Date:         Sat, 29 Mar 2003 16:08:36 EST
Reply-To:     JordanVw@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         JordanVw@AOL.COM
Subject:      got a westy? got drivers side seam rust?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

just to add to Lister John C's post about seam rust - i always find it
interesting about how many westy owners out there have drivers side seam rust
- on that horizontal rocker seam, or on the drivers side body, halfway up,
and they complain about it, or try to touch it up and it always keeps on
coming back - yet they dont do anything about the SOURCE of the problem.   i
have a parts camper that the drivers horizontal seam is totally GONE..

the SOURCE is the 3 camper H2O fill/elec ports...

when westfalia converts these things into campers at weidenbruck, pop a
template on the side of the van, then they take a saber saw and cut 3 holes
into the drivers side body.  they then just put a little foam gasket  around
the plastic accy fill ports, and screw them down. thats it.  no touch up
paint on the ragged metal edge, no silicone seal or caulk.   pretty low
quality IMO.   and then 5-10-15-20 years later these foam gaskets are long
gone, long since disentigrated by time and UV rays..so every time it rains,
water pours down inside your drivers side wall from around these fill ports,
and soaks into your fiberglass insulation behind your drivers side wall
between the body and the cabinets, and pools up in the drivers side rocker
seam and on the floor.  the soaking wet insulation takes forever to dry out,
and things start to rust.. water tries to exit, from the point of least
resistance - THE DRIVERS SIDE HORIZONTAL SEAM..hence the seam rust. first the
floor, then the seam, then if its really bad you get rust directly under the
fill ports where that horizontal body reinforcement beam is directly under
the ports..the soaking wet insulation holds water there, and it will rust a
hole right thru the side of your van.
last camper i parted out , i removed the kitchen/stove/sink/fridge unit and
it was soaking wet behind there..the fiberglass insulation saturated with
water leaking from around the fill ports down inside the wall..and the floor
was rusted where the water was sitting..

people, if you dont want the drivers side of your westy to rust out, i would
strongly suggest getting out there with a tube of caulk - any silicone caulk
will do - the same kind you caulk the windows on your house with is fine -
and caulk around all 3 of these fill ports.  this is a better seal than even
a new foam gasket, as foam will soak up water, silicone repels it.
failure to do this will result in your drivers side of your camper rusting
out..  seriously..
chris