Hi Jim,

Well... I'll admit that I am not too familiar with aftermarket Vanagon 
parts. But I do know that Brazilian bus parts are NOT as good a 
quality. Brazilian tail-light housings and lenses will fit OK, but the 
build quality is FAR inferior to the original german parts. Door seals 
are particularly poor; though I have heard that others have fared 
better than I did with those.

If the original part lasted 20+ or 30+ years, should you replace it 
with something stamped out of pot-metal just because it's newer?  All 
I'm saying is that you have to evaluate the quality of the replacement 
parts carefully because they are not all created equal; and the country 
of origin labels on boxes are not always accurate.

Happy trails,

Greg Potts
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

1973/74/79 Westfakia Conversion **Bob the Tomato**  LY3H
1977 Sunroof Automatic L63H/L90D
http://www.pottsfamily.ca/westfakia
http://www.busesofthecorn.com

On 12-Mar-05, at 10:58 PM, jimt wrote:

> On 3/12/05 20:20, "Greg Potts" <Greg@POTTSFAMILY.CA> wrote:
>
>>
>> There are a lot of parts out there that I **Know** this to be
>> verified... the original shifter bushings on an aircooled bus last 
>> much
>> longer than the replacements available. Same thing applies to a lot of
>> seals and cables, and most of what comes from Brazil.
>
> A lot of the OEM rubber parts for the vanagon were made in brazil and 
> india.
> On seals, the brand that VW uses makes their seals all over the world. 
>  I
> have gotten the same seal with two different country stickers on them 
> in the
> same shipment.  Same brand name though.  I have even gotten engine 
> mounts in
> that were made in two countries.  The left from india and the right 
> from
> brazil.  Both with the VW emblem and part number on them in VW packing.
> ����������������������������������������
> jimt
> Planned insanity is best.
> Remember that sanity is optional.
> http://www.tactical-bus.info (tech info)
> http://www.westydriver.com
>
>