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Date:         Mon, 4 Oct 1999 09:33:35 -0700
Reply-To:     Mark Drillock <drillock@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mark Drillock <drillock@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      Re: TBD sliding door screen
Comments: To: The Bus Depot <ron@NETCARRIER.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Hello, Ron. I have 2 Vanagon Westy Campers and neither has the added fresh air duct above the door. Looking at a later model Westy with the duct, it seems clear that this is the intended application for this screen. You should list this fitting limitation in the product description so we don't buy it for the wrong model. As far as I can tell, this duct is not present on 84 and earlier models other than the 84 Wolfsburg Westy. I don't know whether or not it is found on all later models. Without this duct it is not possible to fit a lot of the snaps as the screen is simply too wide at the top. This puts the snaps on the upper rear edge in the middle of the window glass. Obviously this is a no go. If I cannot return this, I guess I may be able to someday pawn it off on someone with the duct in their Westy.

Mark

The Bus Depot wrote:

> > I purchased a zippered screen for the sliding door of my vanagon. There > > is no way that I can see to make it fit properly. Has anyone installed > > one of these in a manor that they find acceptable and if so, what year > > and model vanagon did it fit? Mine is too wide for the opening and the > > top snaps do not coincide with locations where a snap can be mounted. > > Also on the upper front side there is a zig that appears to be intended > > to clear the passenger side seat belt anchor. The problem is that it > > lines up with the lower anchor position, not the one that has the seat > > belt normally attached. > > > > Ron, can you resolve this for us? > > The screen I sell is an identical copy of the original Westfalia part, other > than the zipper being a slightly different color. Rather than try to > "improve" on the Westfalia design, I opted to simply repro it, "warts and > all." The original screen was designed for mid 80's on Westfalias, so some > differences may/will occur when using it on other years/models. > > A couple of list members, as well as myself, have already posted our > experiences installing this screen to the Vanagon list (and in fact one of > the posts was quite detailed as I recall), so rather than to waste the > bandwidth repeating everything here, I'll refer you to the archives. The > bottom line is that Westfalia made some (in my mind) questionable choices as > to where to locate the snaps. There is one unexplained zig in the shape of > the screen that did not even match up to anything in the German Westy that I > saw one of these installed in, and one of the snaps goes right under the > upper seat belt hook for no apparant reason. If you line up the slit in the > screen with the armrest in your sofabed you'll get a basic idea of > positioning. Then the top snaps go along the air conduit, the rearmost side > ones along the side of the van and along the sofabed, and the front side > ones along the side of the van. The bottom edge is designed to simply lie > against the floor since it seals this way rather than with snaps, so it will > bunch up slightly there. When installing mine, I opted not to use a couple > of snaps that were, in my mind, placed inconveniently. The fit, once > completed, is reasonably tight. It does bunch up just slightly, and there > are a couple of spots where a small bug might be able to get through if he > were really persistant, but overall the screen has functioned well for Evon > and me during our camping trips this summer. > > Like I said, this is exactly as Westfalia intended it. Unfortunately, they > did not provide any instructions, since many were dealer installed, but the > archives do have most of what you'll need. In the future I may look at > coming up with a basic instruction sheet (nothing that isn't already in the > archives anyway) or even modifying the screen just slightly, but for now I > was content to simply offer what Westfalia did. > > - Ron Salmon > The Bus Depot, Inc. > http://www.busdepot.com > (215) 234-VWVW


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