Archive for June, 2024
Vanagon – syncro fuel gauge sender ground
Posted by albell in syncro specific repairs, vanagon, vanagon mods on June 11, 2024
Did this mod a month or so ago, another one of Tom’s good tips. My fuel gauge had been reading low for quite a while , and then started acting even more erratic. Tom posted on samba a clever fix.
The short story is that the sender ground path is from the steel sender plate to a lug in the engine compartment, but the connection at the sender plate becomes corroded. Instead of trying to clean that corroded connection ( spade is steel not copper) , just add a ground wire from plate stud to somewhere close by on the body.
The only gotcha in this method is that the studs can be corroded and a stud may break when trying to loosen the nut. So plenty of penetrating oil and some good judgement in how much to force things is needed.
Pics are self explanatory , the samba link is the best reference.
This fix worked for me. Fuel gauge now much more accurate .
Vanagon – the THM ( Tom’s hatch mod)
Posted by albell in vanagon, vanagon mods on June 8, 2024
Update June 10, 2024: I’ve been told that in some countries it is illegal to have a rear license plate hatch that does not close by itself.
Old Tom, Sodo on the samba, decided he was sick of the springs on the license plate hatch at the rear. You know, coolant and oil checking hatch. Tired of propping it open. So he cut the springs.
His YouTube …
Being a Tom fanboy , I decided to do same. I didn’t have trouble removing screws as I lead a pure life , unlike Tom .
I bent the spring pigtail with the pliers, and it broke off. No need to grab angle grinder .
I gave the clip a bit of a push to the rear, left in pic. Didn’t seem to move, but it did clip better.
Antisieze on the screws back in, and a dab of grease on the clip.
Now I have a floppy hatch like the old Tom .
Vanagon – stock sink drain replacement
Posted by albell in vanagon, vanagon mods on June 3, 2024
Start of it, the low profile drain being used by the kids on samba
I didn’t like how the strainer fit into the sink hole. I didn’t like other methods of making it fit. So I made a dimple die thing.
Pics kinda explain it all. One note, if making the die , take another five thou ( inches) off the short straight section of the upper die. Shown as 2.150” in drawing . Make it 2.145”
Pics show the un mod situation and the adjusted .
shooftie 