Hi Stewart and others,

this sounds good and pretty straight forward. the one clarification I’m hoping for is that there is no recess on the core side of the connection to the hose at the top. this is where the core connects to the valve that connects to the top hose. If there is a place for a O ring then I hope it is on the valve and not the core side!

the more I know and can prepare before taking it apart the better!

Eric Caron 85 GL auto

> On Dec 9, 2014, at 10:29 PM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@gmail.com> wrote: > > I happen to have the seat out on my son's '87 Westy, and also looking at my intact '85, it looks like you will need to unscrew the heater assembly from the floor of the van (two screws, one on each side, and there are little 1/4" blocks under the assembly), pull it back to clear the opening in the seat base, and lift it up a few inches on a block of wood. The core will not slide out of the fan box when screwed down with the Westy seat installed, the plywood seat floor blocks it. > > Put down a bunch of rags to catch the drips and clamp off the hoses. There should be a restrictor stuffed into one of the hoses, don't lose it, or all your hot water will circulate there leaving little for the front core. If there isn't one, leave the winter setting in the middle position on the valve. > > You may have to remove the hoses first to get the assembly out of the seat base opening. > > The valve is bolted on, meaning short bolts that go through with nuts. I looked at the valve from my '85's heater (I did not install a new core), and I think there should be an O-ring between it and the core, but the recess for the ring would be on the core side. If the new core doesn't come with an O-ring or gasket, use Permatex "Right Stuff" sparingly to get a good seal. > > The Westy seat bottom has a prop to keep it up so you won't break your arm or neck, I can't imagine what happened to the one on Jim's van. ;-) > > Stuart > > -----Original Message----- > From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Eric Caron > Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2014 6:44 PM > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM > Subject: Re: Request for detailed install directions for rear heater core > > Hi jim, > > I have taken the seat out before but I don’t believe I did that when I did this job many years ago. there seems to be plenty of room to work at first glance. > > Still, I’ll follow the step by step directions from those who know! > > Eric Caron > 85 GL Auto Westfalia > >> On Dec 9, 2014, at 9:32 PM, Jim Felder <jim.felder@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> Eric, >> >> I am traveling and can't look at my stashed-away rear heater for a procedure. But I can tell you that one of the problems you're going to have is keeping the rear seat in a position where you can work on the heater. This is important because not taking precautions could break your arm or maybe worse. You've got to hold the seat up with a 2 x 4 or similar, or else you need to remove the seat from the car. There may be some offers of shortcuts out there but it's pretty difficult to get the whole thing out with the seat in place. You can do it, but you have to hold the seat just right. >> >> Jim >