Post by Dabeagle on Aug 30, 2015 21:55:46 GMT -5
The Wolfsburg edition was an elevated trim level vehicle for VW, one of which were the rims. The weekender has two rear facing jumpeats directly behind the passenger and driver's seats, and a fold down table that pops up in between the rear bench seat and the driver's jump seat.
I took a small loan to consolidate some debt and this happened to pop up. I seriously debated it. The fellow was asking 3k for it and told me it came from California via Florida. The original ad read like this:
1988 VW Vanagon Weekender Wolfsburg edition. Manuel transmission, southern vehicle, underbody condition great, minor rust damage around windows, could use a new paint job. Fold away table, bed and six seats (missing a jump seat/passenger side.) Original motor, rims. Small oil leak, and odometer stuck on 96K. Runs and shifts, sounds good...overall a great project vehicle. A great value for a great vehicle! Please call or text if interested.
Now, he did leave out a few things - but, as I discovered, he's not really a car guy. He'd seen the vans and thought they were neat and he thought he was buying one in better shape - even had it shipped up from Florida. All told, he claims he laid out about 5k for this bus - which was unfortunate. As I explained to him, while the underside did appear to be in good shape, the motor had a crack in the passenger rear header pipe. The pipe alone is about 140-150 bucks and a garage doing it? Well, all told maybe 400 bucks. Some of the fuel lines had been done - as Lu pointed out, when they get old they spray fuel onto hot places and set things on fire. The shifter was loose and it had old gas in it. Oh, and the paint was pretty shot. I told him it was worth about 1500.
A few weeks go by and, I think, his wife was giving him grief and he met my price. So we went out to pick it up and drive it back on an intrastate plate - and discovered a whole lot more. Low Pressure Oil sensor is shot, the shifter bushings were kaput, bad gas was making it run funky - oh, and if you filled the tank, it leaked.
Before driving it I looked to ensure it had oil and water - and discovered something weird living in the overflow tank. Well, living is not really what was happening. The water level sensor seemed to be shot, as well. It started with a great squeal - the alternator belt was loose - and we were off, herky-jerky as you please. Oh, and upon slamming the sliding door shut, the AC piping fell from the ceiling.
Today we started work on it, what with the blue bus needing the computer. Both coolant tanks were emptied and cleaned. I still don't know what was in the overflow tank - it had a faintly iridescent quality to it, was slimy and - blech! We tightened the belt and refilled the coolant tanks.
Then we took a look at the AC conduit. We may be able to cobble a repair, but I'll see if a replacement can be had. Meantime, we decided to look at the shifter bushing. Um, destroyed. The shifter housing in the front is above the spare tire and a square metal box protects it. However, the plastic unit was shattered and it explained completely why this thing was so hard to shift. That'll cost 80.00 plus tax, and 23 a piece for the hydraulic lifters for the tailgate. We'll put some furnace cement on the crack in the pipe and, maybe in the spring, pull the tank down and see if it's shot or just the lines above it.
I took a small loan to consolidate some debt and this happened to pop up. I seriously debated it. The fellow was asking 3k for it and told me it came from California via Florida. The original ad read like this:
1988 VW Vanagon Weekender Wolfsburg edition. Manuel transmission, southern vehicle, underbody condition great, minor rust damage around windows, could use a new paint job. Fold away table, bed and six seats (missing a jump seat/passenger side.) Original motor, rims. Small oil leak, and odometer stuck on 96K. Runs and shifts, sounds good...overall a great project vehicle. A great value for a great vehicle! Please call or text if interested.
Now, he did leave out a few things - but, as I discovered, he's not really a car guy. He'd seen the vans and thought they were neat and he thought he was buying one in better shape - even had it shipped up from Florida. All told, he claims he laid out about 5k for this bus - which was unfortunate. As I explained to him, while the underside did appear to be in good shape, the motor had a crack in the passenger rear header pipe. The pipe alone is about 140-150 bucks and a garage doing it? Well, all told maybe 400 bucks. Some of the fuel lines had been done - as Lu pointed out, when they get old they spray fuel onto hot places and set things on fire. The shifter was loose and it had old gas in it. Oh, and the paint was pretty shot. I told him it was worth about 1500.
A few weeks go by and, I think, his wife was giving him grief and he met my price. So we went out to pick it up and drive it back on an intrastate plate - and discovered a whole lot more. Low Pressure Oil sensor is shot, the shifter bushings were kaput, bad gas was making it run funky - oh, and if you filled the tank, it leaked.
Before driving it I looked to ensure it had oil and water - and discovered something weird living in the overflow tank. Well, living is not really what was happening. The water level sensor seemed to be shot, as well. It started with a great squeal - the alternator belt was loose - and we were off, herky-jerky as you please. Oh, and upon slamming the sliding door shut, the AC piping fell from the ceiling.
Today we started work on it, what with the blue bus needing the computer. Both coolant tanks were emptied and cleaned. I still don't know what was in the overflow tank - it had a faintly iridescent quality to it, was slimy and - blech! We tightened the belt and refilled the coolant tanks.
Then we took a look at the AC conduit. We may be able to cobble a repair, but I'll see if a replacement can be had. Meantime, we decided to look at the shifter bushing. Um, destroyed. The shifter housing in the front is above the spare tire and a square metal box protects it. However, the plastic unit was shattered and it explained completely why this thing was so hard to shift. That'll cost 80.00 plus tax, and 23 a piece for the hydraulic lifters for the tailgate. We'll put some furnace cement on the crack in the pipe and, maybe in the spring, pull the tank down and see if it's shot or just the lines above it.
