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Date:         Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:32:42 -0600
Reply-To:     Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: vw heater
Comments: To: jack bowers <jakbowers@yahoo.com>,
          AD Felder <dieseldoofus@yahoo.com>,
          diesel-vanagon <Diesel-Vanagon@yahoogroups.com>
In-Reply-To:  <488371.23627.qm@web82602.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Jack,

I'm writing you and my brother Alan at the same time as he is interested in doing the same thing.

I have access to two materials that work well. I also used another material that comes recommended on the list from people who have done it before, but I was not happy with the results.

You need some kind of thin foam, obviously, and there all all kinds. A few years back I followed some threads that directed me to Home Depot to get a roll of the kind of foam you find in the flooring department that goes under laminate flooring. I was dismayed at having to buy the whole roll, and it didn't work quite as well as I wanted it to.

The preferred foam is available here in town. I will either get a spec on it or pick up some locally and send it to you. I presume it is cheap, but again I don't know because I haven't bought it. It comes in a roll with much more than you need. It is a 3M product. If you want to use it I will track some down no problem. I found out about if from my local VW shop, they use it on everything. When I dropped by the other day to buy a little to send to my brother, they sent me to the supply house across town that I didn't have time to visit that day. I could still do that, though.

The stuff I used is, in my opinion, even better quality. It is called craft foam, it is a german product available in Michaels, Hobby Lobby and similar craft stores. You can buy a place-mat sized sheet for a couple of bucks. It is soft and pliable and installs well but is not as gauzy as the OEM style.

So, there you are, take your pick.

You may encounter some difficulty when you go to install (besides chiseling open the @##$% case) because of the way the foam is mounted. The flaps themselves are metal on a metal rod, actuated by a lever at the end as you might expect. There are three of these. Two slip out (own their own, so be careful when handling the assembly when it's apart) after plugs are removed that hold them in their slots in the case. Be sure to keep track of and remember the position of these plugs, which are held in place by the two case halves.

The other, upper flap is way up in there and I don't remember exactly how I took mine out, but there was something wrong and I messed around half a day trying to figure out how to remove it. It turns out I just drove a pin out of the end(s) and got on with it.

The metal flaps have a series of small square holes in them. These correspond to the split snaps on flat plastic panels that snap fit into them. The flat plastic pieces hold the foam onto the metal flaps. There is no glue involved. If you are rough or unlucky, you may lose some of the snaps when you remove them. My advice is to get a sharp knife between the plastic and the metal and turn, working from one end to the other. If you break too many, they will no longer hold the foam in place. I have spares. The shape of the diesel parts are not identical to later ones. The only identical parts for all years are the heater core, the blower assembly, and the metal piece that goes with the heater core. Everything else is a little bit different, as I recall.

The foam can be cut large and placed onto the flaps, trapped with the plastic pieces and then trimmed with scissors. It is not necessary to cut them to fit perfectly first. You will need to use good sense about how they fit, which can be accomplished by fitting the flap back into its mount in the heater box and opening and closing to see if there is enough foam sticking out to do the job, but not so much that it interferes. It just takes a minute to do this again if you cut it wrong.

Mark the cable placements with tape and sharpie on the box and on the flap arms or you will become confuses as to how it goes together. At least save yourself a lot of time this way. Either mark (shoot with light spray paint) or photograph the exact placement of the ends of the cables in their clamps. Don't lose the clamps.

If you don't mark the cable positions or if you were not happy with where they were positioned, hook everything up before you put the dash back on and work the levers open and close. You should feel a good "bite" when closed and you can preload the thing a little bit so that it closes before the lever is all the way to the right. This helps a bit with the problem that the levers will go further when the assembly is out in your hands more so than they will go when they are installed, as the fascia limits their movement. So, they might close all the way before installation, but not afterwards.

That's about all I can think of. Good luck. Let me know if you run into anything I didn't cover. Think I'll post this to the list for the archives.

Jim

On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 8:33 AM, jack bowers <jakbowers@yahoo.com> wrote: > dear Jim; >       You mentioned fixing air-flaps in your post.  What material will I > need. > I'd like to be prepared before tearing in to it.. > >   JB > >


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