Date:         Sat, 29 Apr 2000 01:30:12 EDT
Reply-To:     Calwolfie@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Kevin Dawson <Calwolfie@AOL.COM>
Subject:      How to reinstall knob/shaft into arm.
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Hi All,
Recently I've had to figure out how to reinstall the adjusting knob/shaft
into the arm of the front seat in a 87' Westy.   In taking the arm apart I
determined the best thing to do is avoid the problem in the first place as
the knob/shaft is designed to not be withdrawn from the arm without cutting
the foam back and pinching two plastic retaining arms together.  My Dad's was
missing when he bought his van and I think the PO had forced it out thinking
that this would remove the arm from the seat.  This is a mistake as most of
you know as the arm is attached to the seat by large "roll pin".  Regardless,
I was able to put it back together and did take pictures (which I'm sorry but
are are still undeveloped) for a "how to."  You will need a hot glue gun, a
staple gun, a Phillips screw driver, a 6" pairing knife, and approx. 30 min-1
hour of time.

-Remove hard plastic trim held in place by two Phillips screws.
-Remove staples holding fabric cover to wooden part of arm.
-Carefully peal off fabric cover (now is a good time to wash).
-You will now see that the arm has a foam cover that was molded around it.
Under this foam is a black plastic box that contains the parts we need to get
to.  It is attached by four Phillips screws from the top side of the arm
through the wood and into the box.  You will need to "fillet" the foam cover
back but not completely off.  This will aid later in reassembly.  First, lay
arm on side.  Using the bottom side of the box as a guide, slice the foam
away from the bottom of the box going from its front edge to its back edge.
Turn arm to where the top side is down, pull the cut flap up to where you can
now cut down the back end of the box to just where the wood deck is.  Now cut
along each side of the box down to where the wood deck is.  Again, do not cut
the foam off.  The whole black plastic box should be exposed now.  Turn arm
onto the side where you can slice the foam from the wood deck so as to expose
the four screws holding the box to the deck.  Cut the foam starting from the
back of the arm to the front, cut about 6," use the wood as a guide but be
mindful that the screw do stick up, so cut around them.  Again, do not cut
the foam off, just far enough to expose the four screw heads.
-Remove the four screws.  The box should now come loose.  On the side that
goes against the wood deck it is open but covered with tape.  Peel back the
tape.
-Inside the box you should find a loose square nut and a funny looking wire
spring thing (this is an anti-rattle spring).
-Put the Square nut into the slot near the back of the box, this is what the
knob/shaft threads into and then pushes on the side end of a "roll pin" to
raise or lower the arm.  The trick here is to use hot glue to "tack" the nut
into place.  Next you will need to "tack" the anti-rattle spring into place.
It needs to go about half way from where the nut is and where the two little
plastic arms are (which are molded as part of the box and snap into the
narrower part of the shaft when it is in place to keep it from being
withdrawn).  The legs of the spring go into the bottom of the box, while the
cross bar with the dip in it should end up about 1/2" above the bottom.  Hot
glue it in.  The spring is supposed to push up from the bottom of the box
against the side of the shaft so as to keep the shaft from rattling.
-Trial fit knob/shaft so you understand how it all works together.  You will
be installing the knob/shaft last!  So you want to practice now on how to
insert and line up the shaft across the spring and into the nut.  The shaft
will need to be inserted at an angle, in far enough to be past the top of the
spring and then brought down straight (depressing the spring) to go into the
nut.  As the shaft contacts the spring you start turning the shaft as if you
are threading into the nut.  This will keep you from dislodging the spring as
you are moving the shaft toward and into the nut.  When you feel confident,
set the shaft aside as it goes in last.  Screw the box back onto the wood
deck.  Use small beads of hot glue to tack foam back into place.  A small
amount of glue should do.  As you didn't cut the foam completely away it will
almost self align itself as you reassemble.  Slide the fabric cover back on
and staple in place.  Reattach the hard plastic trim.  Now for the moment of
truth.  As you had practiced, insert knob/shaft.  With a little luck you
should be done!  I wish I could attach a picture or drawing but I'm not there
yet.

Thanks again to Joel Walker of the list for suppling a new knob/shaft that
was missing!

Hope this info helps someone else.

Cheers,
Kevin Dawson
87' Wolfie 1/2 Camper

Dad has a 87' Full Camper