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Date:         Mon, 4 Oct 1999 13:38:35 -0500
Reply-To:     Marshall Ruskin <mruskin@PANGEA.CA>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Marshall Ruskin <mruskin@PANGEA.CA>
Subject:      Re: TBD sliding door screen
Comments: To: Mark Drillock <drillock@EARTHLINK.NET>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

My 84 Westy has the fresh air duct above the door. Mine is a Canadian model, though.

Marshall Ruskin

>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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