Date:         Thu, 31 Mar 2005 09:29:13 EST
Reply-To:     Taobythesea@AOL.COM
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         James Benthall <Taobythesea@AOL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Another Vanagon Burns Up
Comments: To: JordanVw@aol.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Chris et al,
Just don't burn up the one you are going to sell me ;-)  My 87 Westy,  which
I salvaged
for $600. from a PO's engine fire, was every bit as bad as the one
pictured--side vents
were both melted, etc. and the composite engine lid held up.  The PO  said he
estimated
the fire was going for ~5 minutes before he was able to put it out with an
onboard fire
extinguisher (apparently, the hardest thing is actually SPOTTING THE
FIRE--he drove
until a passing motorist flagged him down ;-)  Long story short, the  fire
did not escape
from the hatch but the insulation was severely damaged, even melting away  in
some
places.  In fact, just prior to this thread starting I was contacting  Chris
about getting a
new lid (or good as new) since I was made aware that the compromised
insulation on
mine may allow excess heat/noise to come into the passenger  compartment.
And with
Texas summers the way they are, my AC needs all the help it can get!

In fact, now that I am thinking of this, I believe there would probably  have
been MORE
damage to the interior of the van with a metal lid since I'm sure metal is  a
better conductor
of heat than the fiberglass composite, and thus would have allowed more  heat
into the
interior. Damn them Germans!  They are always a step ahead of us  in their
thinking ;-)
my $0.02 worth,

James Benthall
Houston, Texas
87 Westy (The Phoenix)