Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:33:20 -0800
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: [WetWesties] Blackbeard Comes Home! (With questions)
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my thoughts......
Wind whistle or noise isn't from the windshield - it's from one or both front doors.
I had that on a customer's heavily repaired syncro westy. I had new front door seals installed by the VW dealer's body shop ........that fixed it.
oh..........does it do this ? .......
say it's whistling at 60 mph, if you lower a front window 2 inches does it make the noise stop ?
I'm thinking one or both of your door openings isn't the same shape as before.
New door seals may help. It did in the case of the van I mentioned above.
don't follow you exactly on the speedo thing. Sounds like the 'glass' is scratched ............ seems like replacement would be the repair.
Tires can get noisy from the tread getting 'feathered' . Just plain wear doesn't usually make them noisy.......though that could biped on make and model of tire too.
But see if the tread is feathered or worn unevenly. Alignment and shocks and front end parts come to mind for that. Many people don't realize that worn shocks also contribute to wearing of other parts of the van, like suspension parts and tires. I've seen cars with 200,000 miles on them, with the original shocks......
that were shot 120,000 miles ago. IT also ENDANGERS other people on the road ! I saw a taxi with such bad rear shocks, and out of balance rear tires you could see daylight under the rear tires going down the road !!
I'm guessing someone didn't do a really good job of putting the levers and cables back where they belong, and lubricating them, AND testing their work.
If anyone worked in the dash on the control levers..........most likely it's a workmanship issue. And just not checking ones work carefully.
and...........beats the heel out of me how anyone can just 'put something back together' and not give the parts or cables the lubrication they are so desperately wanting, and will help so much, for so long too.
That kind of work is what I call 'slam dunk' car repair. Sure, they replaced X part.......say windshield, and touched the cables and levers perhaps........
but to not to the little extras that are so valuable and appropriate to do..........
how can people do that ????? I almost NEVER see really good work from body shops, but I hope your van is very, very happy, and for many years yet to come.
Perhaps a few trips back to the body shop.....to finish the job correctly,
then never let them touch it again.
Don't mean to be 'automatically negative' .........but I will tell you ..........almost all body and paint work I see is on the minimum side......
and always an emphasis on making it LOOK right, as opposed to being really right and correctly rebuilt.
but congrats on having him/her back !!
I'm sure that feels GREAT, and especially without a salvage title !!
( I know he's a 'he' )
Scott
----- Original Message -----
From: Matt Drew
To: Vanagon Mailing List ; Syncro@yahoogroups.com ; wet Westies
Sent: Monday, December 22, 2008 3:55 PM
Subject: [WetWesties] Blackbeard Comes Home! (With questions)
After nearly two months, the new-and-improved (well, repaired and repainted,
at least) Blackbeard finally came home today!
Goes without saying - definitely a sight for sore eyes!
When all was said and done, aside from the damage repairs and new paint he
also had the axles and windshield replaced, AC repaired, and the
impossibly-mounted trailer hitch assembly removed.
Then next week(ish), I'm taking him back in to have the Euro Smoked lights
installed (they were on back order), the antenna replaced and the grilles
painted (some construction jokers were unloading a truck right behind the
van and ended-up scratching the new paint on the bumper in 4 different
places, so since it's going back in for a touch-up anyway, they said they
take care of the grilles for free).
All in all I'm extremely happy to have the van BACK and in one piece - and
WITHOUT a salvage title!
I do have a couple of questions though, and I'd love some expert
feedback....
MY QUESTIONS:
1) The rubber stripping on the windshield is (according to the mechanic and
body shop) still in great condition - nice and soft, supple, and with no
tears....
Problem is that there is all kinds of wind noise now!
Is this normal when replacing a windshield?
I had the windshiled replaced in my '87 about 10 years ago and don't
remember hearing any difference.
And then the obvious question - what can I do about it (short of purchasing
new stripping - which is spendy)?
2) There's now a new crack on the plastic speedo 'window', right in front
of the fuel gauge in the lower right-hand corner.
Apparently this COULD BE due to the heating process at the end of the
repainting. Not sure if this makes sense though.
I understand that there's really no way to repair this stuff - short of
completely replacing the entire cluster/dash. That true?
I just can't understand how this could have been damaged . . . and not that
it's a HUGE deal, but you expect that the stuff needing to be fixed will be
fixed, and that no new stuff will be broken.
You know?
3) If your tires need replacing (I have the 205/70/R14), could excessive
road vibration be attributable to this?
I don't remember it being THAT terribly loud - although it was more
noticable after I had the brake work done a couple of months ago.
My mechanic immediately said that it was because the tires need replacing,
but that almost seems counterintuitive given that less tread would seem to
mean less road vibration (with less road-grabbin' happening).
4) Air control levers - the bottom two don't go all the way to the right!
You can push 'em there, but they don't stay.
Their new position for "all the way to the right" is now more like and inch
or so short.
Anyone else have this? Is this something that just happens over time?
Any feedback is greatly appreciated, of course!
Next on the list of repairs:
* Driver's side auto door lock actuator
* Driver's side power window motor
* All new stripping around the doors
* 3 New arm rests
Upgrades to come:
* New stereo system
* Roof rack (I'm thinking old school wood slats)
* All new mats for the interior - front to back
-Drew, Las Vegas
'90 GL "Blackbeard"
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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