Hi all! My name is Derek Darling, and I =
just became
the proud owner of a '84 Vanagon Water-cooled (bright yellow!). I have =
owned.
driven, cussed at, repaired, maintained and generally been obsessed by =
VW Bugs
for a number of years, and recently, a friend of mine gave me this '84
Vanagon.
He had been in quite a serious accident =
with it,
running into a front-end loader at about the height where the bottom of =
the
windshield is, on the drivers side. The front was pretty much toast, and =
the
drivers door was crunched and hopelessly mangled. I thought about =
getting out my
ball-peen hammer and banging it out (like I did with a '67 beetle once), =
but
once I had a better look at it, reality set in and I decided to get the =
job done
properly. The rest of the vehicle is in really good shape (absolutely no =
discernible rust), and I am told that the motor is particularly sweet; =
but I
have been reading about the Subaru 4-cyl conversion, maybe next
year!.
At a local wrecking yard I found a '88 =
Vanagon that
was t-boned in the rear, so I bought the first 10". they nicely cut it =
off with
a saw and delivered it to me. I found a door at a local VW-Bug shop (The =
Bug
Shop in North Delta, B.C., see Ed for the best VW Bug service around. =
They do
buses as well, so I'll have him tune the motor and stuff later) for a =
really
good price, and a windshjield at a local glass place for another really =
good
price. I am told by those who know such things that I got these items =
for about
a quarter of what I could have paid, so I guess God is watching out for =
me. Did
I mention that I a a Christian musician and songwriter, and I needed =
this kind
of transportation to become more mobile, and that all these things came =
along in
the order in which they were needed.
The body shop I am using is Craftsman =
Collision in
Surrey, B.C. (on Scott Road at 88), and the bodyman who worked on it is =
named
Sanjay. This guy did an amazing job! He went way beyond what I would =
expect and
did a first-class sectioning job. When the primer-seal paint went on, I =
couldn't
tell where the welds were. They straightened out the frame and =
triple-checked
all the alignment points with a laser machine. I know the people there
personally, and I would not ever hesitate to recommend them to
anyone.
The next step is to tow the vehicle =
home and finish
the job.
I have the following short list (but it =
seems to be
growing like a weed):
-I need to bang out the fan shroud on =
the radiator
so the fan will turn
-I think the heater box is damaged, but =
I have a
line on a used one
-There is one brake line that is kinked =
(thankfully
a short one, easily reached)
-I need a drivers-side =
mirror
-The '88 front has square headlights, =
and I only
have the passenger side assembly
-I'll give the new pieces (tan and =
light brown) a
quick yellow paint job, then do it right in the summer
-The dashboard and electrical systems =
need to be
reinstalled
-Does it start?????
Once I have it running and licenced, it =
will be my
daily drive. future plans include:
-Subaru or Jetta engine =
conversion for
dependable power
-Second battery and upgraded charging =
system to run
a P.A. and other musical type equipment
-Fridge and Stove?
-Bike rack?
As I mentioned above, I needed a =
vehicle to haul
people and equipment for what is becoming a very busy music ministry. =
While none
of this has been handed over completed and ready to go, everything we =
needed has
been available, at reasonable cost. I like to think that many years of =
VW
maintenance experience with my Bugs will equip me to keep this vehicle =
is top
condition.
I would like to hear of any comments or =
advice
anyone has.
Derek Darling
Vancouver, B.C. (actually Surrey, but =
unless you
live here, it really doesn't matter)
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