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MSmyth
Samba Member
Joined: September 02, 2008
Posts: 39
Location: Morgantown, WV
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 Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 11:01 am Post subject: Winner - Idiot of the Year.... me! |
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Was working on the Westy ('84) in preparation for our yearly trek to FloydFest http://atwproductions.com/index.php?pr=ffhome and long story short, started the van to back up a few feet to access an AC connection, didn't get it all the way into park when I shut her off and my wife's beloved Esmerelda drifted into a tree, open hatch first.
The good new is I managed to jump in and pull the e-brake fast enough that she didn't hit the tree extremely hard, but hard enough to bend in the lower lip of the hatch and tweak it out of shape. It might be repairable, but that's a lot of bondo.
Two questions: What year rear hatches will fit, and does anyone know of one/have one within a couple hours of Morgantown, WV?
BTW, I was doing a Dometic cleaning/fan replacement. Although I had no luck in getting it to run off propane since we bought her (two years ago), after cleaning out all the lines the fridge fires up first light. I let it run last night and woke up this morning to two cold #9's and some very tiny ice cubes. Sweet! |
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ProvoCyclist
Samba Member
Joined: December 07, 2004
Posts: 593
Location: Murray, Utah
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| Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 11:41 am Post subject: |
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Ouch! that sucks man. Rear hatches are rear hatches...basically. Rear wiper/washer, big vw emblem (on later vans), and power locks were all options. But! the door is the same across years.
_________________
Clark
Current: 1986 Tintop GL 2wd, stock 2.1L, manual trans, Flash Silver LP7Y.
Past: 1985 Sunroof GL, 2wd, Subaru 3.3L, manual trans, resprayed to Diamond Silver L97A |
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MSmyth
Samba Member
Joined: September 02, 2008
Posts: 39
Location: Morgantown, WV
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| Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 12:09 pm Post subject: |
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| ProvoCyclist wrote: |
| Ouch! that sucks man. Rear hatches are rear hatches...basically. Rear wiper/washer, big vw emblem (on later vans), and power locks were all options. But! the door is the same across years. |
Thanks for the info... found one in a local wrecking yard ('86 Westy) but they want $225... seems kinda steep, but it is supposedly pristine.
I plan on repainting next year (a little seam rust behind rear tires, but mainly from PO's craptastic respray) but for now I was just going to rattle can the new hatch if I can find out who mixes up custom spray. |
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campism
Samba Member
Joined: September 07, 2007
Posts: 4492
Location: Richmond VA
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| Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:16 pm Post subject: |
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Msmyth,
You might win the prize this year but I won it a few years ago for backing a Nissan pickup with tailgate down into a steel post, with similar results. Metal shouldn't bend that easily. Some award, right? |
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Harp7
Samba Member
Joined: September 18, 2008
Posts: 25
Location: Narragansett, RI
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| Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 8:41 am Post subject: |
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| MSmyth wrote: |
I plan on repainting next year (a little seam rust behind rear tires, but mainly from PO's craptastic respray) but for now I was just going to rattle can the new hatch if I can find out who mixes up custom spray. |
http://www.paintscratch.com |
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tozovr
Samba Member
Joined: June 03, 2009
Posts: 547
Location: York, ME
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| Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 8:49 am Post subject: |
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| Harp7 wrote: |
| MSmyth wrote: |
I plan on repainting next year (a little seam rust behind rear tires, but mainly from PO's craptastic respray) but for now I was just going to rattle can the new hatch if I can find out who mixes up custom spray. |
http://www.paintscratch.com |
These guys ROCK. My Savannah Beige Metallic is a PERFECT match.
_________________
...like a young Julie Andrews all whacked out on PCP, kinda fun but kinda scary too
'83 1.6TD
DX 5 Speed
"Whistler"
www.sinisterbikes.com |
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MootPoint
Samba Member
Joined: September 16, 2006
Posts: 862
Location: ABQ, NM
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| Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 9:27 am Post subject: |
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Ha! You guys want a hot cup of stupid? With sugar? Not only did I crunch my rear hatch, I totaled my mountain bike to boot. There's a large blind spot behind the cabinets that is just large enough to hide a small tree from all mirrors and windows.
My replacement hatch was $75 and in good shape, though I had to move the wiper/washer unit over and change the color from white to two-tone brown.
The paint I got from http://www.paintscratch.com/apple.html was a dead match but it look me a long time to find an accurate paint code for my two tone Wolfsbug colors, as the under-dash tag was gone. Some colors are really close. Don't trust the paint chips on their site as viewed, even on a well calibrated monitor. Even with my rattle-can application, though, the final job was perfect.
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1984 Westy with tencentlife power! |
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GWTWTLW
Samba Member
Joined: April 22, 2008
Posts: 2174
Location: Portland, OR
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| Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:01 am Post subject: |
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| MootPoint wrote: |
| Not only did I crunch my rear hatch, I totaled my mountain bike to boot. |
We were sitting on the porch at Baked in Telluride a while ago and watched in horror as some poor guy in a van (not a VW) backed into a telephone pole and accordianed 3 bikes. We were all screaming at him to stop and he just kept going. It was pretty painful to watch.
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89 Syncro Westy - GW 2.5, now with a double knob job
@gwtwtlw |
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MSmyth
Samba Member
Joined: September 02, 2008
Posts: 39
Location: Morgantown, WV
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| Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:55 am Post subject: |
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| MootPoint wrote: |
Ha! You guys want a hot cup of stupid? With sugar? Not only did I crunch my rear hatch, I totaled my mountain bike to boot. There's a large blind spot behind the cabinets that is just large enough to hide a small tree from all mirrors and windows.
My replacement hatch was $75 and in good shape, though I had to move the wiper/washer unit over and change the color from white to two-tone brown.
The paint I got from http://www.paintscratch.com/apple.html was a dead match but it look me a long time to find an accurate paint code for my two tone Wolfsbug colors, as the under-dash tag was gone. Some colors are really close. Don't trust the paint chips on their site as viewed, even on a well calibrated monitor. Even with my rattle-can application, though, the final job was perfect. |
Hokay, I feel a little better... I didn't hurt my bike in my Forrest moment, but I did kill a bird feeder in the tree I hit.
Checked out the "pristine" hatch. Yeah, right. Looked like a rusty waffle cone so I'm still looking for a good one. |
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Rodknock
Samba Member
Joined: April 06, 2006
Posts: 516
Location: Boulder CO
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| Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 11:09 am Post subject: |
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| I got a better one. A coworker got home from a long mountain bike ride, hit the garage door opener, and drove right in. Wrecked his bike, the Yakima roof rack, the rain gutters on his car, the garage door, and the header on the garage. What a mess. I have backed into things with my VW vans in the past, it is tough to see things down low. |
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gears
Samba Member
Joined: October 28, 2002
Posts: 4391
Location: Tamarack, Bend, Kailua
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| Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 2:28 pm Post subject: |
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| You guys are making me feel better with every post. I thought only I did s**t like this. |
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msinabottle
Samba Member
Joined: September 20, 2005
Posts: 3492
Location: Denver Area, Colorado
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| Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 2:38 pm Post subject: One Suggestion... |
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Put a wide-angle Fresnel or prism lens in your rear window, such as this one:
http://fresnel-lens.com/wide-angle-rear-window-lens.php
I've had one on Winston, and if I can SEE it--which in daylight is VERY easy--I can see tailgaters, obstacles, further down the road, all sorts of things. Here's a picture of the one in Winston:
Stays in place with just a little water.
Best!
_________________
'Winston,' '84 1.9 WBX Westy
Vanagon Poet Laureate: "I have suffered in
many ways, but never, never, never in silence." |
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