Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 10:44:26 +0000
Reply-To: kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Kenneth Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: 85 coolant hard lines
The plastic ones are the only ones available now so if you want to replace your metal lines you can either get a set of used metal ones or get a set of new plastic ones. The plastic do not rust, however they do like to crumble at the ends over the course of 10 years or so. It is a shame that they didn't use a plastic that was more stable. Anyway if you are going to replace your long plastic pipes I would get them from the VW dealer since they are too long for UPS to ship and even if they could ship them they would be oversized 3 and be super expensive for shipping. Then you are also going to need to replace four coolant hoses (one on each end of the pipes) because the plastic pipes are slightly larger in diameter than the steel and the old hoses won't work with them. I have these hoses in stock if you need them (just check out my website at www.vanagain.com and click on the picture of Ken in the corner. Scroll down and you will see the hose listings for the plastic pipes).
You will need to cut away the hole where the pipes go above the gas tank to make it larger to fit the larger pipes. The Bentley manual has instructions for this including the pipe part numbers and the hose part numbers that need to be replaced as well. I have a nice write up on my site about dropping and replacing the gas tank. You should do this since you are going to make sparks when cutting the hole for the pipes and you don't want sparks on the top of your gas tank (not a good idea).
Thanks about it. Let me know if I can help you.
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com
-------------- Original message --------------
> A bit O' dismay...
>
> While tidying up some lose hoses under my van this
> afternoon I discovered a bit of coolant colored goo on
> one of the hardlines & believe this is why I've been
> having to top things off about once a month...
>
> Where I'm going with this is the replacements appear
> to be plastic (Bus Depot) and mine are metal. What's
> the life span for the plastic and are they as robust?
>
> Thanks,
> Brian
>
> PS
>
> This is a gas tank drop job isn't it?
