Date:         20 Oct 96 18:02:01 EDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Turner,Ronald L." <102660.66@CompuServe.COM>
Subject:      Copy of: Vanagon Rustworthiness


---------- Forwarded Message ----------

>From:	Turner,Ronald L., 102660,66
TO:	"Mark B. Magee", INTERNET:condor@phoenix.net
DATE:	10/20/96 5:37 PM

RE:	Copy of: Vanagon Rustworthiness

The later Vanagons were, in my opinion, undercoated very well by the factory,
but here are a few problem areas:
SEAM RUST AT LOWER ROCKERS AND QUARTERS- water tends to creep thru from behind,
and cause rust at some of the lower seams on the body. This can usually be
stopped before it gets to be a problem. (remove rust to bare metal, clean, apply
rust inhibitive paint, prime, and repaint top coat.- as far as from behind, you
need to clean the area behind the seam ( if accessable) remove any loose seam
sealer clean to bare metal, re-seal, rust inhibitive paint, prime, and
undercoat. )
RUST AROUNT THE REAR BENCH SEAT/SOFABED SEATBELT MOUNTS IN THE FLOOR-
I have seen quite a few late vanagons that had rust around the holes where the
seatbelts mount to the floor for the back seat.  This is because the factory
sealer around the holes is failing. Remove bolts, remove rust , rust inhib.,
prime, and apply new sealant caulk around both the bolts and holes before
tightening bolts back down. 
( It is a good idea to - at least once a year - remove all carpets and pads to
check for rust, and at this time you could give the carpets that long overdue
cleaning too. )

RUST AROUND FRONT BUMPER REINFORCEMENT PANEL (on body)-
Often times there is rust around the seam of the reinforcement panel behind the
front bumper (you can see it from the top along the sealer line) and this is
dealt with the same way as the other seam rust. 

If it a camper, often times there is rust around the camper fixture outlets on
the drivers side, because Westfalia-werke did not properly seal the metal after
they cut a hole in the side of the body for those outlets.

Also I would check in the battery box(es) underneath, for rust caused by battery
acid. Keep the boxes clean and remove all of that yellowish battery acid powder.


Most importantly -  if you see a little spot forming, or even a chip in the
paint, take care of it as soon as you can, because it will be harder,and more
expensive to fix in the long run.

chris