> Date:    Sat, 23 Aug 2008 12:23:52 EDT
> From:    JordanVw@AOL.COM
> Subject: i dont drive my vanagons because im afraid they will catch on fire
>
> seriously people, aside from changing fuel lines.... PLEASE carry a NEW FIRE
> EXTINGUISHER...
While this is certainly good advice (I replaced mine just yesterday -
heading out for a 3-week trip tomorrow), it doesn't always help.  Case
in point, when my '78 Westy caught fire, 20 feet down the road from the
house, I grabbed the extinguisher and ran to the back. Got the back lid
open and used the extinguisher to put out the flames.  Just as the last
of the flames were about out, the starter wiring shorted out, and the
van started chugging into a cul-de-sac towards a house (yes, I left it
in gear).  So...there I stand, extinguisher in hand watching as my
now-flaming Westy chugs off down the road.  Humorous in retrospect, not
so much at the time.  Had to run and jump into a burning van to pull it
out of gear to save the neighborhood.  On the plus side, the fire chief
said it was the prettiest magnesium fire he'd seen in quite some time.
Maybe VW really had something with that 'put the gas tank up front'
idea.  15 years ago, remember it like yesterday :-)

Keith Hughes
'86 Westy Tiico (Marvin)