Date: Mon, 11 Sep 2006 22:41:29 -0500
Reply-To: Max Wellhouse <maxjoyce@IPA.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Max Wellhouse <maxjoyce@IPA.NET>
Subject: Re: Strange rust spot on 91 Carat
In-Reply-To: <2d8.54559880.3236e464@aol.com>
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I bought an old 64 green Karmin Ghia for $50 in my younger days. it
eventually got a Porsche Super 90 motor in it for a while and a set
of "borrowed" Michelin XAS tires It was so rusty
underneath(unbeknownst to me at the time) that while driving down to
STL to visit my parents one Thanksgiving in the rain, I came to a
stop sign and got the"Tidal Wave" effect on the back of my calf
muscles. Had a lot of water in the car so as I approached the
clockwise cloverleaf to get on I-70 Eastbound, I opened the driver's
door and let centripetal force evacuate the fluid from the
interior. When I told my parents this story, they laughed for 30
minutes solid. I headed for the cloths dryer.
DM&FS
At 11:10 AM 9/11/2006, JordanVw@AOL.COM wrote:
>nothing strange about that. thats a common rust area for all vw vans..even
>baywindows and splitties. i have several parts vanagons here with rusted out
>seatbelt anchor points on the top of the dogleg...some dont even
>have any metal
>there anymore, lift the carpet, and wheeeee.. youd be fred flinstone'in it.
>auxiallry air intakes i call 'em. not too fun in the rain, tho.
>whenever i go and look at a vw van im going to purchase as a keeper, i always
>hold the drivers and pass seatbelts at the base, and give a firm yank on the
>belt.. if you hear "crunchity crunch' then you know the seatbelt mount is
>rusted..
>
>usually the only vans which suffer from this malady are daily drivers that
>have gone thru many east coast winters.. its from salt, sand and junk getting
>stuck up at the top back side of the wheelwell/dogleg where the
>seatbelt anchor
>is.. if you dont wash you van's underside, it accumilates, and rusts..
>
>
>you west coasters dont have to worry about this..
>just another reason i dont drive my vans in the salt..
>
>chris
>
>In a message dated 9/11/06 11:45:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
>kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET writes:
>
>
> > We all know about seam rust, and rust in the front footwell but what about
> > seat belt rust? My 91 Carat Vanagon rusted out right in the passenger side
> > door way. Above the tire where the seat belt mounts to the
> floor, it rusted
> > away right there. It seems that the mounting point of the seat belt is the
> > weak spot here. They welded a nut into the body here and somehow the
> > undercoating was pierced by this nut (almost like it was added after the
> > undercoating). This allows water, etc to get in around this nut and there
> > is also a seam where two sheets of metal come together. It rusted at the
> > point where the nut was first then it started rusting down this seam. You
> > have to pull up the piece of carpet that is above the wheel arch
> to see this
> > place but it would be worth taking a look. The Driver's side seems fine so
> > maybe there was some defect from the factory that is just coming
> to the fore
> > front now. I cut a piece from an 86 Syncro parts van to repair this place.
> > It was just starting to rust here as well (surface only). You can check it
> > from underneath as well. Look up at the bottom of the seat belt mounting
> > point. You will see the nut there with undercoating surrounds it. If you
> > see the undercoating peeling away from this nut then I would scrape it off
> > right there and inspect for rust.
> >
>
>
>
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