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Date:         Fri, 12 Oct 2012 17:06:06 -0700
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: sneaking friday - jerry can find
Comments: To: Jeff Schwaia <vw.doka@GMAIL.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <5078aa42.2183440a.55d0.ffffef42@mx.google.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed

Cool. How well do you think they'll last ? ... still solid after say 60 years like a good metal can ? ( think anyone will be driving on fossil fuels much in 60 yrs anyway ? Ha. )

Or ..can you use them for an emergency jack stand in Baja ?

I just find 'real metal' to be getting more and more rare these days. Even intake manifolds are plastic now. Nothing lasts quite as well as metal ... ( glass is another 'lasts forever' material ) particularly if it's cared for at all - metal.

Plastic just slowly deteriorates - evaporates even I'd say. There are many grades and types of plastics of course. Those old rotary dial phones.. I always found that plastic to be basically indestructible. Very impressive.

Too bad vanagon instrument clusters are not made of plastic like that. I have never seen one that isn't broken somehow ...where the speedo screws in , at the mounting tabs are, etc.

Still can't beat metal for overall durability. Corrosion is an issue, but not hard to prevent, or treat, at all.

Btw ...important question ... WHAT HAPPENS to most plastic ...say a plastic dog house from Wal-Mart..? or a plastic 'whatever' .......made from petroleum of course .. what happens to a large plastic dog house from wal-mart when it's all deteriorated, faded , and warped in a few years. Or a common plastic storage box ...

It goes in land fill ! ..right ? ! It's polluting. Even outgassing of plastic is polluting I betcha.

Just take aluminum ...as used more and more in car construction .. Aluminum is endlessly recyclable. Once you make it .. it can be melted down and re-used forever I believe. It is expensive to make in terms of electrical energy used ...but once made.. that's it ....you have it almost forever. Plastic ... while there is recycling of many types of plastic .. I suspect much of it is a one way trip .. made from petroleum .....deteriorates fairly easily .. and if recyclable -fine ..but to go in landfill...that's just doing harm.

nuthin' like good ole metal !

On 10/12/2012 4:39 PM, Jeff Schwaia wrote: > Don't knock plastic gas cans... I saw a set of Rotopax (www.rotopax.com) cans on a Syncro Westy a few months ago. Very, very nice! Dang things were nearly bullet proof. > > Cheers, > > Jeff > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Scott Daniel - Turbovans > Sent: Friday, October 12, 2012 3:37 PM > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM > Subject: Re: sneaking friday - jerry can find > > Since the subject is Jerry Cans.. > I dug out one I have. > And I am interested in opinions about it's authenticity or pedigree. . > > It's red .....appears to be the original exterior paint. > It had light sand color paint on the inside ...some remaining, some gone. > It has a almost 2 inch tall 'G' stamped in the side near the top. > It has the company name "BLITZ" stamped in it, with a 'R' in a circle for registered trademark. > It has the classic screw cap 'on belay' with a short piece of chain. > > On the bottom it says, stamped in. > DOT - 5L > USMC > 20 - 5 - 85 > > which could be military date code for May 20, 1985. > USMC could be US Marine Corps of course. > > So ..it is authentic in any way ? > or a knock-off ? > Is it a 'real' 27 year old US military can ? > Looks like it to me. > I like authentic 'real' old stuff, before everything started being made out of plastic, or extra cheap from various offshore counties. > > Opinions welcome. > thanks. > scott > > > On 10/12/2012 9:37 AM, Dave Mcneely wrote: >> ---- Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA> wrote: >>> no, I won't be using it as a water can. But I don't know if the painted on lining will take gasoline. >> Given that it is a water can, I doubt that it would hold gasoline without leaking. I have seen that before when people tried to use cans that were intended for water or oil for gasoline. Some work, some don't. I haven't seen one of those GI Jerry cans in a very long time. I don't know whether the lid will hold gasoline or not, either. I also don't know about it meeting transportation standards for gasoline. >> >> Might be ok for kerosene, if you have use of that, but five gallons is a lot of kerosene. >> >> Nice find, anyway. David >>> alistair >>> >>> >>> >>> On 2012-10-12, at 7:15 AM, <mcneely4@cox.net> <mcneely4@cox.net> wrote: >>> >>>> Alistair, that is an interesting find. Given where you got it, you >>>> may want to think about what might have been in it in the past >>>> before using it as a water can. Just a thought. David >>>> >>>> ---- Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA> wrote: >>>>> I found an US military jerry can at the local metal scrapyard last week. In good condition but it is a water rather than a fuel can. Still, it will (if I ever finish my bumper and wheel carrier project) be a tempting add-on to the van. >>>>> >>>>> some pics here: >>>>> >>>>> http://shufti.wordpress.com/2012/10/11/jerry-can/ >>>>> >>>>> alistair >>>> -- >>>> David McNeely >> -- >> David McNeely >>


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