Getting a head of the game

A couple of weeks ago Nick voluntarily pulled the van out of commission so he could begin to repair the head gaskets. Let me remind you how amazingly mechanical my husband is, that he is teaching himself hoe to do all this!

Of course everything is easier with your helper in tow:


Nick did make the rookie mistake of removing the sleeves from the cylinders when he was taking everything apart. Luckily he and I were able to wiggle and compress everything enough to get them back on.

Ta da!


Action shot:


Again, huge thanks to Grandma for watching Gunnar so papa can get this done!

Redo

We have a couple of Vanagon projects in the works right now. Last weekend I hit an icy patch in Windy and sent her into a small ditch. Everyone was fine including Windy, minus her beautiful bumper that Nick had spent approximately 12 hours fiberglassing. It is now in three or four pieces and he is working to get it back together again. To help make up for it I am in the process of sewing curtains for her. This will be so nice since although Gunnar hates his car-seat in general, he really hates it when you put up the sunshade. Honestly, he would rather squint. I don't know how this kid got to be so stubborn! They are coming together nicely and kudos to Nick for finding the fabric all by himself. In true dirty hippie fashion it is even made from recycled soda bottles!

Windy!

Nick repaired the bumper on the Vanagon beautifully! Here are a few shots of her in all her glory.



We have named the van Windy as she is part sailboat with the way the wind pushes her around time to time.

How To

Nick has done a great job so far in his do it yourself mechanics with our cars. He recently found a manual to our Vanagon on ebay and has been feverishly studying up. In that spirit he came across this great post that translates the manual lingo into layman's terms.

For anyone who has done their own car repair or loves someone who does their own car repair this is worth a read. Hilarious!

Getting a Jump on Things

The Vanagon customization continues. Nick found a passenger jump seat on Craigslist and it has made a nice addition to the fan. It took a little fabricating to make it fit but I think Nick was secretly stoked to be able to break out the welder like the olden days.

Next on the agenda is repairing the cracked bumper. This is Nick's first fiberglass project so it should be a fun one. Pics of work in progress:

Baby Steps

Our Vanagon wish list is very long but we are making progress. This week nick put in laminate flooring:

I think it looks great. Once we get a table in it will be the prefect place to hang.

The new alternator is on order and Nick has the fiberglass kit to try and repair the bumper.

She is loved!

Have Van Will CAMP!

Well, it finally happened. Nick's dream of owning a Vanagon has come true. As they say, good things come to those who wait.

Weekend before last it finally came to us. Nick has been wanting a Vanagon for about the past 5 years. When we lived in NYC no one had a clue of what he was talking about. He had a picture of one as his phone wallpaper to use as an illustration when talking about his dream. Then as fate would have it we moved to OR where they are EVERYWHERE. So Nick searched. And he searched. Looking on Craigslist for Vanagons has been his past time forever now. The trick was to find a decent van in our price range that would actually start. Last Sunday night when we got home from grocery shopping he was perusing Craigslist (his favorite way to avoid helping put away food) and there was a Vanagon in Sandy (the "town" closest to us) that was marked down for a quick sale. He hemmed and he hawed and finally I convinced him to at least give the guy a call. The usual M.O. for Vanagon sellers is that they either never call you back or by the time we call the van is gone. This time the van was actually available and not only that the guy agreed to meet us in 30 minutes to take a look. So we bundled up Gunnar and headed off into the night again.

Long story short the van is a 1989 GL that runs and is in decent condition inside. The guy was willing to take our offer and Nick drove it home that night.

To show how excited we are I actually took the next day off so we could enjoy it! It is such a breeze to load the baby, the dogs and all our cargo. Nick has installed a stereo and de-gunked the alternator already (long story) and we have tons of plans for our new baby.

Nick says he will take pictures for me to post next time there is a nice day. So maybe some time in July!

One True Love

Nick's love affair began a couple of years ago. Exactly how it began I am not sure, but he is absolutely smitten....with Vanagons specifically the Syncro-Westfalia crossover! I think one of his favorite things about Oregon is the abundance of Vanagons. They were far and few between in Brooklyn (although there was one a few blocks from our last apartment) but in Oregon they are often seen roaming the hillside.

Vanagons are so prevalent in Oregon that they have become our new "slug bug". Whenever we spot a Vanagon it is a race to be the first to shout it out.

Last weekend I made the ULTIMATE Vanagon sighting. We were in the parking lot of of Office Depot and there it was, passing right by. I shouted out Vanagon and Nick was even more excited than usual. Apparently this particular Vanagon is from South Africa and must have been imported. Wow - what a sighting! Who knows this stuff??

Enjoy....