Nope, I've been lucky so far in the past 13 years I've been traveling here
and there with several trips from the left cost to the east coast and back.

Had a fan switch go bad once, didn't have a spare, so I rigged to have it
manually switched using a spare rear defogger switch in 1999 and haven't
switched back since.  And yes I carry at least two headlight switches just
in case, never needed yet.  The box area under the rear seat/bed is very
well packed.  Lessee, spare new fuel injectors and seals, belts, some weird
coolant hoses, assorted relays....like I said, the list goes on and on and
on....looked there this morning and I shake my head wondering how I get it
all in there....spare coolant expansion tank and 2 oil filters in the main
closet on the floor of it....sheesh ;)
--
Jim Thompson
84 GL 1.9 "Gloria"
84 Westfalia 2.1 "Ole Putt"
72 411 Station Wagon "Pug"
75 914 1.8 (No Name Yet)
Full Timing Since March 1999
oldvolkshome@gmail.com
http://www.oldvolkshome.com
***********************************
On Thu, Apr 15, 2010 at 4:35 AM, miguel pacheco <mundopacheco@gmail.com>wrote:

> Jim, in your case, not having the part you needed in a breakdown,
> would make a far more interesting story. How about it, has it ever
> happened?
> You carry far more than I do, and I'm pretty well equipped.
> Miguel
>
> I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
>  - Thomas A. Edison
>
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 14, 2010 at 10:50 PM, Old Volks Home <oldvolkshome@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>  > Yep,spare 1.9 ECU (replaced one in Adrian, TX off I-40 several years
> ago
> > coming back from Tennessee to SoCal). Plus a starter (replaced that on
> > another trip coming back from Tennessee to So Cal 3 yrs ago), extra hard
> > start relay (I have this installed on all VWs I own and just installed
> one
> > on the 914 this past week), alternator (replaced that about 8 years ago
> in
> > Turlock, CA rest stop - only 20 minutes to do that!), two distributors,
> > water pump, thermostat w/O-Ring, AFM, master cylinder, accel cable,
> ignition
> > switch (electrical part [gave one away to Bev at the Buses By The
> > Bridge event a few years ago] and lock cylinder), fuel pump (replaced
> that a
> > couple of years ago on a Jerome Jamboree trip in the middle of 100+
> degree
> > heat under an overpass on I-10 about 25 miles east of Quartzsite, AZ),
> fuel
> > filters (both square pre filter and cannister filter), fuel pressure
> > regulator, plugs, rotor, cap, hall unit, ICU,  spark plug wire set,
> coolant
> > ECU sensor, assorted FI connectors w/pigtails, 2 meters of 7mm fuel hose,
> 2
> > meters of 3.5mm vacuum hose, lotsa appropriate clamps, assorted bulbs and
> > the list goes on and on and on....Very well equipped multi-drawer toolbox
> > that would normally go on top of a roll-away - this sits on the floor
> > directly behind the passenger seat.
> > When you live full time in a Westy, it's best to be prepared for most
> > contingencies :)
> > --
> > Jim Thompson
> > 84 GL 1.9 "Gloria"
> > 84 Westfalia 2.1 "Ole Putt"
> > 72 411 Station Wagon "Pug"
> > 75 914 1.8 (No Name Yet)
> > Full Timing Since March 1999
> > oldvolkshome@gmail.com
> > http://www.oldvolkshome.com
> > ***********************************
> > On Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 8:59 AM, mark drillock <mdrillock@cox.net>
> wrote:
> >
> >> On the weekend I got a call from a friend in trouble. He had taken a
> >> group of people up to a lake a few hours from home, using his 86 GL as a
> >> tour bus. Everything went fine and they made it up the 5000' mountain
> >> without incident. After unloading he decided to park in a different spot
> >> and the van would crank fine but not start.
> >>
> >> He checked for spark, ouch, a-ok.
> >> He had just filled the tank, so plenty of gas, bad fuel?
> >> He bought some starting fluid and it fired right up and quickly died,
> >> each time he sprayed.
> >> He changed the fuel filter, no joy.
> >> He pulled the injectors from one side, no fuel spraying, aha!
> >> Pulled a fuel line loose, cranked, plenty of flow.
> >> He pinched the return line shut, cranked, still no spray at injectors
> >> but a new leak showed in a line.
> >> Bought an injector noid light, noid light blinked during cranking.
> >> I told him the ECU could still be at fault, strong enough injector
> >> pulses to blink the noid light but not enough juice to fire the
> injectors?
> >> AAA called, made it home by tow truck.
> >> Installed his spare ECU from his Westy under bench storage, fired right
> up!
> >>
> >> Mark
>