

| Subject: | westy insulation |
| From: | Alistair Bell |
| Date: | Wed, 20 Sep 2000 08:56:49 -0700 |
I re-insulated my westy this summer. Stripped the interior completely. Stock insulation (yellow fibreglass) was found in all the wall cavities. As noted by Frank Condelli and Matthew Bulley, the wall behind the fridge is the most susceptable to rust problems. On my van the rust was not too bad and limited to the lower seam, where the wall meets the floor. Only other area that had rust was the bottom of the cavity immediately beside the rear bench seat (right hand side), just a little bit of surface rust, again where the wall meets the floor. I gound out all the rust, treated the areas with a "rust converter", then painted with Tremclad. Aftert the paint had dried I sprayed all the interior body seams with "Rust Check". Condensation is often cited as the cause of this rusting, I agree but want to add that the westy service boxes and fridge exhaust are also places where water can get ino the walls. Seal those areas with your favourite caulk. (now thats a sentence to be written and not spoken). During this re-insulation job, I soundproofed my van with a kind of roofing membrane called "ProGard" made by EMCO. Its a rubberized asphalt material with a polyethylene mebrane on one side and self adhesive on the other I was to cheap to go the "Q-pad route, this stuff cost around Can$70 for a 3'X 65' roll. While it is only around 1/8" thick, you can stick on as many layers as you want. This stuff does have an odour, noticable during the install on a relatively hot day. But once in place I can't smell it at all. After the membrane, I re-insulated with pink fibreglass and installed a polyethylene vapour barrier. I worry that the vapour barrier could be a problem, trapping any moisture that does get into the walls (from the service boxes for example). Glad I sprayed a liberal amount of rust check along the bottom of the walls. Alistair
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