Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (June 1997)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Sat, 7 Jun 1997 09:12:57 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "David I. Tanzer" <dtanzer@compuserve.com>
Subject:      ¡Help from México!

Hi, folks. I corresponded with you all back in March prior to leaving on=

an extended trip to Mexico in our '91 Westy with my wife and 2 1/2 year o= ld daughter. You were most helpful then, and I hope one or more of you can help me now.

I'm currently in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, which is abou= t 120 miles northwest of Mexico City. The Vanagon has performed flawlessly=

to date, but even it couldn't stand up to the Mexican kid that assaulted = us the other day. We were driving by him, as we have many times in the past= , and we smiled and waved at him, as usual. He smiled and waved back, and then threw a rock through the sliding glass window that's in the sliding door of our Westy. Nice. Glass all over Sammi (our 2 1/2 year old, but fortunately she wasn't hurt). Any way, these windows are not available down here, because Vanagons were never imported into Mexico. I'm having = my mechanic from home (Coby Smolens of Valley Wagonworks in San Anselmo, CA)=

send me a new piece of glass, but I have some questions about this part, and its installation, that he and I are unsure about. By the way, Coby i= s a first rate, and very fair minded and priced mechanic, and I highly recommend him if you ever need a very knowledgeable Vanagon mechanic in t= he Bay Area. So, here goes with my questions:

1. The sliding window in my sliding door had a short black metal flange attached to the bottom of the glass (it ran the length of the bott= om of the glass). This flange is pictured in figure 64-138 on pg. 64.5 of t= he Bentley manual. It's the piece of metal attached to the bottom of the glass in that picture. Coby has ordered a new piece of glass for me from=

Volkswagen, but was unsure if it comes with this metal flange already attached (it appears to have been cemented to the bottom of the glass). = Do any of you know if the glass comes with this flange attached, or must I purchase that separately? Additionally, there are two small plastic or nylon guide pieces (about 1 1/2 inches long) on this metal flange, one on=

each end of it. Are these also included with the glass and/or flange (if=

the flange is, indeed, a separate part)?

If the flange is indeed a separate part, how is it attached to th= e glass? With some kind of silicone cement, perhaps?

2. How is the sliding glass put in? The Bentley manual doesn't say.= =

The manual does refer to replacing the aforementioned guide pieces on old= er model Vanagons (on pg. 64.2), but doesn't refer to replacing the pane of glass. Can the new glass simply be pushed into place by pushing the top edge into the upper channel in the window frame and then pivoting the bottom up and over the lip on the bottom of the window frame? Then, of course, the latch would be attached through the glass.

The Bentely manual refers to removing the "outer window channel weatherstip/seal" in order to provide enough room to replace the guide pieces on pre 4/85 Vanagons. Is this necessary to do in order to replace=

the sliding glass as well? And, if so, how is this done? Mine appears t= o be loosely cemented (with contact cement) to the inside of the window frame. Is it possible to just slide this seal out along the top of the glass? And then will it go back in and is it then unnecessary to re-ceme= nt it with contact cement? It seems like it fits by loosely snapping into place and, of course, it is supported by the glass, but I'm not sure, and=

the Bentely manual is silent on this matter. But, perhaps, it isn't even=

necessary to remove it.

Or, worst case, must the whole window assembly (frame and all) be=

removed from the sliding door in order to disassemble the frame so the glass can be installed that way? I hope not, but, if so, can anyone offe= r a recommendation as to how to do that? And then, how is it re-installed?=

Thanks, in advance, for your help. I'm a bit desperate, because I basically can't use my Westy until this gets fixed. One doesn't park a ca= r on a street in Mexico with a duct tape and garbage bag window. It could = be bad for the radio, among other things.

If any of you can help me with this, I'd really appreciate it. Also, cou= ld you please reply directly to my e-mail address (dtanzer@compuserve.com)? =

I'm not currently subscribed to the listserver, as Mexican Internet acces= s is quite a bit more costly than it is in the States.

Also, you all were quite helpful back in March when I asked about several=

things, so I'll share what I did, as a result, and perhaps it will be useful and helpful to you all.

1. I had asked about advice for purchasing a trailer and hitch. I ended up buying a nifty little trailer from a company called Wells Cargo.= =

It's small (as desired), measuring roughly 4 X 6, and fits entirely withi= n the footprint of the back of the Vanagon - it's narrower and shorter than=

my Westy. And it only weighs about 600 lbs., so that left plenty of room=

for loading stuff and still remaining within the trailer weight limit of the Vanagon. This trailer is really wonderful. It was a pleasure to tow= , and it towed so smoothly that I literally looked back many times in the more than 4,000 miles we towed it to make sure that it was still there! =

And it is really waterproof. Didn't leak a drop.

Also, I bought a U-haul hitch, and that worked fine too. It attaches to the towing eyes under the bumper, so it can be easily removed=

if, and when, that's desired. I also bought the U-haul trailer electrica= l harness adapter, and U-haul also made a nifty little "L" shaped bracket t= o hold the end of the electrical connector neatly under the hitch (no unsightly wires here!). This whole rig worked great, and I highly recommend it. The only bad thing about it was that the trailer was prett= y pricey. About $1,600 complete with fancy diamond plate fenders. The hit= ch was about $110, or so.

2. I also asked you all about floor mats. I ended up taking someone= 's advice, and buying the one piece Lloyd mat that is sold through VW dealer= s. It's a super-dense, very high quality piece of carpeting with a rubber backing, so nothing gets through it. It's so dense that it's a snap to clean. It fits fairly well (my only complaint about it is that there are=

some gaps around the automatic transmission shifter "box"), and even extends to in between the front seats. It cost about $100, or so.

3. I had, what I imagine, is a not too unusual problem with my oil drain plug - some oaf (probably 10 minute oil change-type oaf) had stripp= ed it. Some other oaf had "fixed" it by putting in one of those disgusting,=

large threaded, self-tapping oil drain plugs. Yuck. The plug was so big=

that I couldn't even get a socket on the bloody thing. I certainly didn'= t want to go to Mexico in this condition - you know, you're driving along a= nd hear a "rock" hit the under side of the car and then your oil light comes=

on. Anyway, Coby Smolens, my mechanic in San Anselmo, CA, came up with a=

brilliant repair. He suggested that we tap the oil drain plug hole in th= e crankcase and put a sparkplug thread repair sleeve in. Then all we'd hav= e to do is find an oil drain plug with the same threads as a sparkplug. Lo=

and behold, a drain plug from a Renault has those exact thread dimensions= , and its external dimensions are identical to the VW plug. This is a grea= t repair, because now the oil drain plug screws into steel threads. =

Definitely much better than the original design. It is a bit questionabl= e to use aluminum threads for an oil drain, because you obviously untighten=

and tighten the oil drain plug many, many times over the life of a crankcase, and aluminum isn't a wonderful material for such an activity.

The Westy has been just great. It was wonderful to camp in it on the way=

down here. My wife and I slept "upstairs," and my daughter slept downstairs. It is a bit tricky, though, getting up to the bed on top. =

Really builds up those biceps. And the refrigerator worked just great. = It ran in excess of a week at a time on a fill of propane, and stayed ice cold. It was sure nice to be able to have plenty of cold milk on board f= or our insatiable two year old. It also performs great on the less than smooth Mexican roads. And it sure is nice to have plenty of ground clearance for the obnoxious speed bumps that are all over down here.

At the end of this month we will be leaving on an extended trip through t= he south of Mexico and then into Belize. We'll head south to Valle de Bravo= , and then on to Oaxaca and its surrounding environs. And then on down to the Oaxacan coast, to Puerto Escondido and Puerto Angel. Then east to Chiappas state with a visit to San Cristobal de las Casas and beautiful Aguas Azul. Then across the Yucatan, and down to Belize. We then plan t= o pick the place we like best, and settle there for a bit and learn some mo= re Spanish and, perhaps, do some volunteer English teaching.

Well, I hope you all find the above useful. And, again, muchas gracias i= n advance for your help!

Regards,

David


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.