The Kombi Files

Now that few of us inhabit the same country, let alone the same state or town, it's time for our beloved kombi to go. Scene of many good times, friends (and the occasional thieving scumbag) it has been a great part of our lives for a decade. Even if a good portion of that decade was spent in various states of disrepair. It has been bought a professional VW restorer so we hope that the van will get the fancy restoration it deserves and live out its new life as the pampered toy of a wealthy baby boomer. Not many cars receive this fate! Although at the end of the day, being melted down to make a newer, safer, more efficient vehicle is a worthy end too.

Farewell, kombi, it's been fun. And thanks Mrs West for letting us park it at your house for so long!

hopefully Ash will leave this site up as homage to our perseverance, mechanical ineptitude and penchant for crass metaphors. Maybe there is even some information buried in these pages that can help someone doing their own VW restoration!

The Kombi still lives. However when I saw this beast for sale on the side of the road I couldn't resist!

It's a 1994 Mistubishi Delica, privately imported from Japan, by person or persons unknown.

The good news:

• 4WD


• turbo diesel


• seats for 8 people


• the price! I got it down to $2500.

The bad news: Lots. Space doesn't permit listing all the little things that need fixing. It's a 20 year old second hand car.

Stay tuned - we're going to have fun with this. There's a great forum online at delicaclub.com which has loads of info about these vehicles.

Today was a touch hit and miss. We started late due to assorted hangovers and hampered the afternoon's enthusiasm by having a couple of beers during the day.

Paul drove the quad bike around and around and playing with the fire was somehow more appealing to our caveman instincts than lying on our back, on the bricks, undoing cold bolts covered in oily grime...

The interesting news is that the van started pretty easily, despite spending 18 months chillin' out at Mrs West's place.

Despite taking the kombi for a test drive and having a really good look we have been unable to pinpoint the oil leak. More investigation tomorrow.

I would conjecture that the engine is slightly bigger in size than a mobile telephone and somewhat smaller in size than the great pyramid at Giza in Egypt.

Is that any help?

How could we forget the engine size?

Perhaps a few years of booze was all it took. I checked my photo of the compliance plate and that doesn't show anything.

Can anyone suggest how big our engine is?

After languishing under a tarpaulin for over a year, the kombi's sexy curves have seduced us once more, and it's time to get intimate with her again. Much like a woman, there are many mysteries hidden beneath that sexy exterior and much like any sensible man, the best way to explore those mysteries is to charge in there with the biggest tool you can find.

At risk of overdoing the metaphor, the two torque wrenches at our disposal should come in most useful.

It's shaping up to be an awesome weekend of mechanical work, the likes of which have not been seen since Noala Pl hosted the original Kombi project all those years ago, when we were fresh-faced undergrads with more enthusiasm for a 30-year-old German van than our studies. I for one think this is an admirable attitude and I hope our roadtrip to the city to surf will be the first of many to come, now that we are all safely graduated and at least some of us gainfully employed.

The plan is to pull the engine to bits, have a look at it, then re-assemble it with new bits where required. I've just got off the phone to Ross the VW guy in Orange, who assures us he can source all the gaskets, seals, and other miscellanea the engine will inevitably need. He also suggests that the Van engine had an aluminium case and therefore may not need as much work as the older magnesium motors. This is the first bit of good news we've had and gives us some hope that we'll get get the work done before the city to surf, or at least before the entropy death of the universe.

Much, much more to follow over the coming week.

This Kombi project has been fantastic, and as a true testament to how good the van is I've been living in it for the past six months. :)

He he, and seriously, it is a fantastic house! Check out the pics, you can see that I'm in a high-rise car park and the security is really good, which means I sleep soundly at night.

By living in the van I've saved the cash I need to begin a new adventure: to sail around the world! You can keep tabs on our progress at the sailing website here: http://norris.org.au/sail/

The kombi will still be loved and to keep her in top notch condition she will be put up on blocks and mothballed at a secret location near Orange. I'll keep this website up though, there is still heaps of invaluable information for anyone else attempting such a project with as much ignorance as us...

The Kombi has been my home for the past six months (more to come on that) and now its website has found a new home.

I'm losing my hosting access at the ANU and have been forced to purchase actual real-world hosting...actually, I have found it to be excellent!!!

As I said, I've been living in he van for the past six months and am about to embark on a new adventure. Head here if you are interested...peace...

Yep, it's a vortec 8100... eight point one litres of gas-guzzling Yank fatness. No wonder they think it's the end of the world now that petrol over here is almost 90 cents a litre. Which oil-producing country can they invade next?

Hey Ash.. What is the latest on the engine refit?? Or is is still too cold up there in our nations capital?

Guest Submitter: Pete