I agree with Tobin... the replacement parts from bus depot are cheap and
easy... plus, ron (bus depot) has both the heavy duty and the original
replacements... so if you don't want to strengthen your abs while closing
the rear hatch, you don't have to.  But I remember putting the heavy duty
type on my 88 wolfie a long time ago... harder to close, yes, but I loved
it.

Mick Kalber
Tropical Visions Video, Inc.
62 Halaulani Place    Hilo, Hawaii  96720
ph. 808-935-5557    fax 808-935-0066
hotlava@interpac.net
www.volcanoscapes.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM]On Behalf
Of Tobin Copley
Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2000 8:25 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: rear hatch STRUTS -- why do a hack?!?

At 10:53 AM -0600 8/10/00, Tony Demille wrote:
>simply drill a hole in the strut (at it's extended/open position-which
would
>be near the bottom(?) of the body of the strut) all the way through. this
>hole should be large enough in diameter to accomodate a kotter type pin...

At 1:37 PM -0400 8/10/00, Daryl Densford wrote:
>I recently saw somewhere an easy fix using pvc pipe cut to fit.  When you
>lift the hatch, it catches...

But replacement struts are so cheap!  Why go through all this hassle?
Under 50 bucks, 5 minutes work, good for years more, done deal.

T.

P.S.:  I have the super-strong struts installed on my bus, and I have
to pull quite hard to get the door started from the open position,
then keep applying pressure all the way down to close.  I don't mind
this at all.  Neither does my bus-fanatic wife.  So there.  ;-P
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tobin Copley   Bowen Island, BC, Canada              tobin.copley@ubc.ca

'82 westy 1.6L NA diesel ("Stinky")
'97 son Russell                                   =============
'99 daughter Margaret                            /_| |__| |__|:| clatter
1995: 'Round US, Mexico, Canada 15,000 mi       O|.           .| clatter!
1996: Vancouver to Inuvik, NWT   7,400 km        ~-()-==----()-~
Previous buses: '76 westy deluxe (Daisy), '76 westy standard (Mango)