Projects from THE COMPOUND

[Oldsmoletick]

Hmm a little VW Van kick going on? :lol: Looks pretty damn good from the pics. :shock:

 

[DRIVEN]

I wouldn't call it a kick. It's purely investment. The price was pretty right and they sell for more than they should. I should be able to double or triple my money. Basically, I'm a big fat wh*re. Forgot to get the interior pics until it was dark again. This is the best I could do. Excuse the mess. I haven't done any cleaning yet and it needs it badly. Anyway, it has the spin-roto seat and 2nd table mount...

full kitchen with stove, sink and fridge...

bed in the back...

and the double bed upstairs. The top is good on 2 sides but got rotted on the passenger side from being improperly closed.

One of my customers from Croatia came by today and was drooling all over it. He said the rug in it is handmade and probably worth $300-$400. Bonus!

 

[DRIVEN]

A buddy came by today to replace his axle bearings. Ended up not having all the parts we needed so not much work was actually done.

My brother's bus is back for some tuning and an alternator swap. I pressure washed the '82 and started cleaning the inside. Also took a trip to the wrecking yard for a window regulator.

I realized that I never got any interior shots of his bus. This is the inside of the '72:

 

[Ringers]

Bitchin' thread. I love those Novas. I'm still trying to figure out my next project, but we're so F'ing busy,ours is near last and rumor has it, Hot Rod is going to have us do something on another beater project for them.

 

[DRIVEN]

Got a little sidetracked at the compound. The ceiling fan in my living room tried to make me homeless. I was about 90 minutes away when my wife called to say there was no power in the back of the house and it smelled hot. I told her to call my brother who lives just down the street. Luckily he was on his way home and able to locate the fire in my attic and put it out before it got out of control. So thankful he was there for us and saved the day. It could have been really ugly. I've been trying to get the power back on today. Pics of the carnage later.

 

[Longroof79]

Whew!! Glad to hear the fire was extinguished before it did any further damage. That could've spoiled your day for sure...

That Vanagon is pretty clean. Nice body and clean interior. Good find. Is that an air cooled model, or water cooled Rabbit engine? I forget what years they went to water cooled.

 

[DRIVEN]

Here's whats left of the box where my fan/light was mounted.

About 18" of wiring that was attached to it:

And the 2 buckets of charred blow-in insulation that was covering the smoldering fire:

So far I've removed and isolated the offending run but the breaker still trips. So I'm trying to find the the point where it's shorted. The problem is that 3 bedrooms and the hallway are all on the same breaker which means I'm separating various points and testing for crossover between legs. Time consuming. SUCKS!

 

[DRIVEN]

Whew!! Glad to hear the fire was extinguished before it did any further damage. That could've spoiled your day for sure...

That Vanagon is pretty clean. Nice body and clean interior. Good find. Is that an air cooled model, or water cooled Rabbit engine? I forget what years they went to water cooled.

It's an '82 so it's aircooled. They went water cooled in mid '83. The more I go over it the more obvious it is that it was someone's baby. I suspect the previous (neglectful) owner didn't have it very long. In fact, we're pretty sure this was being advertized on CL a few weeks ago by a seller who got it impounded for driving without insurance. They wanted a buyer who would go to the impound yard and pay the fines then an additional $1000 to the seller. I guess they had no takers.
Some of the things I've noticed are recently replaced heads, probably 10-20K ago judging by the grime. Starter looks really new. There are higher-end Bilsteins all around as well as aftermarket front and rear sway bars. Even the tires have great tread and are the appropriate LTs rather than passenger tires that many people skimp on. It also has a dual stage remote oil filter. It looks like the set that Amsoil sells for about $300.

There's a thermostatic bypass and a really nice plate style cooler with an electric fan.

Something that I would definitely want if I was driving one of these is this nice gauge set. Tach, cylinder head temp, oil pressure and oil temp. They all work great too. Very useful upgrade.

I haven't driven it out of the neighborhood yet but it runs really well and I think it'll make a nice driver for the next owner.

 

[Longroof79]

Judging by some of the upgrades. Bilsteins, front and rear swaybars, new heads, full set of VDO gauges, dual oil filters, etc.. this vehicle was loved. Great score.
You were definitely at the right place at the right time.
I personally think the Vanagons drove better than the old Type II vans. They seem more stable on the road.

Good luck isolating the short. Glad it was discovered in time. It could have been disasterous.

 

[Oldsmoletick]

Got a little sidetracked at the compound. The ceiling fan in my living room tried to make me homeless. I was about 90 minutes away when my wife called to say there was no power in the back of the house and it smelled hot. I told her to call my brother who lives just down the street. Luckily he was on his way home and able to locate the fire in my attic and put it out before it got out of control. So thankful he was there for us and saved the day. It could have been really ugly. I've been trying to get the power back on today. Pics of the carnage later.

That's some scary sh*t, I shut off power to my upstairs due to fear of that happening (house was over run by squirrels, lol), chaulk up another prop for your brother for being able to catch it in time and to the mrs for noticing there was an issue.