Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 10:47:11 -0700
Reply-To: warmerwagen@HOTMAIL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "Robert KeezerHolen Sie mehr aus dem Web. Unter
http://explorer.msn.de/intl.asp#de gibt es einen KOSTENLOSEN
Download von MSN Explorer." <warmerwagen@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Vanagon Virtues and Type 2 contrasts( was ahhh..
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Vanagon Virtues and Contrasts to the Type 2 Here Extolled:
The 67 Westy is almost everything you say when it's used for camping or shows .
The picture changes dramatically when you use it for a daily driver and long distance driver and do this for seven years. Or maybe I was just having seven years of bad luck?
The Vanagon list is primarily composed of members who drive Vanagons.The Type 2 list is a safe haven from the raging Vanagon storm that could arise due to claims that the Vanagon is inferior to the Type 2 directed to the Vanagon list.
Door handles that break after twenty years are most common with the long handled 80-84 Vanagons.
Correct me if I am wrong about the year change to short handles. Short handles rarely break. Replace your long handle Vanagon sliding door handle with the shorter stronger later style.
Vanagon Dashboards don't have a problem with cracking from the sun. The 87 Wolfsburg I have is from Arizona.
I've seen many a cracked vinyl dash on the 68-79 Busses.
I haven't had to change the coolant pipes end to end yet on my 82, but if I do soon-well, they lasted twenty years!
Head gaskets leaking- yes- this is the main reason so many Vanagon owners are converting over to more reliable engines. Some have had phenomenal longevity and have seen over 150,000 leak -free miles on the original though. Aside from this, it has two to three times the life of a air-cooled engine. None of my air-cooled engines , all new or rebuilt, ever made it to 100,000. WBX engines can get twice that.
They have more power, are quieter, and have less maintenance. Some air-cooled enthusiasts have adopted the WBX case to build a superior air-boxer motor. leaking head gaskets are indeed the exception and not the rule when it comes to the head gasket leak problem.. My engine , a inline four, rarely has this problem. Your air-cooled engine is more likely to burn up at 50,000 before mine blows a head gasket at 150,000.
Other than engines that VW should have improved or replaced, the Vanagon has these improvements over the old pre-67 bus:
1.suspension- no gear reductor boxes to fill with gear oil or rebuild.
2.No more grease fittings (the old bus has nine).
3.Better ride and handling , especially with power steering (84 and up) .
Handles better in wind, and aftermarket suspension products are available. Try finding new suspension and steering parts for the old busses- and when you find them you won't like the prices.
Front disc brakes- self adjusting brakes, power brakes. Vanagons are know for their very strong braking system.
Wheel bearings are stronger, last longer.
I have removed and replaced almost every part of my 64 and 65 busses.
I have done this on Vanagon also. It is easier to work on a Vanagon than a Bus.
When we want to do a rear brake shoe replacement, we don't need a 1 inch braker bar and a 46 mm socket to stand on - the drum removes by loosing a 13 mm bolt.
I recently removed a 67 bus trans- much easier to remove a vanagon trans because the engine can remain in the vehicle. It's also easier to move areound the shop having no heavy axles and reduction boxes attached.
Now consider the roominess of the Vanagon compared to the Type 2.
And the Westfalia design is second to none most would agree.
Better visibility, more leg room, head room.
How then does the Type 2 excel ? It's number one on classic style and appearance- especially if it has had about $25,000 invested to restore it from a rusted out hulk to a show and road worthy vehicle. I saw some nice ones on the road last weekend.
Sometimes I wish I still has this vehicle with "soul". Then I remember how I wore out the soles- on my shoes from walking miles telephone.
The cell-phone connected generation never had it so good.
And you have your A.I.R.S. who'll rescue you when you are ineveitably stranded somewhere.
If you had my luck you went thru 3 engines, a trans, suspension, gear reductor boxes, swing lever bushings, clutch , accelerator, and heater box cables,
Shift lever bushings, wheel bearings. It was a constant weekly repair and maintenance project that lasted seven years.
That's because I can do all my own maintenance. If you don't have these skills and own a Typ2- that says that you can afford mechanics, and your car spends equal time between you and the shop.
The day that the Vanagon is in the Smithsonian is when we are all driving the "new" Vanagon in 2015. By then the new Microbus will be an old car.
So I have made a case in the defense of the stronger WBX case and the best vehicle VW ever designed , the Vanagon.
I now rest my case. Figuratively speaking.
Robert K
1982 Westfalia 95 Golf lll powered
1987 Wolfsburg Weekender
Oh, I heartily disagree! I have a very, very nice 1967 Pop-top Westy that
remains for sale. I guarantee that I have NEVER had to worry about the heads
leaking or corroding from the inside. Nor have I ever had to change out the
hoses from front to rear. The side door handle is not wobbily and in danger of
breaking off. The dash board has never been in danger of having the vynil crack
from the sun. If interested, see http://www.ep.com -
vehicles/Volkswagen/vans/Arizona and see the ad for classic camper for sale.
I *strongly* disagree and think that EVERYONE ought to sell their Vanagons and
buy my 67 Westy.
Jim Ellis
Phoenix, AZ
(97 Eurovan Winnebago)
--------------------------------------|
"G. Matthew Bulley" mistakenly wrote:
I'm coming in late to this agony, but I'd counsel never selling your
Vanagon for an older VW bus. Having owned a couple buses and now a
Vanagon, I can tell you the loaf westy is a crab-crawling, rattle-trap,
spanky-&-alfalfa-designed POS compared to the Vanagon. Don't do it.
________________________________________________Holen Sie mehr aus dem Web. Unter http://explorer.msn.de/intl.asp#de gibt es einen KOSTENLOSEN Download von MSN Explorer.
