well - it was raining in my van, and i found the leak (i think). it was coming from a little plastic disk/bolt/gasket which seems to fill a hole between the interior and the air intake vents. silicon sealed it from the inside, couldn't reach the outside - i'll try the hose on it tonight. regarding the cracked manifold - got the welded stainless manifold back from the welding place, waited three days for gaskets, went to put the thing back on. the ports were 1/4" too close together - doh! when they welded the inside of a corner, they didn't pay attention to the previous alignment. ran screaming to the welding shop (not really, but i got there pretty fast) right away (this is saturday morning about 8:30 a.m.), but they couldn't get to it until monday. i gave them center-to center measurements of the bolts this time. i hope they can get the contact areas on the same/proper plane though. i noticed a small decrease in the inside cross-section of the manifold due to the weld - is this going to be a problem? cleaned, fixed little stuff, etc. also got the westy cabinets/seat out of the garage that i got from my brothers rolled :-( parts westy. they had been out in the middle of a forest without any windows protecting them for a couple of years, so they're pretty rotted/smelly and partially broken. pretty cool unofficial junkyard, though - cars lined up between rows of pines, shady area , smelled nice, and hidden from official view. i noticed a bird's nest inside the intact part of the pop-top, lucky them. with the saws i borrowed for the weekend, i cut all new (donated and scrap) wood to replace the rotted stuff, using the rotted stuff as a template, and salvaging all hardware. this took quite awhile, as there are many curves, angles, etc. got some cool and cheap upholstery fabric for the seats/cushion ($15). any ideas on what to cover the plywood with? i'm torn between a wood veneer (expensive/difficult/permanant/easy to clean) and a heavy fabric (cheap/easy/possibly won't last/gets and stays dirty). also, i'm looking for the plastic stripping that goes around some cabinet corners/doors. also began speaker installation (for some 6x9s i had) on the rear door. mounted em to the panel with some really big washers, they seem very solid for being mounted to such flimsy stuff. while i had the panel off i sprayed the inside near the bottom vents with rubberized rustproof stuff (thanks, joel!). i also glued on some carpet padding to deaden road noise/keep the speaker magnets from adhering to the metal. ran wires up inside the door and through the little hole in the top. i'll have to drill a hole in the little rubber plug and re-insert it with the wires running through. it got dark so i had to stop. whew! i was really tired when i woke up for work this morning. 1/2 hour debate on whether to call in sick and continue or not. (do sick vans count?). i write this from my desk. :-( matthew (81 adventurewagen-mobius) goikem@state.mi.us
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