I have an 82 Westy and my wife has trouble opening the slider. She has
no trouble with the 87s we also drive. I am going to put an 87 door on
the 82 and I would like to hear from anyone who has done this and about
any gotchas I may encounter,

For those who don't know 80-84 sliders have a much different latching
mechanism than 85+ do. The 80-84 has a longer outside handle to help
overcome the high force needed to open the dual latches. You often see
80-84 Vanagons with the slider handle broken off because of the high
force applied to it over the years. The later door has a single latch
and opens more easily even with the shorter handle. The window is a
different size also so I will be looking for a later Westy screened
window to go with the later door I just bought.

Mark