Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2013 07:09:55 -0800
Reply-To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: rising cost of Vanagon parts...
In-Reply-To: <DE2FD3F3-CE46-4348-9355-E059D140A2F5@shaw.ca>
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You're right, it wouldn't exactly be 'easy'...I think I used the
wrong descriptive (?) One would have to do some creating and some
thinking to get it right. What I mean is what was done at the
factory can be done over again by an end-user/Vanagon owner, and the
original design/execution can certainly be enhanced.
.
A lot of the Manufacturer's reasoning and decisions about how
vehicles are constructed arechosen first with the cost of assembly in
mind.. Re-doing the controls and instruments for a vehicle
(especially one as basic as a Vanagon) as a one-off project----You can
certainly do it better than the factory did .Their Way....factory
stock, was chosen first as the most efficient way for assembling
thousands and thousands of Units, with selling them profitably to
"The Average Customer" as the main goal. If you build for your own
self, with function as your first priority rather than 'labor
cost/profit' you can certainly come up with better than they
did....though it may not suit the Average Customer...
So when grungy used stock dash pods are being sold at $3 hundred bucks
and the last circuit foils are all crinkled up, the last snap-in
switch housing has snapped, when those tiny little incandescent light
bulbs are NLA and all the stock-configured replacement parts,,
available for purchase with a half-life of just weeks, when those are
all being made by children in some third world sweat shop, a viable
alternative would be to do your own dash and instruments.
Heck, you can go to your local bicycle shop for the speedo/odo/clock
and get a cyclecomputer that will do that better than the original
equipment for about $15 bucks. I used a Garmin GPS cyclocomputer for
a time when my factory odo was inop and the speedo needle was noisy
and waving all over the dial....then I found the factory used parts
cheap and stuck those back in, but would I pay Big Bucks to do that
again? No, I would probably 'fix' it next time.. I do tend to think
outside the box though..
On Tue, Dec 3, 2013 at 10:22 PM, Alistair Bell <albell@shaw.ca> wrote:
> I guess it’s time to adopt a Missouri accent and say “show me”
>
> I don’t think it is easy at all. There are outstanding issues to deal with.
>
> 1. the brake/clutch fluid reservoir really constrains gauge placement. Frank G relocated his and used tube(s) to deliver fluid to m/c.
> 2. speedo - if electronic then you need some sort of device to make electronic signal from speedo cable. Those things are available, but again show me your suggestion as to what one works well in the vanagon
> 3. speedo - if using non electric then you need one that will interface with speedo cable and have the correct ratio
> 4. stock wiring to new dash interface - there are options, a DB25 plug as Jarrett used or a custom connector board that David Marshall sells (very nice looking unit). Or make your own.
> 5. lighting and reflections - not sure if gauge lighting with a flush faced cluster would reflect annoyingly off windscreen
> 6. accommodation of stock switches - sure, rewire to toggles if you want the 1965 Monte Carlo rally look
>
>
> I’m not a complete dolt when it comes to fabbing things, but I pause when it comes to the cluster rebuild. I really don’t want one that looks like as…. oops, i mean looks like donkey. You stare at the darned thing quite a bit when you are in the van :)
>
> cheers
>
> alistair
>
>
>
>
> On Dec 3, 2013, at 10:01 PM, Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
>> I know it sounds weird but you can
>> easily make a very good instrument panel, one that has much better
>> access to the wiring and connectors, one with accurate and dependable
>> gauges that are arranged to YOUR liking..
>
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