Date: Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:08:35 -0600
Reply-To: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Subject: Re: Newbie '86 Vanagon owner here
In-Reply-To: <5827837F-CB2F-4C02-A7AE-4DFB5D055770@kippert.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Mark,
Welcome aboard. Looks like your money was well spent.
To secure your investment - change the fuel hoses out NOW - before you
drive it again. This is a major issue with Vanagons. You may have read
of this already, but I feel obligated to bring it up. Vanagons are
notorious for burning up, and the fuel system is at fault virtually
every time. Hoses get olf, the crack, split, break, fuel spews out, and
a fire results. TAKE NO CHANCES. The only way to KNOW your vehicle is
safe is to have new hoses installed, new hoses put on the fuel
injectrors and change or bypass that stupid fitting on that simple sheet
metal firewall. This is an easy fix for the home mechanic - you just
need the new hoses and a few hand tools. You can get kits for this from
any number of our list vendor. I use Ken Wilford at Vanagain.com, but
Ron Salmon at The Bus Depot and others also carry these parts.
Again, welcome aboard - and fix your van!!
Regards,
John Rodgers
88 GL Driver
Mark A Kippert wrote:
> Greetings list members!
>
> I've been lurking for a short while and have just recently purchased a
> very nice 1986 Vanagon GL. At 52 years old I've been a VW fan for many
> years. I had a Bettle in my teens and later had a nice '73 bay window
> which was totaled about 25 years ago. I've wanted another VW van ever
> since. While it's in very nice condition I'll be posting questions
> about a few minor issues that I've noted and see what kind of
> improvements I can make in the future.
>
> I was lucky enough to purchase it from a 73 year old Dutch gentleman
> who was a VW mechanic many years past. For the last 35 years he's
> owned a little foreign auto repair shop/dealership specializing in
> european cars, especially early VWs. He's now semi-retired and even
> though the place is a bit run down, he seems to still enjoy working on
> the few cars that roll in, at his own pace of course.
>
> He'd owned the van since 2000 and put about 10k miles on it. The
> odometer shows 215k miles but it looks good and runs strong. He
> doesn't know (or remember) the history of the engine so I don't know
> if it's been rebuilt. It starts right up, even with the 20 something
> degree temps were having here in Indy. The tranny is a 4spd and shifts
> through all the gears but it is a bit stiff (I'm guessing due to
> limited of use). I've missed a shift once or twice because I didn't
> get a gear fully engaged. In the time he owned it he has only replaced
> the exhaust and water pump. The tires have plenty of tread but they
> have cracking in the side-walls so I'm planning to replace those soon.
>
> I could go on but I thought I would just introduce myself for now and
> say hello to the list. I have posted a page with plenty of pictures if
> anyone would like to take a peek at the van. Let me know if my $1900
> was well spent.
>
> Pics: <http://www.kippert.com/vanagon/>
>
> -Mark
>
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