Date: Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:45:16 -0700
Reply-To: Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Rocket J Squirrel <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Friday: than Vanagon smell?
In-Reply-To: <4d1b79350910231352n442113d5je1c8aa2b122c09b3@mail.gmail.com>
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When I was in high school one of my friends was able to borrow the
family's splittie for our occasional ill-considered ventures. That thing
had a dank and resentful* smell, which we attributed to my friend's older
brother.
==========
* The way I like my women.
--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Westrailia: (Ladybug Trailer company, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
Bend, OR
KG6RCR
On 10/23/2009 1:52 PM Jim Felder wrote:
> Recently I went camping and paddling, and, not being near a trash
> receptacle, didn't get a waterlogged bag of overnight group garbage
> out of my westy until the end of the day. Following this were two
> straight weeks of rain and three nights of camping during that time.
> The vanagon didn't have a chance to dry out. My supernice rubber rear
> mat held most of that, but in a matter of days it became obvious that
> water had gone everywhere--the smell of mildew got pretty strong. I
> put in a heater and a fan for three days and then the sun came out and
> things got better. As a test, I had my wife come out and give it the
> test as my nose is unpredictable. She said she couldn't smell anything
> but a "vanagon smell."
>
> "What?"
>
> We've had three vanagons, one new since 90 (gone as of last summer)
> and a 91 (both gas) and the 83 westy (diesel)
>
> "Do you mean a cooking smell, in the westy?"
>
> "No, they all have a certain smell."
>
> My daughter got in on the conversation and said that all VWs have that
> smell, going back to the first VWs she remembers, my wife's 65 bug and
> my 69 bus we drove through the 70s. She thought it might be that
> rear-engined VW were substantially different from front-engined ones,
> but I assured her that that was probably not the case.
>
> I asked her if my Jetta, which is fairly new to me (and a diesel),
> smelled that way. Leading to the possibility that it is me, not the
> cars, with the volkswagen/vanagon smell. But it was agreed that I have
> had other cars that did not have "that smell."
>
> What to make of this?
>
> The malevolent odor of the wet westy is almost gone. Anything to do to
> ensure the smell doesn't come back in wet weather?
>
> Jim
>
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