Spring Update #11 Nostalgia!

I have been slowly uploading photos of our last roadtrip to my Flickr account.



Take a look here for hundreds of full resolution photos.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/129334372@N04/albums


For those who don't have the time, I have selected a few for your enjoyment.  Here is a bit of Vanagon Westy nostalgia for everyone.














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Spring Update #10

I have no time for creative post titles. So get used to boring numbered posts for the next couple of months. So much work and so little time!

Here is where I mounted the ground lights I made earlier. Relieving oneself in the pitch blackness of a night at a remote campsite can be a challenge. A bit of indirect lighting makes avoiding the rocks much more pleasant without spoiling your night vision. They are mostly hidden except at great distance or low angles.



Here is the bracket for mounting the spin-on fuel filter assembly I made a few weeks ago. It mounts the driver’s side fender wall about 12” forward of the fuel tank. Clearance is good at about 18-20”. The filters are 5” or so above the lowest part of the fuel tank. The subframe assembly also provides substantial bash protection. I could have mounted the filters higher, but the D5/isotemp coolant lines are directly above the filter which drops it down about 3”






Here is is installed.  Hopefully this will eliminate some of my fuel quality concerns.  

As a plus, filter changes take only a few minutes, with much less cursing. I started the van up earlier, and no leaks on the first try.

 

Spring Update #9 - Miscellanea

At this point we have no less than 10 van projects in work. Our garage is a jumbled mess. I am starting to get silent judging stares from Jen. Sooo... It's time to finish some of these items...  I am lucky if I can spend an hour or two on a single project, before having to switch gears on something completely unrelated that needs to happen first.  Order of operations or something like that.


I made up some waterproof mini LED light strips. I am thinking a few under the van for indirect nighttime lighting. A couple under the bed and in the cabinets as well will make digging for items much more pleasant. I sealed the ends of the silicon casing with some automotive gasket maker I had lying around. It bonded to the silicone surprisingly well.



I tackled installing the camber shims this morning. Took about an hour per side. Use Loctite on the bolts.





Prior to the shims the camber was positive ~2.5 degrees. After it was 0.5 degrees. Factory spec is plus/minus 0.75 degrees. The van probably doesn’t need an alignment at this point, but I will do it just to be safe. New tires incoming and all.

I am putting the finishing touches on the under bed enclosure. Hopefully I can close it up soon. I need to get the shower mixers hooked up for the final leak test. This requires cabinets which are still in paint. Which requires filling and sanding. Which needs....etc...  Still lots of work left.

I am so close to wrapping up all the major mechanical systems that I can taste it.