Just thought I would mention this example of how using the wrong part can
cause unexpected trouble.

Yesterday I complete my front shock install, completing all four shocks on
my 83. These, of course, were made with the stamped steel control arms.

I easily removed the bottom bolts and the shocks dropped right out, but the
new ones would not go back in. I puzzled over this for a while and finally
figured out the reason.

The old shocks had not been made specifically for a Vanagon. Where the new
replacements have a solid steel sleeve at the bottom that serves as a
spacer that fits in the box-shaped opening in the control arm, the ones
that came out had rubber extensions to fill up the space on either side of
what was otherwise a narrow eye. So, instead of steel, there was 3/4 inch
or so of rubber on each side of the shock.

This allowed the grease monkeys employed by the PO or the PO himself to
torque down on the bolt and nut, crushing the control arm metal to the
point that the new shock could not be installed without grinding on it a
little.

Everything seems OK but long term I want to figure out how to get the sheet
metal back out to its original dimensions. This is what happens when
somebody lets the wrong parts get put on a car by the wrong people. The
rest of the car was pretty well taken care of and I know the shop who cared
for it. They would not have made this mess, which must have been done by a
generic shock place.

Shocking.

Jim