Looks like you need a new gasket for the hatch opening.

On Tue, Nov 15, 2016 at 7:37 PM, Neil N <musomuso@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi all.
>
> This is likely obvious to most Vanagon owners but.....
>
> 3 months ago, I moved to a residence with a lot of evergreen trees;
> parking "full time" in this type of surroundings is new to me. While
> working on my Westy today, with the rear hatch open, I saw a twig or
> two sticking up out of the trough at the top of the opening. To my
> surprise, there was a LOT of twigs, sediment, muck etc. in that
> trough. And it was totally wet. (I now live on the Sunshine Coast, but
> that name is somewhat of a misnomer; it rains a fair amount up here.
>
> It would probably take some time for that material to rust out that
> area but why wait? I cleaned it out and sprayed on some Rust Check
> fluid.
>
> Neil.
>
> --
> Neil n
>
> Blog: Vanagons, Westfalia, general <http://tubaneil.blogspot.ca>
>
> 1988 Westy Images <https://picasaweb.google.com/musomuso/New1988Westy>
>
> 1981 Westfalia "Jaco" Images, technical <http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/>
>
> Vanagon-Bus VAG Gas Engine Swap Group <http://tinyurl.com/khalbay>
>