

| Subject: | Restoration Saga of Two Vanagons |
| From: | John Rodgers |
| Date: | Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:47:02 -0500 |
Well - it begins. I have three Vanagons. One is my daily driver - a Burgundy '88 GL. It runs fine, and gets good use. My restoration vehicles are a Dove Blue '88 GL and a '90 Carat. Both vehicles were parked for ten years without being run, much less being on the road. Besides cleaning up, both need the engines worked over and made to run, and a few things are missing or simply removed but on hand - like the Grill and Lights on the '88 GL is/are out - but I have an SA grille and lights for it when the time comes. And on the '90 Carat the rear bumper is missing, and the right passenger door panel is missing. The '88 GL has a manual tranny that has to be reworked. How extensively is any body's guess. The '91 Carat's auto tranny is screwy and must needs rebuilding. Besides these items, that is a lot of just general work that needs doing. Fuel hoses need replacing on both engines. Fuel injectors are to be rebuilt/serviced. All the usual things must be checked/repaired as needed. Brake lines checked, brakes bled and adjusted, fuel tank lines and vents taken care off, Coolant checked and system flushed, and on and on and on. Periodically I plan to post the progress to the list - and hopefully create a blog with pictures somewhere. It will be nice to put these two jewels back on the road. The first vehicle to get attention is the the dove blue '88GL. I was just checking things on the engine, and grabbed a fuel line. It was as hard an rock = no flex whatsoever. That had to go, so I replaced all fuel lines. Next effort was to check fuel and oil and I grabbed a small water line off the coolant ring around the engine compartment and it snapped off in my had it was so brittle. So, I replaced the coolant hoses.After checking the coolant and oil, and flushing the fuel lines, some oil was drizzled into the cylinders - then the engine turned by and then and engine start was attempted. She would turn but no Start. Check the distributor cap and rotor, Checks all ignition and it was good. Checked ignition pulse and that was good. Pulled and tested injectors - no fuel. They were shipped out for servicing and testing and will arrive beck in the next day or so. Stay tuned!!! -- John Rodgers Clayartist and Moldmaker 88'GL VW Bus Driver Chelsea, AL Http://www.moldhaus.com
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