Need to take care if a heat leak...

The bus is running weekly and it passed another MOT with no comments. The inspector said this was a joy to inspect.
But I've found that I need to take care of leak of the worst kind - the defroster package is leaking when the heater is turned to hot. Which means I have to disassemble the entire dashboard, steering column and the heater core... sigh.
Time to clean up the garage and make it happen. No treat no surrender.

Not much lately

My plan to fix the filler cap rust and repaint the van rhis summer didn't go according to plan. The time went to some other projects. On the other hand the outcome of those projects will hopefully give a positive result for the entire Vanagon community.
Like they say on radio; Stay tuned. :)

We had a great time in Denmark at the west side. The kids were more in the water than on land. The big brother is getting good at the surf board now and he is not five yet.

Roof rack result

This is it!

Roof rack making

Made it yesterday. It is made out of 44 mm exhaust pipe. All feet stand on a rubber pad and it is tightened to the roof with rivet nuts and stainless allen key bolts. I can stand on the middle without flex.
Actually, now when it is on the van it looks a bit tiny. Should have gone with 50 (2") or 62 (2.5") pipe and larger feet to get better proportions. I will add thicker rubber plates at least to get thicker bases. Any how, pretty good resultat for a few bucks.

Roof rack inspiration

I think the Navara style of roof rack will look good on a Vanagon. Leta make one.

Filter box tested

Works like a charm and way more quiet than before. The ridiculously bad ass bottom torque is less aggressive now, so there is more resistance now. I don't care, the van still runs great and makes black smoke.
There is some resonance in a specific RPM range but I skip that for now. I changed the rubber hose to one which is larger. The first version was a fraction too small and strangled the engine a bit - without the resonance though - and this one is a kind of a compromise. Freeway cruising became a breeze.
All in all, very satisfied.

Filter box build

Two more pictures.

Filter box build

The noise from the open cone air filter is really annoying. I made a new filter setup with a SAAB filter. It is made out of PVC pipes, ABS and polycarbon. Mostly glued together with melt glue. I added a drain pipe as extender going up in the left rear column.

Always. Do not trust a solenoid

Been fighting with a very annoying problem when the engine is hot. It randomly doesn't start. If I waited a few seconds it always started instantly. I even added this very fine lift pump bit it just helped a bit.
Now comes the interesting part, the solenoid was not fully working when it went hot! I switched to another one from an old vp37 pump and it kicks Every time!

I left the the lift pump. It doesn't hurt in any way. It actually do good.

Thanks to all who involved at thesamba.com!

Brand new rear lights

My uncle brought me these. He was a service workshop manager and they stopped using Transporters long time ago. He found these in the spare parts department and they sure look nice. Brand new Hella's. Never used.

Inspection

Straight through. No complaints. Actually, only good words.

Caliper and disc fitment

Since my last posts about the disc upgrade I've received quite a few questions about the adapter and how the disc is fixed. So I took another bunch of images when I did the right side.

If anyone wants to make the same setup I can recommend it for sure.  I will also provide the 3D model for the adapter. Send me an e-mail.

Ford Mondeo ST V6 (99.996 % sure) calipers.
VW Sharan 288 mm discs.
Flex hose is longer than standard (430 mm) but has the same threads in both ends.
Home made adapter.
12.9 grade M12 and M10 bolts.

And yes, I reworked the centre cap in the lathe to make the rims fit. Works like a charm!

Before and after

At the same time (AKA turn around to get more space in the garage).

I hate rust

Therefore I am.

I hate rust fixing

Started to fix the door step on the left side which is gone since long time. There has been a hole in the rear end of the wheel arch too and when I started to explore I found way more than I wanted.
If you ever want to buy a T25 (vanagon) this the place to look for rust. It's not the first time I'v been fixing that area on a VW bus. Behind the expansion tank inside the wheel arch, look there.

Front brake assembled

Lefte side done with heat shield and all part in place.

Heat shield too...

...forgot that. Thick galvanized steel. Will stay a while...

An adapter and some 12.9 bolts later

A few tweaks in the CNC machine and we are done.
Now I need to make a new heat shield and then fix som rust on this side. After that I will make the right side which I believe will be much faster now when everything is set.
Oh, must mount the new shock too.

Slow front upgrade progress

Front brake upgrade á la home made. Old discs as hubs, Sharan discs and Ford Mondeo ST V6 calipers. Why Ford? Because I already had 'em. With EBC green stuff. I believe it'll bite a bit better.

Well, thermo plastic is... ...plastic.

Finding out the obvious is always annoying to me. The archs are made in thermo plastic, it's a matter of heating and bending and then everything is fine again.

Damn. This is too cool for me!

I... ...can't... ...take this... too cool... aaargh...

I think I have to make new plastic fenders. The originals are leaning inwards and they will be eaten by the bas ass tires. I think I'll make a new set that are going straight down and maybe a tiny bit wider. Or not?..

10 mm spacer makes approx 10 mm freedom between the tire and the upper balljoint. The grease cap was too fat so I shaved it off in the lathe. Tadaa!

Can't help it but I did another wheel resto.

The 17" wheels were a bit torn after some bad curb hits. Actually one of them might wobble (my wife hit a high curb in a right turn with speed and I went airborn inthe back seat) but if that is the case I will put the wheel upside down in my CNC mill and plane the back side.
Anyway, I thought it was a good idea to fix the scratches. As usual, it ended up with full sanding, new paint and a 2K clear coat.

Now I REALLY hope that the tires work... :-)