Van ownership:

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Sat Jul 18, 2009 9:20 pm

Got an insurance check for Deer damage on my Cherokee, so with the leftover money after I fixed it I got a van off of Craigslist. Needs a little TLC, but the body is solid and rust free underneath, and has the usual surface rust on the outside. I'll do some bodywork on it, throw a new coat of paint on, and it will look slick.

Picked it up in the mountains here(Avon CO) and on the way back got a pop-top in Frisco, has all the hardware needed for the pop top, but I will need to buy a new canvas. I am hoping to get the interior pieces from a camper and make a full camper out of it.

Otherwise its a 1991(last year they sold these in the US), its the somewhat rare "Carat" model which has slightly lowered stance, some side molding, and power mirrors, door locks, and windows. Ac is non functional. Has 215k miles, and the engine runs good(which these aren't the best or most powerful engines out there).

Spare parts, craftsman tools came with it, parts of the pop top inside.

Window being held up with pliers:

Couple of busted headlights:

Probably pull the windshield and rear window for the repaint, see what kinda price my windshield guy can get for a new windshield.

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Sat Jul 18, 2009 9:32 pm

I had a buddy in college that had one of those... He got kicked out of the dorms and lived in it for 3 months.... It smelled so bad.... But it was still bad@ss!

bugnout · **Posted:** Sat Jul 18, 2009 9:45 pm

Very nice, I love VW Westi's. I had a 72 VW passenger van, was my first car. My Dad had a 74 full blown camper with pop top. Nice project vehicle.

I've thought about designing and fabricating a pop top for the KJ. Like that idea better than a roof top tent. Saw a web site for a company offering a pop top on a Honda Element, a little pricey at 10k.

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Sat Jul 18, 2009 10:43 pm

Little TLC and that will be one sweet ride

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Sat Jul 18, 2009 11:19 pm

bugnout wrote:

Very nice, I love VW Westi's. I had a 72 VW passenger van, was my first car. My Dad had a 74 full blown camper with pop top. Nice project vehicle.

I've thought about designing and fabricating a pop top for the KJ. Like that idea better than a roof top tent. Saw a web site for a company offering a pop top on a Honda Element, a little pricey at 10k.

Ya we've had an 82 full camper(fugging aircooled engine, warm uphill, cold downhill!), a 84 with a super sunroof (for a short while), and a 87 syncro weekender.

I am looking forward to converting this one to a weekender or full camper, good condition weekender or campers are getting harder to find, and since this is the last year they were sold its somewhat desirable, its a carat, etc etc, which means if I make it into a weekender with a fresh paint job or a camper with a fresh paint job it will probably bring a good bit more money than I paid(like 10k range). So its in my interest to clean it up real good and make it nice.(in case I ever want to sell it).

linewarbr · **Posted:** Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:51 pm

Is it a TDI? If not, it surely needs to be. . . .

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Mon Jul 20, 2009 8:06 pm

linewarbr wrote:

Is it a TDI? If not, it surely needs to be. . . .

For a long time I REALLY wanted to do a TDI swap. The problem it came down to was that this H4 engine revs up to like 7k RPM, the little TDI just doesn't rev high enough to even hit 60 on the interstate.

Personally I really want to find the Subaru diesel engine and throw it in. Good luck on that one.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Mon Jul 20, 2009 9:36 pm

Got my westy parts today:
In the Van:

Out:

$100 for all the westy stuff, need a fridge door, a few latches, Sink faucet is missing, propane tank was gone and lines cut. I will probably try to sweat on some new fittings so I can use the smaller green coleman type of propane canisters(I never liked having the tank underneath).

dirtykj · **Posted:** Tue Jul 21, 2009 3:19 pm

Nice westy!

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:25 pm

Heck yeah

I love to go junking..... best thing was I got paid to go and service a machine at a junk yard... and then I took home some parts

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Wed Jul 22, 2009 8:48 pm

Diggerfreek wrote:

Heck yeah

I love to go junking..... best thing was I got paid to go and service a machine at a junk yard... and then I took home some parts

Nice. Always fun to grab stuff at the junkyard, kinda like mall shopping for men.

Found an 83 westy with a subi conversion. Alot of the van was just a big hack job, hoses running everywhere, wires, bunjee cord hold up radiator pipes for the front rad, chain holding up the rear muffler, foam stuck through the hole for the rear floor heater.......etc

But, it had some conversion parts(not sure who from, perhaps smallcar?). So I got the adapter plate, flywheel, and clutch disk/pressure plate. Additionally it looks like it had an upgraded starter, and a professionally made exhaust. I had fun with all the CV bolts - been years since I replaced the tranny on my syncro, so I didn't really remember needing any special tools to remove it, I should have read the manual or searched here first to make sure, I love how german cars always tend to throw random special tools in that need to be special ordered.

So got all the parts pulled, left the hackjob, and carried em out. $105 out the door. Just the flywheel and plate from smallcar is $540. A nice stainless header is $380 + cost of cat and muffler. What I have isn't real pretty, but perfectly functional. I figured I just saved $815 by getting this score at the junkyard.

They also had a 95 SVX that I missed getting the engine on. I was planning to pull it last monday, and went to make sure it was good on sunday only to have a kid start pulling it a few minutes later. Would have been $308 for all the SVX parts I needed. Oh well.

ObiHann · **Posted:** Thu Jul 23, 2009 11:58 am

I need one so bad!

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Thu Jul 23, 2009 2:05 pm

ObiHann wrote:

I need one so bad!

They sure are alot of fun, but damm they are always pricey. Which is why I couldn't pass on this one, too cheap.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Wed Aug 05, 2009 9:56 pm

Big day for the Westy stuff!

Cut the the roof out the westy I got my cabinets out of, I think this solution better than the other way I was thinking of doing it(welding in angle iron and trying to get the hole size right). This should be the best way to go for me as I am very familar with removing body panels spot welded on and installing new ones, so I think I can get a pretty clean install this way.

$115 for the roof panel, plus buying my roomate a soda and a couple of chicken sausages at home. After getting the pop top out of the way and removed the windows it probably took me 10 minutes to cut through the pillars, super easy.

What ticked me off and took like an hour to fix was my sawsall. I've had this thing for like 6 years, about 2 years ago my last of 2 batteries just died off, I bought a cheapo harbor freight corded unit to get me by untill I felt like buying new batteries(pricey). Well the harbor freight unit quit out on me, so I bought two new batteries at the home despot(coudn't wait to get cheaper ones ordered). So with my two new batteries all charged up I start cutting, after about 30 secs worth of cutting the sawsall just stops. Nothing, dead. So I take it all apart, manually jump power to the motor, and it runs fine, so I start thinking its the switch. Quick research shows the switch costs about $25 online, or $50 in denver. Screw that I think. So I start trying to figure out a way to jump power, I start testing my wires and find that one of the wires that leads from the trigger to the motor has lost continuity. So I figure it broke apart internally somehow(which is strange for a non-moving part), so I'm getting ticked off now at this thing, I am about to harvest some wire from a nearby car and try and fix it, when I look at the connector and see that the crimped on connector is crimped over the plastic insulation!

Great, I just spend an hour tearing apart my sawsall trying to figure out why its not working all over 4 mm of insulation that didn't get stripped 7 years ago on the assembly line!!!!!! Oh well, at least it didn't cost me anything and I got it fixed in the yard without wasting a trip!

So I got the roof cut off, managed to man handle it out of the vehicle, managed to man handle it onto 2 wheel barrows, roll it up to the office, put it on some movers dollies(thank gawd that the parking lot is paved), get it out to the van, up on the roof, strapped down, and transported safely an hour back home on the interstate.

Got home to my new faucet, then went and picked up my fridge door at the post office. Fridge door came very well packed from Canada(thanks greg!-plug). Tomorrow the fans for the fridge mods come. I got a piece of vinyl remnants that will go down over a plywood floor. Got my second battery kit from the junkyard van, got two swivel seats from the junkyard van.

Getting closer and closer, now I just need a good day to get to work on the van!

linewarbr · **Posted:** Wed Aug 05, 2009 10:20 pm

Sam, seriously, that is looking like it will be absolutely awesome. I cannot wait to see the finished product.

If a TDI engine won't work, what about a Cummins 4bt out of a bread truck? With 215K, that gasser is bound to be looking at a serious rebuild soon. But, you know more than I do about what you are looking at. I just believe diesel is the best option. (I'm kind of biased, dontcha know. . . ) Plus it would do a lot better for idling to run the accesories in the camper.

Or. . . you could install an onboard diesel generator. . . . :wink:

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:06 pm

linewarbr wrote:

Sam, seriously, that is looking like it will be absolutely awesome. I cannot wait to see the finished product.

If a TDI engine won't work, what about a Cummins 4bt out of a bread truck? With 215K, that gasser is bound to be looking at a serious rebuild soon. But, you know more than I do about what you are looking at. I just believe diesel is the best option. (I'm kind of biased, dontcha know. . . ) Plus it would do a lot better for idling to run the accesories in the camper.

Or. . . you could install an onboard diesel generator. . . . :wink:

Ya, I don't think a 4bt is gonna work. the flat 4 engine is about 20 inches tall. Even the subaru engine is kinda tall. Theres no way a 42" tall 4bt is gonna work.

When people do the TDI swap they have to mount it at 50 degrees to clear the engine cover. the TDI 15 degree swaps people do need to have the cover raised to clear the engine.

What I really want to do is get my hands on a subaru boxer diesel engine!

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Wed Aug 12, 2009 1:53 pm

Some fridge modding:

First Day Testing wrote:

Fridge running on 120V, in my garage, without 12V (so the rear fan never kicked on, nor do I know if the rear heat exchangers ever got hot enough to warrant it).

I have a 60mm fan sitting on top of the cooling fins for testing purposes. It is currently blowing downward(only way to set on the fins without mounting it is blowing downward).

First test. Fridge has been running on 120V for over 24 hours. Temp sensor is placed about 5 inches from the bottom of the fridge. After about half an hour the outside temp reads 90 degree. Inside temp(in the fridge) reads 42 degrees. Thats 48 degrees difference.

Second test. Fridge still on 120V, temp sensor in same location. After allowing to come to equilibrium for 30 minutes Inside temp reads a steady 46 degrees. Outside temp starts dropping from 90 down. Temperature difference starts around 45 degrees but as outside temp drops the temperature difference decreases. At 80 degrees outside the inside temp reads 43 degrees. Only a 37 degree difference.

Conclusion:
With the fan running inside the temperature difference recorded was not as high as without the fan running, however it is likely that with the thermocouple placed in the lower part of the fridge that the air was not at a homogenous temperature throughout the fridge. With the fan on forced convective cooling must be higher, and the temperature more uniform throughout the fridge. Additionally the forced convection occurring when the fan is running is likely to cool down food placed inside the fridge faster. Or, in the case of something cooler than the ambient temperature of the fridge is likely to cool the fridge faster than by natural convection alone.

While I did not place a thermocouple on the condenser fins on the backside they never got particularly hot. Only warm to the touch. I am wondering how much a 12V fan running all the time would make in the inside temperature difference.

Later that night wrote:

Fridge has been on 120V this evening without inside or outside fan running.

Outside temp currently 75, fridge temp 40 degrees at thermocouple location.

So today after running the fridge all night with both inside and outside fan on I have Data:

Overnight low temps(with both fans on):

66/32

Thats 66 degrees F outside, and 32 degrees inside the fridge.

By comparison the night before(with inside fan on only):

66/35

So at night the inside temperature was further improved by the rear fan running.

Additionally after observing the temperature during the daytime(where outside temps are 80-90F) with and without the fan running, it looks like the inside temperature was different by about 5 degrees.

So in addition to the inside fan, and replacing the outside fan. I think I might place two 120mm fans(as pictured on the floor behind the fridge) side by side blow the lowest cooling fins. Then using a piece of scrap aluminum sheet place it over the back off all the fins. The idea being that I want to increase the airflow over the cooling fins, rather than just blowing air past in the general direction.

I'm going to do everything I can to milk cool outta this old dometic! In general I have noted everything from a 32 degree difference on the low end, to a 48 degree difference on the high end.

Some pics:

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Sun Aug 16, 2009 5:57 pm

Got the donor roof off, ended up deciding to do it a little differently than most people. Going to leave the roof above the drivers head, and make the seam just behind where the cargo rack bolts. I will overlap the front roof with the donor roof and put in a series of spot welds.

Pictures:

Only used 3.5 spot weld cutters, this old steel if soft! I used about 10(for much fewer welds) replacing the roof panel on my 2005 Jeep Liberty.

Time to cleanup the garage and start deconstruction on the '91.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Thu Aug 20, 2009 1:49 am

Got the roof prepped for the new roof, got the new roof all cleaned up and straitened out. Sprayed weld through primer on the areas to be welded. Got the hinge brackets welded on. Need to get some more trimmed at the front where I am making my lap weld. Then I've got tons of welding to do.

Hopefully I can wrap up the welding tomorrow and then start on bodywork.

You can see the copper colored weld through primer here:

wheeee32 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 20, 2009 2:56 am

Lookin' good on the progress. Good choice on the beer.

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