Hello all, 
	In mid-September 1996 four St. Francis Xavier University 
Students, Steve Dorey, Al Joseph, Brian Starzomski, and Mark Toth, will 
be leaving Nova Scotia for a nine month journey to Southern Chile (Tierra 
del Fuego).
	We have the ultimate, a lime green '78 Westy as our chariott. 144,000 
miles on her. For the most part we are VW rookies and WE NEED HELP (with 
our van). Problems/Questions we have:
1) Below half a tank our fuel gage doesn't work! (arrgh!)   
2) High Beams occasionally stick "on".
3) Seal for pop-top is beyond hope.
4) gas-tank filler spout seal (at top where you fill'er up) leaks. (we 
have it sealed with silicone for now.)
5) What's with the superfluous muffler?
6) Heater box has holes in it.
7) She has 195/R14 tires (is that strange?)

there are more problems, but we won't get into those right now.  we're 
also looking for any information about virtually anything anyone knows 
about the countries we'll be driving through- ie. all of central america, 
much of south america minus colombia and ecuador.  if you know stuff, 
we'd love to hear from you!  thanks a bunch.  must go drink beer.

 
al and brian