Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1999 17:44:14 -0500
Reply-To: Joel Walker <jwalker@URONRAMP.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Joel Walker <jwalker@URONRAMP.NET>
Subject: recall notice 86-91 air conditioning ducts
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for those of you who might feel as i do about the vw dealers, and want to
fix your a/c ducting yourself (as i did), here's what i did.
you have to start at the front of the bus, and remove all the screws holding
up the front ducting.
the sun visors will need to come down as well, and therein lies a problem:
the passenger side sun visor has that little lighted mirror, and there are
some power wires going to the mirror. so you have to be very careful
lowering that sun visor and just kinda let it hang there. it helps if you
can support it with duct tape or a coat hanger or something, to take the
strain off those little wires. i don't think i had to remove the rearview
mirror.
anyway, the front ducting does NOT have to come completely down, just enough
so you can get to the screw that's holding up the 2nd section (overhead,
between the front two seats). yes, i said SCREW. Hans and Frans were in such
a hurry building these things that they failed to put the right number of
screws up there ... which is the real reason for this recall. watch out for
the air conditioning control wiring that runs along the top of the ducting
... it'll want to fall down and get in your way.
ok, got the 2nd section down? good, move along to the 3rd section and remove
its screw. each section has the screw(s) at the front end, and fits into the
next section rearward. you'll have to remove that little seal-thingie
between the sections ... don't lose it! and keep them in order, seals and
sections. then move to the last section (the one before the big housing
that spans the rear ceiling).
what i did was to take each of the long skinny front-to-back sections and
epoxy a 1/8" aluminum strip, about 1 inch wide, up in the front end of the
section, where the screw holes are. once that was dried and secured, i
drilled new screw holes for four (4) screws (Paranoid Maintenance: if one is
good, four must be a whole lot better!!). actually,i think three would be
sufficient. maybe even two. then i put the section back up, remembering to
fit the little seal-thingie at the rear and get it straight, and drilling
the holes in the roof support for the new screw-holes in the aluminum strip
... the sections all attach to some supports in the sealing, not to the
ceiling itself. so i was only driling holes where there had already been
holes. wrap some tape around the drill bit to make sure the drill doesn't
penetrate too deep, though .. don't want to drill a hole in the roof on the
backside of that support. :)
once the new holes are drilled, put in sheet metal screws of appropriate
size (i like 'em with WIDE threads) and use some washers to spread the load.
yeah, i know ... i already had the aluminum strip, but i still used washers.
done? then just move forward, do the next section the same way, and so
forth. there's nothing to fix on the frontmost ducting, just have to get it
situated in the seal-thingie and get it all put back up. be careful about
overtightening the screws when you put it back up ... too tight and the
plastic will crack over the years. of course, it wouldn't hurt to put some
epoxy and aluminum strip on the backside of those screw holes, too. :)
especially the ones at the front door edges.
and that's about it. time? maybe two or three hours, if you goof around and
go slow as i do. only trouble i can see nowadays is the weather ... the
colder it is, the longer it takes the epoxy to cure. i suppose you don't
REALLY need the epoxy ... i mean, the screws and washers are gonna keep the
aluminum strip in place. but i was kinda pissed at vw at the time and sorta
wanted to really really really make sure that stuff was never gonna fall
down again. even if the bus flips over 90 times. :)
"distract the driver"?? you betcha. scared the hell outa me.
good luck.
joel
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