On 11/4/2014 10:02 AM, Marc Perdue wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> First, the exciting news: I had my van towed to a body shop yesterday
> to get painted!!!! He says two weeks; we'll see.
>
> Now, to other stuff: To prepare my van to be painted, I removed a lot
> of bits here and there, including the utility connections on the
> driver's side. It is an '87 Westy. I don't have a garage to work in,
> but kept it tarped as best I could. However, I noticed some water got
> into the fiberglass behind the fridge.
>
> I don't want to have to do the whole rust reparation process again
> anytime soon and I'm thinking that fiberglass holds water nicely and
> contributes to rusting from the inside out.
>
> So, when the van comes back from being painted, I'm thinking I'm going
> to pull out the fridge/sink/stove cabinet and remove the fiberglass.
> I'm sure somebody else has done this before. Is there a
> preferred/recommended alternative to fiberglass for that space?
>
> Is there also a nice write-up somewhere about removal/reinstall of the
> cabinet(s)?
>
> Thanks!
> Marc Perdue
I don't own a westy, but to me it seems that condensation from the cold
outside temps and the warmish inside temps(or vise versa) cause more
rust than leaks.  Getting rid of the fiberglass insulation is a good
idea.  If it were my vehicle, I would do two things.  First I would
replace the glass insulation with some closed cell foam sheets like
Minicell(available at canoe outfitting stores like NRS or NOC) or buying
it cheaper on ebay in bulk.  Depending on what sized cavity you have,
uyou might glue 1" thick planks to the metal(80% coverage??) and then
glue similar thickness on the interior panel. I would leave the bottom
few inches of the interior space uncovered.  Second, I would do what its
necessary to get ventilation in and out of that cavity and provide a
small fan for air circulation as it seems to me that if you have an air
exchange in there any condensation that forma(or leaks for that matter)
wouldhave a chance to evaporate, but being trapped back in that cavity,
you get little to no drying effect.  YMMV

DM&FS