upon removing the tranny, I was relieved to see that
“Murphy’s Law” remains is applicable to German
engineering…thank God for consistency.  It appears,
and you may want to sit down for this one, that my
transmission suffers from several unsolicited fluid
leaks.  I also discovered, after a good cleaning that
this mechanism is half the size I originally thought
it to be.  However, these layers of dirt have aided in
both confirming the age of the bus, and minimizing
rust.

The resulting void now affords me an unabated view of
what will no doubt be five to six months of sanding,
wire brushing and priming.  Yet surprisingly, the
damage isn’t as bad as I had suspected.  My next steps
are to check the service lines and wires connecting
the front and rear of the bus.  Petrol lines will most
likely require replacement, but I’m not certain about
the wiring.

This brings me to a few questions, which I would like
to sneak in.  First off, are the auxiliary or
over-flow petrol tanks necessary?  For the life of me,
I have never seen such a system employed in any
vehicle I have rebuilt or repaired.  Secondly, I seem
to have NO wires either attached or available for my
petrol gauge.  The rear of the gauge offers two
threaded prongs.  Is this all that should be there?
Or is there something else, which connects to the
prongs…IE: resistors, capacitors, etc.  I’ll be
dropping the petrol tank soon so that I can run fresh
wires from the sending unit, but I wanted to make
certain that I did not require more parts.  Driving
without this gauge functional is far from pleasurable,
especially since my trip meter and odometer or broken.
 And lastly, does anyone know how rigid the roofs of
these vans are?  I want to install a roof rack
eventually, but some parts of the roof seem flimsy.  I
only wish to carry items up there such as, canoes,
snowboards, skies and bicycles.  Any ideas?

Many thanks for any input.  Sarcasm always welcome!

John Tullier
1980 Vanagon L
http://hometown.aol.com/elefntkpr/Vanagon/vanagon.html


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