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What is the VW community missing?
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streetworkstech
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 7:31 am    Post subject: What is the VW community missing? Reply with quote

We at Watson's Streetworks love developing new products and have noticed that a lot of you here at the Samba visit our website and call us about our wiring kits.

We feel the need to offer the VW community some new products. We started brainstorming and immediately thought why dont we just ask them. After all it's their cars and they know them better than anyone else.

So here I am asking you.

What can we develop with and for you? What is it that you all wish you had that no one makes or you simply can not find? What would you feel is a fair price range for the part you would want? Check out our website to see what we do however the possibilities are virtually endless.

Talk to us!
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c21darrel
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 12:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not to miss your topic...but since you may hear this here...Im going to review your wire kit. Its been a couple years since install. From memory....
I have your wiring kit in my ghia. Admittedly, I have very limited wiring experience. Kit has too much waste, you could lower the price if it was correct. Too many unused wires i think at least 1/3 or more of the wires dont get used. I added tach, oil pressure, oil temp, volt, CHT all with wires from the kit and still loads of extra wire. A few wires are too short, forced me to use distrib blocks. I called Watsons for tech help and did not get the help i needed. I found American Wiring? IIRC they made the kit and were a little more help. I got most of my answers from a threads here on the samba to finally buy diodes to get the turn sigs working and a few other issues. Your directions were not good enough, the schematics are very clear. Smile Now that it is all in and working...I love it Very Happy I think if you actually used the kit on a vw, an actual install...you could make the few needed fixes to make it worthwhile to more VW guys. I understand it is a one size fits all VW's... but there is lots of room for improvement.
I'll try to get back on track...but i cant Embarassed I only have feedback today
I like adding a third brake light, searched your site...you have several Smile but i didnt like the price (yes quality isnt cheap). I have been using these...
https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/top-emitt...3528/1466/
about $10 for cutable 20 inch weatherproof light with 3m self stick backing. They work great. I seek and enjoy a nice bargain. Very Happy
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Sorry no new ideas, just feedback today. I'll keep thinking Wink
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djkeev
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 3:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd wager a guess that virtually every air cooled or WBX VW on the highway has old cracked fuel injection wires. The newest Vanagon WBX is a 91!

Decent quality harness at a reasonable price...... They'd fly off the shelf!

Dave
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JasonBaker
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 17, 2015 1:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The VW community has been starting to look at other engine and drivetrain's for a while now.
The "Suby" or Subaru conversion has grown in popularity in the recent years. Other vendors are selling kits that will allow a Salvaged engine and/or drivetrain to be installed in a VW with the scaled down wiring harness.

A "Suby" wiring harness COULD be a big hit with people looking for a reliable engine that can achieve 100k without all the maintenance the air cooled engine needs.
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skills@eurocarsplus
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 18, 2015 12:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

JasonBaker wrote:

A "Suby" wiring harness COULD be a big hit with people looking for a reliable engine that can achieve 100k without all the maintenance the air cooled engine needs.


too many variations year to year...actually you can have 2 different harness diagrams for same model year (first 6 months/last 6 months, manual, automatic etc)

but I agree, a plug and play harness in the 500/600 range would be killer, as tom shiels and Jeff Robenolt sell them in that price range.

it's a ton of work. I sub all of my harness work out.
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my reason for switching to subaru is my german car was turning chinese so i said fuck it and went japanese.......
[email protected] wrote:
most VW enthusiasts are stuck in 80's price land.

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EVfun
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 18, 2015 4:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think the main thing is to notice the differences. The engine in the back and the battery in the backseat change the needed wire lengths a lot.

Laying the most basic provisions for F.I. would be handy. It seems to be a very up and coming conversion. Those extra circuits, that where previously mentioned as unneeded, are good to have (just not to many, it does add cost.)

I would like to see some simple kits, perhaps designed to be used with one or more "add on" kits for extra features. It would be a little like a different custom kit for each customer.
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hopkin Premium Member
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 18, 2015 7:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Probably not a lot of demand, but something I would be interested in is a replacement review view mirror with LCD display (for backup camera).

Maybe offer rear view mirrors with LCD designed to replace factory mirrors (same sizes and styles).
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streetworkstech
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 6:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry for the delay in responding to everyone. I had to make an unexpected trip to Florida for family. Regardless i'm back and really excited with the responses!



C21Darrel; Great idea with the third brake light. We were considering making a VW specific 3rd Brake and decided to ask you guys what you need instead and see where that goes.

As far as wires being short we really want to address this issue however we need help from the community in order to fix it. This is not the first time someone has told us some wires were too short and needed to be extended but no one has told us what wires. If we simply extend a certain part of the kit it will most likely drive up the cost and that is not what we want to do. We need to know which wires are too short and we will have them extended.

If you're looking for a more basic wiring kit we offer the V-BP kit which was designed to have more of a basic wiring approach and is much less expensive. http://www.watsons-streetworks.com/vw-items/dune-buggy-wiring-kit



DJKeev; I'll take a good look into these harnesses and see if this is something that we may be able to make. I personally work with harnesses on my spare time from the 90's and those are rough to work with at times. I get it!



JasonBaker; I am very familiar with swaps and they're no joke when it comes to wiring them in. If you want it all to work properly you must take your time and do it right. A nice swap harness is almost impossible to find in any situation. I'll do some research on the subaru's and see what this would entail. This would most likely take us a bit of time to get done but if there's interest we will do our best.



EVfun; Adding wire or removing wire from the kits doesn't really make much of an impact in the cost of the kit. The biggest impact on price is the panel that the kits come with. That panel is where most of the cost is and they are not cheap by any means. This is why we offer the one large VW wiring kit because selling a couple different versions would most likely raise the cost due to lower manufacturing of the kits. We have the V-BP for the more basic setups and it works excellent.



Hopkin; We have researched LCD backup camera rearview mirrors and was not very impressed with what we could come up with. The research continues and we may go in a slightly different direction with this but I can not say anymore than that.
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mark tucker
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 8:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

oh boy is this a loaded question Shocked
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JayO
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 10:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This seems like an easy one, so much so I can't believe nobody has done it yet.
Somebody should make an LED replacement bulb for VW dome lights, this would be especially useful for convertible bugs and ghia's where the light is located in the rear view mirror base.

I believe it's the same bulb used in the hardtop beetles too, but it's position so far forward in a convertible, makes it especially useless for lighting the interior.

Here is the bulb :
http://www.mamotorworks.com/VW/product/390245

A direct LED sized replacement would be perfect, because to have a conventional incandescent bulb put out a useful amount of light, it would be so hot it would melt the plastic cover in minutes.
It seems like something that would be cheap to manufacture, and I would gladly pay $15 for an LED (that would actually light up the interior) over the $0.99 for the useless OEM incandescent bulb.

- Jay
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77 Riviera Owner
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 11:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

JayO wrote:
This seems like an easy one, so much so I can't believe nobody has done it yet.
Somebody should make an LED replacement bulb for VW dome lights, this would be especially useful for convertible bugs and ghia's where the light is located in the rear view mirror base.

I believe it's the same bulb used in the hardtop beetles too, but it's position so far forward in a convertible, makes it especially useless for lighting the interior.

Here is the bulb :
http://www.mamotorworks.com/VW/product/390245

A direct LED sized replacement would be perfect, because to have a conventional incandescent bulb put out a useful amount of light, it would be so hot it would melt the plastic cover in minutes.
It seems like something that would be cheap to manufacture, and I would gladly pay $15 for an LED (that would actually light up the interior) over the $0.99 for the useless OEM incandescent bulb.

- Jay


JayO, your wish has come true. Search LED festoon bulb. It's either 30mm or 45mm depending on your use. I have some that are very bright.

Mark
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JayO
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 8:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

77 Riviera Owner wrote:

JayO, your wish has come true. Search LED festoon bulb. It's either 30mm or 45mm depending on your use. I have some that are very bright.

Mark


Wow. so somebody HAS done it !
I searched all over a while back, and found nothing, but I will try searching for "festoon" this time.

Didn't know that was the actual name for this kind of bulb.

Thanks !

- Jay
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Dr OnHolliday
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 10:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Whatever you make, I hope it focuses on aircooled cars. IMHO, #$/^ the subaru guys- let 'em go build their freakin' sububbas elsewhere and leave the VWs alone.
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Stanagon
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think a 3rd brake light for '61 and earlier buses might be a good product. I would want mine to work with 6 volts too. Thanks
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Stan's Classic Service, specializing in air-cooled VWs:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=614073

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My '61 Mango bus thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=110367
My '64 vert thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=386344
My '71 squareback thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=637709
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mark tucker
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 27, 2015 10:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

JayO wrote:
This seems like an easy one, so much so I can't believe nobody has done it yet.
Somebody should make an LED replacement bulb for VW dome lights, this would be especially useful for convertible bugs and ghia's where the light is located in the rear view mirror base.

I believe it's the same bulb used in the hardtop beetles too, but it's position so far forward in a convertible, makes it especially useless for lighting the interior.

Here is the bulb :
http://www.mamotorworks.com/VW/product/390245

A direct LED sized replacement would be perfect, because to have a conventional incandescent bulb put out a useful amount of light, it would be so hot it would melt the plastic cover in minutes.
It seems like something that would be cheap to manufacture, and I would gladly pay $15 for an LED (that would actually light up the interior) over the $0.99 for the useless OEM incandescent bulb.

- Jay
Ive had mine for many years....probably 8 or so.
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streetworkstech
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PostPosted: Tue Apr 28, 2015 8:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Stanagon;

What do you have in mind for a 3rd brake light? Are you looking for something that anyone can put on a bus after it is completed? Flush style? Billet? Plastic? price point? Turn signals? Red and amber or just red? Red lens or clear lens? Options are virtually endless. Tell me what your vision is of a 3rd brake for your Bus.
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Stanagon
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PostPosted: Mon May 11, 2015 4:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

streetworkstech wrote:
Stanagon;

What do you have in mind for a 3rd brake light? Are you looking for something that anyone can put on a bus after it is completed? Flush style? Billet? Plastic? price point? Turn signals? Red and amber or just red? Red lens or clear lens? Options are virtually endless. Tell me what your vision is of a 3rd brake for your Bus.


Simple and common. Yes something anyone can add. Make it plug into existing tail light spade connector and somehow mount it to bottom of rear glass. Just a simple third brake light like you see on newer cars. I'm not looking for fancy or trick, just functional, with a durable mount and easily replaceable bulb. Thanks
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=614073

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My '61 Mango bus thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=110367
My '64 vert thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=386344
My '71 squareback thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=637709
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pyrOman
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PostPosted: Mon May 18, 2015 8:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Passenger side convex mirror like ALL newer vehicles now have, for buses and other types. Confused

Saw this one yesterday at the AC Fiesta. Would love to have one in "elephant" style. Anxious

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streetworkstech
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PostPosted: Tue May 26, 2015 6:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Stanagon;

If you ever get a chance to swing by with your bus we can discuss this third brake light and get a better understanding of the setup. We are up in Nashua NH just over the border from MA
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awreed
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PostPosted: Fri May 29, 2015 7:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

When restoring beetles I've noticed that aftermarket bumpers, hubcaps, and headlight rings always rust out far too fast with a car that lives outside and sees regular rainfall. I got rid of my stock German bumpers for the billet aluminum ones, but what about polished aluminum hubcaps and headlight rings? I'd rather polish some parts every other month instead of seeing rusted out hubcaps on an otherwise beautiful beetle.
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