Make sure it goes into/out of 3/4 gear very nice and easy.  I bought mine
and the 3/4 slider broke weeks later. Had I known about the problem, I
would've noticed that the 3rd gear was a toughy..

Take a CLOSE look at the heads for any signs of leakage.  Take a coolant
sample and have it analyzed (SOMEWHERE?) for the presence of a sealing
product (alumseal, bars leak, etc)

Do/get a compression test?

Perform the at-harness ECU test described in Bentley. Simply requires an
ohmmeter.

Bradley Flubacher
State College, PA
'82 VW diesel westy
'84 GL wasserboxer

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf
Of Standley, Craig
Sent: Wednesday, July 18, 2001 3:25 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Looking to buy

I've been lurking on the list for a while, but was an active member  a while
ago (I joined the original vanagon@lenti list back in '95).  I used to own a
'74 Bus painted up like a cow, and then had an '81 for a while.  I'm looking
to get into the water leaking scene now.

I found an '83 Westy at a dealer, it's got 82,000 miles on it.  The body is
OK, there is a huge dent on the slider and the rear bumper could use
replacing.  No rust though, or evidence of a hard hit.  I'm going to take it
to a shop to check it out before I buy.  They wanted $5500, I offered $4500
(conditional on my final approval and the mechanic's report) and they
accepted that.  I has a professional looking furnace, it's got a thermostat
and a fancy vent that's been plumbed in like the fridge.

Any tips?  Should I avoid the '83 since it's the first year of the water
cooled engine?  Any way to tell if the heads are about to go?  Supposedly
the water pump and a couple coolant lines were replaced within the last
year, the dealer did the work and claims to have documentation on it.

Thanks, and it's good to be back.

-Craig