Honey, I’m home!

Been quite awhile.

Had the blog turned off for a year or so.

Life’s little trials create scenarios where blogging, and the information therein can be used against a person.

Good to be back.

Propex

Found myself in a position of having a late fall fishing derby with the scouts.

Convenient, as I had a chance to fully test the Propex system.   In one word - WOW!

When I finally checked out after midnight, the Scouts still going strong, I crawled into the back of the Thingamajigger and turned on the Propex.  It was 30 degrees outside, and within minutes the van was a comfy temp.  It was just me, so I did not have the top up.

During the night I needed to turn the heat down, as I had it too high to compensate for the cool start and myself needing to thaw out.  The Propex was maintaining too warm a temperature within the Thingamajigger.  Once I did, the unit kicked on and off as needed to maintain a perfect temperature.

What a great addition to the van!

Wheel skins

Can't remember if I ever mentioned the Wheelskins product?

There are a couple types, different sizes for the different sized steering wheels on the various years. It's basically a leather cover for the wheel that improves the feel of the wheel as you drive.  

The installation takes about an hour, and I found easier once I took wheel off to do outside of the van.  There is a 'thread' that needs to be used in order to pull the skin taut.

Gloves help.  The thread they provide is a synthetic and can cut into your hand when you are trying to pull the skin taut.

I had one on the brown wheel for the last couple years.  

And with a swap over to the black dash, I covered the black steering wheel as well.

Fuel tank swap

A couple weeks back I engaged in a fuel tank swap.  My tank has always had a concave dent in it from a previous owner, and although aesthetics under the van don't matter squat to me, the loss of a gallon of volume does.

Additionally, the sender was way off and required adjustment.

So I bought a new tank, with a new sending unit. I also bought the sealing kit from KBS coatings.

Started the sealing process as per instructions: by cleaning out the inside of the tank.  The tank comes with a coating of oil to protect during storage.  With the cleaner inside, and all the holes covered with duct tape or plugs, I needed to shake the tank around for a bit to ensure proper removal of all the yuckies.

Next step was to clean it out with water to neutralize the cleaner.

Then the second canister of liquid is added.  It is an etching liquid that after an hour of rotating the tank around every 5 minutes left the tank looking like this:

Another washing with water and the tank needs to completely dry.  Blown out with compressed air, and left to sit overnight and following day in the sun.  

Then it was game time - the next step was the sealer.  It is a self activating coating that reacts with air.  Instructions state to pour the entire can into the tank and begin slowly twisting tank around for an hour or so to get sealer into all the crevices.  

If you do it too quickly, the introduction of air bubbles will compromise the integrity of the sealer.  This is a pain in the ass, or shoulders as to do this every 5 minutes or so is going to make you sore.

After an hour, I had to drain off the excess sealer from within the tank.  I also started the introduction of air into the two lines that exit the bottom of the tank.  These lines need to be repeatedly blown through to ensure the sealer does not harden within and block the passage.  If it does, there is no removing it.  Game over.

During the first few hours of curing, the tank was rotated so that no pooling occurs.  Pooling will cause air bubbles to form as gasses beneath the outer layer get trapped, and as mentioned before, these bubbles will compromise your seal.

After about 5-6 hours of curing, and it is recommended to NOT do this in the sun, I strung the tank up from ceiling and cleaned the outside of the tank.  I had enough sealer left to coat the bottom of the tank, so I did.  Then I realized I probably had enough to coat the top of the tank, so I did.

Remember, you need to constantly be injecting compressed air into the feed, return and vent lines of the tank.  There is a screen at bottom of tank that will block easily if you do not blow off all the sealer coating.

Four days later, tank is fully cured and ready to install.

New rubber seals, all new fuel lines, blasted and painted the tank straps.

Pretty! Too bad no one will ever see it under there. 

Did something stupid

Earlier in week I was doing some maintenance on the thingamajigger when I noticed the passenger wiper arm was loose.  Instead of removing and cleaning out the teeth on the spindle shaft, I started tightening the nut.  Snapped the threads right off.

Immediately I ordered the replacement parts from Van Cafe, knowing that I could drill out the center, tap the shaft and repair that way, I chose the full replacement route.  Why, you may ask?

Because I have had a completed dash in the garage waiting for my busy ass to install anyway.  This gave a good reason.

So the tear out of the dash began Tuesday night.  Only took me about 20 minutes to tear down the dash and have access to the heater box, which also needs to come out to gain access to the wiper assembly.  

The bracket that the wiper motor attaches to needs to be removed as the other end is where the passenger shaft assembly is mounted.

You will notice the broken shaft, and that the assembly is peened into the bracket.  The new one will need to be peened into the bracket.  After wrestling with this for a few minutes, the new one was ready to be reinstalled.  Properly greased back up, with new rubber grommets at the body orifice, it was carefully reassembled.  

 My new dash needed to be completed.  The addition of my audio head unit, and a wiring harness to support the additional power outlets and new map light was built.  Had to swap the VIN plate and Aluh the hula girl.

The dash was carefully placed into position while all the connections were made.

Looks like colored spaghetti, but careful labeling on the disassembly allows for quick reassembly. I have had this dash out a few times, so my p-touch labels are permanent additions to my dash wiring.

Couple more bits to install: fuse box cover, glove box and the panel below the dash for heater vents.  I have a couple wires to run to my second fuse box.  The power outlets are marked as capable of 20amps, so I need to give them each a circuit and separate fuse.

Now the black dash is in, the steering column and the steering wheel (with a new Wheelskin).  The grab handles on pillars are black, as is the rear view mirror.  Transformation to black has begun.

Shout out

Funny story

Was visiting my father today with my son, and on way back we noticed a Hobby shop that we had never seen.  Stopped in, and as I was checking out with my purchase a gentleman walks in and introduces himself as a reader of this blog.  He recognized the Thingamajigger and stopped to say hello.

Has an '85 weekender named Gertrude. 

Good to meet you John.  Enjoy your first night out this year (tomorrow)!

LP

Tinkering

Now that the northeast is thawing out a bit, I took the opportunity to get my ass in gear and to get going on some projects that need to get done for this year.

One of them is my rear storage for the table top.

I have had my rear table mounted under the overhead storage cabinet for a but, but the bungee cords I was using occasionally would be a hassle.  The rest of the family could not undo the cords either as they we're stretched tight. 

Enter Camper Van Culture.  Jed had a stowing bracket kit available that I had shipped up while in Germany in February. 

http://campervanculture.com/shop/vw-westfalia-table-stowing-brackets-t25t3vanagonlt/

I believe it a great option, and installed yesterday while my Easter meal was sitting heavy in my belly.

The follower of this blog may also notice in this picture that there is a new panel to the upper right.  I started the install of my Propex system and the control panel is mounted up top.  This will require a full explanation as the Propex installation process is rather in depth.

Last week I stumbled upon a set of Mercedes CLK wheels.  Could not resist for $150, as they are in great shape.

The tires are useless to me with a 91 load rating and a non XL sidewall. But these wheels are lightweight and strong 16 inch wheels that will bolt right on and clear any brake upgrades that may be performed on the Vanagon.