The valuable useful parts on an 85......my list would fill a whole page or
two. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
neil N
Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 6:18 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: '84 value?

Hi.
No PS.

But lot's of little parts for sure. Thanks for pointer to visor clips.

I'll scavenge what I have time for.

Too bad there's no fridge to get ice cube trays from ..... ;^)

On 11/27/07, Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
>
> I put an entire Power steering 85 front end and PS system onto an 83.
> quite
> a job.
> But it all fits.
> Is this 85 of yours got power steering ?  you can bolt on the rack and run
> it non-PS if you want to. Doesn't seem to hurt. But check that out, if
> it's
> PS or not.
> Friend of mine through away an 85 body.
> Since I re-build and upgrade vanagons from the ground up, I was really
> tearing my hair out over that. I coulda got parts off that thing for
> YEARS.
> Take a simple a thing as the visor holder clips  - ya can't get them that
> I
> know of .
> There are so many great parts on an 85.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> neil N
> Sent: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 4:44 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: '84 value?
>
> This is an interesting thread.
> I still have my 85 parts van in the drive way.
>
> Is it worth pulling the front brakes and suspension for future spare
> parts?
>
> i.e. will the brake and suspension parts bolt up to my 81 Westy?
>
> I was going to just pull the steering rack as it looked the same as my 81
> rack
>
> Thanks!
>
>
>
> Neil (who clearly doesn't need to add work to his engine conversion
> project!)
>
>
>
> On Nov 27, 2007 4:10 PM, Mike Collum <collum@verizon.net> wrote:
>
> > You would have to get the steering knuckles off an '86 or newer model in
> > order to use the newer brake rotors and calipers, David.
> >
> > Mike
> >
> >
> > David Kao wrote:
> > > Can it be done to put 86+ brake calipers and rotators on an earlier
> > > 1.9 Vanagons? Are the spindles compatible between the two?
> > >
> > > The front brake of my 84 and 83.5 have been a constant issue to me. I
> > > found that I have to use only OEM pads for the front brake to work.
> > Tried
> > > many aftermaket pads with no luck. They are not even close to be
> usable
> > > in my several attempts to use them. VW must have realized the brake
> > issue
> > > so they upgraded it for the 86+ models among other reasons.
> > >
> > > I am concerned that once VW dealers no longer carry them I would be
> > > out of luck for good brake pads.
> > >
> > > David
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --- Mark Drillock <mdrillock@COX.NET> wrote:
> > >
> > >> The main thing is to find one that has been loved enough to be worth
> > >> committing yourself to and don't worry too much about the year.
> > >>
> > >> As Scott says, the later sliding door is a huge improvement that all
> 85
> > >> and newer models have. The better parking brake was phased in during
> > the
> > >> 85 model year and many 85s don't have it. Ditto for the plastic
> coolant
> > >> pipes and cast front lower arms. At least the newer and much better
> > >> parking brake can be easily added to earlier models.
> > >>
> > >> The 86+ has more powerful front brakes to go with the more powerful
> > >> engine. Better caliper design, more pad area, larger effective
> diameter
> > >> rotor and of greater thickness.
> > >>
> > >> The upgraded wiring found in 86+ is a more robust and versatile
> system
> > >> though I'm not sure too many owners would notice the difference.
> > >>
> > >> Lots of small changes were made after 86 as well and the vehicle just
> > >> got a little bit better year by year. I prefer 87 and later but 85 is
> a
> > >> sweet spot in the value curve and 86 is only slightly different than
> > 87.
> >
> >
>
>

--
Neil Nicholson. 1981 Air Cooled Westfalia -
"Jaco"  (Bustorius) http://web.mac.com/tubaneil

Engine swap beginings: http://musomuso.googlepages.com/home