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nekto
Samba Member
Joined: December 31, 2008
Posts: 301
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 Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 5:59 pm Post subject: South African Grille on 82 Westy |
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a few reasons why i didn't want to convert my existing stock grill to 4 headlights;
personally, i think some of the reasons are pretty good. can you tell that i wasn't all that concerned with how breakable the S.A. Grille would be? if it was more breakable than this poor old thing, it wouldn't survive the shipping.
Last edited by nekto on Tue Oct 09, 2012 9:33 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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vanagonjr
Samba Member
Joined: October 07, 2010
Posts: 3629
Location: Dartmouth, Mass.
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BillM
Samba Member
Joined: June 18, 2004
Posts: 1381
Location: Stonington,CT
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| Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2012 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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I have one on my 87 Westy. Located in Mystic,CT if you
want to check out in person. Where in CT are you?
_________________
Bill M
87 Westy |
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nekto
Samba Member
Joined: December 31, 2008
Posts: 301
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| Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2012 4:11 pm Post subject: |
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| BillM wrote: |
| Where in CT are you? |
Bill, the project is being done in a friend's barn in Tolland.
it was suggested in a private message that i do a thread on this as there is little information about doing it on an early chassis here.
one of the first things i did was salvage all the DZUS clips off the old grill. as far as i know that is the official name of those push in quarter turn out fasteners. the first time i saw them was on a vintage race car. the big letters clearly embossed on them. i was told the name is pronounced to rhyme with "Zeus" the king of the Greek gods. just carefully pry the rubber collar up and around the step in the metal fastener and they come right out.
something that bares repeating; if you don't have headlight relays, put them in before you add the extra headlights. i found a fellow Samba member selling a kit he ended up not needing. he thought it was from Van Cafe. we have other venders advertizing similar kits here on The Samba.
i didn't splice it in the way it was recommended in the instructions. with the crowded space and other restriction inside my dashboard, i found it easier to replace the crimp connectors with fast on (sometimes referred to as "push on") connectors. it was easier to just plug it into the fuse block then plug the headlight wires into the relay wires. i have had my hands in electrical circuits since my age was in single digits. so wiring the relays was a piece of cake for me. if that is not your bailiwick, follow the provided instructions. they looked pretty good to me.
from what i am told there can be some confusion about the wiring at the headlight. i was told the colors of the wires can differ. on this one i got lazy; i bought the plug and play harness from Jay Brown "thatvwbusguy" who advertizes here. he uses the hardware i would chose if i were making it myself and it cost less from him than i would have to pay buying the components for just two units.
it made the wiring just a mater of getting my hands behind the bulbs and pulling the plug off, then plugging the harness into the existing plug. Jay recommends removing the bulbs in his instructions, but i used to work on vintage British machinery. if you couldn't do it by feel, you couldn't do it right. if this isn't easy for you, by all means, take the sealed beam bulbs out.
Jay also supplied a small tube of silicone contact grease. a good idea. the small tube has enough in it to do most of a whole vehicle if used sparingly (only a slight exaggeration). my experience is it is most effective when used sparingly.
for those of you who do not want to go this route, a useful tip from someone who is visually disabled and Dyslexic; remember the positions on the plug. i had a diagram that i got to preview correctly, but after i added text it no longer worked. so i will do my best to describe it as you look at it from the end the bulb plugs into; with two conecrors on the sides and one at the bottom the headlight plug is wired with the slot on the left is ground; most common color on VWs and most German electrics, Brown. so it is a good reference point. look for the brown wire
the one on the right, opposite the ground, is High Beam. commonly white on VWs.
the one on the bottom is low beam. commonly yellow on VWs. i have also seen white with yellow tracer and yellow with white.
thing is, as long as you connect the wire from one position to a wire going to the same position, you can't go wrong.
more later. probably some pictures as well |
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nekto
Samba Member
Joined: December 31, 2008
Posts: 301
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 9:31 pm Post subject: |
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i like to leave electrical systems box stock if i can. that makes trouble shooting a lot easier. that is one reason i ordered the plug and play harness. it came with the appropriate fast on connectors for the new lights, but with individual insulators. the wiring that came with the kit came with the connectors in a dual socket to match the plug on the lights. so i swapped them. easy to do if you know the trick and can develop the touch. first you need the special tool;
this is the metal strip that holds the rubber wiper in place on many windshield wipers. it is just right for unlatching the spring on fast on connectors in plugs and sockets. the important part is to do this by feel.
the metal strip goes in the small notch between the fast on and the socket body.
there is a tab that you need to gently press away from the plastic until it unlatches. then the plastic part slides off.
i took the dual connector plugs off the kit wires and put them on the plug and play wires. they securely snapped in place. if you want to try this, i recommend you practice on some scrap connectors in your parts collection to get the knack. it has been a valuable skill for me over the years. |
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outwesty
Samba Member
Joined: June 06, 2006
Posts: 1078
Location: Northern Sierras
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| Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:39 pm Post subject: |
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| I almost upgraded to a SA 4 headlight grill until I felt one in person. They are thinner than the stock grill. I recommend upgrading your two rounds with H4's and getting a new grill. They can be found in the classifieds for cheap. This was on my 82 westy that I no longer have. |
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nekto
Samba Member
Joined: December 31, 2008
Posts: 301
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| Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 9:12 am Post subject: |
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| outwesty wrote: |
| I almost upgraded to a SA 4 headlight grill until I felt one in person. They are thinner than the stock grill. |
the SA grille i received is not noticeably thinner than the old one. it does have a different feel. thickness may vary in manufacture, but the one i have measures up. it gives every indication of being a different plastic. it is Far less brittle than the thirty year old original. it is also more flexible. if i had the means to do it at hand i would reinforce the top third or so, especially around the attachment points. but the one i have in hand feels good enough to run with. if i had an original grille, i would reinforce the entire grille.
i think there may be a fairly wide range of quality in the units we get here in the states. perhaps i just got lucky with the one i received. |
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nekto
Samba Member
Joined: December 31, 2008
Posts: 301
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| Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 11:23 am Post subject: |
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there are good threads on this process already, so i am mentioning things i didn't see mentioned elsewhere. here is one; there is a bundle of wires running just behind the lip of the lower channel. right where you need to drill to screw in the new lights.
as you can see, the self drilling screw that came with the kit could easily puncture the wiring jacket. when drilling the holes, i recommend holding the wire down while you drill. a pencil or similar object holding down the jacket. keep the leading edge of the plastic jacket low enough and the drill will ride up the jacket rather than puncture it. i don't recommend you do this with a finger.
it is also a good idea to have something to place over the sharp end of the screw after you mount the light. i got lucky on this; the local university had a surplus sale shortly before the kit arrived. test tube stoppers were 25 cents for as many as you can hold in your hand. who knows when you might have a use for a test tube stopper.
i used the same drill bit i used for the screw holes on the stopper. this gave me a started hole i could put over the end of the screw as it emerged on the inside.
it looked like it would be good protection for the wiring for many miles.
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Last edited by nekto on Fri Oct 26, 2012 9:49 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Crankey
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Joined: July 11, 2004
Posts: 2672
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syncrodoka
Samba Member
Joined: December 27, 2005
Posts: 12309
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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| Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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I have thousands of miles on 3 different vans with SA grills. They do feel different than the OG units but they haven't been damaged at all in all those miles logged.
H4 units can be installed in the OG grill or SA grill just the same since they share the outer headlight bucket assemblies.
The headlight relays are a great investment no matter what option you decide on. |
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Racerrojo
Samba Member
Joined: August 01, 2006
Posts: 827
Location: ALBUQUERQUE 87120
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| Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 8:49 pm Post subject: |
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That looks pretty sweet!
I have about 5 grills that are busted on one place or another, is there a tread that shows how you fixed this, I like to do a low buck SA grill like in this tread.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=504430&highlight=
Mostly because I like the look and function of the 4 round lights, and because I thing the SA are pricey, I do love the one I had on a van I sold, but its hard to justify the price
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Tight is tight... too tight is expensive!!!!
Too many vans and mostly all projects  |
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joseph928
Samba Member
Joined: September 22, 2011
Posts: 2114
Location: flagstaff az.
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| Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 10:07 pm Post subject: SA grill |
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 I have a SA grill been in and out many times over the years never had a problem never broken. The one I have is held in by only one clip in the middle that turns the rest just push in. Over my other van love the extra light. 
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1987 syncro westy tin top sun roof , GW2.3, rear locker, decoupler, Gary Lee tire rack & winch mount, lift, south african grill, big brakes , rhein alloy ,15 BFG AT, Fiamma 10 foot awning ,140 watt rear 85 watt front solar , mppt, truckfridge, automatic fire extinguishing system, tencent oil cooler, And a RMW SS exhaust! - 1971 bug convertible 1776 engine- 2010 Subaru turbo - 1993 Toyota 4x4 truck - 1999 Harley 95 CI, big bore, Andrews cams . Also 80-84- vans. Stock 65 sunroof bug. |
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Crankey
Samba Member
Joined: July 11, 2004
Posts: 2672
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| Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 10:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Racerrojo, sent you a PM |
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nekto
Samba Member
Joined: December 31, 2008
Posts: 301
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| Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Crankey wrote: |
| that original grill can be rebuilt. I built this in '05 and it looks just as good today. |
nice job! that kind of work is nothing i have much skill for. i basically traded a 4 speed gearbox for my grille kit. not sorry i did it. anyone want my old grille for parts? |
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nekto
Samba Member
Joined: December 31, 2008
Posts: 301
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| Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 10:15 pm Post subject: |
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a few more pics of the project. the thread i read before i started this one recommended marking the position of the new headlights with the grille in place. i couldn't get any kind of marker in the tight space, so i trimmed the end of a Ticonderoga pencil into a flat wedge. i noticed that there was about a 3/16th inch gap around the light. enough leeway that i didn't have to be exact and it would still look OK from ten feet.
when i got my marks i noticed i needed about 1/8th inch (3mm) of space between the bottom of the light bracket and the bottom of the ridge i wanted to drill. remember my fast on electrical connector tool? (windshield wiper retaining strip)
just the thing to rest the bracket on when i drilled the bottom holes. you can just see my pencil mark to the left of the bracket.
A little better view of the pencil mark here. i drilled the bottom holes first then screwed in the bottom of the bracket. i checked my alignment and position before i drilled the top holes.
it worked for me. |
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thatvwbusguy
Samba Member
Joined: April 18, 2007
Posts: 1712
Location: Newmarket, New Hampshire
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| Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 11:53 pm Post subject: |
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The last time I installed an SA Grill, I used a little piece of 3M VHB mounting tape on each corner of the bracket to position the inner lights. This totally removes the need for careful measuring, and allowed me to work solo without dropping anything.
With the grill laying flat, position the inner light bracket in the grill (do one side at a time), flip the grill up in place and your bracket will stick right where it belongs. Pop the grill back off, center punch and drill your pilot holes. The foam mounting tape still will allow for minor adjustments if needed.
_________________
Jay Brown
'85 Zetec Westfalia
Newmarket, NH
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
If you want to be happy, practice compassion. |
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nekto
Samba Member
Joined: December 31, 2008
Posts: 301
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| Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 9:11 am Post subject: |
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Trust Jay Brown to come up with a practical solution. Sounds good to me.
the project is done but the camera hasn't returned to the barn. so i can't post an "after" picture.
a brief summery; it does seem easier on my 82 than the accounts of doing it on later square headlight years. the fact that the two full size lights are already in place has a lot to do with that. (also makes it less expensive)
of note, the new light on the driver's side is tight up against the steering post tunnel. no chance of changing a bulb without removing the light. there is enough room on the passenger's side, if you have nimble fingers.
with what it would cost to replace or repair my old grille, i think the cost was worth the result. i understand the impression that the SA grille is thinner and more fragile than the original, but i think the impression has more to do with a different material. even new the plastic the old grille was made of was stiffer and a bit more brittle than the SA grille.
the SA grille feels flimsy when you handle it, but that is because it is more flexible. it flops around a lot more than a German grille. but greater flexibility can mean greater resilience. i expect it to stand up as well as, and possibly better than, the original.
now if i could just get the engine running reliably. |
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