Date:         Thu, 4 Mar 2004 18:04:26 -0500
Reply-To:     The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject:      Re: poptop seals... NOTE
In-Reply-To:  <a06020413bc6d4484b9e3@[130.91.38.28]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

> but isn't the original seal a one piece whereas the
> replacements are two pieces? (side-back-side and a front
> seal)

Yes, it was a one piece seal, whereas the replacement requires you to
butt the front seal up against the two side edges of the side seal. We
include a bit extra length so that with a utility knife you can get a
very clean seam without even needing adhesive. It's very simple and
effective process.


> Wouldn't it be possible to get a "original" one piece seal?

Yes, but why?  I was offered a quantity of original Westfalia seals on
my last trip to Germany, and turned them down. This is a case where
original simply isn't better. The main reason most people replace the
original seal is that the metal clips in the original seal rusted out
and the seal started to fall off. It's a flawed design, and another
original replacement would do exactly the same thing. My aftermarket
seals have aluminum clips so they don't rust. You'll probably never have
to replace it again for as long as you own your Vanagon. The rust issue
with the original seal, in my opinion, far outweighs the very minor
inconvenience of installing a two-piece seal as its replacement.

As for why we couldn't make a single-piece seal but with aluminium
clips... We could. But it's a very cost-ineffective way to make this
seal (hence VW's exhorbitant price on the original seal). Joining the
edges for you cannot be done in a mass-produced setting, and would
double or even triple the price of the seal. Given that you can do it
yourself very effectively in just a few minutes, it would be silly for
us to provide it that way at a dramatically higher cost. This is a case
where a few minutes of time saves a whole lot of money.

Poptop seals were The Bus Depot's first in-house designed product, many
years ago, and I spent a lot of time researching the alternatives (both
existing and custom) in order to come up with what we sell now. The idea
was to improve over the original design, but at a comparable price to
what other VW parts vendors charged for the generic seals that they sold
as "poptop seal."  I saw a need for this because, as a Westy owner
myself, I was dissatisfied with the other VW aftermarket alternatives
(which are merely off-the-shelf weatherstrip picked out of a catalog and
not even designed for a VW, cut to an appropriate length). Everything
factor was considered, from the precise location of the sealing bulb to
the design of the front seal. The resulting kit is unique to The Bus
Depot, and, I honestly believe, far superior to the original seal for a
fraction of the price.

You can find details at http://busdepot.com/busdepot/details/canvas.jsp
and order at http://busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=WESTYRUBBER .


> Just a tip from when i replaced my pop-top seals... if
> you happened to get the Bus Depot kit, the seal that
> touches on the metal is an excellent upgrade, but the
> one that goes across the front and seals to the
> luggage rack is worse that original -. didn't seal at all.
> I just created a hybrid seal using the new side trim and
> the old front trim.

As originally designed, the luggage rack seal is really not really meant
to "seal" at all. Unlike the original poptop seal, which was in fact
designed to seal (prevent rain and cold/heat from reaching the van
interior), the luggage rack seal was primarily a cosmetic trim piece. If
you look at your luggage rack you'll find holes in it designed to allow
rain water to escape. This water is supposed to go under the luggage
rack, past the luggage rack "seal," and into the rain gutter. Despite
this, many vendors ship an extra length of poptop seal and sell it as
luggage rack seal. This saves them money/hassle, as they are cutting it
all of of the same roll. However, such an insulation bulb (as opposed to
a small lip as found on the original luggage rack seal), can impede this
rainwater drainage, temporarily trapping water between your luggage rack
and roof until it gradually trickles through or evaporates. That's why
my luggage rack seal doesn't have the insulation bulb like my poptop
seal does. If your luggage rack still meets factory specs, my seal will
work fine as-is, while providing maximum rainwater drainage. Also it
will allow you to easily install the seal without removing your luggage
rack (which is nearly impossible to do with a seal that has a bulb), so
it will save you a lot of time. However, if over the years your luggage
rack has loosened slightly, and is not quite as flush with your roof as
it once was, you may get wind noise when using a seal that lacks an
insulation bulb. We find that this happens about one out of every 50 or
so cases. If this happens, you can do one of several things. You can
adjust the positioning of the seal at the front edge of the luggage rack
up or down slightly, which often eliminates the wind noise. You can
slightly loosen the luggage rack bolts, put some weight on the luggage
rack, and tighten it again, thus possibly snugging it down a bit. Or you
can at that point order a length that has an insulation bulb, which we
sell optionally at http://busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=LUGSEAL2 .
If you go this route, I recommend that you cut the insulation bulb
slightly at some point along the sides of the luggage rack to allow
better drainage. But the odds are great that you will never have to do
this; the vast majority of people find that our standard seal works
perfectly, without impeding drainage, and with much easier installation.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  www.busdepot.com
  (215)  234-VWVW

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Toll-Free for Orders by PART # :  1-866-BUS-DEPOT