Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2011 06:44:26 -0700
Reply-To: Karl Wolz <wolzphoto@Q.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Karl Wolz <wolzphoto@Q.COM>
Subject: Re: Bad plastic(s)
In-Reply-To: <357885812.5589.1296738651430.JavaMail.root@sz0063a.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net>
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I've been told that the brown plastic is much less durable than the black.
Living in hot and dry (though not today) Phoenix, we tend to lose plastic
parts early in their expected lives.
I agree with Mark; most all of the parts he's mentioned have broken on my
Westy ('85 with 450,000 miles). Some of them get impacts on occasion, like
knees to steering column covers and map pockets, while others just get
normal usage, like door pulls and door latch inserts. The plasticizers have
simply broken down and they've become very brittle. If you plan to keep
driving your van for a much longer period of time, it would be a great
investment to pick up all of the parts on Mark's list and store them away in
a cool dark location. Find black parts.
Karl Wolz
_____
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of J
Stewart
Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2011 6:11 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Bad plastic(s)
At 6'4", my knees usually crash into either the map pocket or steering
column cover when getting in/out of mine. Every Vanagon I've bought has had
the map pocket missing, I always find one to replace it, then wonder why
every time I whack my knee on it. Friend of mine had been letting his
daughter drive his Lexus, he gets in it one day to find his leather steering
wheel is shredded-the daughter wears huge rings on nearly every finger and
tore the steering wheel up! I could go into a rant on young people at this
point, but I won't.... Jeff
Jeff Stewart
----- "BenT Syncro" <syncro@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
Mark,
Most are likely impact damage. Door starts to close. Driver instinctively
kicks it open -- at the map pockets. Newbie owner tries to remove or adjust
column cover and doesn't realize there are screws holding it in place. Brake
fluid reservoir -- it's not made of steel. Don't over tighten and they
should not break. Ever seen paint scratches on the hardened paint finish on
door handle recess in most cars? They endure the same sharp nail attacks by
driver's opening doors. People with big Carat Diamond Rings make some very
interesting scratches on car parts. The inside handle inserts should have
removed more gingerly. Visor clips are in the sun all the time. When the
driver was surprised by sudden change of terrain and subsequent exposure to
the setting sun, grabs sunvisor hard and voila. Cracked. Heater control
panel? That's a first for me.
These plastics have survived well into their expected service life. Cars are
rarely designed to last a lifetime. They should have am age multiplier. Sort
of like dog years. Let's say 1:4. Parts life would be multiplied by four
compared to our life expectancy. A 20 year old car would then be about 80 in
'Vanagon years'. You don't really expect every part of your body will
survive daily battles unscathe, did you? Looking at my chest, I have three
yellowish bruises from an overzealous fencer from my saber lessons last
week. I'm feeling like a well used plastic door handle.
BenT
Sent from my mobile device
On Feb 3, 2011, at 4:27 AM, "Mark L. Hineline" <hineline@OCOTILLOFIELD.NET>
wrote:
> Ben, if you have rarely seen the damage I mention, it's possible that one
of the DPOs of my Vanagon with brown parts may have been overzealous when
tightening screws. However, I observe brittle and damaged plastics in this
list of parts:
>
> Steering column cowl
> Map pockets
> Heater control panel (the molding that holds the light is cracked)
> Brake fluid reservoir
> Door pulls (they all seem to be scraped and scratched)
> Inside door latch inserts
> Visor clips
>
> And so on. In the junkyards I have yet to find a map pocket that isn't
damaged at the screws.
>
> Maybe it's because we get sun down here in San Diego, and you hardly ever
do?
>
>
> Mark
>
>
> On Feb 3, 2011, at 4:13 AM, BenT Syncro wrote:
>
>> I might have not assumed your column cover needed repairs where they are
commonly cracked at the clip had you been more specific about the damage on
your cover.;-) Have never seen any column covers crack at the screws in the
30+ Vanagons I've owned. I have seen them damaged on my B4 Passat though.
The repair consisted of finding a suitable washer larger than the damaged
hole. That would not help a split piece.
>>
>> The covers are relatively easy to find and inexpensive around my area. It
would likely cost me more money buying epoxy glue in an attempt to repair
the area than it would cost to buy a replacement. Last time I needed to
replace a missing cover, a local shop sold me the piece for $3. They even
threw in the map light as long as I took them off myself. When the
attachment clip is missing, they just give them to me for free. Screws or
rivets fixes them better than new.
>>
>> Now, you didn't mention color. Brown ones are just starting to become
scarce. Black ones are still plentiful.
>>
>>
>> BenT
>
_____
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