I didn't even know the metal coolant pipes were galvanized.

Dennis

>From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
>Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>Subject: Re: The DEEP, DARK secret of fiberglass exhaust wrap discovered
>Date: Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:24:35 -0700
>
>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.
>
>
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Doug Alcock" <doug.alcock@GMAIL.COM>
>To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 7:04 AM
>Subject: Re: The DEEP, DARK secret of fiberglass exhaust wrap discovered
>
>
>>Stainless steel does rust eventually --- a case in point is the stainless
>>steel coolant pipes that run under the 83.5 to 85 vanagons. I'm sure you
>>can
>>guess how I know this.
>>
>>Cheers,
>>Doug
>>
>>
>>On 7/21/08, Chris S <szpejankowski@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>Well, I bought some exhaust wrap, but not to wrap my exhaust, mind you.
>>>I
>>>needed to shield some not-so-hot parts from the hotter-than-H parts.
>>>I've
>>>read reports of exhaust headers rusting very quickly after application of
>>>fiberglass exhaust wrap.  Why?  The stuff soaks up water like a sponge
>>>and
>>>holds it.  Yes, I just tested it.  So you can imagine what happens over
>>>night when the dew point drops, no?  Yes.  The doom of all bare steel,
>>>moisture, gets sucked up against the headers.
>>>
>>>It seems that sealing it against moisture would be the correct way to
>>>apply
>>>the stuff, which can be done by applying the appropriate and expensive
>>>sealant.
>>>
>>>No problem for stainless steel headers, right?  Maybe not so, since the
>>>wrap
>>>causes the temperature of the headers go up, which may be too much of
>>>heat
>>>stress for the metal to handle.  And that might be another DEEP, DARK
>>>secret
>>>in itself.
>>>
>>>Chris S.
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>--
>>http://www.dougalcock.com