Matt Brickell said:

[snip]

>It is now sitting in my lot waiting for the insurance adjustor
>tomorrow, front susp mangled, waterlogged with a torn up rear from
>getting it out of the muck with a chain etc.  The damage probably will
>exceed the value of the poor thing.  I have rarely ever seen a Westy in
>as pristine condition as this, and to replace it I would think would be
>at least 5-6K $...I looked up the NADA book value which is retail low
>$2600 average $3800 flawless $4800.  I wonder which of these values they
>will try to stick me with ha ha.  So, my 3 week ownership of my beloved
>Van is over it seems and I am just sick about it.

I'm really sorry to hear of what happened - that's truly terrible.
However ...

Don't give up yet!! I concur with the other list member who say
it's salvageable. Hire a powerwasher for a weekend & blast the van
with fresh, clean water with mild detergent added. This will clear
out the muck & ensure that damp smells won't appear. Pull out
the upholstery, wash it down & leave it out to dry. The engine should
have survived without getting too much water in. Pull the intake box,
clean it out & stick in a filter. I'm guessing water won't have got
past the AFM or into the exhaust past the muffler/cat. Powerwash
the entire engine bay & allow it to dry. Pop the dist. cap
& dry it out. Reckon it'll be OK!

A friend of mine backed his Citroen BX into a river once (long
story!). We tried this treatment on it & it survived, good as
new.

From BlueBook:

     http://www.kbb.com/kb/ki.dll/kw.kc.ur?kbb;762383&;r&40&16;VT;B5

     1984 VW Vanagon Campmobile

     Engine: 4 Cylinder Gas
     Trans: Automatic Trans.
     Drive: Rear Wheel Drive
     Mileage: 150,000

     Equipment

        AM/FM Stereo Cassette

     Retail Value  $5295 (Kansas)

Don't give up hope yet!

Best wishes,

Pete C

--
Pete  Cassidy,                   pcassidy@apple.com
Sacramento, CA, USA          http://www.iol.ie/~pcassidy
'88 Wolfsburg "Muriel"         *not speaking for Apple*