>Will be checking and replacing all necessary water hoses, pipes and the
>fuel lines (saw the pictures of burned out hulks).  What about the plastic
>part where hoses come together on the back of the engine compartment
>(bleeder valve in it ) does this need to be replaced?

The plastic coolant manifolds in the early vans seem pretty durable in my
experience, now the one bolted to the left head in front on the later ones
is subject to stress cracks under an overtorqued bolt or two, watch those.
In general inspect the things carefully wash them out with a good stiff
brush in soapy water, look for cracks, maybe find a replacement for the
o-rings on the bleed screw or on later vans on the sensors.  Another cooling
system thing at this time, how about taking a look at the rear heater valve
and core.

And another fuel system thing, the plastic bulkhead connector on the
firewall, never seen one break but they are relatively cheap and sure can
look bad on anything 10 years old or older.  The plastic ring main parts,
hell if I know, probably real expensive and they may have been replaced
under warranty once already.

John
vwbus@mindspring.com