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Date:         Wed, 26 Jul 95 12:05:27 CDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      Re: Tool Kit for Vanagon

On Wed, 26 Jul 95 11:46:33 CDT John Brown said: >Has anybody developed a list of tools that should be carried in a Vanagon >like the lists that are in the idiot guides for air-cooled bricks? Would >you include any additional tools for Westys?

ok. lemme see here now, ... semi-vanagon-specific tools???

- sears has a little Torx screwdriver set that is needed to remove the front vent windows. it's a screwdriver body with six (?) points stored in the handle. only one of the points fits, but that's the way things are. about $20. :(

- a "gotcha stick". this is a little flexible thing that has claw-fingers on one end, and a button-thingie on the other end. when you push on the button, the claw-fingers expand. it allows you to reach into small spaces where you cannot get your hand, and retrieve little parts that you carelessly dropped. especially if those parts are NOT metal <see next tool>. when ever would you need this? like when you drop your oil spout cap down behind those plastic bumpers!!

- a magnetic pickup stick. this is an extendable (some models are flexible) "pointer" stick, with a magnet on the tip. useful for retrieving nuts, bolts, and washers from various stupid places, wherein they have come to rest according to Murphy's law ("any part dropped will fall into the most inaccessible location, or will damage some other part as it makes its way to this most inaccessible location, or will be eaten by the neighbor's dog")

- one foot section of small golf-club "tube" ... those plastic "tubes" that rich yuppies have in their golf bags to protect their golf clubs from being scratched. this is exactly the diameter of the vw anti-freeze bottles (but beware: there are LARGE tubes on the market as well) and it allows me to make a long "nozzle" on the bottle ... so i can pour premix coolant into the expansion tank.

- BIG MUTHA SCREWDRIVER. about two feet long. used for prying up on the alternator when tightening the v-belt.

- large hex allen wrenches. like 8mm. maybe 10mm. used for loosening and tightening the bolts that hold the air conditioner compressor ... when you want to tighten the v-belt.

- a 17mm bolt with two nuts. the head of the bolt must be the 17mm. this is used to remove the transmission drain plug (cause the exhaust pipe is too damn close, and you can't get a regular sized hex-head socket in there and the big mutha 17mm hex allen wrench also won't fit). you put the bolt head into the drain plug, and use a box end wrench to turn the bolt via the two nuts (that are snugged against each other). it's better is the bolt and nuts are welded together, but that's extra money.

- safety pin. a straight pin will do, but i kept sticking myself with it. small size. used for adjusting those damned little squirter nozzles on the windshield squirter. :)

- small funnel. used for filling the windshield squirter via the hold under the driver's left foot.

other than that, you pretty much need the same stuff as the other buses ... metric sockets & wrenches, screwdrivers, pliers (especially some long-nosed needle-nosed pliers, for removing the little clips that hold the injector connectors on), spark plug socket, extensions, ratchet (get two: the short one about 10" long, and the long flex-head one about 18" long).

and if your cv-joints have the c-clips on them, you'll need a pair of circlip pliers (they work "backward": as you squeeze the handles together, the tips get farther apart).

special sizes: i think the steering wheel nut (not the driver, the one that holds the steering wheel onto the steering column) is 27mm. the front shock absorber bottom bolts are 21mm. the wheel lug nuts/bolts are 19mm, as are the bottom rear shock absorber bolts. most everything else is 10mm, 11mm, 13mm, 15mm, or 17mm. some small stuff is like 6mm or 8mm, and for that you'll need the Sears small socket set (1/4" drive size).

also get some metal coat hangers (the old kind). you can make special tools from these ... i've fashioned several J-shaped "hooks" with a handle for my fingers. these are handy for "fishing" things through holes, or pulling stuff up to where you can get it with your fingers.

hope this helps. joel


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