1983 Volkswagen Bus/Vanagon

Westfalia L Minivan/Van

4 - Cyl.

Manual

WV2ZB0254DH106535

Clear

Gasoline

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE *More pictures, higher resolution, at Photobucket (new window)* Up for auction: one 1983 Volkswagen Vanagon Westfalia L. I have owned this vehicle for roughly four and a half months. I've done some commuting in it and taken it on an 1800 mile road trip. Altogether, I've put around 3500 miles on it in mixed conditions, so I have had a fair amount of time to get to know how well it is running. I'm a mechanic and all work and inspection has been done by me, personally. I bought the van from a reputable small town car lot that has been around for a long time. I was planning on keeping it but I really need a cheap, disposable commuter car, which I now have. Here's the basics (I'll get into more detail below): Runs great, drives great and is in overall good condition, ready to hit the road. All electrical works, except for the front blower motor. All camping equipment (water tank, water pump, sink, stove, gas/electric refrigerator, propane tank/regulator, beds, tables, swivel seats) work properly and are in good condition. Pop top hardware is in good condition but canvas needs patching (all rotten canvas has been removed, all that you see in the pictures is strong and in usable condition). Also, pop top needs new gaskets, but does not leak inside the vehicle (the gaskets are not difficult to replace and are not very expensive). Tags just paid. Passed smog 4 months ago. Clean title (no salvage or other history). Estimated at 121877 original miles (see "instrument cluster" section below for details). Some Specifications: 1.9L water-cooled 4 cyl. engine w/ VW Digijet port fuel injection, 80 HP, rear mounted Approx. 20 MPG, regular unleaded 4 speed overdrive manual transmission Manual rack and pinion steering Power brakes, front disc, rear drum Front and rear comfort heating (from engine cooling system) Seats 4, sleeps 4 (adults) Belly-mounted 3 gal propane tank 6 gallon fresh water tank Sink w/ manual foot operated water pump Dual-burner propane stove top Hookups for camp site water supply and 110 volt power (power cord incl.) 12 volt or 110 volt or propane powered refrigerator 2 adjustable tables Sliding side windows with bug screens Variable opening rear hatch with bug screen Below, I will give you a run down on each of the van systems, their current working condition, any work I have done, and any other important info I have about them. Engine: Runs smooth and quiet. Doesn't leak. Tune-up about 3,000 mile ago (cap, rotor, wires, gapped plugs, timing checked, cleaned air filter). Vacuum hoses replaced. Oil changed about 400 miles ago. Doesn't smoke or burn oil. Starts easily. Oxygen sensor just changed. Clutch/Transmission: Clutch works smoothly and quietly; no jerking or slipping. Transmission shifts easily and quietly; no grinding, whining or popping out of gear. Cooling system: Runs cool under all conditions. Two-stage electric cooling fan works properly. No signs of corrosion or rust in coolant. No leaks. Cooling system flushed and water pump replaced. Several small cooling hoses in engine bay replaced, all others in good condition. Radiator in good condition. Front and rear heaters heat the cabin up quickly. Also, all parts in the cooling system are metal, not plastic, with the exception of the manifold at the pressure tank and the bleeder value in the engine bay. Sometimes when you start the van the coolant warning light will stay on until you restart the van. It only started doing this after I changed the instrument panel so I suspect that the new panel is the problem. This problem is known to come about when the voltage regulator on the instrument panel starts to go bad, so changing it with the one from the old panel should fix it. It should be an easy repair. Brakes: Work properly and stop easily. Brakes don't pump up. No squealing, vibration or any other signs of excessive wear. Emergency brake works properly. Could use a fluid change (fluid is dark). Extra set of front pads included. Sometimes when you press the brakes the brake warning light on the dash will come on. This is due to a faulty pressure sensor and does not indicate a problem with the brake system. The sensor shouldn't be difficult to replace and it would be easiest to do it when changing to brake fluid. Steering/Suspension: Steers smoothly and easily. No excessive play in steering wheel or front end. Alignment is good (vehicle doesn't wander to left or right when hands taken from wheel). No abnormal tire wear. Handles well even on tight, curvy mountain roads. Smooth, comfortable ride, even on highway. Rear shocks replaced, front in good condition. All suspension rubber in good condition, except for two torn ball-joint boots in the front end. Body/Chassis: Rust-free and solid (by rust-free I mean that there is no damaging, corrosive rust that is eating through the frame or body panels. There are a few specks of minor surface rust in places where the paint has been scratched or dented. This is a California vehicle which means it spent its life where it's warm, dry and there is no road salt, and it shows.) Underbody has a thick, industrial coating on it and is free from damage. Left side (from driver's perspective) of vehicle has two dings and one larger dent below black air vent at rear (see pics) and various small scratches and blemishes. Right hand side has two dings and a dent w/ scratches on the pillar behind the passenger door (see pic) and various small scratches and blemishes. Rear hatch has two dings (see pics) but these we caused from the inside of the vehicle(the lifters for the hatch were shot when I got the van. Apparently, the previous owner had been using a broom handle to hold the hatch up. It seems that it slipped and dented the hatch from the inside). The front has no sheet metal damage but does have various small chips in the paint from bugs, rocks, etc. All doors and windows operate smoothly. Bumpers are in good condition with shiny chrome. Rubber around windows in good condition. Original side mirrors in bad shape so replaced with set from an '85. No damage to fiberglass top. Trailer hitch rated at 1500 lbs. Tow mirrors were installed at some time prior, but removed before I got the van, which left holes in the doors which I have filled with stainless steel screws. Single mudflap on left side removed, leaving two small holes behind driver door, which I haven't found the correct size plugs for. Wheels/Tires: Are tires are in good, usable condition with lots of tread left (although front, drivers side tire does have shoulder wear from under inflation). Full size spare in good condition, factory jack and a lug wrench are included. Wheels are 14 in. black steel with full size wheel covers. No broken or damaged studs. Electrical: Everything works except for front blower motor (it blows but takes out a fuse after a few seconds, which could just be a bad connection, but I haven't checked). Charging system works properly. Battery is less than 6 months old. All lights work. When the vehicle is first started the voltage and oxygen sensor lights stay on until the engine is revved slightly (this is from a sticky solenoid that controls the light, not an engine problem). Wiring harness is stock and has not been messed with except for the following:- OEM fog lamps have been replaced with a high-powered set of Hella lamps- Battery has been relocated under rear seat where it had been paired with a deep-cycle battery but the deep-cycle went bad and has not been replaced.- I replaced the dead factory stereo with a new aftermarket Blaupunkt Monterrey MP35 cd/mp3/stereo unit which required running a larger power wire to the battery. The speakers and stereo work, but the unit makes ugly noises when rear speakers are in use and the volume is turned up. This is because the factory wire harness gives an independent ground wire to each of the door speakers, but requires both rear speakers to share one. The new stereo wants each speaker to have its own ground wire. Running an extra wire ground wire will fix this. However, it works fine right now with just the front two speakers turned on. - I ran a wire from the ignition coil to the instrument cluster for the tachometer (yellow wire in engine bay picture). Instrument Cluster: The original cluster had an inaccurate speedometer and a large analog clock that didn't work. I replaced it with a cluster from an '85 Vanagon which corrected the speedometer, replaced the dead clock with a tachometer and added a working digital clock. Because of the speedometer change, and correcting for the old faulty speedometer, actual millage is 33962 less than what new speedometer reads, which brings it to 121877. (if you wish to see the math, see the bottom of the page). Interior: Only major issue with the interior is that the plastic, contact paper like stuff is falling off of the headliner above the driver, the sliding door panel, the rear seat back and the rear hatch panel. This is a familiar Westfalia problem. Easiest solution would be to take the panels out and either having them covered in fabric or paint them (I was going to paint them since the glue that is left on the surfaces is hard and matches the pattern of the plastic. The right paint would stick to it and make it look stock again). The fabric on the seats is in good condition, with a few light stains, but no deterioration from sunlight or age. Front carpet is clean, cargo area carpet has some stains and a square bald area behind front passenger seat the size of a car battery. Rear hatch panel and sliding door panels each have a hole or two in them (these panels are made of plywood and replacements could be easily made). The foam in the front seats has gotten kind of thin, but they are still comfortable, even after many hours of driving. No cracks in dash plastic. Windows open and close easily. Camping Equipment: Propane regulator just replaced. Propane tank has some surface rust, but nothing a quick coat of spray paint couldn't handle. Stove top works great. Refrigerator works great. Sink and water pump work great. Upper and lower mattresses are in good condition and comfortable. Pop top pops easily. As stated above, the canvas had some mildew damage from improper storage. I cut out the bad spots, so everything you see in the picture is good, usable canvas. I was planning on getting two large, brown, triangular shaped patches installed which would give it a two-tone look and avoid trying to match the original color. Complete replacement tents can also be purchased. The fiberglass top gaskets need to be changed, which is easy and a replacement kit runs around $80. Tables are in good condition. The electronic gauges for water and battery turn on and seem to work but I have not tested their accuracy. The black hook-up boxes on left side of van have some cracking around edges, and two are missing doors, but still work. Replacements are available online. I will happily answer questions. As shown above, this vehicle is located in Visalia, CA, which is roughly an hour from Fresno and around an hour and a half from Bakersfield. Anybody who is seriously interested is welcomed to come by and take a look. If you are interested, but it is not practical to come see it, then all I can say is that I have done my best to document the vehicle completely and honestly.Payment: $500 non-refundable deposit through Paypal within 24 hours of auction close. Balance of payment within 7 days by cash (in person only, please) or cashier's check or money order. I reserve the right to re-list the vehicle if these conditions are not met. Serious bidders only, please.Shipping: Buyer arranges and pays for shipping. If you live within a reasonable distance, I will meet you half way if you reimburse for fuel. If vehicle needs to be shipped, I will be available to your shipping company. If there are other considerations, I will work with you. If you would like to look up parts or accessories you can find them at GoWesty.com (new window)*More pictures, higher resolution, at Photobucket (new window)* *Speedometer Math: Ok, so here is the math that shows how I have arrived at the current mileage. Original speedometer would read 70 MPH when actually doing 58 MPH (this is a known problem with 83 - 84 Vanagons and can be confirmed on by sources on the internet). That means it was reading 17% too fast and would add 17% more miles than had actually been driven. The millage on the old cluster currently reads 145764 and if you subtract 17% because of the error you get 120984. Then, I swapped speedometers (new one is very accurate) and have driven 893 miles since. So, actual millage is 121877. New speedo says 155839, which is 33962 over, so subtract 33962 whenever you need to know the millage.On Sep-14-10 at 10:55:05 PDT, seller added the following information: *Update* Reserve is set at $3,000. On Sep-16-10 at 12:35:09 PDT, seller added the following information: *Update* Due to a request, I have done a compression check on the engine. Here are the results: Cyl #1 - 179 psi Cyl #2 - 174 psi Cyl #3 - 187 psi Cyl #4 - 186 psi Factory manual says standard range is between 145 - 189 psi, minimum allowable pressure is 116 psi and maximum variation between cylinders is 44 psi. Pictures of me taking the compression readings (so you can see the numbers for yourself) have been uploaded to my Photobucket account (see above). Also, I have gotten a couple of questions regarding A/C, so I thought I should mention it to prevent misunderstanding. This van is not equipped with A/C. VW factory A/C units were mounted to headliner above the driver and had their own blower motor and ducting. The factory units can be had found it junk yards in good condition and there are a number of aftermarket A/C conversions available. However, it should be noted that VW fresh air ventilation systems, such as the one in this van, do work very well. The vents in a front engined cars (in my experience) just blow hot air on warm days. This van has a scoop behind the radiator grill the provides air directly from the outside which is noticeably cooler. I have only gotten warm when the temperature was getting into the 90's and traffic wasn't moving. Your mileage may vary. On Sep-17-10 at 11:58:25 PDT, seller added the following information: *Update* Due to a request I have been looking into the problem with the dash blower motor. It looks like either the motor or the blower resistor have a short to ground. The problem is most likely the motor. Partsgeek.com has new blower motors for $57, other sources may be cheaper. I have a cigarette lighter powered clip-on fan that I had been using when in stop and go traffic that I will throw in, which should help until you are able to get it fixed.