Date:         Fri, 08 Nov 96 21:28:02 CST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      RE: Vanagon Manual Mirror Adjustment

On Fri, 8 Nov 1996 18:19:01 -0600 you said:
>question.  Has anybody upgraded a manual mirror Vanagon to electric =
>mirrors?  If so, is it relative straight forward, i.e. any gotchas'?

yup. did it on my 88. EXPENSIVE: about $700. you have to buy:
- two mirrors at about $200 each.
- door switch.
- THREE wiring harnesses (little dippy things) at $90 each! one for each
   door, and one for the middle of the dash (between the doors).
- some assorted screws and nuts and wiring connectors.

procedure:
- roll window UP.
- remove door panel (and door latch, window crank, etc).
- remove plastic vapor barrier.
- remove outside mirror.
- put new power mirror in place of old mirror. notice that there is a
  third screw position at the bottom. drill hole in door (!!!! be careful!)
- insert new screw. now cut hand and knuckles trying to put the stupid
  "nut" onto the third screw. it CAN be done, but it's a pain.
- tighten all screws.
* oh yeah. you have to remove the plastic connector from the wires coming
  out of the mirror otherwise the wires won't fit through the hole ... did
  i forget to mention the hole you have to drill for the  wires?

- once you've gotten the mirror on and the wires inside, the rest is easy.
  just hooking up wires and harnesses. wires are color-coded and the only
  goofy thing is hooking the middle harness to the rear window defroster
  (so the mirrors will defrost).

would i do it again? hmmmmmm. get back to me on that one.
do i like it? you betcha! power mirrors are great!

side "benefit": should you decide to add power door locks or power windows,
you have already got the wires to do so: the door wiring harnesses contain
the wires for both of those options.

how long did it take? hmmm. one saturday afternoon. cause i was going slow
and trying to  figure out what to do.

downside:
- them mirrors are expensive if you break one ... or some illiterate moron
  rides his bike through the parking lot and hits one with his head (couldn't
  have been anything else ... otherwise it would have HURT him!). :(
- once you convert, you cannot go back ... you've got this extra hole in
  your door! (the wire hole will be covered by the base of the old mirrors)

joel