My brother and I just returned from a several week trip in his 82 Westy,
1.9TD. We hit 26 states, east across the country by a northern route,
south on the east coast, back west by southern route, beginning and
ending near San Diego. We spent most nights inside the Westy and
prepared most meals likewise. We kept the fridge running on propane for
3 straight weeks, day and night, parked and 70 mph. It went out a few
times but lit right back up again. I don't do it that way myself but my
brother does and it worked out fine on this trip.

We only opened the engine lid twice, once to tighten a coolant hose
clamp and once to change the oil. We saw and camped near other VW vans
in Utah and Wyoming but east of there NOTHING, except one very nice 89
BlueStar Vanagon in PA, at the Flight 93 memorial and an early wbx Westy
at Bus Depot, again in PA. Various people along the way asked about and
commented favorably on our "classic" VW, most saying they never knew VW
vans came in diesels. We got 24+ mpg over the whole trip, avoiding
interstates where practical.

I guess Vanagons really are mostly a west coast thing now, since I often
see more of them on a trip to HomeDepot than we did traveling for weeks
on end in the east half of the country.

Mark