88 Vanagon low budget custom job.

Lorenzen · **Joined:** Wed Dec 23, 2009 12:13 pm **Posts:** 6

Hi there,
I stumbled over this forum a while back, registered but couldn't post, well I can now and i wanted to share my project...

I got this '88 Vanagon three years ago from my brother (in exchange of a vauxhall corsa, lucky me!) and started customizing it from day one.

This is where i started:

I had NO mechanical or carpentring skill or much money whatsoever, wich comes to show in some pictures

well, it ... was in a pretty bad state when i got it, rust, dents, bruises etc. Engine was pretty shot up, and was mostly used as a transporter... so i started going about asking myself what the frack i was doing there... but I fell in love the first time i drove him and saw potential.

unexperienced as i was, I started to scrub rust away and painted it

those darned "falzen" as we call them. they rub the paint away when driving, sealant cracks etc. RUST! brown plaque...

I see a vanagon and i want to paint it black... that was 2007

some cheap stripes...

and rims!

originally from a mercedes benz, those fitted, so i slapped them on.

then i wanted to make myself a little bit more comfortable inside, so i started insulating and bulding some sort of bed. notice the lack of funding, i used what i could get to build something useful. form follows function, they say.

then my crankshaft broke (start pilot... thanks motor club!)
so a friend of mine and i replaced this pile of junk:

with this:

practically the same engine, but with hydraulic lifters and a slightly modified injection pump (oh right... its a diesel)
note: this is not me, that's the maniac helping me

drove around a bit, then got fed up with the bad paint job and rusty window frames, so i redid the paintjob in 2009

well and this is how he looks like today:

if not for a broken clutch... but its a 21 year old vanagon, I take it as a sign of life when someone brakes down.

Now, this might not seem so "cool" or "drastic" as you might be used to, but remember, here in germany we have strict laws and a institute called "TÜV" wich is .. well... like the gestapo when it comes to modification of cars.

i hope i did not annoy you

greets,
Tom "lore" Lorenzen