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Date:         Thu, 12 Jun 1997 21:06:00 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Mark A. Rokus" <marokus@voyager.net>
Subject:      Re: hoses for pipes

Hi

I don't know what kind of plastic hoses you had in mind but be careful if you are leaning toward PVC of similar pipe. Pressure rating goes WAY down as temperature increases. On my '84, the only bad section was near the motor end and almost all of the damage was localized to this area. I had been using a sealant in the system for quite some time and it minimized the leakage for quite a while, didn't think much more about it. God wad watching over me on the day it failed as we were moving from Denver to Michigan that day. We literally were about 1 mile from where he had lived ON THE WAY OUT OF TOWN for the move. I was following with the Ryder truck (with a '81 Westy in tow of course) and saw an immediate and quite complete dump of coolant. Waved down the SO and got it stopped before any damage. Of course it was after 5:00pm but I did have a hacksaw with me and there was a autoparts store nearby that was still open. Cut out the offending area plus a couple of inches extra of good pipe, used the extra part for a coupling between the engine hose and the universal replacement that I had just bought. Connected the universal to the area that I had removed and viola! coolant system again. Hose on a nearby apartment supplied cooling media and we commenced the 1300 mile trip. BTW that was 4 years ago and IT IS STILL in there.... Morals to the story: 1. You may not need to replace the entire pipe. Corroded area on mine was very obvious, rest was good. In fact, by the time I finished cutting the bad portion out, there was a 1/4" hole where the rust was. seems that the sealant held the rust together. Also, area where the cut was made looked almost new. Must be a erosion effect at the elbow???

2. Don't tow a vanagon for 1300 miles using a dolly (front tires on a "trailer", back on the ground.) Yes, I did take the axles out before starting. The problem is that the back tires wear out very quickly because they are at a angle to each other when the front is raised enough and you have the weight of the Westy squating the rear.

3. I've always played with the idea of getting an electrical contractor to bend some heavy walled, galvanized, conduit to match the original pipes and add some brackets... so far, haven't need to..

Good luck

Mark '84 GL '81 Westy '82 Deisel Rabbit '71 Ghia '68 Circle track Bug ....


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