Due to arrive soon

[MiniDave]

Is the red car a new Vette?

There's a fellow who does a whole series on living in his van, in one I saw he got snowed in for the weekend but was able to get out again using those ramps.

[BruceK]

Wow. Not your average Westfalia.   Ready for the zombie apocalypse.  Or, the election results.   ;D

[94touring]

Yeah those are really popular for the ultimate off road guys.

[cstudep]

Looks like they could be a little top heavy for serious off road stuff, but I have never seen one in person so perhaps it just looks that way. Still neat for sure, but just browsing some for sale, certainly not cheap.

[94touring]

Drove it home for the 1st time yesterday after doing the final tune up items like plugs, plug wires, proper J tubes, and the wideband installed to verify fuel delivery.  Zooms right along doing 67-68mph on the flats.  Manages 60 up some long uphill grades too.  Got more thumbs up and attention than the mini does which was surprising to me.

[Lone Star Mini]

...... It's a 1983 so borrowing money was a little tricky at first.  Pretty sure they thought they were loaning me money for a vanagon.  Has a 1600cc motor and guessing that it won't do well going into the mountains, so perhaps turbo kit is in it's future.

This is way cool.....wonderful choice!!

[cstudep]

Drove it home for the 1st time yesterday after doing the final tune up items like plugs, plug wires, proper J tubes, and the wideband installed to verify fuel delivery.  Zooms right along doing 67-68mph on the flats.  Manages 60 up some long uphill grades too.  Got more thumbs up and attention than the mini does which was surprising to me.

Not sure what it is about a VW van, but everyone seems to love them and you just do not see a ton of them around anymore. Here are a few pics of one that runs around up in the Black Hills that has been slightly modified.

[MiniDave]

Wonder what that uses for an engine? I'm sure it's not a 50 hp VW motor!  :-\

[cstudep]

I wondered the same thing and "stalled" for almost an hour waiting for someone to show back up so I could ask. The rest of the family decided it wasn't that important so I was over ruled and we had to carry on with what were doing. When we got back from our hike it was gone.

I looked up where they were located so I could maybe drop by and talk with someone but never did end up having enough time to do it. I guess a guy could probably email them and ask, pretty sure they had a website. Now I am going to have to go look. I forgot I had these pictures and when I came across them while cleaning off my phone I thought they would fit in here.

[jedduh01]

I wondered the same thing and "stalled" for almost an hour waiting for someone to show back up so I could ask. The rest of the family decided it wasn't that important so I was over ruled and we had to carry on with what were doing. When we got back from our hike it was gone.

I looked up where they were located so I could maybe drop by and talk with someone but never did end up having enough time to do it. I guess a guy could probably email them and ask, pretty sure they had a website. Now I am going to have to go look. I forgot I had these pictures and when I came across them while cleaning off my phone I thought they would fit in here.

I was curious too = found this 'restoratoin' thread on their website...
One pic has a shot of engine in place = Looks like a Stocker VW engine too = IM sure it has some mods.. but still!!!

http://www.blackhillstourcompany.com/galleries/vw-restorations/

[BruceK]

Can you imagine what that thing weighs?   Sticking with a stock or even modified VW motor is the absolute definition of optimism.

[ADRay]

that thing makes my brain hurt, but oddly enough I don't hate it.

[cstudep]

Can you imagine what that thing weighs?   Sticking with a stock or even modified VW motor is the absolute definition of optimism.

Don't forget the 12 passengers as well. I am amazed the thing even moves.

[94touring]

Got a few extra things done today.  Swapped out mismatched headlight bulbs with h4's.  The high beams wouldn't stay on when letting off the switch. You'd hear the clicking on the relay but you'd have to hold the switch to keep them on. Took the relay apart and cleaned things up and voila works perfectly.  Wired up the fuse box and ran the gauges to it instead of piggy backing off the original fuse box.  Wired up the tach and installed it into the dash blank.  Last job of the day was changing out gear oil.  Online some said it took 5 pints, 6 pints, and one person even said 8 pints. Mine took 5 pints.  Have to awkwardly lay on your back and hold the bottle in just the right spot to fill it, till it pours out all over the place.  Old gear oil was looking pretty rough.  I'm sure it had never been changed.

[cstudep]

Any plans for your first trip or have you not thought that far forward yet? Should be a lot of fun no matter where you end up.

[94touring]

We have a 2 day trip this Sunday planned.  Should work out good now that everything is running smoothly.

[94touring]

Yesterday I successfully changed out the rear axle boots and regreased the bearings.  Each side had one boot torn so replaced all four. Somewhat of a fiddly job getting the axles off. Easier than a mini but still time consuming.  Went ahead and adjusted the rear drums while I was under there. Last thing I did for the day was investigate the shifter where it mounts into the floor.  Seemed to be on the sloppy side and from reading there is a peg on the bottom of the shifter that wears and causes the slop.  You have a cup with a slot that the shifter rod ball fits into and peg that's fitted through the ball that aligns with the slot in the cup. When you shift this moves another rod that then changes gears.  Well sure enough the peg was worn.  Found something in the shop that was the proper diameter, cut to length, removed old peg, and pressed in new peg.  It really did tighten it up and improved shifting.  I'm starting to run out of things to improve upon.  Front sway bar came in so hoping I can tackle that today.  Otherwise been driving it all over the past few days.  The mini must be getting jealous by now.

[94touring]

Drove it home for the 1st time yesterday after doing the final tune up items like plugs, plug wires, proper J tubes, and the wideband installed to verify fuel delivery.  Zooms right along doing 67-68mph on the flats.  Manages 60 up some long uphill grades too.  Got more thumbs up and attention than the mini does which was surprising to me.

Not sure what it is about a VW van, but everyone seems to love them and you just do not see a ton of them around anymore. Here are a few pics of one that runs around up in the Black Hills that has been slightly modified.

So apparently in the 70s they (some company) did a few variations of these bus limo, tandem rear axle, concoction of cars put together to form something ridiculous.  The other similar to this had a Chevy van front end and I'm assuming Chevy engine to move it along. 

[cstudep]

Yesterday I successfully changed out the rear axle boots and regreased the bearings.  Each side had one boot torn so replaced all four. Somewhat of a fiddly job getting the axles off. Easier than a mini but still time consuming.  Went ahead and adjusted the rear drums while I was under there. Last thing I did for the day was investigate the shifter where it mounts into the floor.  Seemed to be on the sloppy side and from reading there is a peg on the bottom of the shifter that wears and causes the slop.  You have a cup with a slot that the shifter rod ball fits into and peg that's fitted through the ball that aligns with the slot in the cup. When you shift this moves another rod that then changes gears.  Well sure enough the peg was worn.  Found something in the shop that was the proper diameter, cut to length, removed old peg, and pressed in new peg.  It really did tighten it up and improved shifting.  I'm starting to run out of things to improve upon.  Front sway bar came in so hoping I can tackle that today.  Otherwise been driving it all over the past few days.  The mini must be getting jealous by now.

Running out of things to improve upon is always a good thing, that means you can hopefully enjoy just driving it! At least the Mini has good company with all the other mini projects you have going on.

[94touring]

Yesterday did the front sway bar.  It was a pita.  If it ever had a stock bar as most baywindow buses did, it was long gone.  The new one was heavy duty and much thicker than a stock bar, which made stock bushings impossible to fit.  To get it on good enough for now I sliced the bushings to get it over the bar, once the bushing brackets were clamped down it came together fine and is secure.  At some point I may try to find proper inner diameter bushings.  The other issue was the bar was maybe a half inch from aligning to both bolts.  One would fit and then the other wouldn't reach.  Took it outside to my trailer and used the metal frame to hold the sway bar to then push with all my might to bend the arm enough to reach.  It's a big sprung bar so efforts seemed pointless but it gave me enough length that I was able to get a bolt started at an angle, and then hammer it through, which then aligned the bar once things were tightened up. It's snug that's for sure.  Drives nicely in curves and seems to do better in gusty winds or when a semi goes by.  That's what they said it would improve online too so guess the efforts were worth it.

2nd thing for the day was replaced the steering damper. Figured since the shocks were shot there was a good chance the damper was too.  They're cheap and easy to get off and on. Took all of 5 minutes.  Old damper was ok feeling but new one definitely firmer and without a dead zone in the center position like the old one.  As a result steering is a little firmer, probably does better on bumpy roads is about it.  Funny enough before all this my steering wheel was right of center.  I had removed the wheel and centered it up.  After the damper the wheel pointed left of center, so wheel back off and re centered to where it would have been to begin with. 

Road trip planned tomorrow so checked toe.  1/16" out so at least it's aligned.  Also yesterday it was in the mid 30s when I took it for a drive to the shop.  Decided to try out the space heater and see if the alternator would keep up according to the volt meter I installed.  This is a 1500 watt heater.  Never tripped the power inverter in the 20 minutes or so that I ran it.  Volts were down to about 11.5-12.  May have gone lower over time but nevertheless it did keep me warm on the way to the shop.  I just sat it on the seat beside me.  Tried it on the floor for a bit too.  I have a smaller heater we've used for camping that has a 750 watt selection that I'll test out.  Might be the best solution and should sit on the dash should I need some defrost.

[94touring]

Getting ready for it's maiden voyage.  Here's the new hub caps too.

[cstudep]

Nice! Looks like you are ready to roll, enjoy your weekend with the new ride. 77.gif

I see you have a few brew's stashed strategically around the fridge! It's also pretty amazing just how much stuff that little shelf system on the door actually holds.

[94touring]

Not only that but the closet has a ton of stuff crammed in there with room to spare, and we haven't begun to put things on the shelf over the bed or in the other good sized knook behind the front seats I created. Still plenty of space in the fridge for more food.  And a full roof rack if needed.  Have a tool bag in the engine compartment and a few spare parts like the old coil and backup dizzy. 

[cstudep]

It's hard to believe there is that much storage space in there while still having room for a couple of humans. Sure makes a guy wonder why anyone needs one of those huge RV's. But I also like to "camp" when we go camping. I don't need a TV, etc... Just a camp fire, some grub, a few brews and the company of whoever came along.

[BruceK]

Looking fine!

Have a great trip.