I have gone through a rash of small issues this year which me had me put my
van up for sale for about two weeks in May.  Lots of interest but no one
willing to take the plunge.  I decided to throw some money into replacing a
bunch of coolant hoses and completing some other odds and ends so hopefully
now I am back on the reliable side of the road.  I realized going through
the selling process especially when relegated to the passenger seat - I did
not want to sell my van as nothing quite compares to bombing down the
freeway in a vanagon especially with a trip on the horizon.

We are about to head down south into Washington State for some camping and
the van is running top notch.  I have more projects in store as I have got
a renewed interest in keeping my girl going.  Anyway I pat the dash and tap
the wheel and give thanks to a trip well enjoyed - a gift really from that
wonderful fun piece of machinery and comfort.

Bruce

86 Westy Syncro - "White Sail"

On Thu, Jul 31, 2014 at 8:42 PM, Brent Weide <brent.weide@gmail.com> wrote:

> I often pat my van on the head. But most of the time it's tentatively
> because of my past experiences and the fact that i expect failures. And
> when she doesn't fail me (and she hasn't for a long time) I can't forget
> the past failures and pat her in a way that says "you've been reliable for
> so long....nothing else is going to fail, right?"
> I believe that much of the reliablitly enhancements are due to the fact
> that we've swapped out to a subaru engine and i've preemptively replaced
> all of the other known failure points. But i also know that she likes to
> run and run she does.
>
> --
> Brent Weide
> Portland, Oregon
> www.weidefamily.net/vanagon/
>