S-Boot refresh

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Mulcheese
Getting Hooked!
Location: Maple Grove, Mn
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S-Boot refresh

Post by Mulcheese » Wed Jun 28, 2017 6:12 am

After so many years of service I have noticed that my S-Boot is starting to crack. On the lighter side the crack is located at the end where it overlaps the airbox and is adjacent to the clamp.

I am looking for suggestions for a material that will seal and possibly hold so that it does not continue to progress. I dont think RTV will do the job, then again I may be wrong.

What you got?

Pat
"attending to things in the moment with curiosity and acceptance."
____________________
82 Vanagon Westy - aka: Honey Badger - "cause she just dont give a ...."

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Amskeptic
IAC "Help Desk"
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Re: S-Boot refresh

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Jun 28, 2017 6:28 am

Mulcheese wrote:
Wed Jun 28, 2017 6:12 am
After so many years of service I have noticed that my S-Boot is starting to crack. On the lighter side the crack is located at the end where it overlaps the airbox and is adjacent to the clamp.

I am looking for suggestions for a material that will seal and possibly hold so that it does not continue to progress. I dont think RTV will do the job, then again I may be wrong.

What you got?

Pat

The emergency road repair method is to procure a tube of Ultra-Black RTV (it is a matte finish not the shiny stuff like the regular black). Clean the S-boot thoroughly of any oil, inside and out, and allow to fully dry. Open the crack with a judicious bend and apply the rtv into the crack. Relax the bend and smear some additional rtv in a broad swath to improve your grip surface area and allow to cure. Make sure that the airbox has its rubber grommet on the vertical support and is clamped down correctly, and wth, make sure your engine mounts are not broken.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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sgkent
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Location: Citrus Heights CA (near Sacramento)
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Re: S-Boot refresh

Post by sgkent » Wed Jun 28, 2017 9:30 am

keep your eye open in the classifieds at Samba. They come up for sale in good condition. I glass bead them to clean them, check for cracks and store in a ziplock bag. The chemicals in the ziplock bag seem to have regenerative properties on the rubber because over time it becomes more pliable. Spraying with silicone spray before putting into the ziplock helps too. Then you have a spare next time one cracks. GeeBee makes a nomex and silicone replacement too. There is also a repop viton one but I have not tried it. https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds ... id=2036209
TBone208 wrote: "You ppl are such windbags. Go use your crystal ball to get rich & predict something meaningful. Nobody knows what's going to happen. How are we supposed to take ppl who don't know the definition of a recession & "woman" seriously?"

Merlin The Wrench

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tommu
Old School!
Location: Sunny Burbank
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Re: S-Boot refresh

Post by tommu » Wed Jun 28, 2017 9:56 am

You could try the airheads replica. The equivalent 75-79 Bus one worked for me:

https://www.airheadparts.com/VW-Volkswa ... 83%C2%BDRP

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Manaman
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Location: Honolulu HI
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Re: S-Boot refresh

Post by Manaman » Wed Jun 28, 2017 11:46 am

I have an 82 Vanagon and have the airheads repro and its great !
https://www.airheadparts.com/VW-Volkswa ... 83%c2%bdRP
1982 Vanagon Westfalia Federal Manual FI
1985 Vanagon L WBX
1972 Super Beetle

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Mulcheese
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Location: Maple Grove, Mn
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Re: S-Boot refresh

Post by Mulcheese » Thu Jun 29, 2017 5:32 am

At the moment the boot is still intact and the crack has not broke all the way through so I think to pro-long its life I will use the RTV as Colin has said. If and when it does bust I will check out Airheads. Great source guys

Thanks
Pat
"attending to things in the moment with curiosity and acceptance."
____________________
82 Vanagon Westy - aka: Honey Badger - "cause she just dont give a ...."

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SlowLane
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Location: Livermore, CA
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Re: S-Boot refresh

Post by SlowLane » Thu Jun 29, 2017 6:49 am

Another product that might work for this is Liquid Electrical Tape. Though I love Ultra-Black and use it for many things, I think the Liquid Tape might be a better hardness match to the rubber on the S-boot. It's tough as all heck when cured.

Note that I haven't tried this myself, so usual disclaimers apply: this product may stain or discolor or melt or warp or dissolve or not be a pleasing colour match to your S-boot.
'81 Canadian Westfalia (2.0L, manual), now Californiated

"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett

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sgkent
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Location: Citrus Heights CA (near Sacramento)
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Re: S-Boot refresh

Post by sgkent » Thu Jun 29, 2017 10:31 am

Mulcheese wrote:
Thu Jun 29, 2017 5:32 am
At the moment the boot is still intact and the crack has not broke all the way through so I think to pro-long its life I will use the RTV as Colin has said. If and when it does bust I will check out Airheads. Great source guys

Thanks
Pat
That philosophy has bitten many who own buses and vanagons. The assumption is that if a part is for sale today it will also be tomorrow. I stalled on a VW NOS 091 differential last winter - Weddle had many for a little over $500 a set. Today they are double that and not nearly as many left. The TS2 was like that - they were $12 each, then $16. I bought a half dozen. Then six months later they went NLA in an instant and the prices went to like $100 each. Now only repops are available. Saw the same on a repop alternator harness. NLA NLA. If the price is right snag a repop or good used one now and store it. You can get more miles from yours but have the spare. BTW if it cracks all the way thru and you don't catch it the engine will go lean and that can cause a hole in a piston in as few as 20 - 50 miles (or less if you are climbing a grade at the time and the lean mixture starts to detonate.)
TBone208 wrote: "You ppl are such windbags. Go use your crystal ball to get rich & predict something meaningful. Nobody knows what's going to happen. How are we supposed to take ppl who don't know the definition of a recession & "woman" seriously?"

Merlin The Wrench

Jivermo
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Re: S-Boot refresh

Post by Jivermo » Thu Jun 29, 2017 12:10 pm

Quite true. Both viton, one is 40.00, and one is 50.00, cheap enough to buy and install, repair the old one as a spare, monitor and report back to your fellows in this NLA endeavor.

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