1999 G500 Pur edition
- Thread starter otiswesty
- Start date
otiswesty
Regular guy
In order to build what would be the perfect Gwagon for me, I went through a process of education. Both in terms of seeing other local Gwagons here in the USA and getting a good sense for what was available in the European and military markets. All of this played a role in how I chose to develop my own vehicle and as such is relevant back ground information.
Now back to the regular scheduled programming.
Some pics of an armored Guard edition on display, this is basically a Pur edition with body armoring:
Now back to the regular scheduled programming.
Some pics of an armored Guard edition on display, this is basically a Pur edition with body armoring:
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otiswesty
Regular guy
You'd be surprised. We actually only get the fully loaded vehicles for the US market except for the Smart car which is VERY basic including hand crank windows.
otiswesty
Regular guy
A few more random detail pics of things I was interested in.
Walkable hood
Full length factory roof rack
Solar trickle chargers
C-rail and wood load space floor
Flip up license plate mount for tow pin bumper
and 1990-2000 463 manual transfer case shifter
Walkable hood
Full length factory roof rack
Solar trickle chargers
C-rail and wood load space floor
Flip up license plate mount for tow pin bumper
and 1990-2000 463 manual transfer case shifter
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otiswesty
Regular guy
I managed to pick up a few nice parts and haul them back from Germany and Austria for the 2002. I met the team from ORC at the fairgrounds and picked up a "G" symbol for the grill which I think makes the front a little more understated. I used a heat gun and peeled off the chrome rice paper tape that is on the grill to debling that a little as well.
An ORC ladder for the rear right side came home as carry on luggage. The ladder attachment is a clamp on the gutter and where it meets the body is secured by some 3M dual lock heavy duty industrial "velcro." Nice and stable with no drilling, goes on in 5 minutes.
I met a group of Norwegians that run a G centered website VTP.no, they pallet shipped me a really nice NOS Norwegian army surplus ambulance rack. Since the big box behind the G ambulance cab has no mechanism for spare tire mounting, it is mounted over the cab on a pull down slider. This deluxe version has the dual gas can holder as well. The gutter clamp is full length and clamps the rack on pretty firmly.
http://vtp.no/html/gwagen_deler.htm
An ORC ladder for the rear right side came home as carry on luggage. The ladder attachment is a clamp on the gutter and where it meets the body is secured by some 3M dual lock heavy duty industrial "velcro." Nice and stable with no drilling, goes on in 5 minutes.
I met a group of Norwegians that run a G centered website VTP.no, they pallet shipped me a really nice NOS Norwegian army surplus ambulance rack. Since the big box behind the G ambulance cab has no mechanism for spare tire mounting, it is mounted over the cab on a pull down slider. This deluxe version has the dual gas can holder as well. The gutter clamp is full length and clamps the rack on pretty firmly.
http://vtp.no/html/gwagen_deler.htm
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otiswesty
Regular guy
With the gas and tire rack on the rear, I was debating whether or not to use a shortened roof rack for the front. The one thing I have really like about a folding tent rather than the full length clamshell is that you still have 1/3 of the roof for other stuff. Now I do not want to overload the roof, but it is nice getting stuff up there and out of the way. To minimize weight up top, I ended up using 3 crossbars for the roof top tent instead of a short or cut-down 1 piece rack. The roof of a G-class is not easy to fit a rack to because of the line of the roof. I have seen dimples from the Yakima tower feet and Thule is a pretty tight fit as well. Maybe decent clearance for carrying a load of skis, but not that great for the risk of bumping a big tree branch or rock face.
My buddies Mike C. (Desertstar) and Steve S. had each built themselves some custom crossbars for their 460 Gwagens that I had greatly admired on a trip in 2008 (1st pic). I endeavored to do something similar with the thought to also use it for ski rack, canoe/kayak rack, yada yada. Three crossbars for the tent with Quik-N-Easy rack feet bolted to a standard Yakima crossbar. Works great, looks good, and very stable to boot. The nice thing is that there is no extension of the bracket inside of the rack footing like you find on the other two more common racks.
My buddies Mike C. (Desertstar) and Steve S. had each built themselves some custom crossbars for their 460 Gwagens that I had greatly admired on a trip in 2008 (1st pic). I endeavored to do something similar with the thought to also use it for ski rack, canoe/kayak rack, yada yada. Three crossbars for the tent with Quik-N-Easy rack feet bolted to a standard Yakima crossbar. Works great, looks good, and very stable to boot. The nice thing is that there is no extension of the bracket inside of the rack footing like you find on the other two more common racks.
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otiswesty
Regular guy
The walk on hood is part number 4618803457 for the Edition Pur. The earlier version had grip tape patches on the painted hood, the later versions had a painted on texture coat. Interestingly, the newest version of the hood on the G300cdi Professional is a double thickness all the way across top of the hood, the older style had a reinforcing plate on the underside of the center section.
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otiswesty
Regular guy
I was lucky enough to run into a German guy on Hood River a number of years ago that was driving a 1981 VW LT28 Westfalia Sven Hedin. It turns out he was interested in selling it!!!!!
I got a German title with it and did a nice little loop up through Vancouver BC, and voila, the US title was made.
The German campers have the propane inside of the cabin, not allowed in the US. There were two of the bottles, and when I sold the camper a few years later I kept one of them as they were pretty unusual in their design and size with a bunch of cool German language stickers on them. The VW LT Westfalia was like a super sized hybrid of a VW Vanagon and a VW Baywindow bus, of which I have both, so the big beast had me captivated for a couple of years.
I was unable to find a good mount until I stumbled upon the Hannibal South Africa website which showed one that looked like the right size. I exchanged a couple of emails with them and then gambled and ordered one from ZA. It was designed for a Defender, and I assumed it would need some modifications to fit properly. Turns out it fit the propane bottle like a glove and the only issue was that the Gwagen gutter on the rear slanted a bit to the side of the vehicle while the Defender was a level gutter across the back of the D pillar. It turned out to be an easy grind down and looked like it was made for the vehicle once it was done. http://www.hannibal.co.za/Catalogue/Accessories
The bottle holder fit well in the space on the left of the vehicle opposite the ORC ladder. I had to get some Euro propane fittings to work with the bottle in order to run a line down to the camp stove on my rear table. Like the ladder, it clamps to the gutter and is held at the bottom with 3M Dual Lock tape.
I got a German title with it and did a nice little loop up through Vancouver BC, and voila, the US title was made.
The German campers have the propane inside of the cabin, not allowed in the US. There were two of the bottles, and when I sold the camper a few years later I kept one of them as they were pretty unusual in their design and size with a bunch of cool German language stickers on them. The VW LT Westfalia was like a super sized hybrid of a VW Vanagon and a VW Baywindow bus, of which I have both, so the big beast had me captivated for a couple of years.
I was unable to find a good mount until I stumbled upon the Hannibal South Africa website which showed one that looked like the right size. I exchanged a couple of emails with them and then gambled and ordered one from ZA. It was designed for a Defender, and I assumed it would need some modifications to fit properly. Turns out it fit the propane bottle like a glove and the only issue was that the Gwagen gutter on the rear slanted a bit to the side of the vehicle while the Defender was a level gutter across the back of the D pillar. It turned out to be an easy grind down and looked like it was made for the vehicle once it was done. http://www.hannibal.co.za/Catalogue/Accessories
The bottle holder fit well in the space on the left of the vehicle opposite the ORC ladder. I had to get some Euro propane fittings to work with the bottle in order to run a line down to the camp stove on my rear table. Like the ladder, it clamps to the gutter and is held at the bottom with 3M Dual Lock tape.
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OGwagen
New member
I have one of the hoods Guido was selling on Gclub and need to install but want that OEM look. Any idea of how to get the grip tape patches? Seems like a kit. Also is the tan G yours?
