My '91 camper has nothing like that in it.  The floor is vinyl or similar material like one might have in a kitchen at home, with a carpet cover over that.  No pad under the carpet.  mcneely
---- John Bange <jbange@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> Everyone knows that distinctive smell of "old Volkswagen". I remember asking
> about it as a kid, riding in my father's 76 Beetle, and him explaining that
> it's the horsehair padding in the seats. Later he showed me it, visible on
> the back of the rear seat backrest. When I first bought my '90 Vanagon, it
> had the same smell, which I found surprising given the foam padding in the
> seats. Where does the smell come from? Today I had to remove the rear heater
> and cap off the hoses (the usual leaking rear core). The carpet and
> underpadding were soaked with coolant, so I tossed the carpet (it was
> trashed anyway) and pulled up the mulched and formed foam pad to hose it
> off. Upon closer inspection in the sunlight, I saw this:
>
> <http://i.imgur.com/cchmh.jpg>
>
> Is that what it looks like? Is that our old friend Horsehair mixed in with
> the crumbled recycled foam? Is THAT where the classic VW Smell is coming
> from?

--
David McNeely