Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2013 12:03:34 -0800
Reply-To: Scott Daniel <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Organization: Cosmic Reminders
Subject: Re: rising cost of Vanagon parts...
In-Reply-To: <CAHTkEuJssEYKP8B=fX4PzN5PJfyhU1bEyRxVq1h=Wn6GbnLnnQ@mail.gmail.com>
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hmmmm.....
Sure Vanagon instrument cluster foils are getting dodgey and wearing out.
( I've seen them repaired incrementally ..wires soldered to the printed
circuit/foil here and there )
On the other hand....or additionally ............in all of cardom
Vanagons have about THE easiest dash and instrument area to work on
there is.
And for the common vanagon owner to completely re-do that area, keeping
every function that's there..
talking about a lot work and time.
so sure ..if someone has 12+ spare hours ...
can afford the new gauges n' such . go for it...
Could be quite rewarding .
it's also lot to go through just to get a function or two back.
And can affect resale value ...a wild mod in that area.
Besides on modified and custom stuff..
how many van owners or shops that do extensive converting document what
they did, what the new wiring is , with diagrams and all that ?
Hardly any . Like close to zero .
so 5 years down the road ..
new owner..some tech working it it ...'what is this non-stock
undocumented mess here ?? "
this might be really hard ( and expensive ) to fix.
I like good gauges of course...
and other than lack of oil pressure gauge ...the stock setup ,
particularily with tach ..is just fine.
the coolant temp gauge ..sure that circuit gets finicky now and then...
otherwise....it's a great gauge ..tells you plenty enough.
and with all your new gauges you'll keep the low coolant level red LED
warning function somehow ?
that system worked perfectly for me once , 100 miles from home...87
Wolfsburg ...I'm on the freeway ..
temp is fine, low level warning goes off ..
worked just perfectly ...game me notice that level was low, temp was
still fine...
instead of taking the first 'near nowhere' exit ( Grenada off I-5 north
of Mt Shasta )
I had confidence that I could go 12 more miles as reduced speed and load
to Yreka where there are auto parts stores.
And just as I pulled into a resturant lot at the north end of Yreka
............SPOOOSH ! ....a gallon or two puked out, right above the
spare tire....
- very common failure point on vanagons with plastic main coolant pipes
( mid 85 and up ..some 85's have metal pipes, some plastic, all 86's and
later have plastic main pipes for sure .
Would be smart to check both ends of both main plastic pipes...
those metal inserts slide out ..
eventually there's a real good leak there. It's cost many an engine .
You want to be checking behind you for clouds of steam about every one
minute or so driving a water-cooled vanagon ..
but we love 'em anyway !
scott
On 12/3/2013 10:01 PM, Don Hanson 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...
>
