I got it home, now what?

Here are the Vanagon's main problems, listed in descending order of importance:

• The current engine burns 1 quart of oil every 100 miles.


• The check engine light does not seem to work.


• The air conditioning does not work.


• The muffler needs to be replaced, but is attached by welds rather than clamps [gotta get out the 'smoke wrench'].


• The current air filter is inadequate. It's a shop-vac filter attached to the air inlet using a shoelace.


• The odometer does not work.

Cosmetically, the van looks pretty good for being 22 years old. The paint is faded on the roof, but not bad elsewhere. There are some rust blossoms on the cowling behind the front bumper, and two small spots elsewhere on the body. The seats look faded and worn, and could use a good cleaning, but are not ripped or stained. The seller had flopped some indoor/outdoor carpeting over the original carpeting, the original not looking as bad as the stuff over it. So, redoing that will be a project in the future.


The first thing I did was bring the Vanagon to the car wash.....not so much to clean the top and sides, but rather to clean the undercarriage, engine and transmission areas, so I don't get as dirty when working on it.