i think i still have all my cardboard in the front of my 83 diesel - i
figured it was probably impt for cooling flow (same radiator and front cowl
as gas vanagon btw). I have one of the Al strips on the drip rails, the other
one is waiting for me to find a good cement to stick it back on. Havent noticed
any difference in noise right and left. I have noticed that the position
(open/close) of the front door vents (if you have them) noticeably affects
the wind noise level; closed=louder. Said noise seems to be localised at the
front of the doors - i think the design here is that at speed the aerodyn.
pull air from the cabin through the front doors - if you shut off the flow
by nixing the vents then you get a lot of turbulence (ergo noise) from the
resulting flow.

Another thread - i have the 7 seater edition which i am trying to turn
into a weekender. Has anyone tried taking the middle seat and turning it
around to face the rear? The seat tracks should just slide in either way,
maybe a new hole for a hold-down bolt.

The beauty of this is that a nice big piece of foam would make a great
full bed, and while you are in camp the 3 seat  and  the rear-facing 2 seat
make a nice arrangement. it would be really topped off by a table thats
stowable...

any thoughts?