1989 Westfalia in Brooklyn, NY

Last Updated: 7/16/2023 | Ad Source: Craigslist

Asking Price: $35,000

 

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1989 VW Vanagon Westfalia

Good looking and mechanically sound van, fitted with a Subaru EJ 253 2.5 SOHC engine and automatic transmission. Approximately 101,000 miles. Fully functional air conditioning. Fully functional electric mirrors, windows, and door locks.

I’ve driven it all over NY/NJ/CT/VT over the last three years and have continued with repairs and upgrades. Van has been extremely reliable – no breakdowns or tows – on the weeklong trips we take around the northeast.

Overall very clean with the interior exceptionally clean and all camping equipment like new, with the exception of the original refrigerator that was removed.

Brief history of vehicle, partially verifiable via autocheck:

Owned by a family / handed down until 2017 who had the original waterboxer replaced with a EJ251 SOHC engine from a 2000 Impreza by RMW and the transmission rebuilt by an AAMCO-type shop. Upon developing another coolant leak in the heads, was sold in 2017 wherein the EJ251 long block was replaced by EJ253 long block +/-2017 along with some bodywork and repaint in Wolfram Grey. Subaru conversion includes RMW aluminum coolant expansion tank, intake, and 48-state catalytic convertor. Sold again in February 2020 to a gentlemen who continued the restoration with installation of:

Completely rebuilt suspension with new upper control arms, bushings, new springs, shock absorbers, T3 sway bars and end links
New CV boots
New power steering rack and pinion, tie rods, hoses, canister, etc.
Replaced headlights, lenses, mounts etc. with European H4 kit and relays from VanCafe
New gas tank, fuel pump, and fuel lines; cleaned roll over valves and overflow tanks
GoWesty Big Brake kit and rear disks
Rebuilt AC with new parallel flow aluminum condenser, new dryer, all new hoses and fitings; replaced AC wiring with new Trinary switch with all new wiring and pulse width modulated controller in rear pillar. AC converted to RedTek
New front hubs and bearings
New Behr radiator, hoses, and Auto Cool Guy NB-50 variable speed electronic radiator fan controller in place of original
Installed front and rear RMW Twin Peaks bumpers
Installed Das Mule rock sliders
GoWesty external transmission cooler
2001 CLK 240 16” wheels
I purchased in May 2021 from a Samba list member who had determined that his health would not allow him to travel in the van as planned, and have continued with repairs, maintenance and upgrades.

Exterior

8 Foot Fiamma F45s awning

New GoWesty tent – no stains

Gary Lee rack included. Can easily accommodate three bikes, can get more by alternating positions. Bike trays not included. You will need a split tray if you want to use it at the ladder location. Lots of additional configurations available – see vwrack.com.

Thule cross bars on Northwesty stainless feet are included – Yakima box not included. The Northwesty feet are very similar to the 4-bolt Yakima mounts, but in stainless. Thule bars can accept almost all Yakima and Thule accessories and don’t allow rotation.

“Bombay Jack” assist struts are mounted to help lift the pop-top because of the roof box – medium weight struts installed. Top can be lifted with Yakima box fully loaded, but it is still hard. With minimal load in box, top is easy to lift and will stop where positioned on the way down to check that the tent is fully folded.

GoWesty “Wasserstopper” installed – this is basically a rain skirt for the top when lifted to keep it dry.

New GoWesty LP installed in 2020, not filled, includes misc. connection hoses to plumb external tank

Included is a Magma marine grill and connection hose to the LP tank. You can see the mounting bracket on the rear bumper.

RMW “oversized” spare tire carrier mounted, but some work needed to re-support lower radiator hoses to clear 16” tire. Full size spare included as is a space saver spare.

All running lights / turn signals converted to LED.

Some seam rust developing under paint on driver side lower – see pictures. And there is a spot on the passenger side rear quarter where the paint was buffed through. Included will be the multi-step paint products in the correct wolfram gray to make repairs.

Interior

ODB-II scan gauge wired to location on steering column (from ECU beneath rear bench).

All camping accessories and cabinets are clean and function. Rear bench and cushion fabric for upper and lower bunks are clean and without significant stains. Interior looks new except for +/- ½” rip in vinyl on dash on passenger side.

All house accessories rewired to house battery located under rear seat adjacent to starter battery. Blue Sea disconnect installed. ProMariner 20a dual charger. Wiring documentation for modifications included.

Dynamat Extreme installed on doors and wall cavities.

New carpet from Van Café installed 2019-2020.

Steering wheel from 1995 Eurovan

I installed a new GPS speedo and instrument foil replacement kit from Go Westy earlier this year. The odometer had become intermittent, the speedometer bounced until you got above 30 mph, and the speedometer was off by ~6% because of the larger tires.

Backup camera installed.

Classic looking radio installed w/ RCA to iphone connection routed through GoWesty ashtray elimination kit. Bluetooth antennae also included that plugs into stereo to allow for phone connection via Bluetooth, but I was getting interference from the fan controller so stopped using.

Custom step installed in front table bracket – similar to RMW version, but homemade and painted to match the grey interior.

Rear table support modification to allow table to be locked into position at any height.

Last summer I removed the rear headbanger and repaired the original plastic condensate drip pan to stop condensation from dripping into the rear cargo area. Drains are properly plumbed to exterior vent area.

The onboard water tank is fitted with a pump that feeds a hose connection at the exterior hookups. Makes for a great shower or bike wash.

Supplemental 12v accessory plug installed in rear pedestal of passenger seat – intended for powering a refrigerator but we used it mainly to charge ipads for the backseat occupant.

Front seats converted to Chrysler Town and Country “stow-n-go” seats. Both swivel.

GoWesty shoulder belt installed for backseat, passenger side. Did not install on driver side because it requires modifying the closet cabinet.

Most recent maintenance:

New starting battery 6/23 (Optima blue top)
New alternator 5/23
New GPS speedo 4/23 (Go Westy)
New instrument cluster foil replacement 4/23 (Go Westy)
Overhead AC and cabinet removed, cleaned, and condensation drains fixed 10/22
New house battery 9/22 (Optima blue top)
New water lines 9/22
New Kumho Crugen HT51 XL, 215-65/16 tires 7/22
Front door cards replaced with ABS plastic 6/22
New headlight switch 6/22
New window switches 6/21
Coolant temp sensor 6/21
Driver window regulator 5/21
Full inspection – checked operation of everything, all suspension bolts 5/21

Known Issues:

The passenger door handle / lock is malfunctioning. You have to pull up on the lock tab to operate the level.

Alternator light ON although alternator replaced and charging voltage verified good. It is unknown if there is an issue with the alternator control wire or newly installed instrument cluster foil replacement. I’ve driven it a couple thousand miles with no issues.

Missing AC vent on headbanger above rear bench – can likely order 3d printed replacement if cannot be sourced.

Cruise control not operational – all parts appear to be there, but it is not working. I think it would have be modified regardless because of replacement instrument cluster wiring.

Other Spares / Misc.

Bosch fuel pump and filter
Original vanagon steering wheel
Misc. Subaru conversion accessories – VSS, timing belt, gears, idle speed control valve
Variable speed electronic pulse width modulated fan controller
RMW front skid plate (removed to allow for oversized tire carrier)
Original door cards – vinyl / fabric in good condition. Driver’s door needs new backing.
Bottle jack under driver seat
Misc. electrical under passenger seat.
Autocoolguy “no-buzz” box. Although advertised as a “no-buzz” controller, the fan controller buzzes. This box, not mounted, is wired in-line and stops the controller from humming. Really only noticeable in the winter when the windows are up or in the summer when running the AC and driving at slower speeds.
Supplemental coolant water pump – Subaru conversions suffer from slow heating of the front coil. This could be installed to supplement coolant flow to speed heating of the cabin.
Original speedometer
Original ashtray

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Last Updated on July 22, 2023 by VanagonAds