The go westy catalogue indicates that the lack of weather seals on
earlier vans is actually part of the van's flow through ventilation.

As a Vanagon plows through the air, air flows around the vehicle
creating low pressure zones near the front door jams. VW engineers
realized this and used this low pressure to suck air out of the
interior of the vehicle.

Of course this does not help the rear passengers so in 1988 they added
weather seals on the front doors and added vented windows to the rear
most edge of the rear size windows.

The moral is if you're going to do the front weather seal mod, get
sone 1988 and up rear side windows to do the job right (I have two for
sale if anyone wants them).

Chris

On 3/15/06, John Reddick <SVYOLO@yahoo.com> wrote:
> I have been adding insulation slowly to my Westy over the last year to
> quiet it down to the levels of my 91 passenger van.  It is amazing the
> amount of small details VW did on their passenger vans compared to the
> Westies.  The vans are far quieter as a result.
>   Anyone looking to quiet their Westy should take a good look at a late
> model van.  I have added insulation to the floor, engine cover, under rear
> seat, front floor, and all three doors.  The doors now close with a high
> quality "thunk" but the overall noise has only gone down a little.  The
> newer vans also have a gasket/weatherseal inside the leading edge of the
> front doors.  Anybody try retrofitting it in a Westy with good results?
>   For insulation I used 1 small box of Q-pads and the rest 180# torchdown
> and 3m spray adhesive.  It is the exact same stuff.
>   Anybody try adding insulation inside the front fiberglass top?  How about
> the roof?  Any tips would be great.
>
>     John
>