Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2008 09:03:59 -0800
Reply-To: gfs@SCATTERCREEK.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Gregory Smith <gfs@SCATTERCREEK.COM>
Subject: 88 Vanagon, new to me, the story so far (long)
In-Reply-To: <20080215050557.BAC3D5B460@mail1.kalama.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1
Hey all,
A couple of months ago I finally committed to buying an '88 that an
acquaintance offered me for a very good price. I was the proud owner of
an '84, which I loved to death and upgraded in various ways including
adding the complete A/C from an auto recycler.
When I checked out the '88, it had a run down battery, as it had been
sitting for some time. I placed a charger on it and got it to crank, but
had trouble starting it. It had a couple of bad wires at the coil, and
after fixing those it started fine, though the starter sounded tired.
After getting it running I made the decision to buy, and would return
later.
I returned a couple of days later and ran into the previous owner's
mechanic friend leaving the p.o.'s house, and chatted with him a little,
he made a hasty exit. Then for some reason I couldn't start the van! I
tried everything, checked most of the systems but left scratching my head.
I returned the next day to drag it home with my '84. I discovered the
next day the computer had been unplugged. Naturally I suspect he p.o.'s
mechanic, who apparently wanted the van for himself. He has a bit of a
side business selling vehicles after "fixing" them.
Over the next few days I discovered most of the "cracked head" mentioned
by the p.o.'s "mechanic". One was the rear heater core bleeder, fell off
in my hand. The core leaked as well so I fabbed up a copper bypass pipe
and deleted the whole thing, leaving the plastic cover in place, I'm not
sure why, I kinda like the box. Another bad leak was the coolant level
sensor, the threads of which had broken off in the tank and the top had
been siliconed back on. I swapped in a spare and saw the o-ring
difference noted by many.
I cleaned out the interior (a day in and of itself) and sewed up some
blown seams on the freshly laundered rear cushion cover, installed some
Lowe's carpet in the middle area. Reinstalled the center seats.
Installed the nice Radio Shack CD/weatherband/aux deck from my other van,
and found the speakers in good condition. While in there reconnected some
wires and now have more dash lights and a working cigarette lighter (power
plug to me). A ton of bad wires and bad wire splices. Some folks should
not be allowed near anything electrical, even some dual filament bulbs
crammed into the taillights.
Replaced a bad hatch strut, tune up, oil change, new proper battery (how
come people put it the wrong size?) headlight clean (in and out), new 205
m/s tires, removed the roof racks and trailer hitch for later use.
Installed big Hella foglights on a relay. All new (and proper size)
fuses.
Still to do; rear fiberglass bumper repair, headlight upgrade. Overall
it's come along nicely, and even with a hose splitting the other day and
some remaining electrical issues (oil light circuits) I love the newer
van. While fixing the hose, I discovered a fuel leak at the plastic
junction so many have malaigned, but my leak was at one of the hoses.
Deleted the entire mess and installed new hose to the regulator. The 2.1
liter engine, P/S, cruise, A/C, Z-bed, padded and cloth interior all
conspiring to make me reevaluate these van things, they can be pretty
nice. Add to that I sold my beloved '84 for a good price to a good home
via Craigslist.
Thanks to everyone who answers my questions and thanks for reading. :)
Gregory Smith
Olympia, WA USA
'88 Vanagon 7P
'87 Bertone X1/9
| 
