In a message dated 8/26/02 5:51:54 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
gary2a@TELUSPLANET.NET writes:

<< Both covers looked factory.  I've never seen either cover before, was this
a
 16" thing?  The covers were not what I would call skid plates as they were
 made of sheet metal.  The engine may have been a TDI, couldn't tell for
 sure. >>

Gary,

If you followed my (mis)adventures with that "sheetmetal" plate last year, I
spoke about how deceptive looking they are. It sure looks like thin sheet
metal when you stare at it. That is until you go under it and take the screws
out. All I remember is a load *bonk* and John Wessels getting a good laugh at
my expense when I tried to take the pan off by myself. That sucker is heavy
gauge steel. At least it is in my 16". The rear box is also way thicker than
the ones I have seen in regular diesels. Mine is a factory turbodiesel, BTW.
Again, I do;t know if it is specific to the 16' but I've seen more than a
dozen US diesels and none had this engine "capsule".

BenT
 <A HREF="http://hometown.aol.com/bentbtstr8/myhomepage/index.html">Vanagon
Cafe</A>