1984 Vanagon gets some upgrades!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
- After 39 years, my vanagon needed some suspension and brake upgrades. Over the winter months, I installed the @SmallCarPerformance Big Brake Kit, along with Bilstein HD shocks, Schwenk springs and polyurethane bushings from Powerflex...along with a few other bits and pieces.
As a newbie mechanic, it was a big job, but also a rewarding one as I learned some stuff and have a better Westy to show for it!
Always enjoy hearing from people out there...let me know what you think!
Great video. It’s nice to see the problems found and how to solve it, by a non perfect mechanic as most of us are.
I thought I heard you mention "Small Car Performance" in your narration. I also have an 84 Westy that I recently had them do some work on for me. They did all of that 39 year old deferred maintenance, gave me a new 2.5L Sabaru motor. New gas tank, radiator, power steering, air conditioner, all with only a couple of minor hiccups. OH YEAH, a radio that works with my ipod.* The only thing I didn't do were the brakes, I still have the original 14" steel wheels. So I am holding out on that, and I just recently put tires on it.
I am impressed with your ingenuity, you are far braver than I, Nice video
*Big shout out to Dakota and crew. (SCP)
Huge Thanks, Jimmy Buffet, aka Tom
Thanks Tom! Yeah, SCP sold me brake kit. I had some issues with it but they helped me sort things out and looked after me with some replacement hubs. Good folks over there! Sounds like you’ve got a nice reliable van now with all the upgrades! I definitely had some moments figuring it all out but in the end, it’s all working well! I did have a great local VW mechanic check my work after it was all out back together. Which made me (and my wife!) feel better about my work’ ;)
Excellent, will follow your Vanagon videos, subscribed 😀
Thanks John!! I certainly learned lots from your videos over the past couple of years!
@@makeadventurecanada Thank you 😀
Thank you for sharing your struggles with the vanagon, one 2wd owner here, greetings from Spain!
You’re most welcome! They’re a handful but so much fun!
Great video! Looking forward to seeing more Westy action in the future.
Many thanks. More coming for sure!
Good job ,you made this look so easy 👏
Thanks! Better editor than mechanic ;)
Great video, thanks for putting it together! Sharp Westy
Many thanks!
Top man, i have to do the same on my 81 Westfalia Joker.
Greetings from Germany 🇩🇪
Thanks! Yeah, so much fun playing with these old vans! We used to drive these around Germany and Austria back in the 80s. My old ski team days. Hard to keep up on the autobahn!!
Great work sir !!! I plan on doing a similar upgrade on my Tin Top ! Loved the weld job you did in the radius arm bushing area!
Many thanks! Definitely figuring it out as I go along! Good luck with upgrades!
PB Blaster man's third arm.👍
A fantastic video.
I’m now following you as I own a T3 Syncro that I’ll rebuild shortly.
I’m in Australia 👍
Thanks so much! Good luck with the syncro!!
I think there is a Mercedes pinch nut that will replace the front peened nut, James Akers did a service on his T3 and used one.
Yeah, saw that one. Looks like a nice upgrade…might have to go this route next time I have them off
Nice work man!
Thanks Oli! Certainly gained a lot watching your videos! All the best!
Exelente trabajo, muéstranos un poco más saludos 👏👏😁👍🇲🇽
Great video.
Many thanks!!
Nice job. I did the same on my ‘86 a few years ago. I went with Fox shocks and GoWesty lift spring, I wish I would have went with the Schwenks. The GoWesty springs are too soft. How do you like the Schwenks? I kept the front brakes stock and converted the rears to discs (this was the most noticeable change).
I started like "maybe I could do something like this" and quickly went to, "I would rather sell the van".
It was a little overwhelming but mostly fun… and I learned a few things along the way!
Great job! I'm wondering what wheels you have on your Westy? Planning a big brake and suspension job in the future but I need to upgrade my wheels first.
Many thanks! I’ve got 16” wheels from gowesty. I think they’re pretty much Mercedes knock-offs.
Great video! I’m working on the same for my ‘87. What black coating did you use for the lower portion of your westy?
Many thanks! The black coating was done by the previous owner. To be honest, whatever it is is not great. Starting to peel back from the paint underneath
You make it look so easy, what was your time line on all these operations?
Thanks! I’m a better editor than mechanic! It was over a couple of months during winter. Would head out to the garage when I had some spare time.
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Video not helpful, it goes too fast. Need to slow down and explain step by step what you are doing.
Sorry it didn’t live up to expectations! It wasn’t meant to be a step by step instructional video. There are already some good videos out there that are more instructional. Best of luck to you.