I have to second Eric on this.

My ex-wife not only melted the bumper end piece but got it to burn.  The
firemen came....
The van was running very rich at the time but exact fire mechanism is
unknown.
She sold it back to me shortly thereafter.

Find a welder and have him weld a 90 degree pipe to the muffler and don't
forget to put a hanger on it to help keep the muffler from shaking the rest
of the system.
Good luck.
Aljay

----------
From: Eric Zeno <vw4x4@FYI.NET>
Reply-To: vw4x4@FYI.NET
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2004 10:04:04 -0400
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Tailpipe repair

Driving like this  long distance will melt the  plastic
bumper end.  It will also melt/burn off the under
coating  in the rear body section.
                                       Eric

Royston, Jerry wrote:

>I will be going on a 1200 mile trip next week and have not been able to repair
the little tailpipe that comes out of the muffler.  It basically rusted off
and now there's just a little nub of rusted metal sticking out of the
muffler.
>
>Two questions:  1) Is it OK to drive like this?  Doesn't seem to affect the
noise level; and 2) Will I have to replace the muffler when putting on a new
tailpipe since the clamp seems to have rusted away.  And can Midas repair
this kind of problem or is it beyond their capabilities?  Thanks
>
>Gerry Royston
>Bethesda, MD
>'87 Westy
>
>
>
>