Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2007 23:16:16 -0800
Reply-To: Old Volks Home <oldvolkshome@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Old Volks Home <oldvolkshome@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Thinking about living in my van full time for a bit
In-Reply-To: <c38.10429f6f.33191b45@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Actually I have 5 - I also have a 04.5 Kia Spectra EX to drive around when I
wanna look "respectable" ;-)
All vehicles are parked in various locations throughout Southern
California. Since I park semi-full-time "Ole Putt" at the biz I work at, I
keep the Kia parked there as well. The GL is parked at the biz for time
being as well as I use it to haul stuff to the local VW shows every once in
awhile (see it at the VW/Porsche Toy/Lit Show at LAX Hilton March 11 &
the Phoenix Bug-O-Rama on April 15th). The 411 Wagon and the Ghia (the only
stick shift I own) are parked in North Hollywood at a friend's during the
painstaking process of rebuild and restoration proceeds at a snail's pace
(lack of time and cabbage mainly).
When I had a REAL place to live and the Old Volks Home going full-time, I
had as many as 16 VWs at any given time, of various years, models and
heritage, from 50 on up......I'm holding the current collection at where
it's at, no more vehicles (I can't afford the insurance!).
OK, what I really want to round it out to 6 is a Rialta! ;-)
As far as the interior of Ole Putt holding up, it's done pretty well over
the years. When I purchased it in 1996 with a blown up 1.9 (thrown rod thru
the case, #2 piston in very tiny pieces, camshaft in 3 pieces, etc.,) I only
paid $1000 and the machine was in mint condition otherwise, so clean you
could eat off of the carpet front and rear. I upgraded the front seats from
an 87, so the ride's more comfortable, but most everything's still there.
The fridge's combustion chamber needs to be taken apart, cleaned and
reassmbled so that the fridge will run better on 'pane. But I don't wanna
haul it out to work on because I live in the dang thing and the 110VAC
function is working just fine.
The water system and stove (both not used very often except when out doing
some serious camping) functions as well as the day she rolled out the
dealership in '84.
The only area that needs some serious attention is the seat bottom (rear
seat) of the bed. It's really gone to seed and needs to be re-foamed and
re-covered. Again, I haven't found (in my travels) a temporary bottom &
back to install so I could have it (and the seat back to match) redone.
I totally flaked out on Ron Salmon's offering a few years ago of the
original seat material to have them re-covered (sigh). Maybe I'll take a
trip out to Pomona Swap Meet this Sunday in the GL to see if anyone's
parting out a Vanagon Westy interior.
Every six months or so I do "spring cleaning" and washing all walls,
cabinets, curtains, etc. It's all about a "routine" you have to get into
and then it takes care of itself. Maintenance and adhering to schedule is
what it's all about. My ex-wife over 30 years ago mentioned that my doing
good housework & domestic chores with her was one of only a few good things
she loved about me (I won't go into the rest, thank you [TMI]).
But there are times when it would be nice to have a little more room - hence
the wish for a Rialta...........
--
Jim Thompson
84 GL 1.9 "Gloria"
84 Westfalia 2.1 "Ole Putt"
73 K Ghia Coupe "Denise"
72 411 Station Wagon "Pug"
oldvolkshome@gmail.com
http://www.oldvolkshome.com
***********************************
On 3/1/07, JordanVw@aol.com <JordanVw@aol.com> wrote:
>
> In a message dated 3/1/07 4:22:10 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> oldvolkshome@GMAIL.COM writes:
>
>
> As of today, I have been full-timing in "Ole Putt" for 8 years now. Beats
> living on the street, but there are times it would be nice to have a cozy
> and warm apartment or house to live in. But on my pay-check and the cost
> of
> housing in Southern California, that's not gonna happen soon.
> --
> Jim Thompson
> 84 GL 1.9 "Gloria"
> 84 Westfalia 2.1 "Ole Putt"
> 73 K Ghia Coupe "Denise"
> 72 411 Station Wagon "Pug"
>
>
>
> Jim.. where do you park your westy and all your cars?
>
> also, id be interested in knowing how a westy interior holds up after
> living in it fulltime for 8 years straight....
>
> chris
