Agreed. Removing the dash is rather like building lego - easy steps, but
a lot of them.  Clean, dry, non oily, no special tools or skill needed.
Just give yourself lots of time... Pretend it's a really big lego model
! Get the dash off, then  sort the blower motor out . 
My $0.02 worth.....

Bill M
82 GL

-----Original Message-----
From: George Goff [mailto:THX0001@AOL.COM] 
Sent: December 29, 2003 10:51 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: can the front blower motor (etc)

In a message dated 12/29/03 1:48:22 PM, austins@IX.NETCOM.COM writes:

<< Maybe I'm missing something, but didn't the original post (sorry - it
was an excellent post but I don't have access to it at the moment) refer
to getting at the motor from OUTSIDE the bus - from/through the air
intake vent???>>

Yes it did.  Still, the outboard motor bearing is no more accessible
through the makeup air intake.  Anyway, by the time the bearing is
squealing, it is also wallowed.  Certainly anyone is welcome to fritter
away his time in the futile effort to revive a blower motor without
opening the ventilation box, but the time spent mucking about with
boroscopes and coat hanger probes would be better spent simply
installing a new blower motor.

As I have said nearly every time this subject appears, it is not that
big of a deal.  The first time you do one, start early and surely before
supper you will be patting yourself on the back.  Just make sure before
you start that you have the new motor, the air box clips (if the van is
'86 or newer) and the battery disconnected.

George