Late last year I had planned a cross country road trip to the Pacific Northwest for the beginning of this year.  About three weeks before my departure date Lucy’s engine had failed.  After giving it some thought I decided to keep her and have the engine rebuilt.  It’s been a slow and expensive process but I’m happy to say that the engine is finally rebuilt and now is ready to be dropped back in.  It won’t be long now.  I may not be going cross country this year but I already have a plan for next spring.  So for now my main goal is to fix some other issues over the winter and have her road trip ready by spring!

Underside

Before Polish

Added Never Dull Polish

Never Dull

Polished and clean

On the van before polish

For the last year or so I’ve been trying to figure out what I wanted to do with the rims on the van.  Right now I have the stock 14 inch rims on the van with new tires.  The van didn’t come with hub caps and the previous owner spray painted the steelies silver. I’ve been debating on what to do, either buy bigger rims (then new tires again) or keep the rims and paint them a different color, or try to find one of the many styles of hubcaps to fit on the van.  Instead of spending tons of money on bigger rims and a new set of tires I decided to keep the ones I have since the tires are brand new, and look for a set of hub caps.

I have seen many different styles of caps for vans, beetles, campmobiles, and buses but was unable to pinpoint which ones I needed for my vanagon.  I decided to go to the Iola Car Show here in Wisconsin to see about finding some hubcaps and maybe some helpful information along the way.  If you’ve never been to the Iola car show in Wisconsin it is HUGE.  Half of the grounds is a swap meet with anything from car and motorcycle parts to collectable auto memorabilia and the other half is a car show.

I got there early so I could beat the rush of people and try to find a set of hubs.  I walked the entire swap meet grounds for 4 hours and had only found 3 non matching VW hubcaps.  I stopped for a bite to eat and after debating whether to give up and go to the car show portion I decided to keep looking.  After walking for the 4 hours in 87 degree weather, in the very last row I found a vendor with a trailer full of VW parts.  It was glorious.  And there were a few sets of hubs on the ground.

After a few minuets of chatting with the vender he pointed me in the right direction and I bought a set of chrome hub caps.  They were a bit rusty and dented but I was not looking for anything pristine.  I got them home and cleaned them up with a bit of chrome polish and a product called NEVER DULL which worked really well.  While they don’t look brand new by any means they sure are shiny!

Hey everyone! Sorry I have been inactive for a few months.  I was busy getting ready for a cross country trip to the Pacific Northwest scheduled for the end of May.  Unfortunately any travel plans have been currently put on hold.  About two-three weeks prior to my departure date, the engine in the van had failed. After a few weeks of trying to figure out what to do I decided to keep the van and have the engine rebuilt.  After about a month trying to find a shop to do the work, the engine is finally out and the rebuilding process has begun.  I will keep you posted with further updates!

In the meantime I have also taught myself how to develop film. I have scanned some photos in and to added them to the film page.

Old Radio

Crimping the new plug

Power!

Fully Installed

A few months ago the passenger side speaker in the van quit working.  No problem, I’ll just get a new speaker for the side and switch it out. Sounds easy right? Nope.  Due to the placement of the speaker on the doors I had to find one slim enough to fit between the dash and the door.

I searched for days on the internet and was unsuccessful.  On the off chance I thought I would check the speaker to see if it was actually broken. So I went out to the van and took off the driver and passenger side door panels and unhooked both of the speakers.  I plugged the passenger speaker into the other side and to my surprise it worked!

Now that both speakers were working I needed to find a replacement radio because it turns out that the port on the back of the radio had gone bad.  My goal was to find a “new” radio with cassette player. Over the past year or so I had been collecting cassette tapes for the van since it had a tape player. One would think this would be an easy task but no body sells car radios with cassette players anymore.

After a bit of searching a friend of mine had gifted me an old aftermarket radio he had which saved me a few bucks.  Although it didn’t have a cassette player it does have a CD player, AUX port and a USB port so I can plug in many devises.  But since I have accumulated a bunch of tapes I am going to find a cheap portable cassette player and mount it to the dash.  After a bit of figuring out what wires go where and a bit of crimping I now have a new radio!

Mounting Hardware

NRS Gutter Mount

NRS Gutter Mount

Finished Rack

One thing that I found out while shopping for roof racks for my Vanagon is they can be very pricey.  If you are like me I have a relatively strict budget I like to stick to.  After many hours of research I figured that it would be cheaper and easy to build my own roof rack.  This way I can customize it to my specific needs.

For this project I did have to order gutter mounts to secure to the van.  I ordered them from the NRS website.  They come in a package of four, but you can buy them individual as well.  I purchased the remaining parts from Home Depot.  Most hardware stores should carry the following material:

• 2 – 1 inch x 1 inch x 6 foot square steel tubing
• 4 – 3/8 x 2.5 inch full threaded bolts
• 4 – 3/8 nylon lock nuts
• 4 – 3/8 steel washers

Once I secured the gutter mounts to the van I put the square tubing on top and marked where the holes should be drilled.  After both tubes were marked I drilled out the holes with a 3/8 size drill bit.  Next I took the bolt and washer and put them through the tubing and the top of the mount.  I used a 9/16 wrench to hold the top of the bolt steady and used a 9/16 socket to tighten the lock nut from the bottom.

When I first put the gutter mounts onto the van I was a bit unsure because they didn’t seem very sturdy. As both of the sides were bolted down the bar drew them inward which tightened up the mounts quite well.  If you are looking for a cheap, easy and customizable roof rack set-up I would recommend giving this a try!

http://www.nrs.com/product/3200/quick-n-easy-car-top-racks-set

Note: These mounts will only work if your vehicle is equipped with rain gutters.

Summer camping trip

Testing in the rain

First time set-up

The first couple times I had taken the van on a trip it had rained.  This wasn’t a bad thing because I like the rain but I found myself stuck inside the van trying to stay dry.  When I was by myself or one other person it was fine but with 3 or 4 people the van gets kind of crowded.  My solution was to get an awning.

After doing some research I decided that I wasn’t ready to make that much of a monetary investment in an awning so I chose to make my own. For this project I used the following: an 8′ x 10′ tarp, four 10/24 hooks with bolt ends, a roll of paracord, three metal tent stakes and three 8′ adjustable tent poles. Everything except the tent poles I purchased at a local hardware store.  The tentpoles I purchased from Cabela’s.

To fix the awning to the van I drilled four holes in the rain gutter and inserted the hooks to line up with the corresponding holes in the 8′ side of the tarp.  I then sealed around the hook holes in the gutter with clear silicone.  Once hooked to the van, stretch out the tarp and put the tent poles in each corner.  For the third pole you will have to make your own hole in the center of the tarp.  After you have the tent poles in place use the paracord and the tent stakes to hold the awning in place.

1/2 inch ply with hinges

Minwax “golden oak” stain

Complete with burlap cushion

So as I’ve stated before, storage is a bit of an issue with my van because it is a passenger van and not a Westy.  I’ve had to get creative and add my own cabinets.  Another thing the van is lacking is seating.  Unlike the various models of the Westy, Campmobile, and EuroVan my van doesn’t have a rear facing seat.

Whenever I would have more than two people in the van, we would either all cram onto the bench seat/bed or sit on the floor.  A few weeks ago I came up with an idea for an extra rear facing seat that would also double as storage space.  I drew up a plan for a simple box with a lid that has a cushion on top.

For the box I used 1/2 inch plywood (if you want a sturdier box use thicker plywood). I plan on inserting braces in the box for extra support. The dimensions I used for the box are 24″ x  15″ x  15″.  The lid consists of four 1/2 inch layers of project foam wrapped in burlap fabric.  1/4 inch staples were used to hold the fabric in place and the lid was fastened to two piano style hinges. I chose stain instead of paint to fit the overall theme of the van.

Not only does this add extra storage it also adds needed extra seating!

(Disclaimer: I am not a professional painter. The tools, technique, and supplies used are for my purpose only. This was a DIY project and in no way a “professional” paint job.)

Original “Navy” blue

Primer Grey

First orange. WAY TOO BRIGHT!

To me color reflects personality.  I like to think of myself as a very laid back, go with the flow, free spirit, peace and love type of guy; or as I’m referred to by many a hippie. Anyway I’m not much of a flash and pizzazz guy so when choosing a color for Lucy I wanted to choose a color that would accurately represent my personality.

Aside from some minor surface rust the condition of the original paint was not that bad.  There were chips and a few dents here and there but overall I felt that Navy Blue (not the correct name for the original color) didn’t really suit my personality.  The blue made me feel like I was driving a “mom van.” I wanted a color that said ADVENTURE!

Growing up I always wanted a red VW Bus with a white top just like Arlo Guthrie in the movie “Alice’s Restaurant.”  Although red is my favorite color I personally didn’t think that it would look good on the vanagon.  So after many days of searching for the right color I settled on orange.

After purchasing a paint sprayer, primer and orange paint, my father and I began to paint my van.  To prep the van for paint, first I washed all dirt and dust from the body.  I then removed all lights, covers, grills and vents. I used painters tape and newspaper to cover the windows.

After two coats of implement primer was applied I applied two coats of the orange enamel. Now remember in the beginning when I said picking the right color was important?  Well the first orange turned out to be way to bright for my liking.  Since there were a few runs to sand out I decided to sand the van down and pick a different color.  For some reason every color I picked just wasn’t quite right.

We ended up painting the van somewhere around four different times (not including primer) before I found a color that I loved.  On my way home from work one day I stopped at the hardware store and got a pint of brown paint. I mixed that with two different color oranges that I had and somehow I mixed up a color that was close to one of the original VW rust color oranges.

The last time we painted the van the paint did not set up correctly, so it had to be sanded down again. I was never able to put a “finishing coat” on it yet, but I nailed the “adventure” color that I was looking for.

This was supposed to be grey blue.

Nailed the color but it didn’t set right

Current color (photo by: Jenny Patton]

(3rd photo “current color” in bottom set taken by: Jenny Patton)

Since I plan on using the van for extensive traveling, I have decided that storage was an issue.  Seeing how I don’t have the Westfalia which includes loads of storage, a pop top, sink and stovetop I have to improvise.  Finding a 2 burner propane stove to cook on was the easy part but where would I store all of my things?

I’m not much of a woodworker when it comes to cabinets nor do I have the required tools.  So after lots of planning, I decided to go with an unfinished hanging kitchen cabinet. Home Depot carries a variety of kitchen/bath/specialty cabinets either finished or unfinished.  The one that I went with was a 24″ x 30″ x  15″ unfinished hanging kitchen cabinet.

I chose the unfinished cabinet because it was cheaper and that way I could stain or paint it to my liking.  The cabinet came with an adjustable shelf which came in handy.  I bought extra shelf hardware, chrome handles and a locking gate latch to hold the doors shut while driving.

For a finish I bought some Helmsman Spar Varnish.  The spar varnish gives the cabinet a nice natural color and really brought out the grain in the wood.  Also the finish is waterproof/weatherproof to hold up well to everyday wear and tear.

Aside from not having power steering, the van also has no air conditioning.  To me this is not a big deal. I’m more of a “60 mph and windows down” type of guy.  Unlike other cars, vans, trucks and SUV’s that have the AC in the dash, my vanagon had a huge AC unit mounted to the celling.

The previous owners told me that the unit just needed to be recharged, but upon further inspection I found a whole other problem… it was missing the front assembly. Since the unit was missing the entire front set of vents and parts of the motor, I removed it creating  more head room which gave a more open feel.  Now there is nothing to bang your head on trying to navigate from the front to back or vise versa.