Hi,

I just joined this list, and the messages seem interesting so far.  My wife
and I have just acquired a 1981 Vanagon, Westfalia camper (Deluxe package,
whatever that means).  It is in overall excellent shape.  The finish rubbed
out and waxed up to look really good, and the interior is in great shape,
with the only real damage a hole about 4" square in the inside paneling
right where the table apparently swung back and hit the wall.  Even the
upholstery is in pretty good shape -- some wear, but no holes or tears.

The original owners put 93K+ miles on it by 1986, when the person we got it
from bought it.  She put on only enough to reach 105,000 at the present
time, and the bus hadn't been started in 15 months when we bought it last
week for $1100.  Was this a good deal?

I got it started with no problem, and everything works, except I haven't
tried the refer on propane or 12v yet (works OK on 120v).  It came with
both instruction books.  It is an automatic.  We will take a picture of it
and put it on our web page, and when we do, I will post the URL here.

The question:  Just to the left of the heater controls (between the heater
controls and the steering column) there is a hole in the dash with an
aluminum thing in it.  At the back is an electrical contact (hot).  This is
not the cig lighter, which is on the other side of the heater controls.  In
the owner's manual on the diagram of the dash, this is shown as a circle,
but not labeled.  What is this?

Thanks,

Bill
----------------------------------------------------------
Remember, it ain't what you don't know that hurts you,
        it's what you do know that's wrong.