I've Moved To VanagonForever.com

This will be the last post to vanagonforever.blogspot.com. Come check out the new blog at www.vanagonforever.com!

The New VanagonForever.com

I learned something a bit shocking the other day. It turns out that there are people out there who actually read this blog. I know, I’m as shocked as you are. Up until now I’ve viewed this more as my digital notebook that I’ve been using to try to remember my ideas and the things I’ve done with my Vanagon. That’s great and all but now that I know people are actually looking at it I realize that it could be a bit more. I don’t know about you guys but I spend a great deal of time surfing the web looking for interesting information on all sorts of topics. One of my big vices is information on Vanagons – specifically things that people have done to/with their Vanagons. While there are a few real gems out there, I haven’t found that one site that offers me the sort of information that I’m looking for. So I’ve decided to give making that site myself a shot. You folks will have to bear with me while I work out the kinks but my sincere hope is that I’ll end up with something that other people will look to when they need their Vanagon itch scratched.

What will all of this mean you ask? My first order of business is to establish a posting rhythm. Personally, I like a site that updates regularly enough to keep me interested but doesn’t overwhelm me with information. This site will now be updated every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I may stick in a few additional updates here and there but you can be promised that there will be new stuff here at least three days a week. Second, I’ve ditched the blogspot.com domain and actually registered www.vanagonforever.com as the name for this site. The old name will still work for a little while but vanagonforever.com should now be considered the official address for the site.

Over the next few weeks I will be evolving the content on the site to include more than just blog entries. This week I’m introducing the first of that new content by rolling out a HowTo section. This new section will feature tutorials that will be targeted towards people just starting out. There is a ton of great information out there but a lot of it expects you to already know a lot about working on cars. I’m certainly no master mechanic but at this point I’ve had to figure quite a few things out and yet I still retain that beginner’s mind. I’m hoping my HowTos will address a lot of the newer mechanic’s concerns while still providing actually useful information.

Which brings me to my next point: I’d love to hear your feedback. I’ve created the email address stuart “at” vanagonforever.com. Sorry for not spelling it out but I’d rather not get spam at my brand new address – to send me an email just replace the “at” above with the @ symbol and remove the spaces. If you’ve got comments on this new direction, ideas for future content, or just want to say hello then please drop me a line. I’ll do my best to get back to you promptly.

Well, I think that about covers it. Here is to new beginnings! Today is the first day of the new and improved VanagonForever.com. I hope you all enjoy it!

New Year, New Site

Yesterday I decided to spiff up the site a bit in honor of the new year. Now that my Vanagon is a different color I figured the blog might as well change too. The only downside is that I learned that the blog no longer shows up correctly in Firefox or Safari browsers. I'm trying to get to the bottom of that now.

Since it is a new year I suppose I should announce a few Vanagon related resolutions for 2009. The first one is that I want to do a much better job of posting pictures along with my posts. I have appreciated the photos of other people's projects so much through the years that I feel like it is pretty selfish of me to not photograph my own projects. My second resolution is to spend more weekends using the Vanagon than I spend working on the Vanagon. These old cars are fun to work on and all but it is all too easy to get so wrapped up in smoothing out every little kink that I forget why I own the thing in the first place. I think 2009 needs to involve a lot more adventure and a lot fewer projects. Finally, I'd like for 2009 to be the year of finished tasks. It is far too easy to start projects and far too hard to complete them. While I intend to have fewer projects this year, I plan to do a much better job of bringing the ones I already have underway to completion. The birth of my first child is just a few weeks away. This year should introduce a dramatic reduction in free time so I've got to make the time that I do have really count.

Now that I've publicly announced goals I suppose I am going to have to actually accomplish them. Here's to achieving your goals, whatever they may be in 2009! Happy New Year!

Christmas Time...

New paint
Originally uploaded by stuart_jeffx

When I walked out of my house this morning the light was too good to not take a picture of my Vanagon. Like I said, the paint job isn't finished but is at least good enough to appear finished from a few feet away. I don't expect anyone to consider this as "proof" that the roller paint job can work since I'm not even finished but I do think it is an excellent example of how deceptive a photograph can be. The van does look good from a distance but the closer you get the more flaws you notice. Once the weather improves I'll have to do something about those flaws and finally finish my never ending project.

Oh and this photo is taken after I believe six coats. The van HAS NOT been sanded in the past two coats and the last time I did sand it I used 800. My plan is to sand it with 1500 and then only paint panels which have issues. One other thing is that I still have not completely repaired my seam rust. I just loaded it up with rust converter, primed, and painted it. I did not put any body filler on it but was just trying to slow down the rust until I can do a panel replacement.

One last thing, if it isn't obvious, you should be able to click on the image to get a higher resolution. It was shot with a camera phone though so if you are hunting for flaws I doubt you'll be able to see them from this distance with the crappy phone. Enjoy!

Electrical Challenges

My latest puzzle is figuring out what is wrong with my second battery. I bought a proper Go Westy auxillary battery kit a few months ago because I was never quite happy with my original setup. Basically I wanted a proper isolator and I wanted to have the radio and interior lights moved over to the second battery. The Go Westy kit would make all of that easy so I picked one up. Thanks to my painting project I didn't get around to installing it until a week or two ago. As usual the instructions were well written and easy to follow but I somehow managed to screw things up. My first problem was that my main battery was draining with the engine off. In fact it discharged so much that in a single day it dropped to just under 4 volts. As you can probably guess that killed my original battery and I had to pick up a replacement. Now I haven't had a chance to really figure out what is going on so I've just been disconnecting the ground whenever I'm not driving so I don't damage the new battery. I really would like to get to the bottom of this issue but winter and the rest of my life are getting in the way. I'll get to it eventually.

Just to warn you guys, things may slow down over the next few months. A combination of sub-freezing temps, salty Maryland roads, and my first child due in a couple of months should result in the Vanagon finding itself on the back burner for a while. My only real regret at this point with it is not finishing the paint job before the cold weather hit. Even if I had the time I can't get that last coat on there. Maybe there will be an unseasonably warm weekend at some point and I can get things wrapped up. Until then it is just going to have to wait - its so close to being nice.