Date: Fri, 22 Mar 1996 06:54:12 -0500 (EST)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: RGOLEN@umassd.edu
Subject: EV toys and projects
During the past couple of weeks I managed to add a couple of toys to my EV.
The first was the rear fog light (which I bought during the trip to
France...btw I will be back in France if anyone wants a Rear Fog..approx
$45). I had originally thought that the "rectangle" in the corner piece of
the rear bumper was the exact shape for the rear fog....its not. So I spent
about half an hour designing a template for the fog. Next I mounted the
template on the rear bumper (after covering the "rectangle" with masking
tape). Once the template was centered, I traced the opening with a black
magic marker (that's why the masking tape).
Now I had the exact shape traced onto the bumper. Got out the trusty Makitta
drill and sabre saw and went to work. In about 10 minutes I had the hole cut
and shaped exaclty. At which point the light unit just popped into place!.
Unfortunately, the US models don't have the pre-wired harness for the rear
fogs. So I have sort of a "Polish installation" ... the light is there..but
no wiring. I figure once I get around to putting on the front lights, then
I'll take care of ALL of the wiring.
The other project was to mount my airplane compass on the dash. About 8
years ago a friend gave me one of those semi-football-shaped airplane
compasses. I originally had it mounted on the dash of my 86 GTI. Well the
GTI is in storage (my son is getting it when he gets his license this
summer). It looked like this would be a straightforward job....drill three
holes (two screws..and one for wires), pop out the little panel next to the
center vents to get access to the area under the dash.
Well, I popped out the panel, and there is a metal bracket back there which
aparently is used to mount an additional four switches (as if the EV didn't
have enough room for switches already). So I had to pop out the center
vents. It takes two screws to remove the vent. One came out easily...the
other, well, let's just say I had to get "Mideavel on its butt (or head)"
Once the vent piece was out, the compass was in and wired in about 10
minutes. I'm glad that I don't have to rely on the compass for precission
navigation however. When I turn on the vent fan, the compass adds about 20
degrees to the previous heading.
Now for my future project. I bought a book in Germany on how to convert the
T4 into a camper (actually this publisher does one for each of the four
generations). One of the neat little items is a large drawer which fits
under the MV's luggage shelf between the two cabinets. So I'll get some
lumber and invite my carpenter friend over...give him a case of beer...and
let him build it.
Ric