James,
   It is well worth spending your time and gettting stuff
that will work properly.  I have tryed several types of
foam.  None have been a prefect match.  I can't stand
having cold air leaking into the vanagon on startup,
or hot air leaking in when the AC is on. You may
try a heating and AC shop.  Find a good fix
and let us know please.
                                                    Eric

James V wrote:

>Thanks, all, for the suggestions.  This project has been slow for me, as I
>can only squeeze in an hour or so at a time after work. Again, I've been
>trying to locate a suitable foam to replace the seals on the vent flaps.
>
>I rechecked the HD stuff, and while it looks like the camper top seals might
>be wide enough after all, this foam is more dense/firm than the existing
>foam.  Another suggestion was headliner material... I checked this out, and
>so far it's the closest.
>
>I'm probably being overly anal about this, but I'd really like to find
>something that will seal properly and last long (don't wanna do this for
>another 200k mi).
>
>So, does anyone know specifically what type of foam this is?  McMaster-Car
>has a huge supply of all sorts... But I'm not certain what I need.
>
>http://www.mcmaster.com/param/asp/psearch.asp?fam=foam&desc=Foam
>
>
>
>>Low density, open cell foam with a firmness of 1 and density of less than 0.5
>>is needed.  Also it should be ozone resistant; latex foam would be a poor
>>choice for this purpose.
>>
>>
>
>This is a good start.  I found some that had similar characteristics, but it
>wasn't quite "soft" and conforming enough.  What specific material should
>the foam be made of?
>
>Also, how do I remove the upper vents flaps (controls windshield defroster).
>It looks like I either remove one of the plastic ends from the metal rod,
>and slide it out... Or maybe there's enough flex that the rod could be
>worked out of it's ends?
>
>Thanks again,
>
>James V
>90 Carat
>
>
>
>