Aircooled Engine to body seal replacement

[vol.ff4312]

So I'm having a heck of a time getting my seal replaced that goes around the engine tin and keeps the motor from overheating. Can I support it with a jack and remove the mustache bar nuts and drop the lump down to give me some more room to work? I'd like to avoid removing the engine if I can help it.
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Shane N.

1974 Super Beetle
1980 Vanagon Westy
1976 Leyland Mini


All as stock as I can make them!

[Mateo83]

I finessed it without having to remove much. Took off the airbox. Got the rear corners from the underside. Used a couple of long flat screw drivers. My tin was pushed over to the driver's side, so the seal still isn't great.
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83 Air-cooled 2.0 Tin Top

[vol.ff4312]

So I took the chance and dropped the motor. Made all the difference in the world and wasn't too difficult or time consuming, probably saved me time and frustration. I removed the air box and unplugged a couple of things that were in the way. I supported the middle of the mustache bar with a low profile jack and removed the 4 bolts that hold it to the frame. Then lowered it down and was able to get the seal on in about an hour or so. It had a tight fit onto the tins especially around the curves so I opened up the channel in those places with a wide blade flat head screwdriver. It actually had some extra overhang to its length at the end so I did snip about 2-3 inches off of it to get the butts to match up. I bought it from Buslab if anyone is interested, I know some places are selling ones that don't fit all the way around and people have had to splice in bits of the old one to take up the slack, not the case with the one I purchased from Buslab. I'd say that I have about a 95-98% positive seal all the way around mine now.
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Shane N.

1974 Super Beetle
1980 Vanagon Westy
1976 Leyland Mini


All as stock as I can make them!

[steve244]

Thanks for the update.
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82 AC vanagon approx 200K miles (3K are mine).
DD is a 2015 Leaf
Road Trip to Hell (FL 2023)
The Vanagon's drivetrain and chassis restomod thread. Best sung to the tune of I Did It My Way...

[MarkWard]

Hopefully you disconnected the shift rod at the trans and loosened the bolt through the trans mount. Feels good to keep that money in your pocket.
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