Tom's VW Pages




 Welcome to Tom's VW Pages - a simple little site dedicated to VW's, primarily Vanagons. Created with Notepad, this bandwidth-friendly site is focused on quick-loading content rather than "eye candy". Kinda like the VW's that we love - plenty of substance with no need to be flashy. There is plenty of good information inside, so surf on!
What's New


 The 2001 Mid Atlantic Holiday Bus Fest was Sunday, December 9th, 2001! This annual event is held in the Takoma Park/Silver Spring area of MD. This was the 7th consecutive December that us VW lovers have gotten together to celebrate our fascination with these vehicles. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for pictures and info from previous year's events.

 New Tech Article! Stuart MacMillan from the Vanagon list wrote a really informative article about a rod bearing failure on his engine. He also includes some tips on keeping your 2.1L engine from suffering the same fate!


Tom's VW's
  • 1965 Notchback
  • 1966 Beetle (RIP)
  • 1981 Vanagon Westy
  • 1985 Vanagon Crew Cab

  •  I have a small collection of VW's to play with when I find the time. My daily driver is a 1985 Vanagon Crew Cab. I used to drive my 1965 Notchback daily until it burned a valve in 1996. It's still waiting for me to install the spare engine I picked up. My long term project is a 1982 diesel-powered Vanagon Westfalia camper. The diesel engine gave out in mid-1996, and I have been slowly upgrading it to a GTI engine since. Look for it to hit the campgrounds in Summer 2002!


    Vanagon Engine Conversions
  • Diesel =>Gas
  • Diesel =>Turbodiesel
  • Tranmissions
  • Air/Wasser =>Other
  • Vendors


  •  When I started my Vanagon engine conversion back in 1996, there was little or no conversion information available on the Internet. In response, I put together a Vanagon Conversion Information page that documents as many of the engine conversions as I could find. In the past 2 years, several companies have started offering conversion kits and parts, so I have also added links to these vendors.
    Vanagon Tech Pages
  • Clutch replacement
  • 1.9L Water Pump
  • Alternator Alternatives
  • Front Shocks
  • Steel Brake Line Repair
  • Front Wheel Bearings
  • Upper Ball Joints
  • CV Joint Servicing
  • Vanagon Trans Problems


  •  This is a collection of "how-to" and informational articles I have written about maintaining and upgrading your Vanagon. All articles are fully illustrated and written with the home mechanic in mind. You won't need "VW special tool #1386" to follow my procedures!


    If you would like to author an article, feel free to E-mail me and I will be happy to include it in these pages.
  • Westy Rear Seatbelts

  •  Helmut Ziedler wrote this great article about installing rear seatbelts in a Westy camper.
  • 2.1 Rod Bearing Failures

  •  Stuart MacMillan tells you how to avoid catastrophic engine failure on your 2.1L Wasser engine!

    Cool VW Stuff
  • Bugs In The Library!
  • Bill Gates Golf Commercial
  • Michael Vickey's VW's
  • Local Photos
  • VW Links



  •  This is a collection of cool VW stuff that people have sent me or I came across. If you have something just aching to be included, drop me a line!
    Mid Atlantic Holiday
    Bus Fests
  • 1996 Bus Fest
  • 1997 Bus Fest
  • 1998 Bus Fest
  • 1999 Bus Fest
  • 2000 Bus Fest
  • 2001 Bus Fest



  • Spittie Cookies  The quiet neighborhoods of Takoma Park and Silver Spring, Maryland should be getting used to seeing many Vanagons around Christmas. After all, for six consecutive years, this annual holiday Washington DC area get-together for VW Vanagon/Bus owners and enthusiasts has been the perfect way to get the holidays in full swing. I caught a few pictures from the 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001 events. Karl Bloss took care of the picture duties for the 1999 Bus Fest.






    Notepad Logo Last Updated - 1/03/2002
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