Date:         Mon, 7 Jul 1997 21:00:51 -0400 (EDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         SyncroHead@aol.com
Subject:      Re: A/C evaporator housing removal

In a message dated 97-07-07 03:36:59 EDT, JordanVw@aol.com writes:

>>   but is that 
>>   really necessary?  Is this whole thing gonna come down and snap off 
>>   freon lines in the process if I don't?

>  YEP!  I had taken both plastic rear a/c side panels off an '86 once and
left
>  them off, only to find the next morning that the whole evaporator overhead
>  panel had come crashing down, cracking the center duct that goes out and
up
>  to front of the van, and cracked the evap plastic housing...
>  
>  Believe it or not - those 2 rear side panels are the only thing holding
the
>  evap. assembly and housing to the cieling....

That's not correct.  They are only part of the evaporator support and I think
provide relatively little of the support.  There is also a series of
fasteners at the rear of the evap unit at the ceiling level.  In addition to
that, the primary support is provided by 3 bolts along each side near the
front of the evap unit.  These bolts came in 2 arrangements depending on your
model year.

The 1986 & 1987 have 3 bolts on each side that are more-or-less horizontal
and mate
with nuts welded in behind the sheetmetal.  Beginning with the 1988 model
year VW changed the mounting arangement on this unit.  These later models
have 3 bolts on each side that are more-or-less vertical and mate with
threads in a bracket.  This newer arangement is much more secure, since the
90 degree bend to fasten to the sheet metal is now part of the metal bracket,
not part of the plastic housing.

I HAD significant cracks in my 87's evap housing at these bolts.  While I had
my 
evaporator down for A/C work, I made a pair of metal brackets and fastened
them to the sheet metal.  Then I cut off the 90 bend in the plastic housing
and re-inforced the plastic with some fiberglass.  Next, I drilled 3 vertical
holes in the housing to fasten it to the bracket that I'd made.  It was a lot
of work, but I figured it was better than having that thing fall down on its
own!

Good luck,
Jim Davis
87 GL Syncro
88 GL Wolfsburg