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Joel writes:
this is old stuff, but maybe there's enough new folks that it
might prove useful.
this is stuff i've done to my bus(es) over the years.
leather steering wheel cover
dash-lights-reflection-on-windshield.
wheel wells
(syncro mud flaps)
extra lights
(front fog and driving, rear fog and backup)
extra courtesy
lights
brake lights
grab handles
Gene Berg
short shift (non-syncro)
power radio
antenna
extra storage
boxes
drink holders
cb radio
trash can
fire extinguisher
tool box
lug nut
wrench
window tint
cv-joints
rear window
Vanguard
Zemco driving
computer
odds and
ends
leather steering wheel cover:
the best i have found is the Wheelskin brand, and you can get
it in a BX style which is thicker and for larger thickness wheels.
Be sure to specify the steering wheel diameter (as well as the
year and model of car). Why put one on the bus? cause (IMHO)
it makes the steering wheel much more pleasant to hold on to,
both in summer (it doesn't get as hot as the plastic) and in
winter (you almost don't need gloves). Costs about $30 including
shipping, but after having gone through several other wal-mart
and generic types, it is worth it. The cheapest place i found
was http://www.autotoystore.com/
iIf you really want to go crazy, the covers come in all sorts
of crazy
colors. I just got black for mine.and what is really neat is
to put TWO of them on there. I had an old one that was getting
cracked from age, so i got a new one ... decided to NOT remove
the old one, just put the new one over it. it worked! Now i have
a really thick steering wheel, very comfortable. but i'd recommend
getting a cheaper first cover ... like wal mart ($10. but get
the one that sews up, not the wrap-around kind)
top.
dash-lights-reflection-on-windshield:
perhaps because of my height (head to butt), i kept noticing
that when i had the dash lights turned up bright, i could see
them reflecting in the front windshield. didn't like this, so
i got some body-side-molding from an auto trim shop ... the stick-on
type, about three inches wide ...and glued it to the front edge
of the instrument 'pod' top. i got the wide kind so it would
have enough overlap to stay in place ... you really need to add
only about 3/4 inch to eliminate the reflection. works pretty
good and doesn't look too terribly tacky. now all i have to do
is figure out a way to eliminate the same sort of reflection
in the drivers side window. so far, the only way is to turn the
dash lights down much dimmer ... which i don't like. i have heard
of some stuff from 3M that sort of 'polarizes' the light ...
lets you see it from only straight above, not to the side angles
... but when i called about it, they told me it was $50 per square
foot! well, i won't need but one square foot ... but they don't
sell direct. great. haven't found anybody who sells it retail
yet.
top.
wheel wells
got the Syncro little mud flap/flare thingies and put them onto
my non-Syncro bus. eh? looks ok, but a real bitch to install...with
no instructions, of course. don't think it's worth the money
those little things are $25 each x 4 wheels!
top.
extra lights:
driving lights and fog lights, of course ... with a twist. i
used aircraft circuit breakers, rather than inline fuses. seemed
like a good idea at the time; wouldn't do it again, though, because
of the expense. J.C.Whitney has a neat little power setup ...
one big wire (to the battery) and a five-fuse block at the other
end. costs about $25. i also put another clear fog light on the
rear bumper (just inside of the normal taillights on the right/passenger
side) to use as a backup light. controlled it from a on-off switch
on the dash. Much, much better than the normal puny backup lights.
i also installed a red rear fog light on the drivers side (for
that someday when the Great Mother-of-all-Fog might possibly
descend upon the road ... only used it once in six years!)
top..
extra courtesy lights
installed a second courtesy light over the passenger seat. it
seems that there is already a hole for it. you have to feel around
on the headliner. what you will feel is a little black plastic
cover. i made a cut in the center of that cover ... then i could
reach my fingers through the slit and pry the cover out. that
allowed me to finish the cut in kind of a >--< fashion,
and i got some headliner glue and glued the headliner into/onto
the edges of that hole. take the light fixture out of the one
over the drivers seat to see what it should look like. then,
a duplicate fixture can be installed into the hole over the passenger
side. the wires are not too terribly hard to feed down the a-pillar
... they come out behind the 'glove compartment'. then "all
you have to do ..." is run the wires over to the drivers
side and connect them. i also spliced the ground wire into the
passengers door button.
also got a little light fixture
from a camper and installed a courtesy light over the sliding
door. works great when you're loading or unloading groceries,
or searching in the toolbox at night. Only thing was, i had to
make the backside of that fixture ... it was open on 'top' and
i feared the heat from the bulb would melt the headliner vinyl.
so i glued some sheet styrene plastic together and made the other
half of the 'box' (bottom half being the fixture). the fixture
is just a black plastic lamp holder (same lamp as the front courtesy
light, by the driver), available from vw dealer parts depts.
it's on the camper section of the fiche.
top.
high-mounted brake lights
i installed a Hella brake light kit in therear window. i don't
think they make this particular kit anymore. But i ran the wires
up from the brake lights by drilling a small hole in the sheet
metal (behind the air conditioner housing ... in an 88 bus),
then snaked the wire through the headliner and into the little
rubber grommet that contains the rear window defroster wires.
i then drilled another small hole several inches to the side
of the grommet (for the brake light wire) ... in the rear hatch
lid, and snaked the brake light wire through this. on each of
the holes i drilled, i installed a little rubber grommet ...
to keep the wires from chaffing.
i did all this on both sides of the bus ... so each brake light
(old and new) combination is independent of each other. it was
a bit of a pain to snake the wires around, and feed and pull
them through the rubber grommets, but i think it was worth it
... looks good, and you can't see the wires except where it comes
out of the rear hatch lid.
when i first put the brake lights in the rear window, it really
made a difference with tailgaters. once i had applied the brakes
... for any reason ... drivers behind me tended to back off quite
a bit. smile :) i suppose it was because the lights were/are
rather bright.
i am thinking about trying to put some sort of high mounted turn
signal up with the brake lights. that way, the second car behind
me can also tell that i am wanting to turn.
top.
grab handles
this is a bit more tricky. i wanted a pull-up handle (like is
already on the passenger side) for the driver ... on the a-pillar.
well, it turns out you have to be real careful when you drill
holes into the drivers a-pillar: there is a big bundle of wires
running inside. so what you do is this: take the grab handle
completely off the passenger side, so there is nothing but holes
in
the metal visible. the last little plastic 'packing' comes out
if you wiggle it front to back while pulling on it. don't pry
it with anything ... you will scratch the paint. now get some
wide masking tape and smooth it down on the a pillar, covering
the holes where the handle was. mark where the holes are (for
the grab handle) and also mark where the edge of the a-pillar
is (the corner edge ... the a-pillar cross section is kind of
a square). also measure down from the edge of the headliner to
the topmost hole ... to help make sure that the two handles are
pretty much the same distance down from the roof.
now peel of the masking tape,
invert it and move it over to the drivers side. measure that
same arbitrary distance from the headliner, mark it on the a-pillar,
and put the edge of the hole mark here, aligning the edge marks
with the a-pillar 'corner' again. check it out as to distance
from the roof, see if the holes look 'right' as to the amount
of metal between the holes and the windshield seal. then drill
a small hole into the top most hole ... DO NOT LET THE DRILL
BIT GO DEEP INTO THE HOLE. drill slowly if you can. using a coat
hanger (or some such), poke around in this hole to push the wire
bundle back out of the way. now drill the other hole. be careful.
when you get all the little holes drilled, you should be able
to see the bundle of wires ... push it out of the way while you
re-drill the holes with the proper size bigger bit ... 1/2 inch.
messy, cause there will be shavings all over the console pod
and steering column, etc. i used a large magnet to clean up afterward
... a sheet or some such cover would probably be a better idea.
when you get all the holes drilled,
you might want to put some paint on the edges of the new holes
... just for rusts sake. let it dry, then put the new 'packing'
in (hint: since the other one is disassembled, you forgot which
way the things went. there IS a top one and a bottom one. the
smaller end goes up on the top, and down on the bottom). Then
just put on the new handle and screws ... and you can go back
and put on the old one, too.
i also added another handle to the sliding door: i got one of
the handle to match the one on the b-pillar (in front of the
sliding door) ... and put it on the door itself, but i didn't
use the little plastic 'packing' that adapts the handle to the
curvature of the b-pillar. i just added the handle to the front
'pillar' of the sliding door, up high enough to miss the body
handle (so you don't mash your hand) ... works great for the
middle or rear seat person to close the sliding door. now they
have something to grab hold of.
i also added two more of these
type grab handles in the low overheadside above the rear seat
... like the one that is over the left middle seat. i figured
that the rear seat people needed some Oh-My-God bars also :)
the handles also come in very handy for hanging things on. i
stretched a clothes hanger bar between then, and secured it with
a long bungie cord (stretched from one side to the other, and
kinda wrapped around the pole
i also put the camper hanger
straps (which, by the way, are exactly the same ones as used
to be in the beetles!) in place of the little round coat hanger
'knobs) ... the little black things on the c-pillar (behind the
sliding door, and in the same place on the opposite side of the
bus) mostly, i did this cause i wound up using the overhead grab
handles to hold the clothes bar.
top.
Gene Berg Vanagon Short Shifter Kit:
non-syncro transmission (don't know if it will work on syncro)
$25. well worth the money. just be sure to FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS
... i.e., mark stuff before you take it off. i did it right on
three buses, then got cocky ... and screwed up. took me about
two weeks of moving the shifter plate around to get it right.
be sure to measure the shifter lever shaft BEFORE you order.
the kit comes in either 12mm or 14mm sizes, and they'll need
to know which one you need. part number is GB6785 (for my 88
bus).
top.
power radio antenna
started with an ad in a magazine for Fuba antennas. 1-800-637-0222
for info. turned out to be a place called Antenna World. they
sell wholesale only. so i had to get my local parts place to
special order it. the part you want (might want to phone again
to double check) is SJ-3FB Antenna (black), and D-57 Head Kit
57 degrees (to accommodate the angle of the Vanagon front). when
it came in, it was less than the fellow had told me to expect:
he said about $80 for the antenna ... it was $60. only modification
i had to make on the car was to file out a little notch on the
side of the hole in the sheet metal (behind the headlight) to
accommodate a little bump on the side of the antenna. then 'just'
wire it up and connect to radio. i put a on-off switch on the
dash (down under the 'lip') so now i can raise or lower it when
i want ... like for car washes or leaving it parked for a while.
note: all this assumes that your antenna is the standard vw and
is mounted on the front of the car. mine was on the drivers side,
but i can't see why this same antenna would not work on the passengers
side. you could also do without the D-57 Head Kit if your vanagon
has a factory antenna already. i just used the vw parts off the
old antenna.
top.
extra storage boxes
i needed some extra little get-things-up-off-the-floor storage
boxes, and finally found a place for them: right in front of
the seat affixed to that little metal rim ... in front of the
under-seat storage. i used ordinary ice cube bins (from Wal-mart)
and just fixed them on with a couple of stove bolts. now i have
a neat place for road maps, ice scraper, etc. don't look all
that great, but i couldn't find them in black ... had to take
pale blue.
also: if your bus does NOT have the fold out glove compartment,
you can install a second map pocket on the passengers door. i
found it helps a lot to make a cardboard template of the back
of the map pocket ... to mark where to drill holes in the door
liner.
top.
drink holders
the best i have found are from Herringtons ... 1-800-622-5221
order number B832=white/vertical, B833=black/vertical. they have
one that fits horizontal surfaces, too, but i couldn't make much
use of it. now the gotcha: they are $9.95 EACH! yeah, well, i
tried all the wal-mart and k mart ones, but they just wouldn't
hold a big enough drink cup ... like they hand out at the Mickey
D's and such. so, after wasting money for several years, i broke
down and bought the good stuff. these holders expand to hold
almost anything. i put them in the back for the second and third
seat people. in the front, for the driver and passenger, i used
some Rubber Maid K-mart types that have a drink holder molded
in with a ? holder ... sort of a two-compartment job, with a
rubber flap to fix the thing into the window glass. i permanently
fixed mine to the plastic heater cover (in front of the gearshift)
with some more stove bolts (short ones) ... one drink holder-thing
on each side of the gearshift (leaving room for the gearshift
to move around). not much of a reach down to get/put a drink,
and it doesn't interfere with my right leg when driving.
top.
cb radio
mounted to the side of the passengers wheelwell ... in the little
aisle between the front seats. still allows room for your feet
when going to the rear of the bus, and falls easily to hand without
looking away from the road. i used a glass-mount antenna (like
cellular phones) on the front windshield (to get away from the
engine static) ... had to move it cause i forgot about the windshield
wipers! so it is off to the right side, about halfway between
the rearview mirror and the right side of the windshield. only
real problem is you have to have a removable antenna (mine unscrews
from an epoxied base), so you can still go into garages and such.
distance doesn't seem to be affected much by this position, but
i have noticed that i can talk farther to truckers behind me,
than to the ones in front ... makes sense: more metal to the
rear of the antenna.
the cb radio bracket is bolted through the storage box under
the seat, with another hole (with grommet) for the power cord
... access to the battery is quite easy and there is even a little
spade lug already on the positive terminal. you'll have to make
one for the negative/ground side. i put an inline fuse in the
power lead. The antenna goes under the carpet, across the floor,
and up the a-pillar (doorpost) by the windshield (behind the
dash) ... plenty of room. i have seen others run the antenna
wire back of the passenger seat and up and out the passenger
door to a roof/gutter mounted antenna ... i didn't like that
idea. i mounted the radio with the microphone toward the rear
so that i can easily reach it with my hand while driving.
problems: don't mount the radio tooo high, or the passenger will
keep bumping the controls when they move around in the seat.
don't mount the radio tooo far toward the back of the seat or
the passenger will keep bumping the controls when they lock/unlock
their seat belts. it takes a little playing around to get it
in a good position. and besides, if you ever want to sell the
car, you can take the radio out and the carpet stuff on the side
of the seat-box/wheelwell covers the holes nicely.
top.
trash can
i found a black rubber tub-like tray at K-mart that is just the
right length, width, and height to fit under the middle seat
... that's my trash can. and when it's pulled out from under
the seat about a foot, i can pitch stuff into it from the drivers
seat without even looking. nice heavy duty plastic/rubber, so
even liquids don't get on the carpet <i will never understand
what idiot thought of putting CARPET on the floor of a CAR ...
of all the dirty places that need rubber mats!)
top.
fire extinguisher
best place i found was on the b-pillar, at the front of the sliding
door. there is a little corner there, behind the passenger seat,
that is out of everybody's way.
top.
tool box
i have a two-drawer Sears that is rubber-bungie strapped to the
side of the middle seat (on the sliding door side). still leaves
plenty of room for people to get in and out. also installed another
(camper) courtesy light directly overhead, in the middle of the
sliding door opening, so i could see what i was doing ... also
helps people see to get in/out of the sliding door.
top.
best lug nut wrench
sold at vw dealers (well, at least at my dealer in atlanta):
Votex Bolt Spanner 000-093-005B, $15. comes with reversible socket
for 19mm and 17mm (for Mercedes). handle is extendable, and it
really helps loosening/tightening.
top.
window tint
i found that it really, really helps keep the interior cool ...
but you have to get some that is not too dark ... so you can
see out at night. there is some on the market now that supposedly
blocks the UV and heat, but lets light in/out. the old white-painted
tops on the buses helped too, i believe ... planning on having
mine painted before Real Summer gets here. yeah, and i said the
same thing last year, too! i used the Gila brand from K mart.
they sell different 'grades' of the same brand. i used the 70
grade because i wanted to continue using my radar detector (the
90 grade has metallized film that effectively blocks a lot of
the radar), but it doesn't reflect heat as well as the 90 grade
i did the middle side sliding windows, rear side windows, rear
hatch window, and put an 8 inch strip across the top of the windshield.
if you decide to do the windshield strip, do it in two pieces
(with the split right behind the rear mirror) ... one piece just
won't curve right sliding side windows are kind of a pain because
of the little push-down button ... it's hard to cut the film
correctly. next time, i'm gonna make a cardboard template!
top.
cv-joints
be sure to re-grease your cv-joints ... put three times as much
grease as vw says. i put one-half tube of Valvoline Moly EP wheel
bearing/joint grease into each joint/boot. after doing this,
i haven't had a peep from the joints in 80,000 miles ... previously,
the buses would start knocking about 20,000-25,000 miles. current
bus has 74,000 miles and was re-greased at 500 miles. i expect
it to go to 100,000 miles before i do anything else to the joints.
you do have to inspect the rubber boots once in a while ... for
cracks and tears.
i also changed all my cv-joint bolts into the 12-point bolts
(instead of the 6-sided hex head that come standard). why? sheer
paranoia. I had some trouble with an old 73 bus (or was it the
80 vanagon?) ... In that the hex head bolts tended to 'round
out'. so the Porsche mechanic that i have used several times
over the years told me about the 12-point 'star pattern' bolts
that Porsche used/uses. i like them much better ... cause you
get a much more positive 'feel' when tightening. Only trouble
is, it really is wasted money ... cause i don't do that much
with the cv-joints (what, like, once every five years?) and i
have to make sure i carry around the little 12-point tool. eh?
i still do it on every bus i get ... some people, huh?
top.
rear window
3M has a thing called Vangard. it is a fresnel lens that allows
you (in the driver's seat) to see things right at the bumper.
well, almost. you really can see things close up much better.
they come in three sizes:
part number:
07950 Vangard 8"x10"
07951 Super Vangard 11"x14"
07952 Vangard 2 6"x8"
costs about $10 for the middle size ... mine is the 6"x8"
one ... and i find i really can't do without it now. same with
the little 3" round fisheye stickon mirrors that i added
to the big outside rearview mirrors. on these, i found that the
ones offered by NAPA are the best for staying on, and also the
best for clarity of image ... some of the Wal-mart and local
parts place generic ones are kinda distorted.
top.
cruise control
i installed a Zemco ZT-4 driving computer in my bus ... lets
me know exactly how much gas i've used. also shows mph and miles
per gallon (average, and instantaneous). anyway, i had it on
mpg while buzzing down the highway, and pulled off onto an off-ramp,
taking my foot off the gas pedal in the process. Boy! you should
have seen the mpg! it got as high as 900+ mpg before the display
blanked out! all due to the fuel shutoff ... The driving computer
thought i was actually going at the same old speed, but using
NO gas at all. neat. by the by, the address of the fellow who
handles the Zemco line is
Direct Buyer Service (206) 944-5230
P. O. Box 55303 check, money order, or COD
Portland, OR 97238 (no credit cards)
update: 01/01/01. nobody seems to be able to get in touch with
this guy. if anyone does, would they please let me know?
top.
odds and ends
i have a habit of re-arranging stuff in the bus to fit my preconceived
notions of how-a-car-should-be-built ... example: roll the window
glass all the way up, then remove the crank handles and re-orient
them such that they are pointing straight up. then screw them
back on. just makes it easy for me to see if the passenger window
is completely closed ... just by looking at the position of the
handle.
i also flipped the fresh air outlets in the dash ... just take
them out (there are four little tabs that have to be gently pried
up ... all at the same time ... while you pull out), and flip
left to right. why? cause then the on-off knob is on the drivers
left (not right as it originally was) ... and i don't have to
reach IN behind the steering wheel to flip it off/on. i found
that in the original position, i was looking at the damn thing
trying to find it. in the new position, i don't have to look
at it. i flipped the passenger side as well, just to make them
the same ... passenger doesn't know the difference. also fits
in with my philosophy of switches: Oben macht Offen ... Up means
Open/On. i rearranged all the courtesy lights to reflect this
also ... switch in up position turns on light. whatever. some
people's kids, right? flipping the passengers side also helps
a little bit when the driver wants to reach over and open that
vent ... he doesn't have to reach quite as far (well, four inches
shorter anyway).
top.
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