Date:         Wed, 28 Sep 1994 23:03:02 -0500 (CDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         dakhlia@wuecona.wustl.edu (Sami Dakhlia)
Subject:      Re: Help! installing new muffler - 1st time


Rob replied to Randy:
>I assume since you describe 'bolts and gaskets' rather than 'exhaust clamps'
>your talking about a type four motor?  ....Okay ..... somewhere a long lost
>memory tells me that this is one of those things that should be simple but can
>take hours....

DAYS! I did the same thing on my 75 bus about a month ago. The problem was
to get the old bolts off. They were completely rusted. The absolutely
easiest way is to get yourself a nut-cracker (about $12 at Sears) and then
replace the bolts and nuts with good ones from an auto-store. The average
hardware store does not have the right kind: they are often too soft.

>Beem a long time since I've done one of these but from memory I think the trick
>is to actually remove some of the tin at the front (i.e., fan end) of the
>engine.  This allows you to access the top bolt which runs into a little
>crevice on top of the heat exchanger.  It adds a little time but from what I
>remember it is impossible to undo and adequately tighten this top bolt with the
>tin there...even after moving the tin it's one of those 1/8 of a turn at a time
>jobs.  Anybody else?  I can't remember whether the tin fronting the alternator
>has to come off or not ?....

I didn't have to do any of this on mine, but then again your heat
exchangers are set up differently.

I had another unexpected problem. I didn't get my exhaust from RMM, but
from the Bus Boys, so the producer may be different. It is my impression
that my system was manufactured in China. Anyway, the black paint turns
out to be not heat-resistant and so I get this disgusting smell of burning
plastic. Most of the paint is now gone and the thing is completely covered
with rust. So I will have to take it off again, sand it and repaint it
with the right stuff. Curses!

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