a lister came by last nite with a 85 westy to pick a few parts up from me...
 his westy looked pretty nice.. but the lower corners of the hatch were
starting to rot out and the long rocker seam on the drivers side was starting to
rot out.

i cant stress this enough.. this all can be prevented easily!

open your rear hatch...look at the bottom corners on the inside..  there is
one black plastic plug at each corner..  remove these plugs!!!  these just hold
water in..   you will find there is probalby alot of moist crud behind them
too.. clean all that out with a small wire..  so they can drain properly..
leave the plugs out..dont reinstall them.

as for the drivers lower rocker seam -  caulk the perimeter of your westy's 3
fill ports and flue vent!!

this is why your lower drivers rocker seam is rusting!

when westfalia-werke cuts those holes into the side of the vanagons at their
factory, they just simpley stick the fill ports in there with a foam gasket.
thats it. no caulking. 15-20 years later that foam gasket is long since
turned to dust.   and everytime it rains or you wash it, water pours in around
those fill ports and flue vent , soaks the insulation behind your kitchen area,
and never dries out..  the metal starts to rust..  water takes the path of least
resistance, the floor and horizontal rocker seam..

your seam will continue to rust out until you properly seal the acessory fill
ports and flue vent.

i have a blue 80 westy here for parts, that has virtually the entire drivers
side rotted out because of this.  its so bad even the horizontal body beam
under the fill ports has rotted a hole in the side of the van.  the inner and
outer rocker and floor are gone as a result of water leaking in around the fill
ports over the years..

a rusty drivers side horizontal rocker seam on a westy is not a sign of road
salt. it can happen anywhere.  i have seen california westys with rusty
drivers side rocker seams from leaky fill ports..  and the commets about the rust
happening from fridge condenstation are hardly valid as well.  most people dont
even use their fridges enough to make that kind of condenstation to cause rust
like that.

its from rainwater. period.

caulk your fill ports and flue vents!!

chris