Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2013 13:02:28 -0800
Reply-To: Al Knoll <anasasi@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Al Knoll <anasasi@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: rising cost of Vanagon parts...
In-Reply-To: <CAHTkEuJssEYKP8B=fX4PzN5PJfyhU1bEyRxVq1h=Wn6GbnLnnQ@mail.gmail.com>
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One can duplicate the circuit. Wires work pretty well. A custom harness
pegged to a board isn't mechanically out of reach. A substitute connector
that patches into the press-ons, would not be that hard. Sometimes if one
breaks down the task as you do things become simpler, perhaps not easier
but simpler. Now if one does justice and wires the loom with color coded
or tagged (read aircraft) wires documentation becomes a matter of
annotating a photograph.
My college buddy Dave Burnett had to rewire a MG-TC that the "owner"
rewired with pretty green wire, all of it in pretty green wire. When a
major connector short caused the smoke trapped in some of those pretty
green wires to escape vigorously, Dave got a bargain, otherwise virtually
perfect with good leather, top, sidecurtains. chrome, and BRG bodywork,
and a strong engine for a pittance as no one was willing to do the rewire
for less than a duke's ransom. Heck even the Smiths guages were perfect.
You can draw a point to point circuit diagram of the blue plastic flex
circuit. Realize the drawing into an annotated wiring harness diagram,
properly trim the wires to length, and attach modern Amphenol or better
connector pairs.
But I'd rather camp.
Pensionerd.
On Tue, Dec 3, 2013 at 10:01 PM, Don Hanson <dhanson928@gmail.com> wrote:
> If you simply must have a stock or factory original looking
> vanagon, I guess you will just have to keep upping your parts budget
> but if you just want function with perhaps a bit easier access and
> better performance, making your own stuff is not especially difficult.
> The list was looking for instrument pods which are said to be
> getting expensive and brittle.. 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...Yeah, it won't look stock.
> But stock isn't necessarily the best arrangement, the most dependable,
> the most accurate....stock is just what the bean counters and the
> engineers decided would make the most money for the company...
>
> Individual analog (my preference) or digital gauges can be
> installed into a dash panel (or two) of your own design...fairly
> simple to do. They do it all the time in racecars. I took an
> almost 50lb pod out of my racecar and replaced it with 16lbs of my own
> design...an aluminum plate and some autometer instruments that
> actually gave me numbers, not incremental lines and bars and warning
> lights...I arranged the dials so that at operating temperature and
> speed all the needles pointed to 12 O Clock....A quick scan was all it
> took to see any readout that wasn't right.....A bank or two of toggle
> switches and you are there... I used the back of a dish pan that I
> laid up some carbon fiber over then removed the pan (a mold) for the
> cowl to cover the wires on the rear of the panel and two large Dzus
> fasteners so I could pull the whole panel right out without a tool
> even....
>
> Every time I go into my dash pod on the vanagon I swear at all the
> fiddly little brittle plastic tabs and tiny connectors and I always
> vow to make one that a human hand can work with....but then it goes
> back together(eventually and with crossed fingers that I got all the
> wires in right) and I finds someplace fun to go off to in my Vanagon
> and I put that project off....till the next issue that requires me to
> go into the pod........ Yes, the stockers look great and you can put
> your toy Poodle up there and he wouldn't get shocked or be able to
> chew anything important, but
> these are basically trucks or utility vehicles, not slick
> cars....They should be easier to work on and do the job better if
> possible and keeping it stock, at greater expense and lesser function?
> Next time something integral to the pod in mine breaks....I think
> I'll be revising that mess...
>
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