$69 for a Thule rack and $35 for the oven out of an old RV, gotta love that!

Ended up going with this oven, which I expect will have to be reconditioned at a propane place…owner claims it’s in fine working condition, but can’t take chances with propane. If it can’t be made safe and dependable, I’ll probably just go the Coleman stove route…but the idea of baking brownies and bread miles from “civilization” is so tempting…

It’ll be a while before the van’s ready for them, but I’ve some neat gadgets coming…

“Mr. Heater Portable” pumps out up to 9000 BTUs using propane, in a supposedly indoor-safe manner. Only consideration is that it uses up oxygen, so there should be some ventilation. I’d never sleep with it on, but it’ll come in handy when I can’t wait for the warm weather to go camping.

The 12-volt Koolatron cooler will keep myperishables ~40 degrees below ambient temperature with moderate current draw.

A Solarflat 15 solar panel will keep the battery (2nd deep cycle battery to be added for appliances) topped off. Ordered with charging controller that can keep up to 4 such panels sorted out.

This old Westfalia sink will get a new pump, plus fresh and gray water tanks. Goes into the cabinets I’ll build.

The other big appliance is the oven….wait, OVEN? Yeah, the usual two-burner Westy cooktop just isn’t going to cut it when I want to bake bread in the middle of nowhere, so I’m bidding on a couple of tiny oven/stove combos pulled from dead RVs. 17″x20″x19″ on average, one’ll fit nicely. Still trying to figure out a propane tank solution other than the $300 for a new Westy tank, guess I’ll end up getting a used one and having it reconditioned.

Jet engines would be pretty cool, but are unlikely to happen.

Finally had a little warmer weather and free time today, and got rid of the old rear seat, which was more damaged and decrepit than I’d thought. Cannabilized some of it to patch a cigarette burn in the middle seat, which I’ll keep.

The van will be modular; camping equipment and most cabinets only go in when I’m on a trip. The rest of the time, the rear seat-bed will be there and I can throw the middle row back in if I need to. This also should cut down on the “curious crackhead” factor; my old Westy was broken into repeatedly, I think they look like they might be full of booty.

For a 20 year old car, the underseat accumulation was disappointing; crayon melting on the rear heater, petrified snack foods, and lots of sand. Only a few spots of surface rust to deal with, though this wet wood screwed into the floor had me worried for a while (note skanky sock):


Engine still dripping a bit of oil; seems to come down the cooler, but it’s not bad. Have filter and oil to change it, guess I’ll dig around and see what’s what while I’m down there.

Power steering pump (I believe) sounds rather ominous, and there’s a belt squeal sometimes, darned if it doesn’t seem to happen much more when the weather’s cold. On the tomorrow list.

It’s been too cold to go work out on the street, so I’ve been hunting down parts online. So far, I’ve secured:

The convertable seat-bed from an older Westy. I’ll be recovering the cushions and will post photos and notes on the process. It’ll be interesting to see how much modification this old model will take to go into an ’85. I’m hoping to transplant some seatbelts from my stock seats.

- a 15 watt solar panel and controller to keep batteries topped up
- a Mr. Heater “indoor safe” propane heater. I would never sleep with one, but it seems like it’ll do a nice job for hanging out in the van.
- koolatron 12v cooler – minimal current draw, cools 40 degrees below ambient temp
- power steering fluid filter – I’m told that this is often a neglected replacable
- shifter base repair kit – hopefully this will smooth it out; it’s the plastic bits in the shifter base, which wear
- fluids, bulbs, etc.

I’ve LOVE some recommendations for VW mechanics in my area, for the stuff I can’t do on the street. Also a body shop to fix where some schmuck hit both wheel arches on the passenger side.

Not really worth noting, but improves my quality of life – the driver’s side visor wouldn’t stay up. I removed it, slid the visor off its mount. There was some gray goop in there which might have been added to increase resistance when it first started flapping, but there is now too much slack for that to suffice.

I inserted an length of 16 guage wire into the channel to tighten up the action, and put back the mount. Now it stays out of my face.

The visors have some tears and won’t clean up past a certain point, so this should be fine till I can find some nicer ones.

Several days ago, I found a 1985 Vanagon GL passenger van for sale on eBay. 1.9 liter waterboxer, manual trans, no a/c. Nearly rust free and no UV damage inside so she’s been loved, though with 155k on the original engine I’m sure there will be plenty of material for this blog. The only major drivability problem, which the seller disclosed, is that it’s hard to get into first gear – even for a Type II, which is really saying something. (UPDATE: Now that I’m used to it, first isn’t bad. Second requires more force than it should though.) Not bad for $810.


The two hour drive home from Pennsylvania went smoothly at 60-70mph, and after owning two air-cooled busses it’s an enormous pleasure to have actual HEAT coming out the vents!

The first rest stop was about 20 minutes away. I stopped for five minutes, and there was a somewhat scary amount of oil under the engine. Went a bit slower the rest of the way home. When I got home and looked underneath, there was some oil drip, but much less. Maybe I’ll luck out and it was just overfilled by the seller – it’s a little above “full” now.

This weekend, I will seek out the oil leaks. Experienced VWers are thinking head gaskets right now, and they’re probably right, but I’m gonna cross my fingers because I won’t be able to afford a good engine for a few months.

I’m looking to buy the following (this entry will be updated as I find parts/problems)

• “Sportsmobile” type popup. This is the 4.5′ square one that goes over the kitchen area, not the full-size one that tilts. I might be interested in the longer sportsmobile one, but I don’t weld (yet!) and suspect it’ll be hard to find someone in the area who’s famliar with that conversion…and it’d be friggin expensive I imagine…hmmm…
• Westy-type rear seat/bed (the 2/3 width version), preferably not the older one with dark fakewood – GOT IT!
• Late model Westy sink/stove
• Vented catalytic propane heater
• Working, matched door locks all around w/key (only the hatch works with my key)
• Full set of curtain hardware
• Correct wheelcovers and trim rings (4 each)
• Rebuilt engine and tranny (really, the info. on someone LOCAL who can do the job)

I’m only posting difficult to find ones here, the others I’ll get off ebay etc. and I’ll blog the installation processes.

I’m reviving the blog to share the restoration and customization story of my “new” 1985 VW Vanagon. She’s a 1.9l waterboxer, 7 passenger which I plan to Westfalia-ize.

As you can already tell, this isn’t going to be very interesting unless you’ve got the VW bug (groan). I have learned a lot from other VW owner’s websites and want to add to the informal repair manual which one can get by googling “vanagon”. Repairs and upgrades will be documented with photos, sources, etc.

Some tasks will unfortunately be impossible for me to do myself – I live in New York City and lack a driveway, garage, basement, etc. I’d LOVE to hear from anyone who can recommend a local VW mechanic to install a crate engine and tranny.

I’ve got a long parts wishlist, of course, but the one that seems most elusive is this: one of the smaller pop-tops that doesn’t have the cot or bed. The ones I have in mind look like they go up about 1.5′, and are maybe 4.5′ square. Seems to be the only kitchen headroom option that doesn’t require welding, and I have a crazy idea about a collapsing shower unit, as well.

Find me one of those things and I’ll totally sleep with you. OK, you’d rather have the $50 finders’ fee, I can do that too.