At 08:28 AM 9/25/2010  -0400, Edward Maglott wrote:
>of the van.  I have driven with the skylight open and quite a bit of
>air seems to come in there when the front windows are open, despite
>its rear facing orientation.

The skylight seems to be in a neutral pressure area -- it will suck
or blow equally well depending on other conditions.

>The back area of the van seems to get very little airflow and gets
>hotter and hotter, especially on a sunny day.

The fresh air vents over the door side (bottom lever on the heater
panel) may help a little.  The rear heater fan can stir things up
some and help even out the temps.

>  I've thought about
>getting the late model rear side windows with the vents to upgrade my
>86 which has the front door vents.  Do those rear window vents make a
>big difference?

Judging from a tech bulletin VW put out, they're not as good.  The
bulletin referred to fixes for whistling noises from cabin air
escaping through the side window seals etc. either when moving or
when stopped with the blower running.  I'm distinctly tempted to get
a set of sliders for the door vents on my '89

With the '86 you can still open the quarter windows wide to get a
strong blast of air (and bugs maybe) directly on the front-seat occupants.

Some people have made up a false window with a 4" PVC pipe elbow in
it.  A second elbow and maybe a bug screen would direct the air aft.

Yours,
David