Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2000 01:29:01 -0400
Reply-To: Marc Perdue <marcperdue@adelphia.net>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Marc Perdue <marcperdue@adelphia.net>
Subject: Now that the dash is off . . .
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It occurred to me that this might be a prime time to offer up a learning
experience to any one who's interested. I've got the dash out of my '87
Westy right now and will be attempting to pull the heater/ventilation
fan to clean up and lube the bearings (if they're lubeable . . .). If
there are any volks out there who are newbies like myself to this
Vanagon world (or not) and are curious about any of the stuff that's
under the dash, I'd be happy to report on my findings . . .
I'll tell you one thing already . . . there's no better way to actually
visualize what all those little heater/vent controls are doing, than to
actually hold the flapper unit in your hands and see each flap operate!
What a thrill, hunh? (Honey, where'd I put my medicine?)
Having pulled almost everything out of there and then rapped on the
sheet metal, I'm planning on getting some sort of spray-on material for
acoustics and thermal insulation and spraying it in there.
Found a couple of interesting things:
1. Left front speaker wires had been cut, stripped, spliced together
(twisted, not soldered), and taped up with scotch tape at that place in
the door joint that everyone else has problems with.
2. You know the fresh air duct that goes through the front doors? The
one on the driver's side has a little pouch filled with foam in it
behind the fuse box. Anyone know what that might be all about?
3. There's part of a gym sock wrapped around one of the vent ducts!
4. There's some oily residue on the metal beneath the brake fluid
reservoir.
5. Oh yes, the brake fluid is almost down to Min. Glad I caught that
one in time!
6. It's amazing how much dust can accumulate in the heating/vent ducts.
7. A 6 1/2" deep CD player CAN fit in the Vanagon, in spite of
Crutchfield's saying that max. depth of a unit is 6 1/4". I wound up
exchanging the wimpy Kenwood KRC-2007 that Crutchfield recommends (and
that ate my brother's tape) for the somewhat less wimpy Kenwood
KDC-4015.
8. The Bentley's instructions about taking out the glove box don't work
for mine. Oh, and they left out several steps in the dash removal too .
. .
That's enough of that for now. If y'all get really bored, let me know
and I'll tell you more!
The Bentley talks about splitting the heater unit to get the fan out.
It says there are a number of weld joins that you need to split and that
you need to get these little metal clips to put everything back
together. Does anybody actually use these clips? Do you get them at
the dealer? I can just hear them laughing at me now . . . If you don't
use the clips, how do you seal the thing back? It seems that somebody
answered this when I asked about having heat back in May, but I can't
seem to find that email just now . . .
Thanks all,
Marc Perdue, working in the land of the Hellatious thunderstorms today!
PS--Happy Father's Day to all you other Dads out there!! May you get
that new tool I know you're dreaming of and may your breakfast in bed
not be burnt!