VW Eurovan Westy poptop cleaning

It has been a while since I cleaned the poptop of my Westy.

My project for today was to clean it.  I bought the recommended Fiberglass Oxidation Remover and 303 Aerospace protectant from GoWesty (their prices were competitive with other online vendors).

Here is a photo of one section before.  Notice all the oxidation and spots.

With a few rags, an orbital and some elbow grease, I was able to do the poptop in less than an hour.  Here is the end result.  I sprayed it with the 303 protectant as well.

 

1.5" lift of my Eurovan

My Eurovan was loaded up pretty heavy on my 2015 trip to Burning Man from San Diego.  It was evident that with the already low clearance and the upgrade 16" wheels and larger tires that it was riding quite close to the wheel well in the rear.

A lot of Eurovan owners, GoWesty, and Cole Ford from CaveVan have all mentioned or installed a lift.  I decided it was time.

First, you need the spacers for the rear (the front is simply adjusted with a special socket to adjust the front torsion bars).  The rear spacers can be purchased from CaveVan or GoWesty.  I got mine from CaveVan because Cole Ford has been very helpful in the Eurovan groups over the years.  The spacers are essentially a high grade, dense plastic ring that go in between the body and the spring.

It is obvious that the spacers go on the top of the spring.  There are a couple of ways to do the installation (leave wheel/tire on or take it off), and I used both because I didn't realize that the spacers need to go on top of the existing OEM rubber spacer.  So I did the process twice.

For installation, the first step is to remove the bolt on the underside of the shock.


Next you need to jack the Eurovan up to the point that the wheel comes off the ground.  (or if you took the wheel off, then ensure the suspension arm is at its bottom most point)


See now that the suspension arm is down that the spring can be removed with a little pulling.


Next, remove the top OEM rubber pad/spacer (notice the keyed area for the spring to sit in).  Then insert your lift spacers above (mine are white, shown in photo).  Also note that the bottom spring pad has  keyed area for the spring to sit in.  Be sure to line those areas up so the spring sits properly (top and bottom).


Start lowering jack (wheel should be back on if you removed it... or I guess you could jack the suspension arm up, but I probably wouldn't do it that way).  Ensure that the shock slips into the correct location.  Then put shock bolt/bushing/washer back on and tighten.  You're done.  After doing it twice, I could probably do it again in 15 minutes total.



I have not received my special socket (27mm and very deep) to finish adjustment of the front torsion bars.  But, ultimately, I will bring the Eurovan level and closely monitor alignment and the CV axles/joints for any vibration caused by the angle change.