Date:         Wed, 20 Aug 2014 14:05:43 -0300
Reply-To:     Roy Nicholl <RNicholl@NBNET.NB.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Roy Nicholl <RNicholl@NBNET.NB.CA>
Subject:      The maiden {again} voyage.
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

All,

I've been searching since March for an 88-91 Joker/California or Atlantic diesel (with 5-spd tranny).  In that time, I have looked at six; all  but two of these needed far more body restoration than could be warranted by their price.  Of the other two, I missed one - a '90 Atlantic with AHU (tuned to 135 HP) while travelling for work {timezone issues} - and the other is a little older ('88) than I prefer, but in very good shape.

In the interim I remotely purchased a '88 Westy (2.1 WBX w/ 210K kms) in Calgary to drive back to New Brunswick; accompanied by my 3.5 year old son.  I had the Vanagon serviced by a reputable shop in Calgary (a little pricy) and new tyres installed (good value as my nephew was able to get the tyres at wholesale) before we flew out to meet our ride.

First impressions of the Westy were that it was in better shape than I anticipated.  Oh sure, the trim in all the window rubber has shrunk and deteriorated (but we will be getting rid of it anyway) and moisture is finding its way into the driver's side (low beam} head light.  However, the interior is in very good condition.  There is very little seam rust {the driver's side dogleg}; some rust along the bottom of the sliding door and rear hatch (those damn plastic plugs were still in); and the underside is very clean.  There was some sloppy body work to fill a dent at one point in its history.   The big factor - in my favour - was that someone had performed a very bad overspray of {something close to} Sienna Beige Metallic on top of the original Flash Silver paint job.  The poor Vanagon looked like it had mange - my son named it Hyena without hesitation when he first saw it. 

In prepping for travel, I discovered the flex hose portion of the lines to/from the expansion fuel tanks in the wheel wells leaked and that the fridge would not light.   I've since replaced the fuel lines, but have not been able to get the fridge to stay lit for more than 20-30 seconds {likely a draught related problem}.  

Once underway we developed a slow drip from the vent pipe for the fresh water system ... but only after we used it the first time.  There is also a 6-12 second delay when you open the faucet before water begins to flow {pump is loosing its prime?}.  I suspect a leak in the system and will pull it apart this autumn.

The only other incidents were I broke the end off one of the dashboard levers for adjusting the fresh air flow about halfway through our trip and lost a centre cap off a rear wheel on the last day of travel.

We travelled just shy of 3600 miles (5780 kms) in fifteen days as we wandered from Calgary back to Fredericton.  There was no change in either oil or coolant level over the entire trip and the only time I broke out the tools was to help another family at the campsite in Dinosaur Provincial Park when an overnight windstorm folded their tent trailer into a pretzel {I laid awake through the entire event contemplating when I would evacuate us from the upper berth and close the pop-top, but it suddenly stopped before I was convinced it was necessary ... the boy slept through it all}.    

[Sorry for the anthropomorphism Dave, but I did pat the Hyena's dash and speak kind words to it on several occasions as we bobbed across northern Ontario].

I have not worked out our precise fuel {dis}economy, but am anticipating 14-15 l/100km (around 16 miles/usg) ... motivation to continue the search for a diesel.

The water lines will need replaced - at least the metal collars - in the not-to-distant future and the clutch is starting to have occasional shudders.

Given the initial purchase (w/ taxes paid at registration) pre-possession service, new tyres and middle swivel seat we picked-up in Winnipeg, I have just shy of $6500 tied-up in the Hyena.  By the time I replace window & door gaskets, the screen in the pop-top window, coolant lines and clutch; address the rust issues; have the poor prior dent repair corrected and repaint the entire Westy I'll be looking at 9-8.5 - 10K.   When I find the diesel I want, I'm should have no problems selling this well performing Westy to a new family.

Roy

BTW: This morning, I backed the '66 {Ras Bulli Split} out of the garage to introduce him to his progeny.