Date: Sun, 23 Oct 2022 08:35:02 -0700
Reply-To: Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Subject: Re: New dash foil replacement
In-Reply-To: <ED8B84AF-767E-4CC1-9506-B6A14E8306C6@icloud.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
I can answer that.
Was a couple years ago Greg came by my work to see about some work work we could do for him. He saw my van , he was driving his van… we got to talking about vans.
Somewhere in the conversation I mentioned that I’m using a borrowed dash cluster with the South African foil replacement system. You know the one, I forget who sells it in North America but it’s basically a small box that plugs into the wiring harness and then wires to the various dash components. I think it predates go westies copy. I was saying to him how it works ok, that I had to secure the box to the harness as it tended to disconnect. And also said how that I had always wanted to make my own version.
He’s an electronics guy , so of course I was asking him for advice. He then casually dropped the fact that one could just have a new foil made.
I had no idea that was possible .
I said to him I thought that was a much better replacement format than the wired type kits in the market.
I said I’d buy one.
So he started the design , and had the foils made. Has been a longish project as he has a full time job, and has gone thru a couple of revisions.
And I have a foil now. In the Workshop. I now can fix up my old cluster ( lots of plastic repair needed) and install the foil.
This new foil is a way better version of the original. As rick mentioned it’s made of Kapton, not polyester/Mylar that the original was made of. The Kapton is a much more durable material but still conforms to the dash as the original.
Another difference is that the circuit traces are on both sides. Greg explained that back in the day it was only possible to have the traces on one side of the foil, hence the seemingly more complicated trace routing compared to this new one.
Yes there are other options, the hard wired type. And they work, as I mentioned I’ve been using one for a couple of years. But I think there is room for a stock type foil replacement.
Alistair
> On Oct 23, 2022, at 12:18 AM, Jeff Palmer <w.jeff.palmer@icloud.com> wrote:
>
> I’m curious why he is developing this product. Aren’t there at least two other manufacturers out there? I bought one years ago and have been happy with it.
> Jeff
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>> On Oct 21, 2022, at 9:23 PM, Rick Cooper <rick@webleaf.ca> wrote:
>>
>> A couple of months ago Alistair Bell mentioned that his friend Greg had developed a new dash foil replacement. Alistair's note was mostly about Greg's dimmable, drop-in replacement for the vanagon kitchen light but I was more interested in the foil. Two of my instrument lights have not worked for ages because I had damaged the foil in that area by trying to force the wrong LED bulbs into place. A local supplier had sold them to me as suitable for an 1987 vanagon but they clearly were not.
>>
>> It turns out that Greg lives not far from me and when I contacted him, he asked if I was willing to beta test the new foil. Indeed I was. So a few weeks ago, Greg installed one of his foils in my van and I can tell you that it is a thing of beauty. It's made from a very strong, probably indestructable, material called Kapton. It is very close to the stock foil in size and shape and is truly 'plug and play'. Installation was dead easy and took less time than removing the old foil.
>>
>> The new foil comes with LEDs for the center lights (turn signal, high beam, oil, alternator and O2 sensor) already soldered in place. Apparently vanagons for the Canadian market did not have the O2 sensor light, so Greg simply snipped it off and that was that. But other owners of Canadian vans could probably re-purpose it as a fog light indicator for example. The main difference from the original foil that I could see is the main connector which Greg designed and produces on a 3D printer. The connection feels more solid and secure than the stock approach.
>>
>> The only quibble I could find with the foil is that the blue hi-beam indicator LED is on the bright side. Not a problem night driving in the city but out on a dark country road it could be annoying. Greg says he will try to dial it down on the next build. The red LEDs for the alternator and oil pressure are equally bright but they are only on momentarily. The green LED for the signal lights is perfect.
>>
>> Greg says there is still some testing to be done but he hopes to get these into production later this fall. The initial run of 25 will be for 1986-and-later vanagons, with other versions coming next year depending on demand.
>>
>> Rick
