Let the sneezing begin!

Yup. It has Sprung.

Sawdust created by my foray into high level woodwork does not help.

Almost done making a drawer, from scratch, for the space above the new fridge. This is my first time making a drawer. Not sure how, but the parts are almost square to each other. I will deploy some kind of caulking for the 1/4" gaps. In my haste to make purchases before the hardware store closed, ended up with tiny brad nails. Inserting these with a hammer proved to be time consuming.

The drawer face is intended to compliment the OEM materials. Went crazy with money and bought a 3.5' length of 1/2"x5" Douglas Fir. The box is old plywood scraps. It will be painted or lined. (can I gold plate it?). Front grain is tighter than the surrounding Pinto-Wagon-like "wood grain", but whatever. The front will be stained, possibly with beer. Latch to be determined. Was going to steal the latch from the Dometic fridge door but that seems a waste.

All this took some time. But. Wasn't going to leave town on the Easter long weekend, so I took on the project.

My first thought on filling the drawer was "tools". We'll see. Maybe I'll leave it empty and when gathered with like minded Westy folks, just open and close it verbally speculating with "what should I put in here?" and gloating about how much space I have traveling as a single person.

Picked up my bass trombone for the first time in 2 months. This time off showed in the form of a weak embouchure and sketchy articulation. And I want to take this audition? Ha! (well I have to actually APPLY first.  ;)

Almost there.

Yup. I think "Westfurbia" is going on the stove front plate.  ;)

All this , started from a dim oil light bulb. Likely cause: hinky ground wire from the "Dynamic Oil Pressure"   "L" board. Regardless, the job needed to be done as did cleaning up the wiring to the "L" board. After my engine swap was running, parts like the "L" board got added so things like wiring, morphed.

As do other enthusiasts, I tend to be in the dash more often than not. Every time the 14 pin connector is pulled off, pushed on, the copper traces on the circuit "board" ribbon risk getting messed up. A more suitable connector(s) with longer leads, should help this.

Am now at the stage where I can actually clean up and start putting tools away. In no particular order, work done:

• TruckFridge install, Dometic front adapted etc.
• wiring to/from fridge
• "fish" new 110VAC wiring, GFCI socket install, new socket in cupboard
• cap LP line, minor cupboard repair, insulation mod
• pop top repair, clean, paint (3 coats)
• new pop top canvas 
• engine wiring harness clean up
• trouble shoot no start. ECU/FP relay rewire, new generic relays
• ECU/FP/HO2S relay box re position
• back up light install; run wire, relay install, SS bracket fabrication
• rear bumper body bracket bolt hole re thread
• new 12V circuit on BU light relay wire
• new exhaust; manifold to tail pipe + newly designed and fabbed brackets
• instrument cluster repair
• "L board repair (loose pins). Soldered new wires, cleaned up wiring to it
• stove face repaint
• luggage rack damage (badly cracked) repair, repaint, CB antenna removal
• luggage rack paint (3 coats at least)
• pop top, luggage rack seals
• mouse clean up 
• wire repair due to mice (dome light)
• 3rd aux. battery (deep cycle) at rear seat, isolator in engine bay
• rerouted various supply wires from starter + post
• body paint repaint where old top seals rubbed
• general wiring clean up at dash
• new fuel hoses
• #2 aux. battery replacement, added fuse to wire from starter, cleaned up previous wiring
• brake fluid flush
• brake light switch wire repair, switch replacement
• edit: oh ya. And ....  rear seat re-foam and reupholster.

I"m sure there's more. As I wrote the list, more stuff was recalled.

This all happened over the last 2 months or so. For point of reference, I put in a lot of 6 hour days on average. Not every day, but for the last while, nearly every day was a Vanagon work day.

All very interesting this instrument cluster stuff.

I have done some work on clusters so was somewhat prepared going into this work in progress  Soldering the wires onto each copper trace worked out, but there was some "hacking" around getting it back on the cluster.

The clip (my term) that the 14 contact connector fits into, had to be cleared of some material to slip over the added thickness due to solder joints and glue. It fits, but as I worked on it (VERY carefully) I noticed the glue was breaking free allowing the traces to lift a little so I dded more "Goop"  It's curing under a work light as I write. Hopefully none of the Goop has gotten between the cluster and clip. That could make ribbon removal impossible.

As for the connector, I'd tossed all my PC stuff years ago, so had no DB type cables to play with. RP Electronics has this plug but no socket. Glad I called and asked! So back to good old Pico. Ended up buying 2 of these. The #18 isn't that much bigger than the #20 wires I soldered to the cluster traces, and dimensionally, the parts aren't that big. Sure, there isn't one easy connector, but, they're sturdy and should last a life time.

The bottom line though, as was inferred to me by a Vanagon friend, is that the cluster ribbon etc. can only be repaired so many times. The average DIY type enthusiast will see himself removing and installing the cluster at least a few times. This might well be more than VW ever intended Add to that the age of the parts, and, well, you know.   ;)  

My repair should work but I now know that a more permanent repair (i.e. a custom harness etc. or a modified more modern cluster), is the ticket.

So the day started out quite well. Got some tape up along the face of the canvas staple strips (though I seated the staples best I could, they feel a little rough and I don't want that rubbing on canvas), applied the Westfalia sticker (looks nice!) picked up parts, replaced "forward" brake light switch, soldered in a fuse to the #8 wire from starter battery to Aux. #1 battery, redid some wire details in that area, but then.....

Put the cluster back on, dim oil light. Those silly copper traces on the ribbon "board" don't stand up to repeated removal-installation of the 14 pin connector. I suspect a trace is shorting or not connecting well; at least 2 look very abused.

The fix is going to be like this one or similar to it. Basically hardwire a new connector to replace the OEM connectors.

Very frustrating though. Almost had the van done, then this. Sheesh!   ;)

It's times like this when I feel like dumping these rigs and getting  a Sportsmobile. Ha ha. Yes. I'll just go out and buy a $port$mobile.

Ha ha.

Huh. For a moment there, thought I'd deleted this blog!

Too many email addresses, etc. Am paring down my digital existence. To that end, closed my Facebook account. Last time I did that, I didn't provide a "heads up" and some thought I'd de-friended them. This time I did!

Finally fired up my new Truckfridge TF49 DC model. REAL happy to see it work and cool down so fast! Granted I don't live in a remote quiet location, but the fridge is a lot quieter than anticipated. Even though I'm now tied to a battery, having a fridge that works when you turn it on, w/o the usual Dometic hassle, and lack of cooling above 85º F ambient, will never get old.

Almost done all my Westy work though a failed brake switch (along with a wire that failed just like the wire on other switch) had me searching for the fault. The chances of both those faults happening "at once" are remote. The other brake switch must've been no-op for some time. I gotta wonder if the brake bulbs draw more than those wire terminals can handle.

Re-routed the new back up light and future 12V outlet feed from the starter post (starter battery) to the new aux. group 27 at the isolator post. I doubt I'll have that much need for a 12V outlet back there, but it will be useful for an engine trouble light, bike pump.

As with the last overhaul of this van, there's been lots of time and relatively lots of $ spent. At this point, I can't think of one major part (or most minor parts for that matter) that hasn't been repaired, renewed or replaced.

On another completely different note, finally read my American Federation of Musicians paper today. Noted a Bass Trombone opening in the Spokane Symphony. Taking the audition would mean a fair amount of woodshedding starting, uh, now, as I've already been away from the horn for 2 + months.

We'll see.

I'm a lucky guy!

Some good weather allowed me to finish the canvas install. .... at 9:00 PM last night! All in all, it turned out ok.   (note; don't use black dum dum. See pic. See why?)

Today before delving back into my '81, spent some time at KMS tools then went to White & Peter to pick up a pint "Uno" LH5V (Slate Blue) for my '88. This "Uno" brand of BASF is their higher end paint. The chip looked almost identical. Like a WAY closer match than the Limco Supreme. Was going to get the slider door cover scanned but the girls there brought out this chip and I was sold. I'm really hoping it isn't darker like the Limco Supreme "Slate Blue" was. The Limco was mixed using the factory code as was the Uno. We'll see.

Yesterday, started with another application of staples then the metal strip install. Since the rear portion was shorter than my old canvas, I started at the rear strip then worked forward. An awl really helped. IIRC, the centre "cut" on the new canvas lined up closely to the centre screw.

The forward vertical seam at driver side looked like it would end up short of the old seam mark. I pulled (gently) on canvas as I went along screwing. IIRC this seam indeed ended up short of the mark I made on the body. Regardless, I had to make a small awkward fold (nibbled corner at 3 points) to compensate for extra fabric. The canvas looks "ok" but the front portion is "looser" than the sides which are nice and tight. Regardless of my gentle pulling, I have to wonder if the front isn't a little too long. This is one thing I didn't measure against my old canvas.

What helped me with install. This was for a "German" canvas:

- at rear, supported canvas bottom out of the way when stapling. Sounds "trailer park" but I used Gorilla duct tape to hold bottom hem to poptop.

- tack stapled short sections (every 1'  ?) horizontally at hem, then stapled strip. This was made easier since I marked where old hem was.

- heated strips (it's still a little cold here)

- for me, an electric "Sure Shot" stapler helped but was just as useless when the plastic strips were cold. Lot's of time wasted pulling staples. Maybe chisel point  staples would've helped?

- removed all crap staples. Thought they might rub or tear fabric.

- marked old tent position relative to body and wood frame and hem of old tent to wood frame.

- Copied corner notches from old canvas to piece of paper. Used as general reference.

- when transferring marks to new canvas, used Gorilla tape to "mark" new canvas. It didn't leave behind any glue.

- awl to start hole in lower hem and line up to screw hole

- didn't buy a new one, but a head lamp might really help when working in rear

The lip of new flat seal still doesn't seat flat against the luggage rack. Not sure why. Adjusted the top latch which helped seat the top lower at front.

Today quality time was spent resealing the bolts for the top latch and pop top arms, installing headliner, new hatch struts (ya!)

Sure is nice having a freshly painted top et al.

Just need to get one terminal crimped on and new battery + fridge should be up and running.

I'm sure there's lots of other stuff I've done. Just can't recall it all right now!

New group 27 deep cycle. Isolator mounted in engine bay. Wood divider left low to help ventilation, but it may be too low. It is really well braced though.

Quick and dirty shot right after I finished.

Lucky me.

Some sun showed up today. Managed to get the last row of staples in on my new canvas just before the "spitting" of rain turned into actual rain.

Things are lining up well. Canvas bottom looks and feels like it will fit nicely under the strips and make for a fairly taught tent. But..... the front of the canvas was a bit long. Could be the way I did things? Started at the middle of each long part then worked toward front then rear corners. The forward corner seams matched very closely to the marks I made from the old but tight canvas but the front was long. I tucked a bit at each forward corner but there may be a wrinkle or two. Not happy with that but maybe installation of bottom strips will sort things out.

Tip: if it's cold out, heat the vinyl strips. Bentley mentions heating them in warm or hot water prior to install. The weather was warm but when it got colder, staples started bending. Judicious use of my heat gun on each strip as I went along made an enormous difference. It might be easy to melt them so.... Bent staples is a major PITA. Not only do you have to remove them, if they poked into the wrong part of fabric, well, not cool. There is one tiny spot that may need a spot of fabric glue. We'll see.

Tip: YMMV! As per the previous install, I tacked the fabric to wood as I worked along with the strips. Like I'd tack ahead about 1' then do the strip, etc. Since I had marked where the old fabric hem was, I lined new hem to that. (I had carefully measured old against new and they are nearly identical). After a fashion, I started putting my tacks in horizontally along the black hem which is thicker. My thinking being that when the tent came to rest before strip install, there would be less chance of it ripping as opposed to it pulling on a vertical staple.

Will add wider staples before installing the bottom strip, but so far so good it seems. Should turn out ok.

A productive day.

Canvas is off. Now the hard part!

Cleaning the aluminum strips, and thus the screw heads, may have been helpful.  As with a dirty CV bolt head, cleaning these tiny Phillips screw heads may have helped the bit seat better. Certainly helped me see the work better. A fair amount of mung had come to rest in these strips. A small wire brush was deployed.

This Pro.Point tool was awesome. Ironically, it wasn't quite small enough to fit into each corner screw (the top was popped, fabric tight. Top part way down, it should fit) but it got to all the rest. The ratchet handle is cool. Twisting it CW-CCW "continuously" turns the fastener in a given direction. Some screws needed penetrating fluid and a few hammer raps to a bit held to screw head, but out they came. None of the heads stripped. Having enough light to see if the bit is seated properly, and screw is actually turning, is important. Mine was MIA somewhere in the Westy but it occurred to me that a headlamp might be of use here. Using the proper sized Phillips is crucial.

It was interesting to see that the fabric was tacked about every 8" to the wood frame. Maybe doing so will help installation of new canvas?

 

There's a useful thread on thesamba in the Bay forum. Sorry. No link. Using a suggestion from that thread, I pulled the strips and staples out as one piece. This tool was really useful. The head "indexes" to quite a few different angles. I imagine other similar pry tools would work just fine. Though I don't think this tool is designed to be hit with a hammer, I used a medium hammer "rap" to get it under the plastic strip. Setting it at 90º then rapping on the head was useful at the rear strip as there's limited to swing a hammer. Once each strip was pried free a little, all that was needed was the pry tool.

I won't go into details on how I supported the top, as my top has the lift assist kit, but getting the canvas out only took 2 hours.

Staple removal however, took ~ 45 minutes. YMMV. At first I used my vice at about 1/2" open to support the strip, but then found that a large socket provided a better surface to tap down (out) the staples before pulling with pliers. You may notice a small piece of the strip plastic in the pile of staples. Yes. The strip can break. I had choked up on a ball pein, tapped lightly, didn't hit plastic against the vice or socket but a piece broke off at the end of a strip. There were many staples at each end of each strip.

These small screens are not secured around the entire perimeter. I may seal it all the way around. I assume that most bugs wouldn't get under it but maybe wasps could?

I feel like I'm half way there now but installation will be more of a challenge I'm sure. Had to laugh at myself though. While ripping the tent off from tack points I was surprised to see how much "effort" it took to rip it free. It still had some life I guess.

Back Benchers arise!

So due to foam thickness, and intended "slack" in fabric, the fabric at rear of seat would bunch up and bulge a little when folding bed into seat position. My crazy "hail mary" thought toward compressing the rear part of seat and stapling the slack, may have worked. And yes; that's a length of box steel!

Eyeballed brace to see if level, then pulled slack fabric and stapled up slack

Rear edge shows slight signs of pulling but front edge seems mostly unaffected. Front edge:

Fabric feels tighter. Hopefully this will cure the bunching I saw.

It worked. It's tight but works fine. The back is also shorter b/c bench foam is an inch higher. No big deal I think. Fabric could have been stretched a little tighter as bench fabric bunches when returned to seat position. I purposely didn't pull the fabric tight when stapling as I didn't want the foam to take a rounded corner shape. Not sure I can address that now w/o pulling staples. Hindsight....  I may also add fabric glue to the inside of each "hospital fold" corner. We'll see.

Big improvement though!

#%*¡¥  (why no lightening bolts on my computer keyboard?)

Hard lesson learned?

While admiring my handy work just now, the light bulb went on; the 4" foam I glued to the fold out bed boards, and subsequently recovered, likely will NOT fit the GD bed frame-hinges. With the bench 1" thicker, it will push the back up too high. The bolt holes won't line up. For the love of Pete.....

Somehow I had it in my mind that I needed 4" thick foam. Bought it, realized my mistake, then thought: "no big deal. "I'll just add a 1" piece of foam over my bastard 4" engine lid." Sheesh.

Of course I'll try the parts to see, but I'm 99% sure they won't work.

This project took quite a few hours all told.

Between a vendor supplying my with incorrect size electrical lugs, (which I crimped on to wires while in his store) and now this, well, a shitty day all told.

Looking at my recent posts, I'm thinking I should title this blog a Bline. Or a Whog?     ;)

Jeepers. Long days, with what seems like no return. And it's still raining!

Got the fridge in. It fits real nice and with the medium thickness close cell foam strips on 3/4" blocks of ply (two on each inner wall), it's really stable. I kept the rubber feet on. That and the foam might help reduce noise transfer.

I'll update with pics at some point. I've been working so hard that taking pics rarely enters my mind!

The fridge fuse ended up in a strange spot, but that's partly b/c I wanted to leave the new circuit "upgradeable". The supply wire from battery is "long", as are the wires to fridge. The long fridge wires meant I had to tuck the inline fuse up through the RH rear corner into the cupboard but the fuse is fairly easy to get at. Leaving wires long means I can cut the #8 supply wire if I want to install a small fuse panel in the "secret space" area beside the cubby. Not the most convenient location though so may choose another spot.

This is all taking more thought than I realized. Like locating the solenoid "can" isolator. Turns out the engine bay is best since both posts of the can are live at any given time; putting it in the rear seat area wouldn't be a good idea IMO. Searching in the rear seat in dim light, especially someone new to the van, could be deadly. But, this means taking wire routing into consideration etc. in engine bay. More thought and work. Regarding wiring in the aux. battery, Dennis Haynes made a comment on fusible links. I know what they are and certainly appreciated the tip, but parts sourcing locally can be a challenge it seems. As it stands, I'll fuse the wire between the solenoid isolator can and battery. I might also install a fuse at wire between alternator and isolator, but that may be overkill and the alternator to starter wire is not fused OEM so....

The rear seats are slowly taking shape. Was about to glue the new foam on with contact cement, but upon reading further, it seems that stuff can deteriorate certain kinds of foam. Used a small cartridge of construction glue instead but now I have to wait overnight at least. Had planned on stapling fabric tonight. Oh well.

Still lots to do. Different local weather forecasts seem to conflict. But if Sunday is indeed sunny, I might tackle the tent canvas. I'd much rather get this bus in shape before doing any traveling. My goal would be to stay out for a month but OTOH, time just keeps on "slippin, slippin, slippin, slippin...."

The rain. The RAIN!   :)

In spite of it, I've been working. Got a 3rd coat of Brightside on the poptop. Still looks a little dodgy, but is such an enormous improvement, any little flaws don't matter. Fibre glass patched a couple spots, she's good to go for seals now as is luggage rack.

So I finally got to work installing the aux. battery under the rear seat. I Shop Vac'd the crap out of the crevice between the end of the rear seat and the cabinetry, (FWIW, a piece of copper 1/2" pipe duct taped to the hose worked great for sucking and grabbing the various treasure found; Loonie (yahoo! I'm rich!), chapstick, clothes pegs, and several mystery items. I've got CSI working on those), then drilled a hole from the area where 110VAC outlet is, into this crevice. I had a biatch of a time fishing the #8 corrugated covered load wire through the hole so finally enlarged it to 1/2". This was *just* big enough. At this point I'll fuse the load wire and connect it to the fridge. At some point I may install a fuse holder in the lower cubby beside fridge.

Found a group 27 deep cycle locally. Before tax etc., $99 Cnd. with a discount clerk kindly gave me. Regularly $125 or so. It's possible it's a cheap off shore offering. Whatever. If it lasts several years, I'll be happy. Am using fused #8 to battery. The #8 from battery (future loads. I can always upgrade the charge line to battery) is possibly overkill, but if I ever get my Amateur Radio license it's very possible I'd install the station somewhere in the rear. At this point all it will power is the Truckfridge. This thick wire is harder to work with.

The rear bench-bed re-upholstery job is becoming interesting. I didn't take into account plywood thickness when buying fabric. Rookie mistake. Clerk cut fabric as asked. 2 yards is long enough but at 56" wide, it's barely wide enough. I may try to use it but it could be wasted time. OEM sees a fold at material where it's stapled to wood.

Slowly picking away; little things add up!

So today I: made a wood pedestal, etc. for new fridge, painted the lower "Dometic" grill, furred the 110VAC outlet about 1.5" out (too far, could've done 1"), fished new Loomex from rear outlet forward, installed a screen on the "city water" fan, sealed up the Dometic flue, modifying cupboard shelf to fit over repositioned 110VAC outlet. In regards to the fridge mounting, I mounted small pieces of 3/4" plywood on the inside face of each cabinet wall. Adding a strip of thick close cell foam to each piece made for a nice "tight" fridge fit.  Edit: that foam made fridge too tight I think. Have downsized thickness a little. Should be fine. The idea was to stabilize the fridge and reduce and insulate contact of fridge to cabinet. To that end, I'll leave the rubber fridge feet installed.

Yesterday I fibre glass patched the top and put on one coat. Rain is in the forecast so not sure what I'll do. Install seal, replace canvas, paint later? We'll see.

Had to laugh at myself. Was so happy to install the stove face plate and see how the newly painted part looked. Then I realized I hadn't refinished the batt/water plate. That thing looks like ass now! Ha! I may strip and paint it. Am thinking to relabel it as such:

Battery: Green. "Ya!"  Orange. "Meh". Red. "Boo!" etc.) You get the idea. Won't help resale value but will amuse ME no end.

Pics to follow.

My arms are tired.

Thankfully I'm used to holding up and operating a trombone so this wasn't that much work. Still. It was a fair amount of scrubbing by hand! Used a really coarse SS sink scrubber. The brush with scrub pad worked "ok" but the SS scrubber was way better. Eco friendly soap worked fine.

You can see a cracked spot. There's at least one other. Not sure if I'll just fill with fibre glass resin or lay some cloth too. The top was incredibly dirty. The photo shows it cleaner than it looks (over exposed) but it's ready for paint. 2 coats of this paint will look awesome!

Trial fit the new DC Truckfridge TF-49. Seems I can use the old Dometic trim as others have done. I'll very likely install the Dometic grill at bottom and a drawer at top. The drawer would make a great place for tools ....... or spare parts.    ;^)

Stuff arrived from Van-cafe!

Picked it up today. My first impressions of the tan German canvas. Image  It appears to be good quality. I'll know more after opening it up and installing it. Hope to have it all installed and top painted by Monday, but at the rate I work, well, we'll see.   ;^)

A Sunny Day

Yesterday (Mon.) saw a nice full day of sun! Got several coats of Assuan Brown brushed on to spots worn by the luggage rack and pop top, and a 2nd coat of Interlux Brightside Gloss cut in along edge of pop top. The plan was to install the new pop top seals, use as-is (canvas is WELL worn) and paint etc. later, but decided to "nut up" and get on with the canvas replacement. Ordered a new German canvas from Van-cafe late Sat. That, a new Bentley, and some odds and ends will be most welcome.

The saga of Jaco continues, and some of it has involved improving old work, but I once again see the goal of trouble free trips coming to fruition. Only once did my '81 fail me  image: failed ECU relay  after doing several + more road trips and thankfully, it wasn't an enormous failure. The only other failure I can recall was a snapped cat. Even then, not a big deal. Got that sucker welded up and continued on. We'll see if V 2.0 of exhaust holds up better.   Bunch of new exhaust pics starting here  At some point I want to improve the coolant hose arrangement in the engine bay, (reduce joins basically). This would involve installing a diesel Vanagon inlet elbow at the coolant pump which should allow a single hose between engine and long pipe. Should .....  

My '88 Westy will see an ABA of some sort at some point. Needless to say, I'll be following a more beaten path; for starters it will be mounted at 50º using diesel Vanagon parts.

So the repair, er, restoration of Jaco continues. Found some Rust-oleum "High Heat" brown paint that is in the "ball park" of a match for the OEM colour. Sadly the "Westfalia" and stove warning got removed and painted over, but that can be remedied easily enough. Had thought to make each out of fridge magnet material. Mainly b/c I want "Westfalia" to be: "Westoration". The stove warning would become some kind of "If you use this stove as a heating device, you're only proving Darwin correct".

Edit:  Rust-oleum paint code 242 666 "Brown". This appears to be it:

 rust-oleum web link

My intentions of getting down to the Baja have been thwarted by all things Vanagon and Wesfalia. One thing turns into another it seems and learning curves are present most of the time it seems. I will get some van camping in before music work starts in late April.