Some more cool things I wanted my vanagon to have!

Here are more photos of awesome vanagon mods/hacks!

 This was a cool little PVC door that someone made to keep out the dog from the front area of the van.

Here is a really nice little simplified electrical wiring diagram to install extra lights in places.  See?  lots of support on these vans.  

 I could see this being me in a few years......

 I was also doing research into components that I could purchase that would allow me to do all of the things that I wanted to have in the van.  This pure sine wave converter from magnum would be a great choice to make sure I have 110v power in the van.  The boating industry had a lot more information regarding inverters and generators than the RV industry did, so thats why boating stuff will pop up from time to time.  Ill use what I can from other industries to get what I want accomplished.  I still to this day have not bought an inverter....so I didnt choose the one above, it was only research. 

 In the meantime, I was also re-painting one of my tables.  Its funny because I call it a table because it has four-ish legs with a work surface....but its actually a cast iron gang drill press machine base.  Its about 600 lbs and has channels around its top work surface to have oil and coolant get collected as it is used on the worksurface.  It has 6 drill presses attached to it.  I eventually sold all of them and just use my milling machine.  

 

 More sine inverter stuff that I was looking at.  

 I was also trying to see what other people did for space management.  I really enjoy this one.

 This was also a cool post from a gentlemen who made a toyota tacoma into an expedition vehicle.  He used that aircraft tracking to allow different things to hung up and quickly accessed.  Cool Idea.

 And I also came upon the website sewfine.com at this time.  They have a LOT of cool fabric stuff for the vanagons and buses.  Like I said, nice aftermarket support for the vanagons.  Lovin it.  

 Even Sun visors?  psh....this place rocks.  

 I was also looking into engine conversions.  I didnt know what I wanted, but all that I did know was that my mechanical and naturally aspirated diesel of 46 hp (and a top speed of 55mph) was NOT going to cut it.  It had huge design flaws in the transmission as well as the diesel was not supported well.  Sure, decent MPG.....but bad everywhere else.  This website above showed me a few cool conversions done.  Also, gowesty.com had a wonderful library article on why they dont sell replacements for the 80-82 transmissions.  That sold me on a conversion.  I needed a good trans.  

 I will also be making sure that I have LOTS of battery power in my van.  

 I can buy pretty much whatever I need through the samba.  Electric side mirrors will be something I add.  

 I also was doing a LOT of trailer hauling at the time, so i was poking around to see what people were towing with their vanagons.  Basically, I ended up finding out that I can safely tow 2000 lbs behind my vanagon.  Pretty much the same as my VW golf.  

 Well that is a cool trailer....

 I started doing some research into the cooling problem for my vanagon and found out that the radiator is a common problem.  I will have to flush out the one that I get to replace mine.  

More interesting info on radiators. Woot to the samba

 

 I was also curious on how people deal with kids or pets in their vans.  So these photos have some cool ideas on how to manage more sleep room.  

 How cool.....baby storage.  

 now THAT is the way to sleep as a child......  or an adult.

 How creative....

 Nice idea on storage... of said human storage.

 Nice place to hang them too...

 Even NICER place to hang them.....   Nice...

 Huh....what a cool idea.  I love it.  Put a drawer there!

 Yeah I am so going to do that....

 Solar charger....nice...

More storage!.... nice idea there buddy.

some backstory and what I wanted my van to have.

Alright!!!  Onward with the information stream about our Shiggles.  Some background information I just found I thought was a good idea to mention.  I was looking through my photo archive and found the photos of craigslist vehicles that might have been a good candidate for our moving house on wheels adventure wagon.  Below are a few of the ones I looked at. 

 I was looking at newer eurovans

 Older 70's buses....

 Vehicles with BT4 diesels in them

 Box trucks

 Cargo Vans

 

And Vanagons!  

I ended up going with the vanagons for multiple reasons.  The most important one, aftermarket support, followed by Size, Design, cost, customizability, and looks.  I didnt like the 70's buses because they were just to damn small. Plus, the engine bay/engine was a nightmare to work on (ergonomics yo) and it was out of date and underpowered.  I just didnt want to hassle with trying to have to find 70's bus parts in the middle of montana when we broke down because something wasnt meant to go 60 mph.  All of the other options also seemed to not fit the criteria as well.  Either they were too large, not enough aftermarket support, didnt allow enough customization, or were just too expensive.  So the vanagon was the choice.

Inspiration and Examples of what I liked in Vanagons!

(not my vanagon/vehicles...)

 I would love to have a vehicle like this....but although out of my reach at the moment, it was something I consider a good representation of what I wanted.  I also think this vehicle was made in Europe....The place where alllll awesome cars are.  I hate the US for how limited we are on variety in vehicles. 

 The back shot showing a ladder and hitch stuff. 

 These sorts of little tricks were nice to see lots of vanagon owners doing.  Seemed people really loved these vehicles. 

 Again, more things to show how nice they could look if you spent some time on them.  I REALLY like how this looks.  Not really the colors, but the presentation and utility aspect of it.

 And who doesnt like sound systems?  What a nicely done door panel. 

 More little curtains and things to hang off of the back of the van.  I really enjoyed the automatic awning that the vanagon back hatch provided.

 OOOoooo Nice interior there mate

 Yeah I could dig some solar panels on the top of my van.  Its totally in the plan! And of course, my biggest pet peeve is NOT having enough light.  So a big part of my restoration plan was to make sure I had enough LED lighting for alllll different situations.  The photo below is a good example of nice lighting in a vanagon.  Even distribution, nice color, good locations...etc..

 

 Yay more stuff to hang off the back of vanagons.

 I was also at this time looking at photos of wheels and tire combos. I found these next few photos which embodied EXACTLY what I wanted to see on my vanagon.  The cream colored vanagon below will essentially be my Shiggles in a different color when Im done with her. 

 UGH!!!  Look at those RIMS!!!!  They will be MINE!!!

And that bitchin Tire Carrier!  I want it!!

More adventure/story telling with pictures! Feb 2013

So, to continue on with the adventure....

 I was specifically looking for and finding different areas that might need some attention.  I noticed lots of nooks and crannies that needed to be dealt with once the painting came.  This rust area is behind the passenger side turn signal on the front of the van.  You can see the surface rust that could turn into some really nasty problems if it wasnt taken care of properly.

 This was one of the fixes to the radiator that I found.  I kinda think this was one of the spots that the owner had mentioned he had leaks from.  It doesnt matter anyways....the rust seen below was too much to deal with.  This radiator will get scrapped. 

 ewww.....so much nasty rust... Salad fingers would love that shit

At least the wiring looks good.  Everything that was rubber/seal/boot related turned out to be amazingly flexible and reusable.  I wont have to deal with any of that stuff thankfully.  I might add some sealant or something around those areas when I install them....but im not sure yet.

 Also, that day would bring me MANY gifts from a massive sale that Gowesty.com had that I took advantage of.  I had gotten the fox shocks for the front & rear as well as the progressive springs.  This would help with not only the ground clearance but also durability and serviceability.  I was planning on putting bigger tires and rims so I needed the extra ground clearance.  The fox floats shocks were something I had experience with in college and LOVED them.  So, I knew these would be life long shocks for this baby.  If I ever had any problems, I would just rebuild them.

lol to my wife holding onto our cat...bubbles. 

 OOOooooo..... so pretty

 MMMm  Bokeh...

 Rockin the gowesty dot peening

And, at the same time I got myself the manual for the vehicle.  This will prove to be amazingly important when working the electrical.  I will most likely be updating and rewiring the electrical.  Oh...I forgot to mention.  Our cat is a sphynx (tuxedo).  Hes actually cuddling with me right now as I type this post.  Naked cats are awesome.