Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 03:58:40 -0500
Reply-To: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Subject: Re: Just how far in over my head am I? (long)
In-Reply-To: <20060707075757.41806.qmail@web30010.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
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Curt,
I feel your pain.
Ownership of a Vanagon is a very individual thing. We that have them
have them for many different reasons. Personally, I wouldn't have
anything else. In my case, the van serves all my needs. There is not
another vehicle on the market out there today that does so as well. I
haul 4x8 plywood panels, 12 foot lumber and 12 foot ladders, 1000 pound
pallets of concrete blocks, pottery clay, plaster, cement, - all on the
inside out of the rain. I then go camping for the weekend or longer, or
I take a long highway cruise out to e New Mexico or up to the Great
Smokies. And I can still park in the parking deck at the airport or
downtown at the VA Hospital. The van is not to big, not to small, not to
tall.
My first Van was a '68 loaf. Drove the life out of it. Three engines,
the last one a 2150cc engine with a Webber dual throat carb. Nice little
performer. Then the love affair with the Vanagons began. I had a choice
between a pre-85 (air-cooled) Westy with a clattering valve (burnt I
suspect,) or an '85 GL. I chose the latter - and I am very glad I did.
The engine had right at but not quite 100,000 miles on it. When I
finally let it go it had 205,000 on it and all I ever did to the engine
other than routine maintenance was replace the water pump at about
195,000 miles and have one of the header pipes welded after it cracked
on a long trip. In my experience, the '85 models are terrific, and
oftem more trouble free than the later models. The 1.9L WBX was a heck
of a good engine if taken care of, while the 2.1L WBX in the later vans
are twitchy, pure and simple.
On the "85 GL I did little, even unto the 205,000 mile mark. But the 88
GL I bought subsequently, was another story. I have built that little
sucker from the ground up, it had so many problems. None were obvious in
the beginning, but when I got on the road with it, and began really
pushing it, all the problems showed up. On the big ticket items I had a
new clutch put in twice, rebuilt the manual tranny, and then had the
engine burn a hole in a piston which left me standed on a saturday night
about 10 pm 15 miles west of Clinton, Oklahoma. Man, there I was on the
side of the road, smoke boiling out all over, on a Saturday night on
I-40 between Somewhere, Ok and Nowhere, Ok. I managed to get a tow
truck to take me and the rig into Clinton, where the engine was
pronounced dead. I was stranded there for a solid week before all the
arrangements were made to get me and my rig back home to Birmingham, AL.
I finally rented a U-haul box truck, and an auto-trailer and hauled it
home. Had to have a new engine.
There has been a lot of stuff, and it's ongoing. But it is, after all,
an 18 year old vehicle. But still, nothing else suits. So, I stick with it.
One of the things you will find is that as a used vehicle, you will
become more and more aware of things and catch them ahead of time. You
will also find yourself feeling more secure about the vehicle as you
learn more about it, know what work has been done and what has not. Like
I KNOW my coolant lines are all new. I replaced them myself. I also know
what the pwoer steering rack and the pump are like. I replaced them
myself And so it goes. I could go out and buy another vehicle, but then
it gets down to " The Demons you know vs. tthe Demons you don't. I would
be willing to go anywhere in the country with mine, right now, as it is.
And I would expect it to perform with minimum fuss.
I like the vans so well, that I just bought a second one. It too is an
88 GL, but it will become my touring vehicle and will be set up for
exclusively that.
Sounds like you are getting to the point where you know what you have,
and there shouldn't be many surprises left.
Good Luck, Hang in, and Enjoy!!
Regards,
John Rodgers
88 GL Driver
Curt Newsome wrote:
> I bought an '85 westy several months ago and have been
> going through it as $ allows trying to make it right.
> The immediate PO flew down to the Bay area to buy it
> (from Seattle) and threw a rod on the drive home.
> Consequently the van had about $5500 worth of work
> somewhere in OR - and the PO had his fill. I paid too
> much on the basis of the new 2.1 engine, radiator, CV
> joints etc, but that's another story.
>
> This is my 3rd VW van, the most recent being a '78
> that I sold about 14 years ago. Undoubtedly this
> recent purchase was somewhat nostalgia driven and I
> didn't really think it through. Although I once did a
> valve job on a bug I haven't done much of my own work
> since I sold the '78 (which was a great car and didn't
> need much) - so the realization of what's really
> involved in keeping a 21 year old vehicle (with LOTS
> of deferred maintenance) afloat has been sobering.
>
> I don't have the time, space or tools to do much of
> the work myself anymore and this thing is eating me
> alive. I think I'm getting close to having it right -
> the van itself is in excellent condition and along
> with the substantial work paid for by the PO I now
> have a rebuilt AT and front end, plus many other odds
> and ends - but I'm really wondering if it is feasible
> for someone like me to own a Vanagon anymore. I've
> saved money b shopping for parts online and using
> different shops for different work but that will only
> get you so far when there's a lot to do.
>
> So what's the bottom line - will I ever be able to
> truly relax and have miles of trouble and worry free
> driving, or is something always gong to need fixing?
> Sure, I shouldn't have to deal with major engine or
> transmission problems, but I'm pretty sure that
> anything not replaced since the thrown rod is original
> (the front end certainly was). As you are all aware
> there are quite a number of other parts that can spoil
> a camping trip,and I don't have unlimited $ to throw
> at this thing (if I did maybe I would pay $30k for one
> of GoWestys restore jobs!). I'd never get out what
> I've put into it but I'm fantasizing about cutting my
> losses - though I do love driving it.
>
> The second part of my question is if you were me, what
> other probable original parts might be especially
> suspect at 21 years and 158,000 miles? What else
> might I consider replacing pre-emptively?
>
> I have some niggling problems I'm trying to solve but
> will post those specific queries separately. Thanks
> for your time, this board is a huge resource.
>
> Curt
>
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