TheSamba.com :: View topic

Thu Apr 21, 2011 10:48 am

One has been mounted on my van for 13 years, taken on and off plenty of times, no cracks, nothing broken. A little flimsy feeling, but a fairly strong plastic IMO. I think that in SA they used some different mounting clip on the van to attach it - if there were twist screws like the 'standard' grille there would be zero worries. As it is, the corners need to be wiggled and pulled to dislodge from the original-style clips. Perhaps someone could find a more suitable clip that allows easy entry and exit without the need to stress these pins.

Thu Apr 21, 2011 10:51 am

I fish my radiator hose pick behind the grill at the upper corner to release the push on/off pins. It is one of my favorite tools really. http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item.asp?P65=&t...ir=catalog

Thu Apr 21, 2011 10:57 am

xoo00oox wrote: This is an '86 I put the old syle grill in and cut my own holes then put in aftermarket fog lights.

I've seen that a few times on UK vans, and i really like the look. Could you post some detailed shots of the grill, and also what inner lens you used/mounting of the lenses?

Thanks!

Thu Apr 21, 2011 10:58 am

Never had a problem with mine either and the increased light is well worth it.

Slightly OT:

I have the relays and hi output bulbs and am burning out the 10a fuse on a regular basis on the high beam side, anyone else have this issue? The intensity coming out of these things is amazing but it seems to be too much??

Thu Apr 21, 2011 11:03 am

although not broken i zip tied mine with black zips, just for peace of mind , cant even tell its zipped on , & if you dont like zips you can use safety wire

Thu Apr 21, 2011 11:11 am

I wasn't too fond of all the smooth plastic on the SA grill, so I went with VC's round two-headlight grill with 7-inch e-codes. I think it looks cleaner. Though it too is lacking as many attachment points as the original.

http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_1314_826/round_h4_headlight__grill_kit.html

Thu Apr 21, 2011 12:00 pm

Again, has anyone else had issues with water/condensation on the inside of the inner lights? Hoping my experience is an exception to the norm. Not super excited about spending the $$ needed to replace both inners, and am hoping that the next set will be better sealed than the last.

Otherwise, I agree with all who have posted about the durability of the grill itself - 8 years an no issues, and I've pulled it off and on dozens of times.

Thu Apr 21, 2011 12:17 pm

I've always thought these were cool:
http://cgi.ebay.de/Taifun-Doppelscheinwerfergrill-...1c1afc4b19
You'd definitely be the only kid on the block with this grill,

Thu Apr 21, 2011 12:32 pm

mmmdiesel wrote: I've always thought these were cool:
http://cgi.ebay.de/Taifun-Doppelscheinwerfergrill-...1c1afc4b19
You'd definitely be the only kid on the block with this grill,

this is what they look like when installed, they (my) set up uses 2 no 7inch hella spotlight in the inner pair of lights, these could be changed for fog lights if you wanted, i like the round front lights as it gives a nice contrast to the boxy looks of the van,

would be intresting to compiare which light set up gives the better light out put, ie square compaired to round.

neil

ps if you realy want to be different any thing is for sale at the right price!

Thu Apr 21, 2011 12:41 pm

I've had my SA grill for 3 years. I got the first crack about 2 months ago --- but that was because I took a huge rock to the corner of the grill while going 70mph on the freeway. By the sound of it, I thought I had received a huge dent in the nose. Instead just a small crack.

Very happy with the set up. Extremely happy with the lighting upgrade (GW Kit). I have not experienced any rust or moisture problems with any of the 4 lamps.

Doing the upgrade is very easy - read the directions at least once before you start. Then take your time. Can be done in one afternoon.

Thu Apr 21, 2011 1:18 pm

axeman wrote:

BADASS

Thu Apr 21, 2011 3:37 pm

Around the center mount is where is see them crack most often.
They are not shite as stated earlier, but not as strong as the rectangular headlight grills.
Some rectangular ones had metal reinforcements along the top and bottom.

Thu Apr 21, 2011 4:01 pm

wbx wrote: xoo00oox wrote: This is an '86 I put the old syle grill in and cut my own holes then put in aftermarket fog lights.

I've seen that a few times on UK vans, and i really like the look. Could you post some detailed shots of the grill, and also what inner lens you used/mounting of the lenses?

Thanks!

I no longer have this van (I've heard it lives in western NY now) and have no close up pictures of the grill. All you need to do is buy some round fogs and find something round that is slightly bigger dia. and lay it on the grill, put masking tape down first and mark the circles then I used a cut off wheel to cut away at the plastic. Move slow and it will not crack. then you'll have to mount the lights to the body. You may need to do some cutting and bending to make mounting brackets just right but not too hard to do. I also put the H4 lights in place of the sealed beams. Busdepot has a great price on these.

Thu Apr 21, 2011 4:22 pm

[quote="axeman"] mmmdiesel wrote:

Hell to the mother fe'n yeah!
BadAss!!

Thu Apr 21, 2011 5:33 pm

BlackDogVan wrote: syncrodoka wrote: I have been running the SA grill for years and have never had any cracking. All 3 of my vans have them in fact, where are they prone to cracking?

Yeah! x2

Me too. X3.

All of the parts in the Van Cafe kit were OEM quality. I'll admit that if I wanted to break a grille the SA unit would be easier than the square light unit, but it doesn't appear fragile. The finish on the new grille is very nice- absolutely factory.

Thu Apr 21, 2011 6:22 pm

axeman, that is a sweet grill. I'd run that if I could get one shipped to the US for an affordable price. I would even concider a partly broken, cut in half grill if it had enough bits to fix it and the extra lamp frames....:)

I had an SA grill, but the pins did make me nervous on a test fit.

I ended up selling it and building a custom grill.

I've also been wondering about retrofitting round lights into a square eye grill. I mean, a new land rover has round lights in a rectangular frame. I bet there is some round eye fixture that could be fitted into the square eye grill and look pretty cool, but it'd take some work.

Thu Apr 21, 2011 11:29 pm

I love my south african lights. I haven't had any issues with plastic cracking. But if it does crack, you could use a product called marine tex. This product is unreal. once it dries it is hard as a rock. then you can sand it to whatever shape you like and paint it.

Fri Apr 22, 2011 10:28 am

Quote: I also put the H4 lights in place of the sealed beams. Busdepot has a great price on these.
Yes, we have a half price deal on Bosch H4 headlights. They're just $45 a pair (regularly $45 each) by themselves. However they're even cheaper if you buy them with the South African grill kit. You can add the Bosch H4 headlights PLUS a pair of German H4 bulbs for only $30 combined, which is an absolute steal.

Complete South African Grill Kit plus Bosch H4's and bulbs:
http://busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=1495

Bosch H4's only:
http://busdepot.com/details.jsp?partnumber=0301600118

Fri Apr 22, 2011 10:47 am

I'm glad this discussion has come up since I plan to change out the squares to round on my new syncro.
I was planning on getting the stock round kit from Van-Cafe but I do like the SA look too. On the SA kit are the inner lights the high beams or just driving lights? Does the four light setup offer a real visibility improvement over the two light setup?
It looks like BD has the best price but since I've driving down to CA next month I thought I'd pick it up in person from one of the vendors. When you add up the cost of the SA grill kit, relays etc. from VC it comes out to be more expensive than GoWesty. Any guesses why? Are they different kits?

Fri Apr 22, 2011 10:55 am

mtnwater wrote: Again, has anyone else had issues with water/condensation on the inside of the inner lights? Hoping my experience is an exception to the norm.
Not with that grill. But, others of similiar construction. In fact, I have had lenses eventually just pop off. Not unique, in general, but not sure of the SA grill.

*IF* if the SA grill is made by more than one source, there could very well be quality issues. For example: One person has not had problems in years and the other person after 2 years, then maybe there is something going on. Unless you have real knowledge of who what and where, you may know, but most of us just don't and have to gamble.