ChiliPepper Clinic

neat vanagon gauges

2009-02-15T19:41:00.000-08:00

Me Like!

Guess I just gotta get the van running first

Syncro ideas

2008-07-07T21:09:00.000-07:00

Just storing some idea links for future work on the Syncro.

Spring Weather arrives

2008-04-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

just started working on Chipotle this week with the warm weather. When I pulled it out of storage last fall - it was running oddly and i was afraid it was overheating. So i had it towed to Syracuse. SO, this week, after a new thermostat, thermostat housing, fuel injection temp sensor and a gauge temp sensor, I still am not getting a reading on the dashboard. So i **think* I can rule out overheating. So i went ahead and swapped out the gauge cluster with another one that has a tachometer. That seems to be working fine now as well. So after a little more testing , it is on to the tune up and the mandatory fuel line changes. Also learned that if you soak your mechanics gloves in coolant, the leather dye transfers to your hands rather well.

Canvas replacement

2008-03-31T07:14:00.001-07:00

My sister's van and mine both need the pop top canvas replaced. So we are planning a weekend workshop sometime in May to work on them together. i found this youtube vid of the procedure that i hoped will be helpful. OF course - watching it to the end - it turns into a disaster for the owner who warns people not to try the procedure.

I am adding extra links for reference too

westfalia_canvas_camper_replacement

My second car love

2008-03-12T19:25:00.000-07:00

I first picked up the car bug in Junior High School. I think it was the only thing that made feel like i was a normal boy. I would spend hours reading VW trends magazine and dream about a VW beetle. - My first car love. Sonehow I made the transistion to water cooling [ after I bought my rabbit?] and fell in love with the VW scirocco. I REALLY wanted one. SO summer after my sophmore year - I spotted a rusty, headed-to-the-scrap-heap 1978 Scirocco and bought it for $300 [?] Burned out engine and rusty. [ My father was conviniently out of town that weekend. ]

Tom's first folly. AND IT WAS A FOLLY. After a year in storage with cheap dry gas in the tank [ not good] I spent a whole summer saving money and replacing the engine. My brother in law Joe helped me weld and repaint the entire body and multiple trips to Gary's U pull it provided new[er] seats and interior bits. I was psyched. The car was beautiful. The only problem was it did not run very often. Some strange problem with the fuel system continuously gave me problems and the car ended up being towed alot. The car just hated me. I ended up giving it to a friend after I bought my GTI. [ a wonderful car....btw..]

Famous on Youtube

2008-02-27T06:51:00.000-08:00

Someone on the VW BusCamp list forwarded this Youtube clip from BurningMan this past summer. I guess the guy was just filming different parts of BurningMan. So lo-and-behold - there's ChiliPepper! - right next to the CuddleDome.

Talk about missing the boat

2008-02-04T16:00:00.000-08:00

This video was produced by VW when they premiered the VW microbus concept. [2001?] It was a great idea and i, along with some friends eagerly awaited the debut of the real thing. A friend even tried to put down an advance deposit. But it was not to be. VW figured out that they could not produce the car for lass than $40 grand [ that was BEFORE the euro rise....] and gave the whole idea up. [ which still highlights an big structural flaw in VW ] You figure if you are going to arrive in the minivan scene ...errr.. 15 years + late .. you better bring something cool to the table. But no. Vw is having Chysler make their mini van for them. Which - given recent VW build quality - may not actually be a bad thing. Too bad. VW lost big time.

Racing in a Westy

2007-12-29T13:00:00.000-08:00

Every year my friend Joel organizes Westys @ Watkins. It is an annual VW campout in Watkins Glen. The event always finished with a couple of friendly laps around the world famous Watkins Glen Race track. The pace may not look to intimidating, but taking a chicane at 45mph in a camper will definitely get your attention. This year, my sister's family joined me with their westy Hassenpfeffer. [ They shot the video following me..] My dad rode up with me this year and had his hands on the "Oh Jesus" handle the whole time. You would think with such blistering speed - I woulda lost half the Burning Man dust off the car..but no such luck.

Hopefully next year I can take Chipotle if its ready.

Commercial funnies

2007-12-29T06:37:00.000-08:00

Who says homemade videos aren't funny? Here's what really happened with Britney
The doll toss is priceless.

Of course - we were looking for VW commercials - eric helped me out with these -

And apparently VW vans [ with all their sex appeal...] are the wheels of the rich and powerful republican yuppiedom...

Truly a sad day

2007-12-21T07:06:00.001-08:00

Just got this from my van DL. Poor fella :O(

Ideas for the Syncro

2007-12-17T06:08:00.000-08:00

This video came up on The Syncro discussion list today. While I have no interest in the Orange - there were many good ideas for my Syncro!

Cool Syncro Pimp out Video

2007-10-02T11:17:00.001-07:00

Yakima Full Swing

I picked up this Full Swing before my trip out west. The ability to get into the hatch of the van without unloading the bikes is priceless. Even when i am sure i am finished packing for a trip - I find myself in the hatch ..er.... 3-4 more times. The rack will carry 4 bikes securely. The built in lock really only works if you are carrying 3-4 bikes. otherwise you have to use a separate lock. A great add on for the van.

Stylin' wheels

2007-07-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for the epic trip, i decided i was not driving across the country battling sidewinds in the van. So i put in an order to GoWesty for their 15 inch tire and wheel package. A BIG improvement! The van rides much better and quieter and corners almost as good as a Buick!

New sleeping bags

2007-07-04T19:21:00.000-07:00

I ordered these L.L. Bean Cabin Fleece sleeping bags with a gift certificate I had. Typically in the summer, the regualr sleeping bag is too much at night, so I was looking for something lighter and more compact. These bags are very easy to wash and two can be zipped together if needed. They can be stowed almost anywhere in the van and come with tie straps already attached. A valuable addition to the van.

Summer 2007 season begins

2007-07-04T19:13:00.001-07:00

Chilipepper came out of storage without much of a hiccup this year. Not even clacking valves! So - after a week of bopping around town to shake the van down, I took the van down to Owego to pick up a Fiamma Awning i purchased from another Vanagon List member. So we set it up in Kristin's driveway and had ourselves a little driveway tailgate party. [ just w/o the tailgate]

Hassenpfeffer Gets a New Grill

2007-03-31T14:26:00.000-07:00

Oooo... Nice Grill...

Hassenpfeffer got a new grill already and is looking quite European. We have new friends at the Van Cafe. Big orders make those guys happy. It is making Mot way jealous!!

Hasenpheffer arrives!

2007-01-25T13:13:00.000-08:00

Hasenpfeffer arrived in Livonia this afternoon. Joe planned to roll it right into the garage. I am sure the van is in for a suprise once it's tires touch the frozen Western New York tundra.
[ it is 7 degrees this afternoon here in the city. brrr! ]

New Playmate

2006-12-21T15:57:00.000-08:00

Chilipepper and Chipolte get a new playmate next month! My sister and her family are now official Westy people! Cathy is soliciting names as we speak. Woo! Woo! Note the svetle shadyboy awning. Woo! Woo! Looks like a fun summer coming up!

New Addition to the fleet

2006-10-29T17:57:00.000-08:00

I got caught once in a lake effect storm in Chilipepper and quickly found out that the 2WD Westy had no place in snow or slippery conditions. I have been cruising Ebay and The Samba for 2-3 years now keeping an eye out for a Syncro. I really liked the idea of plowing around in Upstate New York snow storms in a vanagon. That probably came from a New Years trip we had to cancel 4 years back due to a blizzard in NYC. 20 inches of snow...Bah! Most of the syncro vans I have found [- which are not common without the Westy package.] have been either:
1) Rusty
2) "Well used"
3) some nasty color like Gold or Burgundy
4) 1800 miles away in Portland or Seattle
or a combination of the above.

I wanted a late model - Silver - good shape. So - Anyways - i almost bid on a 1985 Scirocco on Ebay 2 weeks back [ never NEVER look at cars on Ebay during your lunch hour!] and stopped myself figuring it would be my luck the Syncro I have been looking for would pop up after I blew money on a Scirocco...
So I waited. Annnnnd..3 weeks later - I found a 1991 Silver syncro for sale 5 hours from my house. Woo! Woo!

Eric and I headed down to Scranton Friday night and stayed at the Scranton Lackawanna Radisson - A former train station converted into a hotel.
Over all, a very nice place - a little loud on friday nights however.

We met the van's owner Ken at the Allentown AAA, picked up the car and headed out for a long drive home. No incidents with the drive home and the van now sits in the parking lot waiting to be put away for the winter. [ it is a 2007 project - i already have 2 bathrooms to remodel for this season....]

Some interesting videos of Syncros and their capabilities can be found on YouTube searching the word "Syncro"

Winter Slumber

2006-10-21T15:50:00.000-07:00

Chilipepper is back in my brother's garage for the winter. It looked like the last non-salt weekend on the season. We had a light snow scare last week - so I wanted to get the van put away before the Salters came out.

Jim is pictured here modeling the latest snow removal technology...

The winter storage checklist:

- Full tank of gas with Stabilizer added.

- Both batteries on their trickle chargers. [ I think my optima is actually dead. We will see next spring.

- New mouse traps set up around my brothers garage. [ Mice can ruin a westy interior]

I was hoping the van would be in goo dshape when I put it away this season so I could contemplate going to EveryBus 2007. EB is a huge bus gathering every April in North Carolina. April is too cold here to work on the van, so if it needs work when I put it away, the van does not come out until May. The rear brakes were crying for some love all this week, so it looks like no EveryBus. But on the bright side..Chilipepper may have a new stable mate soon.....

Temp 2 again!

2006-10-15T13:56:00.000-07:00

Well, the van is fixed. After messing with new monster cable for engine grounding and wiggling every wire around the left side of the engine - the DigiTool was getting 4.95 from the Temp 2 sensor and running very poorly. Of course the day I decided to take the car to CDI in Victor - I could not get the van to turn over whatsoever. So - out came the handy AAA card and off went the van on a flatbed tow truck. CDI reported back that the starter went bad and replaced it. They were ready to hand back the car to me until i reminded them that the starter was not the original reason for the service. So I sent them back to try and diagose the electrical problem. They did not seem so excited about trying to troubleshoot that. They left a mesage for me the following day that the van was all set. I did not get to talk to the mechanic but they basically replaced the temp 2 sensor again! The car IS running fine now. I am not entirely convinced the problem is fixed however. I did swap in a new coil for good measure. The whole visit ended up costing me $500. yipes. The van is now asking for new rear brakes, but it will be going into storage this week for the winter. We had snow here Friday! yipes! It was a crummy camping season - but overall Chilipepper did fairly well. 2 trips to viginia and 1 to Pittsburg without a hiccup. Hopefully i will have the same luck next summer as i am contemplating a trip to.. Burning Man! woo! woo!

Electrical gremlin

2006-09-22T11:27:00.000-07:00

Well - the problem is definitely getting worse. The Digitool readings for the Temp2 sensor are jumping all around between normal readings [ 0.2>1.2] and 4.95[!] With the engine idle following along. The engine then stalls and reluctantly restarts. Vanagon people mentioned checking the ground cables [ which i had trouble with 4 years ago..] so I made new ones up with Monster cable and gold plated connectors. After I replaced the cables - I tried to start the car and Nada. Engine was not even energized! [ NO idle stabilizer buzzing...] Tweaking wires around the ground cables - including the wires running to the COIL brought the engine back to life. [??#$$%^#$%^!!] SO - I have a new coil on order from Van Cafe and will be out this weekend playing with the wires some more.....[ fingers crossed....] Meanwhile - this morning I turned the ignition to ON and watch the Digitool while I played with coil wires and watched the Temp2 sensor go from 2.20 [ abnormal] to 4.95 [ really abnormal] and not come back. So I left the van home until i can work on it this weekend.

On a side note - I placed the order with Van Cafe at 12:43 on their website and got an email that the order had been processed and was waiting for the UPS truck at 3:15 [!!] Nice Service.

It's baaaaack! [Grumpy Van]

2006-08-29T05:19:00.000-07:00

The van had been running well - so Sunday I swapped the diagnostic computer out for my old computer. Then -
The last two mornings have been damp and cold. I noticed yesterday the van was getting a little lumpy running first off on the way to work. This morning the van ran the first 2 miles at half power. Even at higher RPM's/lower gear. Every time I came to a stop along the way - the engine was idling high as well [ 1200 rpm?] Finally at another stop light - the van hiccupped and stalled. After a prolonged effort to start the van... it popped back to life and was fine. NO hesitation and idle back to normal.
Grrr. I never did the vanagon syndrome patch like I planned to. hmmm.. and 3 days till we leave for camping. This will be interesting.....

Cupholders!!

2006-07-30T18:40:00.000-07:00

Bought cupholders from the BusDepot> four years ago, but only managed to install them this weekend. Such luxury! Also fixed the floppy armrests and changed the oil. A pretty productive weekend. Of course - the dishwasher just mysteriously broke. Two steps forward..one step back.