Advice and hints please on supplies & replacement parts to get ahead of doing a dash removal ... Our 81 vanagon had smelly little visitors living behind the dash this spring -- unfortunately the van sat too long under the trees with a duff tranny. There seems to be nothing damaged, or at least nothing failing to work, but the smell, oh dear ... the smell is astonishingly potent. So the weekend after next is targeted for a dash removal and thorough washdown. Ben's great page ( http://www.benplace.com/dash.htm) makes it look achievable for me, but please tell me on what parts I should get ahead of time. Ben says to replace the ignition switch -- where do I get a replacement? How about the brake master cylinder too? It's an automatic, so no clutch cylinder. The "heater" in the front has never warmed, let alone heated, for the years since we got the van, but the hot-air outlet between/behind the front seats works well. (81 = aircooled engine.) The heater fan works fine, but blows only cold, so presumably there's a blockage somewhere in the front part of the airduct, either above the spare wheel or perhaps in the inlet into the heater. I tried to pull the airduct away from the heater, from below, but it really didn't want to come off. Is there a special knack, after releasing the hose clamp? Bentley says the heater gaskets are glued to the chamber "with D 17" -- is that obtainable, or is there an alternative? Get new gaskets? The wipers are s-l-o-w. Is a new wiper motor the answer? Or does the whole wiper mechanism get aged? The van doesn't have any significant rust, but maybe there are rubber parts that swell and should be replaced? Thanks for any thoughts, suggestions, musings and advice Alan |
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