Lucky is our 1987 Volkswagen van. She’s a two-wheel drive Vanagon Westfalia camper that we’ve upgraded over the years to prepare for our Pan-American trip.
We call her ‘Lucky’ for several reasons. We were lucky to find her in 2008 after losing our white 1986 Westfalia to a flood in the parkade of our apartment block. We were also lucky to find a vehicle that was obviously loved before we got it – we are her second owners. She initially caught our attention with her red colour, a symbol of luck and good fortune in Asian cultures.
Since we first bought her, Gregor has done a lot of work to turn Lucky into a cozy home and mobile office. We’d like to thank GoWesty Camper Products for delivering many many parts and services over the years, and for keeping Vanagons and Westfalias like ours alive.
All of the parts listed below were purchased from GoWesty unless otherwise stated.
Here’s a summary of the upgrades we’ve done:
2010:
- Heavy duty steel bumpers
- Second battery kit
- Headlight relay kit
2011:
- Lots of interior work
- Fixed the heating
- GoWesty 2.3L engine (with new cooling system)
- Hemp 3-window tent
- 15-inch wheels
2014:
- ARB 37 litre fridge (direct from ARB Canada) (removed old fridge and converted it to storage)
- New brakes all the way around
- New CVs
- New shocks and springs
- South African headlights and grill
- GoWesty new transmission and limited slip differential
- RMW swing away rack with custom box (for 40 litres extra fuel and 20 litres extra water)
- New Yokohama GeoLandar A/T-S 205/70R15 tires (local purchase)
- Sure-Flo faucet…we love this new faucet!
2015:
- Aux battery was not charging fully with the original wire from the dashboard, so Gregor ran a wire from the starter battery to the relay directly. Charges great now!
2016:
- Hemp tent rotted in Costa Rica, new tent
- Yokohama Geolandars wore out! Installed BFG AT KO2 215/75R15 in Chile
2017:
- GoWesty :
- 1.5″ Lift springs
- XHD Bilstien shocks
- Big Brake kit
- Porsche 930 axle and CV kit
- Stainless steel exhaust
- EFI replacement
- Blazecut fire suppression system
- heater core and front heater fan
- Rocky Mountain Westy
- Tire swing away
Over the years, Gregor has done some body work and has kept up with items that have needed repair or maintenance. Of course items break as we go along, but Lucky always seems to live up to her name.