----- Original Message -----

From: Chris Smith

To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM =

Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2000 = 4:26 PM

Subject: Re: [VANAGON] 81 = Sliding door stuck

At 01:17 AM 8/18/00 -0400, kathy jacobs wrote:

Please reply to opawalt@my-deja.com
Thi= s was posted on the aircooled newsgroup.
Help!! My 1981 VW Vanagon has = a new problem. The
sliding door will NOT open. I have taken = apart
everything I can to try and understand the
problem, but the final = disassembly requires the
door to be open and that is the problem!

Has = anyone out there ever heard of this problem
or what I can do about it? I = really hate to use a
torch. Any ideas would be = welcome.

This just happened to my '82, wow small world!  The front catch was = not opening but the rear was.  The solution was strange,  the = cable that goes from the forward latch to the rear latch was not seated properly = in it's holder at the front latch.  To fix it I adjusted the little = adjuster to lengthen the cable a little touch.  Then I placed it back in it's = holder (through the notch) and gave the door a try.  Voila, it worked.   Why the cable going to the back was keeping the = front from working is a new one to me.

The hard part was getting the old = door panel clips out without trashing the panel.  I was not successful = with that.  But i figure a nice sheet of  melamite  would be = a decent replacement.

I hope this helps

Chris Smith
'82 = Westy, T.U.R.D.
'74 Thing. Thingy
Some cars that really run

-- = Lowering property values since 1982! --