Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2013 10:14:51 -0500
Reply-To: Steve Cotsford <cotsford@AOL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Steve Cotsford <cotsford@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: More questions pertaining to my 88 model Bluestar project
In-Reply-To: <52A72387.2050307@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Thanks for the advice John. When I first went looking for parts, 6 months ago, I had to get some info on which parts I needed as I had a van with "gaps" so to speak. I needed to look at other installations to figure out what parts I needed to shop for. I have learnt some things in between and now I have a slightly better idea. I have no shops around here that I know about either and I live a long way from sizable towns. We retired to a place where my wife grew up. Its very scenic and we need no a/c but the major activity round here tends to be growing Christmas trees and tourism on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Lots of Subaru's and 4x4 pickups :-) Cheers, Steve
On Dec 10, 2013, at 9:21 AM, JRodgers wrote:
> Steve,
>
> You might want to shop on line for parts. We have some very good vendors that cater to the Vanagon List volks. Peter at Van-Cafe, Ron Salmon at the Bus Depot, Ken Wilford at Vanagain dot Com, GoWesty, are the ones I have ordered from. Good service and parts all. These folks cater specifically to the Vanagon and earlier Bus crowd. For some things I deal with Camelback VW in Phoenix AZ. They are a VW/Suburu dealership that has served well and will ship stuff. Just be sure that when you talk to Parts you tell them you are a Vanagon List Member. Sometimes you will get a little discount - sometimes - especially if you are outside of AZ.
>
> I'm with you. Vanagons seem rather sparse in the Southeast - and not well supported. I'm in Birmingham and none of the garages around this area even want you on their parking lot with a Vanagon. I really have to hunt hard for an acceptable shop if I need work done that I can't do myself - and it seems as I'm getting older - that comes more and more into play.
>
> John
>
> On 12/9/2013 8:10 PM, Steve Cotsford wrote:
>> I have just run the 2.1 engine for just a few seconds at a time as I don't yet have the antifreeze in it. My questions are as follows: I know antifreeze is a tricky subject in these vans. Can I ask what common brand antifreeze I can use in this van. I live in an area where I have Autozone, O'Reilly, Napa and Walmart. The closest VW dealer is more than 1 1/2 hours drive away. My instinct is to use Prestone long life from Walmart mixed with my top of the mountain well water. Other than its 25 years old and the engine is perhaps 3 years more, I dont really know what I've got. By the time I have fixed leaks, probably replaced the water pump etc I will have to replace the antifreeze again. Any tips?
>>
>> My noises are basically coming from the exhaust system. I got second hand parts off a syncro I think. I had to drive almost 3 hours to Raleigh to get these fairly expensive parts as I could find them no where else.. Vanagons don't seem to be easy to find parts for and there are none in this area that i know of.
>> The muffler shroud is about 2 inches longer than it should be. I drilled new holes in it when I installed it and now I need to cut off the excess length that is hanging down below the crankcase. The tail pipe rattles against the body work close to it so its probably not the right one either. I plan on rotating or adapting it until it clears stuff around it. The threaded port on the exhaust pipe is missing its cap and I am probably going to plug it with something, maybe weld it shut or drill and tap it and use a bolt and washer. I also got cooling system parts, which I found on The Samba but these all seem to fit correctly. I am trying to use original VW parts as much as possible but I am not well up on changes over the years. Are there any other pitfalls I am going to run into :-) ?? Does anyone know Vanagon parts sources and gurus, here in the southeast?
>>
>> This has been a wonderfully helpful group and I thank you all in advance!! Steve .
>>
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