Dead Mouse, Interior Pull, and a Couple Mods

Bus, Microbus, Transporter, Station Wagon, Vanagon, Camper, Pick-Up.

Moderators: Sluggo, Amskeptic

Post Reply
User avatar
sped372
IAC Addict!
Location: Waunakee, WI
Status: Offline

Dead Mouse, Interior Pull, and a Couple Mods

Post by sped372 » Wed Oct 10, 2018 6:18 am

After going through the various stages of knowing something died inside one's vehicle (denial, anger, depression, acceptance) I set out to locate the source. Smell was strongest (so gross) near the water cabinet but nothing was visible in any of the accessible areas. Sigh.

Image

This is uncharted territory for me, thankfully the procedure in the Bentley was fairly helpful. The further I dug the more disheartened I got, it's maddening to take more and more things apart that were all fully functional. You just know things aren't guaranteed to go back together perfectly.

Image

Several hours later, found him behind the panel behind the rear corner closet. Yuck. Thankfully he was still "solid" unlike the one I had to remove from my old Subaru. :pukeright:

Image

My new "garage living room" setup.

Image

And much cleaning ensued...

Image

Much better

Image

While everything was apart I figured I should treat the (thankfully small amount of) rust I found back there. Here's a shot after wire brushing and primer.

Image

Also ordered up some Assuan Brown in a can, turned out to be a fairly good match. Especially for behind the cabinets where nobody will see it anyway.

Image

Then I set about implementing the city water fan modification. Made up an adapter plate to mount the fan into the GoWesty box. Just a simple aluminum plate with the correct hole patterns sandwiches everything together, trapping a bug screen too.

Image

Redneck CNC mill action:

Image

Image

Voila!

Image

Image

Image

And then running wires to power the fan and also a new 12v socket back by the rear table. I used piggyback terminals to tap into the thermostat on the back of the fridge. Three way switch up behind the drivers seat for always-on, on with the thermostat, and off. Should give some flexibility.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Curious to see how much of a difference the fan makes. I would have probably not gotten around to doing this if I hadn't had everything apart anyway.

New water lines:

Image

New stove panel too, what the heck, why not?

Image

Reassembling clean parts is such a much more positive experience!

Image

Image

Image

I've since "finished up" and tested the fridge on 110v (it works!). The weather has been garbage here so I haven't had a chance to try propane yet, hopefully that all goes smoothly as well. In the end, I would really have preferred to not have to do this but it feels nice to have everything cleaned up and to have gained a better understanding of how it all fits together. I'll try to post back on the results of the fan as we camp next summer. If anyone can use the dimensions of the adapter plate and/or what fan I used I'm happy to share.
1971 Karmann Ghia - 1600 DP
1984 Westfalia - 1.9 WBX

User avatar
Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
IAC "Help Desk"
Status: Offline

Re: Dead Mouse, Interior Pull, and a Couple Mods

Post by Amskeptic » Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:56 pm

sped372 wrote:
Wed Oct 10, 2018 6:18 am
A) After going through the various stages of knowing something died inside one's vehicle (denial, anger, depression, acceptance) I set out to locate the source.

B) Curious to see how much of a difference the fan makes. I'll try to post back on the results of the fan as we camp next summer.

C) I would really have preferred to not have to do this but it feels nice to have everything cleaned up and to have gained a better understanding of how it all fits together.

a) What steps can you take to prevent a repeat dead body experience?

b) what is this fan supposed to do for you?

c) totally
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

User avatar
sped372
IAC Addict!
Location: Waunakee, WI
Status: Offline

Re: Dead Mouse, Interior Pull, and a Couple Mods

Post by sped372 » Wed Oct 17, 2018 5:31 am

Amskeptic wrote:
Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:56 pm
a) What steps can you take to prevent a repeat dead body experience?

b) what is this fan supposed to do for you?

c) totally
Colin
a) Not sure. I am 99% sure we brought it home from our last trip, based on the available evidence. There is a very good chance it just came in through the sliding door (we leave it open all the time at the campsite).

b) Exhaust the heat generated by the refrigerator to the outside world. Westfalia's design just has all that heat percolate up through the vents on the back of the cabinet into the interior of the vehicle... it's quite noticeable when running on propane and makes for even warmer conditions while trying to sleep in the summer. Should help the fridge work better too, but we'll see about that. Primary goal is just to get (at least some of) that heat out!

c) Knowledge is power?
1971 Karmann Ghia - 1600 DP
1984 Westfalia - 1.9 WBX

Post Reply