Roxanne, the Van of Many Lovers (1989 Ford Club Wagon XLT E250) Build Thread
- Thread starter JakeC
- Start date
JakeC
Member
Man, i've pondered about picking up a step bumper. Haha.
The tires seem to be doing well. I haven't driven the van in enough of an "interesting weather" scenario to really say much about them. The previous-previous owner had them installed and i know next to nothing about 10 ply tires. Though the most recent past owner said they did great in the snow because the van was so heavy. I've driven RWD in the snow before, in highschool I had a 1994 Grand Marquis with used tires, but I'm kind of excited to see how the van does.
JakeC
Member
This weekend was a pretty decent one. On Saturday I drove my 74 Volkswagen Super Beetle to a car show at around 300 miles round trip and Sunday I started getting into the van to remove the broken bolt from the thermostat housing. My girlfriend is off of work this entire week and the latter half of the week is supposed to be mid 70's so it sounds like we will be able to get a decent amount of work done on the van!
With the front end of the van tore apart, i'm debating on replacing the radiator, hoses, and anything else I can think of. I personally know one of the past owners and he did the water pump on it within the last year or two, so i think that's okay.
This tool that i bought to extract the broken bit worked like a charm!
With the front end of the van tore apart, i'm debating on replacing the radiator, hoses, and anything else I can think of. I personally know one of the past owners and he did the water pump on it within the last year or two, so i think that's okay.
This tool that i bought to extract the broken bit worked like a charm!
JakeC
Member
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JakeC
Member
I located the leak within the van. I removed the front drivers side fender and everything seemed to be okay. With not being able to find where the rust on the interior was from, i stuck a screw driver through the hole and looked for it in the engine compartment. I decided I would clean the area up with an angle grinder, convert the rust with rustoleum converter, then patch it with bondo. So far, it seems to be holding up okay. A few weekends ago I managed to talk my brother into helping me ********** together some 2x4's and build a sleeping platform in the back as a sort of rough draft. It's already starting to bite me in the ass because i've needed to haul some larger things since then, but once we use it some, i'll be back at the drawing board. Here are some photos.
JakeC
Member
Next on the agenda is sewing up some curtains and mosquito netting covers for the windows. I also need to repair the Gear Vendor Overdrive switch because the old one is pretty worn.
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JakeC
Member
This weekend, my girlfriend and I were supposed to go camping but last minute the trip was postponed.
Somehow this turn of events was incredibly lucky for a broken down VDubber named Henry that we rescued! At around 7pm on Saturday, my buddy sends me a message and tells me that a kid driving his 1980 Vanagon from Rhode Island to Washington is currently broken down about 5 minutes from my home. I send the kid a message, contact some fellow members of my Volkswagen club (Circle City Volkswagen, Indianapolis, IN) and I quickly borrow a trailer and help the guy out. The next day we took the van to a local Volkswagen repair shop and give the dude our spare bedroom until its up and running again. He's been a real delight to house and hang out with.
Somehow this turn of events was incredibly lucky for a broken down VDubber named Henry that we rescued! At around 7pm on Saturday, my buddy sends me a message and tells me that a kid driving his 1980 Vanagon from Rhode Island to Washington is currently broken down about 5 minutes from my home. I send the kid a message, contact some fellow members of my Volkswagen club (Circle City Volkswagen, Indianapolis, IN) and I quickly borrow a trailer and help the guy out. The next day we took the van to a local Volkswagen repair shop and give the dude our spare bedroom until its up and running again. He's been a real delight to house and hang out with.
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JakeC
Member
Yesterday Henry got the call that his Vanagon had been fixed for a reasonable $300. Apparently the 1974 Aircooled Type 4 motor in his 1980 Vanagon had some issues. The intake gaskets were shot causing leaks, the single carburetor is too small for the engine causing a bit of air starvation, the valves were so opened up that they required multiple full turns to get back into spec, the distributor was faulty so they've swapped in a .009 and Henry says it feels more powerful than its ever felt before. The Volkswagen club i'm part of are having a HUGE Volkstoberfest show this weekend and I believe he's going to hang around until then. He was tidying it up a bit in this photo. Then a picture of my 1974 Super Beetle.
Then while trying to back out the trailer to return it yesterday, I managed to fall off the driveway. My dog was a terrible spotter...
Lastly, throughout the weekend I'd noticed that the temp gauge in the dash kept fluctuating at random. At times I'd be pulling the van on the trailer and it would read center of normal, then all of a sudden it'd jump up when i was just hauling the trailer empty. I'm not sure exactly what the issue was, but I've ordered an electronic temp gauge that i'll be installing to see what the actual reading is.
Then while trying to back out the trailer to return it yesterday, I managed to fall off the driveway. My dog was a terrible spotter...
Lastly, throughout the weekend I'd noticed that the temp gauge in the dash kept fluctuating at random. At times I'd be pulling the van on the trailer and it would read center of normal, then all of a sudden it'd jump up when i was just hauling the trailer empty. I'm not sure exactly what the issue was, but I've ordered an electronic temp gauge that i'll be installing to see what the actual reading is.
JakeC
Member
On Sunday, I drove to northern Indiana to pick up some absolutely mint seats for the Club Wagon with swivels for a very acceptable price. The man had taken them out of a van he bought for work, covered them in plastic and they sat in his garage for the last 15 years or so. I can't wait to install them in the Club Wagon.
JakeC
Member
Also, here are some photos from the Volkswagen event this weekend. This was the Circle City Volkswagen Club's last event for the season, so I should be putting some more time towards the van in the following months. Some buddies were helping me figure out the ignition system, which was having some issues that day. 
JakeC
Member
This weekend my girlfriend and I took the van for its first camping trip. We went to a place in northern Indiana called Chain O' Lakes. We arrived late in the evening on Friday and had to set up the curtains in the dark, as they has just finished being sewn that day. Our installation was also temporary.
It was definitely a good experience as it helped us figure out the shortcomings of the build so far and what we still need to work on. Ashton, our dog, enjoyed the trip though! On the drive home, my girlfriend even got behind the wheel and drove the old van!
It was definitely a good experience as it helped us figure out the shortcomings of the build so far and what we still need to work on. Ashton, our dog, enjoyed the trip though! On the drive home, my girlfriend even got behind the wheel and drove the old van!
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JakeC
Member
Last weekend a buddy and I pulled the motor in my Super Beetle to do a refresh over the winter. Since I have a single car garage, I just picked up another buddy's trailer and am now going to tow the Beetle shell to my hometown to store in my grandmother's garage since it will be empty all winter. I also managed to squeeze in an oil change and a new air filter and started making a winter list of things to knock out.
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