Comments on: The Little Can That Could: Checking out the VW Minibus http://www.inavandownbytheriver.com/the-little-can-that-could-checking-out-the-vw-minibus/ ... 'cuz we want to live in a van down by the river. Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:42:24 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Phil http://www.inavandownbytheriver.com/the-little-can-that-could-checking-out-the-vw-minibus/comment-page-1/#comment-2451 Phil Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:02:39 +0000 http://www.inavandownbytheriver.com/the-little-can-that-could-checking-out-the-vw-minibus/#comment-2451 I would go for a VW van... We had a couple while we were growing up and they worked great, and they have a nice low door on the side. Prehaps the best reason why I think that they are pretty cool is this little story. Sometime while I was in College, (back in the early 90's) I saw this black VW van in a grocery store parking lot, what caught my attention is that it had a small deployable satellite dish, plus a number of other antennas on the roof, the windows were all heavy tinted black, and it looked like some kind of spy mobile. Well, I saw this old guy sitting in the side door having a drink, and I went up to him and asked him about the van. When I got up close, it was really cool inside, had a bed, small stove, fridge, plus a bunch of computers and stuff all mounted into the walls (really unusual because this was back in 1991), it looked ultra modern inside, even with the outside being a 20 plus year old van. I talked to the guy and it turned out that he was a retired Air Force Colonel, and he had been driving that Van for several years, and he had really tricked it out with computers and stuff, and he even had a reworked HUD (Heads Up Display) from a F-15 fighter plane, and Infra Red Sensors and other stuff, pretty cool and long before any other cars had anythink like this. After talking with hime for a while, he said that because of his connections with the Air Force, he had brought and driven that Van on "Every" continent on the planet (except Antartica), and that he had been doing this for the last 5 or 7 years. The reason that he chose VW van is because you can get parts for it "everywhere" and they are cheap as well, and that this vehicle gets good gas mileage, and is easy to work on and you could take the whole engine appart with just a limited set of tools, even on the side of the road. He even showed me that he could print out the manual that he had stored on his computer, to assist in any complex repair. So if you have any kind of mechanical knowledge, you can basically get yourself fixed and back on the road in few minutes, to a day or so. I would go for a VW van… We had a couple while we were growing up and they worked great, and they have a nice low door on the side. Prehaps the best reason why I think that they are pretty cool is this little story. Sometime while I was in College, (back in the early 90’s) I saw this black VW van in a grocery store parking lot, what caught my attention is that it had a small deployable satellite dish, plus a number of other antennas on the roof, the windows were all heavy tinted black, and it looked like some kind of spy mobile. Well, I saw this old guy sitting in the side door having a drink, and I went up to him and asked him about the van. When I got up close, it was really cool inside, had a bed, small stove, fridge, plus a bunch of computers and stuff all mounted into the walls (really unusual because this was back in 1991), it looked ultra modern inside, even with the outside being a 20 plus year old van. I talked to the guy and it turned out that he was a retired Air Force Colonel, and he had been driving that Van for several years, and he had really tricked it out with computers and stuff, and he even had a reworked HUD (Heads Up Display) from a F-15 fighter plane, and Infra Red Sensors and other stuff, pretty cool and long before any other cars had anythink like this. After talking with hime for a while, he said that because of his connections with the Air Force, he had brought and driven that Van on “Every” continent on the planet (except Antartica), and that he had been doing this for the last 5 or 7 years. The reason that he chose VW van is because you can get parts for it “everywhere” and they are cheap as well, and that this vehicle gets good gas mileage, and is easy to work on and you could take the whole engine appart with just a limited set of tools, even on the side of the road. He even showed me that he could print out the manual that he had stored on his computer, to assist in any complex repair.
So if you have any kind of mechanical knowledge, you can basically get yourself fixed and back on the road in few minutes, to a day or so.

]]> By: Kevin http://www.inavandownbytheriver.com/the-little-can-that-could-checking-out-the-vw-minibus/comment-page-1/#comment-32 Kevin Tue, 11 Sep 2007 21:45:06 +0000 http://www.inavandownbytheriver.com/the-little-can-that-could-checking-out-the-vw-minibus/#comment-32 Just a thought… How about the largest UPs-style delivery vehicle you can find, that runs diesel, and work out a compact method for a biodiesel processor. Then you just might be able to make a good part of your trip without paying for gas at all, and the delivery vehicle would give WAY more headroom than anything else… Stink about it! Just a thought…

How about the largest UPs-style delivery vehicle you can find, that runs diesel, and work out a compact method for a biodiesel processor. Then you just might be able to make a good part of your trip without paying for gas at all, and the delivery vehicle would give WAY more headroom than anything else…

Stink about it!

]]> By: Roger http://www.inavandownbytheriver.com/the-little-can-that-could-checking-out-the-vw-minibus/comment-page-1/#comment-17 Roger Tue, 11 Sep 2007 20:08:03 +0000 http://www.inavandownbytheriver.com/the-little-can-that-could-checking-out-the-vw-minibus/#comment-17 BTW, looking at that bus and not knowing mileage, rebuilds, etc.. Just the condition of the body and the original items included that bus is worth about 4-5K. Push for 4 and use the extra thousand to fix the breaks and make sure the muffler and heater boxes are at least intact as holes in the heater boxes are bad for heat ;-).. If you want more VW advice, I would be happy to help you... BTW, looking at that bus and not knowing mileage, rebuilds, etc.. Just the condition of the body and the original items included that bus is worth about 4-5K. Push for 4 and use the extra thousand to fix the breaks and make sure the muffler and heater boxes are at least intact as holes in the heater boxes are bad for heat ;-) .. If you want more VW advice, I would be happy to help you…

]]> By: Roger http://www.inavandownbytheriver.com/the-little-can-that-could-checking-out-the-vw-minibus/comment-page-1/#comment-16 Roger Tue, 11 Sep 2007 20:03:49 +0000 http://www.inavandownbytheriver.com/the-little-can-that-could-checking-out-the-vw-minibus/#comment-16 Again, sorry about harping on the bus... That bus needs a break job. Depending on the rest of condition, you should be able to pick it up for about 2 - 5 grand, the breaks would cost about 400 to completely replace.. If the Odyssey's break were to fail, you'd be looking at at least 1 thousand, and thats before they started ripping you off... Buy a chiltons for the bus and you could do the whole break job, on the side of the road, in the rain, take you about a half a day and cost you a couple of hundred bucks... Again, sorry about harping on the bus… That bus needs a break job. Depending on the rest of condition, you should be able to pick it up for about 2 – 5 grand, the breaks would cost about 400 to completely replace..

If the Odyssey’s break were to fail, you’d be looking at at least 1 thousand, and thats before they started ripping you off…

Buy a chiltons for the bus and you could do the whole break job, on the side of the road, in the rain, take you about a half a day and cost you a couple of hundred bucks…

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