Date:         Thu, 16 Apr 1998 09:41:23 -0400
Reply-To:     Mark Thoma <TVReporter@STRATOS.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Mark Thoma <TVReporter@STRATOS.NET>
Subject:      Vanagon Major Surgery?
Comments: To: Vanagon@VANAGON.COM
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

So here's the deal...
Yesterday I told you all how I towed this Vanagon out from Philly to
Cleveland with my turbodiesel Rabbit Pick-up (now for sale, but none the
worse for wear).  Once I do the engine swap from my Quantum turbo-d into
the Vanagon, I'm thinking of major surgery on the Vanagon to turn in into a
crewcab/coupe.
It's these dam PC Paint programs on my computer.  It's easy enough to cut
and paste (on the computer) the rear hatch and windows, and rear bench seat
up towards the center of the van, and eliminate the sliding door, and
center seats.  (I've actually spent far too much time doing this on the
computer to come up with a pretty cool looking hybrid van jpg file, but I
can't figure out how to attach it.  Maybe I'll take a copy over to Erik O's
and let him post it for all of you to laugh at!)
I have a good friend who's a body man, and assures me it wouldn't be all
that hard, just take a lot of time.  It's just that I don't need a 7
seater, 5 would do nicely, and it would isolate the engine outside of the
engine compartment, eliminate weight, etc.
Any thoughts on this?  Will the underneath need strengthening in order to
avoid folding.  I don't think so, but.....