vwhammer
Adventurer
Ok.
I know that some of you may have been and maybe still are following my 4x4 Vanagon conversion.
Things are still progressing on that but, much like my other van, I came across a "cheap" Vanagon that was not too far away and was "running and drivable".
As a glutton for punishment I thought that it might be cool to have a Vanagon to use as a daily driver for hauling and camping and whatever seemed appropriate.
I decided to go check it out and take it for a test drive.
Here it is the day I went to look at it.
The real mileage is unknown but after a quick test drive it seemed worth the price. (ish)
It clearly needed a bit of work in the brakes and suspension department but it was indeed running and driveable so I made an offer.
We haggled only once and agreed on a price.
A week later I went to pick it up.
About 20 miles into my 77 mile trip home the worst happened.
Cruising along at about 65 mph the power fell off and I heard some strange clattering noises.
Naturally I let off the gas to get a feel for what was going down.
I let off the gas and got back on.
It seemed to still be running but did seem a little sluggish.
Something was not right.
As I slowed I could hear the clattering a little louder.
It honestly sounded like the exhaust had come loose from somewhere.
As such, I decided to pull over and check things out.
I slowed more and more until I could pull off to the side of the road.
It was only when I had nearly come to a complete stop and the engine was still clattering away just before it stalled that I realized that the engine was no more.
It would not even crank over. The engine was gone.
If it had not already been such a long, rainy day, I might have been more aware and taken more pics of the van sitting along the road or up on the roll back or any off that stuff that makes for good forum threads.
Alas, I got one pic after the tow company dropped it off in my driveway leaving me to sort out how to get it out of the way.
So after I got it home it seemed only appropriate to do a carfax to try to decipher what kind of mileage this thing might have.
It appears that I am the 3rd owner.
It also appears that the original speedometer/odometer was replaced with a new one at just over 175,000 miles.
The Odometer currently reads 55,000 miles.
By my math that is 230,000 miles.
Armed with this knowledge I knew that most things on this van would need a solid "going over".
To be brutally honest I was not even mad about the engine.
In the 20 miles that I actually got to drive it I felt "the feeling" the comes with driving these vans.
It just brings a smile to your face no matter how ********#y they are.
You get to experience all of the quirks that makes the Vanagon what it is and get a feel for what is needed to make it what it could be.
Hell, I had already gone over all the things in my head that I felt like needed addressed and/or upgraded.
The engine was the first on the list.
The stock Vanagon engines suck.
There is no nice way to put it.
They are unreliable, under powered lumps of (expletive deleted).
I won't get too hung up on that debate with the Vanagon purists but I knew a better engine was in the cards.
The obvious choice was a Subaru engine since that is what all the cool kids are doing these days.
However, being a 25 year "VW guy", a VW engine seemed like the only logical choice.
After a few SOS texts, I sourced an engine and went to pick it up a couple days later.
It may not look like much but the 2.0 ABA is arguably one of VWs most reliable engines.
It is based on architecture that has been around since the mid 1970s and has had many improvements along the way.
They can be had for next to nothing or nothing in my case.
There is a ton of support out there for these engines and the general layout for these engines was actually used in the Vanagon in the form of a 1.6NA diesel in the early 80s.
So here is a closer albeit slightly blurry pic of the engine as bolted to the engine stand.
Upon further inspection it appeared that every accessory on the engine was frozen and, overall, it was pretty crusty.
I would expect nothing more from a free engine.
This free engine even came with the complete wiring harness and ECU along with the air box that houses the ever so important MAF.
The state of this engine would give me the opportunity to tear things down a bit and give it a good "once over".
This would also allow me to get e good look at the ABA systems and better see how it can be translated into the Vanagaon.
For the most part I am not doing anything that has not been done before.
There are countless VW inline 4 cylinder Vanagons roaming the planet.
I would like to say that this one is no different.
However the engine is not the only thing on the list of upgrades that I have planned for this van.
As I mentioned, nearly every thing on this van will need a little attention.
I hope, over the next 2 months, to address most of these issues and approach them with my own flair.
I will build it to suit my insatiable need for working and camping and driving that can not be accomplished by any other platform.
Until Next time....
I know that some of you may have been and maybe still are following my 4x4 Vanagon conversion.
Things are still progressing on that but, much like my other van, I came across a "cheap" Vanagon that was not too far away and was "running and drivable".
As a glutton for punishment I thought that it might be cool to have a Vanagon to use as a daily driver for hauling and camping and whatever seemed appropriate.
I decided to go check it out and take it for a test drive.
Here it is the day I went to look at it.
The real mileage is unknown but after a quick test drive it seemed worth the price. (ish)
It clearly needed a bit of work in the brakes and suspension department but it was indeed running and driveable so I made an offer.
We haggled only once and agreed on a price.
A week later I went to pick it up.
About 20 miles into my 77 mile trip home the worst happened.
Cruising along at about 65 mph the power fell off and I heard some strange clattering noises.
Naturally I let off the gas to get a feel for what was going down.
I let off the gas and got back on.
It seemed to still be running but did seem a little sluggish.
Something was not right.
As I slowed I could hear the clattering a little louder.
It honestly sounded like the exhaust had come loose from somewhere.
As such, I decided to pull over and check things out.
I slowed more and more until I could pull off to the side of the road.
It was only when I had nearly come to a complete stop and the engine was still clattering away just before it stalled that I realized that the engine was no more.
It would not even crank over. The engine was gone.
If it had not already been such a long, rainy day, I might have been more aware and taken more pics of the van sitting along the road or up on the roll back or any off that stuff that makes for good forum threads.
Alas, I got one pic after the tow company dropped it off in my driveway leaving me to sort out how to get it out of the way.
So after I got it home it seemed only appropriate to do a carfax to try to decipher what kind of mileage this thing might have.
It appears that I am the 3rd owner.
It also appears that the original speedometer/odometer was replaced with a new one at just over 175,000 miles.
The Odometer currently reads 55,000 miles.
By my math that is 230,000 miles.
Armed with this knowledge I knew that most things on this van would need a solid "going over".
To be brutally honest I was not even mad about the engine.
In the 20 miles that I actually got to drive it I felt "the feeling" the comes with driving these vans.
It just brings a smile to your face no matter how ********#y they are.
You get to experience all of the quirks that makes the Vanagon what it is and get a feel for what is needed to make it what it could be.
Hell, I had already gone over all the things in my head that I felt like needed addressed and/or upgraded.
The engine was the first on the list.
The stock Vanagon engines suck.
There is no nice way to put it.
They are unreliable, under powered lumps of (expletive deleted).
I won't get too hung up on that debate with the Vanagon purists but I knew a better engine was in the cards.
The obvious choice was a Subaru engine since that is what all the cool kids are doing these days.
However, being a 25 year "VW guy", a VW engine seemed like the only logical choice.
After a few SOS texts, I sourced an engine and went to pick it up a couple days later.
It may not look like much but the 2.0 ABA is arguably one of VWs most reliable engines.
It is based on architecture that has been around since the mid 1970s and has had many improvements along the way.
They can be had for next to nothing or nothing in my case.
There is a ton of support out there for these engines and the general layout for these engines was actually used in the Vanagon in the form of a 1.6NA diesel in the early 80s.
So here is a closer albeit slightly blurry pic of the engine as bolted to the engine stand.
Upon further inspection it appeared that every accessory on the engine was frozen and, overall, it was pretty crusty.
I would expect nothing more from a free engine.
This free engine even came with the complete wiring harness and ECU along with the air box that houses the ever so important MAF.
The state of this engine would give me the opportunity to tear things down a bit and give it a good "once over".
This would also allow me to get e good look at the ABA systems and better see how it can be translated into the Vanagaon.
For the most part I am not doing anything that has not been done before.
There are countless VW inline 4 cylinder Vanagons roaming the planet.
I would like to say that this one is no different.
However the engine is not the only thing on the list of upgrades that I have planned for this van.
As I mentioned, nearly every thing on this van will need a little attention.
I hope, over the next 2 months, to address most of these issues and approach them with my own flair.
I will build it to suit my insatiable need for working and camping and driving that can not be accomplished by any other platform.
Until Next time....
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