Date:         Sat, 5 Jul 1997 19:40:47 -0400
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Linda Bartnik" <lbart@preferred.com>
Subject:      Re: Door light



>
> Odd that they added the switch.  Perhaps that is legacy of the addition
(in
> 1981) of a Camper model.  My 1980 Westy does not have the switch -- it
has
> a plastic blanking plate.
> 
Nor does my '81 have the switch.


> Speaking of plastic blanking plates, has anybody ever added the
above-door
> light to a passenger side?  The appropriate hole appears to be there, but
it
> is covered by a plastic plate as well (despite it being covered by the
> headliner).  I was thinking of adding another light there.
> 

Joel Walker has done it on a regular van and I have done it on my '81
Westy.  On the Westy, it's pretty darn easy.  

I had a spare lying around that closely matched the driver's side light.  I
removed the wood-ish headliner thing over the cab.  There are a bunch of
screws all the way around and then it kinda bends out of the tracks.  Once
you get that off you will see a bunch of insulation.

Anyway, there is indeed the cutout for the light on the passenger side
(this is, I imagine, because the Vanagon was produced for the RHD market as
well).  The nice thing about the Westy is that there is no plastic plug and
indeed, the light does not even sit in the hole in the body, but rather in
a hole cut in the wood headliner.  Now, the driver's side light has a metal
frame riveted to the headliner for the light to sit in.  I found that if
you cut the hole on the passenger side a bit smaller than the driver's
side, it will fight tightly.  I used a pocket knife to cut the hole, so
it's not tough :-) .

Anyway, then I ran the wires up the windshield pillar (this was the hardest
part, as you need to run three wires up that pillar, one power and two
ground).  Removing the grab handle on the windshield pillar really helps. 
I took power from the fusebox, using a piggyback connector on the fuse for
the interior light.  Then I ran one ground wire to a constant ground and
the other to the door contact switch on the passenger side.

Now, when I open either door, both lights come on.  I thought briefly about
having the driver's side light come on when the driver's door opens and the
passenger side light coming on when the passenger door opens, but decided
instead to go with both lights when either door opens.  I really like the
extra light and an added bonus is that each light can be switched on and
off individually.

Sean

> malcolm