Just wanted to let the list know about my latest juant in our '91 Carat
Automatic Vanagon.  I did some work on the van before the trip:

New Long Plastic coolant lines
New Cap Rotor and Plugs
Changed Oil from 10w-40 to 20w-50 Castrol GTX

Before this work I was getting 16 mpg and I have been getting this
consistantly for about the past two years summer and winter.  I got this mpg
before and after installing a rebuilt Boston Bob engine.  After this recent
work my mpg went up to a rather consistant 19-20mpg.  I am so happy to get
my mileage back as this is what it used to be two years ago.  I don't truely
know what caused the mileage increase, but whatever I did I am glad I did
it:)

The van drove down to Dalton, GA area and back to Millville, NJ with no
problems (praise God!).  While down there I installed a second battery and
started installing tint on the windows (after trying this myself I think I
am going to price a local tint shop).  The 20 mpg I got was with the A/C on
the whole way down and back, while also running a 350 watt invertor for the
kids TV/VCR combo, and powering a Coleman 12v cooler.

After owning this van for about five years now, I can say that we still are
in love with it and it continues to be a faithful mode of transportation for
us.  I am not saying that it hasn't ever left us on the side of the road
(once a few years back you will remember the exploding head gasket saga that
but a huge crimp on our yearly GA trip) but we have spent much more time
enjoying and driving our van than we ever have worrying about if this piece
or that piece is going to fall off.

I think one key to this is good PM.  After my headgasket incident I decided
to put a rebuilt engine in to be sure that we didn't have any more suprizes
on trips due to the engine.  My next big project is the autotransmission. It
is starting to get a little tired (195k miles), and the body needs some
repair work and a repaint.  These repairs are a small price to pay for
having a reliable vehicle that is going to stick around for a few more years
(we hope).  Much cheaper than making the payments on a new mini-van IMHO.

Thanks for caring,
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
http://www.vanagain.com
Phone: (856)-327-4936
Fax: (856)-327-2242