In a message dated 22/07/2008 1:08:21 P.M. Central Standard Time,
LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM writes:

tryin'  to stay quiet pretty much,
but since when do 83.5 to 85 Vanagons have  stainless steel main coolant
pipes  ?  .

what they are,  near as I can tell is ordinary steel, galvanized, then
painted  black.
and a magnet sticks to them - just tested that.
( hush my mouth  if I'm wrong, but boy are there ever a lot of incorrect
urban myths in the  VW world !! )

there are numerous stainless steel alloy types - a lot of  stainless steel is
non-magnetic.

I'm glad to see someone say  stainless rusts though .........and it depends
on which kind of  stainless........
but people think  stainless steel is 'magic  titanium.'
it is not.
stainless has a lot of properties that make it not  as good as steel in many
applications.
it's not as strong.
it welds  nicely, but it doesn't cut with a torch so nicely, and it's very
hard to  drill.
Stainless steel cracks too.  it's not 'some perfect  metal.'
................and ............stainless steel coolant pipes are a  very
good application of the material, and to be really correct, which  should  be
saying what alloy of stainless we are talking about each  time.

Scott,  you took the words right outta my mouth !  I was gonna type up the
same  story but decided my fingers needed the rest !    You know I bet  90 % of
the people on this List think of their kitchen sink when Stainless Steel  is
mentioned.  HA !  Let's make Vanagon exhaust systems from kitchen  sinks !  Ya,
I like that !

Cheers,

Frank  Condelli
Almonte, Ontario, Canada
'87 Westy & Lionel Trains (_Collection for sale_
(http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/trainsal.htm) )
_Frank Condelli &  Associates_ (http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/busindex.html)
- Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in the Ottawa Valley
_Vanagon Stainless Steel Exhaust  Systems_
(http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/exhaust.htm)
_BusFusion_ (http://members.aol.com/BusFusion/bfhome.htm)  a VW Camper
camping event, Almonte, ON, June 12 ~ 15,  2008