http://picasaweb.google.com/richkoerner/VanagonShower?authkey=Gv1sRgCLy895SWoseFBg&feat=directlink
Since then, I've improved it: I've hard-plumbed a swing-arm (90 degrees from tucked away on the passenger side to right in front of your face and body) shower nozzle with and off/on switch adjacent to the nozzle to maximize hot water and shampoo/soap efficiency. No fiddling with a loose hose and shower nozzle like I used to; but still works when you need to heat up the water outside on a Coleman stove the next morning. Can do indoors or outdoors. Works like a champ! I'm in the Ritz! Goodbye hotels! (At least for the night before; next day you might have to drive a few miles to reheat added water, close the curtains, etc.)
Come to BBtB in January to see it! Looking forward to seeing your own novelties and inventions! Hey, that's what This List is all about, right? Improving our Vanagons beyond what the original designers and engineers ever conceived? Yeah!
Well, based on the comments I might glean from the forthcoming BBtB, I might add some more specifics; but for now it works form me...mighty fine! "Anyplace" is my 5Star Hotel with my Vanagon, even the middle of no-place with no shower facilities to be had....been there, want to go again. Or even in the middle of civilization---check out the steam rising from the roof vent of that Vanagon you noticed parked nearby, it will probably be me!
My Vanagon is a tin top, so my hot water shower inside is a sit-down affair; with a Westy like most of you, it would be a lot easier regarding the shower-enclosure and Rubbermaid tub; stand up and enjoy and let the steam go out of your skylight vent. Anyway, the possibilities of free hot water from a non-used rear heater connection are as abundant as the creative mind.
Rich
San Diego