Date:         Fri, 29 Dec 1995 15:40:37 -0800 (PST)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         brandys@ichips.intel.com
Subject:      i felt a touch of heat, yea!!

hi there everyone!

well, i figured i'd post a little bit of an accomplishment rather than
a million and one redundant questions.  today on the way to work, i
could actually feel a little bit of heat coming from my front vents!!!
nothing that would warm a naked body in the winter, but hey, i felt
it.   

so a while ago i went crazy running wire and mounting things to get my
heater blower motor fixed.  find a used one, install it, turn it on,
NO WARM AIR WHAT SO EVER.  big bummer.  unfortunately my alternator
blows and i spend a (very interesting) week replacing it.  now that
that is fixed and running well (thanks all:) a couple of nights ago, i
decide i am going to pull the heater ducts apart.  i pull off the
plastic accordions and find that the flaps in the heat exchangers are
wired shut.  the heater cables are non-existent.  so i pull the front
door panels off as well as the cardboard under the dash and the sliding
door panels (why?  so i can fix the sticking lock and insulate.  the
insulation comes tonight with foam pads.) and all the insulation (read
some cheap piece of ripped cloth material that held water next to the
heater ducts).  clean that off.  find some rust, one major big hole and
a smaller one.  everyone says, leave the existing pipe and try and
repair it, and i am glad i did.  i get out sandpaper, get rid of as
much dirt and rust as i can, spray it with rustoleum and let it dry.

while it is drying i fix the holes in my muffler/accordion things and
use chicken wire left over from building an iguana cage to better
fasten the paper mufflers inside.  i install these back onto the heat
exchangers and the Y.  not a perfect fit, a little loose.  i still
have to make some sort of washer/sealer thing for them and clamp them
down.  wire the flaps open (i know, i will and do allow plenty of time
for the bus to warm up) until i get and run some heater cables.

next i clean the insides of the doors, spray a little rustoleum on a
small patch of rust, getting them ready to be insulated.  now i use jb
weld and a cut up coffee tin (you know the cheap coffee that comes on
bulk) to repair the two holes and other little cracks/holes.  lots of
ties and duct tape to secure it all while the weld hardens.

so, the drive to work i felt a little bit of warm air!  hopefully when
i reinstall the blower motor and secure the accordion/muffler things i
will actually have some heat.  by then the doors, nose, sliding door,
and hopefully the section above the driver and passenger's head will
be insulated.  i also plan on putting a clear shower curtain up to
seal off the front cab area while driving, since it is usually just
amelia and i.  

anyway its long, but i am happy and over half way there:)

happy new year everyone!!

brandy
-- 
   \   /     A. Brandy Smith (brandys@ichips.intel.com)
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