Greetings list members!

I've been lurking for a short while and have just recently purchased a
very nice 1986 Vanagon GL. At 52 years old I've been a VW fan for many
years. I had a Bettle in my teens and later had a nice '73 bay window
which was totaled about 25 years ago. I've wanted another VW van ever
since. While it's in very nice condition I'll be posting questions
about a few minor issues that I've noted and see what kind of
improvements I can make in the future.

I was lucky enough to purchase it from a 73 year old Dutch gentleman
who was a VW mechanic many years past. For the last 35 years he's
owned a little foreign auto repair shop/dealership specializing in
european cars, especially early VWs. He's now semi-retired and even
though the place is a bit run down, he seems to still enjoy working on
the few cars that roll in, at his own pace of course.

He'd owned the van since 2000 and put about 10k miles on it. The
odometer shows 215k miles but it looks good and runs strong. He
doesn't know (or remember) the history of the engine so I don't know
if it's been rebuilt. It starts right up, even with the 20 something
degree temps were having here in Indy. The tranny is a 4spd and shifts
through all the gears but it is a bit stiff (I'm guessing due to
limited of use). I've missed a shift once or twice because I didn't
get a gear fully engaged. In the time he owned it he has only replaced
the exhaust and water pump. The tires have plenty of tread but they
have cracking in the side-walls so I'm planning to replace those soon.

I could go on but I thought I would just introduce myself for now and
say hello to the list. I have posted a page with plenty of pictures if
anyone would like to take a peek at the van. Let me know if my $1900
was well spent.

Pics: <http://www.kippert.com/vanagon/>

-Mark

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