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South African Grille Kit
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BavarianWrench
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 4:36 pm    Post subject: South African Grille Kit Reply with quote

I hate to start a thread on this, but I couldn't find current info?
Are the kits not being made anymore? Seems the larger suppliers were out of stock. I only checked two. I am purchasing an older van and want the grill and seven inch lights only. I appreciate any help.
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jerrydog411
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 4:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bus Depot http://www.busdepot.com/1495a


What did Van-Cafe and GoWesty say as far as when they will be receiving them?


Cheers.
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insyncro
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 4:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just mounted the the VC single round kit.
The grill is about 100 times stronger than the SA grille.
Something to think about.
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BavarianWrench
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 5:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

INSYNCRO That is something to raise a stink about. The SA grill is thin plastic. They are fragile crap. I'm always crazy careful handling the dam things. Just like all things high maintenance! I'm a snob for the looks and they look the best as well as throw great light. I'm a sucker for good looks, and yes I've made many a compromise for it!
Jerry, I didn't talk to anybody. I just wanted to burn the credit card and get the grill coming. The players you picked both out of stock on Website. I'll go to BusDepot now, Thanks.
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BavarianWrench
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 5:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jerry you should get a commission. Bus Depot wasn't sold out. Probably because they were 10% higher priced. I bought it anyway. One other question. Grill theft? Not much keeps the SA Grill on!
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mrshrimp
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 14, 2014 11:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

insyncro wrote:
I just mounted the the VC single round kit.
The grill is about 100 times stronger than the SA grille.
Something to think about.



Could the VC single round be modified to add another set of lights? And not look like a hack job.
-Kieth
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thatvwbusguy
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 2:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sure, with a little bit of time and patience, you should be able to put something together that looks pretty nice. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=504430&highlight=lowbuck

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insyncro
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 12:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ron and The Bus Depot have always been my go to for the SA kit.

I measured the last one I purchased and plan to have a rendering made out of sheet aluminum as just a shield if you will.

No pictures, just ideas at this point.
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Colorado Yeti
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 15, 2014 8:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just an idea. Hacksaw. Generic fog lamps. Homemade brackets. Way cheaper than a SA grille.

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sammyman
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PostPosted: Tue May 12, 2015 4:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

So just to be clear...

South African grills are made with weak plastic..

BUT, allow for much better lighting that the stock square lamps? Is that correct?

How do the square lamps with headlight upgrade compare to the south african lights also with headlight upgrade? In other words, are the round lights that much better at projecting light if they both have the same gowesty light upgrade?
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Merian
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PostPosted: Tue May 12, 2015 4:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

yes, sorta*

and yes, definitely


* there is a thread on here where people say over & over that the SA Grill doesn't actually break; mine sure seems fragile tho
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candyman
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PostPosted: Tue May 12, 2015 5:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Merian wrote:
yes, sorta*

and yes, definitely


* there is a thread on here where people say over & over that the SA Grill doesn't actually break; mine sure seems fragile tho


I cracked one before
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zak99B5
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PostPosted: Tue May 12, 2015 6:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was lucky in that my Vanagon came with an SA upper (& lower) grille when I bought it.

I am always very gentle when I remove it, and it hasn't broken yet (jinx). It doesn't seem overly fragile, but not terribly robust/flexible, either.

I did notice that the inner pins don't engage with anything. But the Outers do. I wish there was more than one quarter-turn screw to secure it, though.

The light output with the Cibie h4s is nice. And the brights shine for days.
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thatvwbusguy
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PostPosted: Tue May 12, 2015 7:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The stock US DOT rectangular headlights on 86-91 Vanagon's were considered less than stellar even when they were new. When combined with the questionable performance of the stock 9004 bulb, this headlight system was pretty much doomed from the day it left the factory.

Factor in 24-29 years of use and abuse, with gravel, salt, bug guts and who knows what else hitting the glass lens surface, plus the inevitable breakdown of the internal reflector due to heat & vibration and it is pretty amazing that any original headlights still work at all.

Unless the surface of the lens and the internal reflector are in perfect condition, the performance of any headlight is going to suffer. Effects will vary from increased scattering and glare (typically attributed to lens damage) to vastly decreased lumen output (damaged reflector).

Installing higher wattage bulbs in a badly performing headlight system generally only results in brighter, badly performing headlights. This is because without a properly functioning optical system (lens and reflector) to focus the light, all this extra light is still being scattered into areas where it does no good for the driver or anyone else on the road.

The 86-91 stock headlights are a proprietary design and have been unavailable for quite a few years. For folks looking to retain the stock rectangular design, a modification to a different headlight system using easy to find parts can be done: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=583876&start=0 This swap requires some fabrication skills, but is well within the grasp of most DIY minded people who know their way around a drill and a few basic tools.

It is also possible to swap the round 7" lights from a 80-85 Vanagon into the later vans. Parts can be found new http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_1314_568/round-h4-headlight-grill-kit.html or used in the classifieds here.

When properly set up with quality outer lenses and bulbs, the South African grill does a great job of putting lots of light on the road in front of the van. Without custom fabrication, there is no better headlight system available for the Vanagon in my opinion. The plastic used in the SA Grill is definitely much thinner than what was used in the stock grills for US spec vans, but they seem to hold up pretty well in general.

Since the average driver tends to spend about 90% of his/her time behind the wheel on low beam, using a quality main headlight is the most important factor when converting to the SA Grill or the standard 80-85 setup. After trying quite a few different options, the 7" round Cibie e-Code H4 headlight unit is my favorite: http://www.amazon.com/Cibie-082440-Light-Unit/dp/B008DQV88Q

Even the best headlight housing in the world needs a well matched, high quality bulb installed for best results. I recommend the Osram Hyper H4, which is available in 85/80W and 70/65W versions: http://www.rallylights.com/h-412xo-h4-9003-hb2-12v-osram-hyper-each.html .

The inner high beam lights on the SA Grill produce a narrow "driving" beam. This housing takes a H3 bulb, available in several different wattage and color combinations. Since the inner lights are a smaller (5.75") design than the outer lights, running a 100W bulb will often result in a very short lifespan due to excessive heat buildup. A great alternative to high wattage bulbs for the inner lights is the choice of a high efficiency (+50) bulb like the Narva RangePower +50 http://www.rallylights.com/cp48335-h3-55-xenon-50-replacement-bulb-narva.html

I can say without hesitation that the quality control of the bulbs I have inspected from Osram and Narva in the past few years seems much better than what I have seen from other "high performance" bulb manufacturers.

A proper set of headlight relays will ensure that you get the best performance out of whatever headlight system you choose by delivering more voltage to the bulbs. When running higher than stock wattage bulbs, the relays will also protect the headlight switch from damage due to the increased electrical load.

Be sure use the correct fuses when installing relays and higher than stock wattage bulbs. The 25A fuses included in some relay kits could potentially damage the stock headlight wiring in a short to ground scenario. Even with 100/80W bulbs in the main and 55W high efficiency bulbs in the inner lights, you would only need a 15A fuse (100W + 55W / 12V = 12.92A).
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newfisher
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PostPosted: Tue May 12, 2015 8:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Add a Jay Brown relay kit with lamp grounds and source the Euro Ecode H4 square lamps to retain the square look AND have amazing light patterns.

Works better than I thought it was going too for me.
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syncrodoka
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PostPosted: Tue May 12, 2015 8:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

sammyman wrote:
So just to be clear...

South African grills are made with weak plastic..


I have 4 SA grills in use ranging from 6 months old to over 10 years old and haven't broken one. YMMV
The headlight output of round H4 assemblies give you much more confidence in the night than the stock square assemblies.
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Busdepot
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PostPosted: Tue May 12, 2015 8:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
So just to be clear...South African grills are made with weak plastic...


They are thinner and more flexible than their German counterparts (they bend more easily), but I've rarely had a customer tell me one cracked in actual use. No more so than people who have German grills. One you install it it is held fairly rigid, and the odds are the only thing that will crack it is a front end collision or a heck of a rock kicking up from the vehicle in front of you, which might have killed the German one as well. That being said, minor imperfections in the finish are not uncommon. That is a function of poor QC in South Africa and there's nothing that can be done about it. (This applies only to the grill; the lights are German, or at least ours are.) Expect minor cosmetic flaws on close inspection, but generally they are small enough that nobody would notice them once installed unless they were looking for them.

Quote:
BUT, allow for much better lighting that the stock square lamps? Is that correct?


Yes. The second best option is the '80-85 round setup with a quality pair of H4 headlights in place of the sealed-beams. (We sell a great pair of Hellas for $69/pair, which is a "must" upgrade for every '80-85 Vanagon owner - see http://www.busdepot.com/0301600118.) But the South African kit gives you this plus inner lights so it is still superior.

The biggest problem with the South African kit is availability. VW of South Africa is not allowed to sell to the U.S. so the only option is "gray market" imports funneled thru a middleman outside of the U.S. We source them differently from GoWesty and Van-Cafe, which is why we often have these when they don't. But still, there are long periods of unavailability, and quite frankly it's only a matter of time before VW of South Africa either discontinues them altogether or cracks down on the dealers that are supplying the gray market. Every time I get a shipment I breathe a sigh of relief that it actually happened. As for pricing, each seller includes different options (different headlights, etc.) but the price works out to be roughly comparable if you were to compare "apples to apples." I can tell you that no U.S. vendor is making much on these. The South African VW dealers who are willing to risk exporting them into the gray market are the ones who are profiting and we are just glad to be able to get them at all.

Links:

http://www.busdepot.com/1495 (Complete kit with inner lights plus outer Hella H4's; if you have an '86-91 you'll still need a set of '80-85 round headlight buckets, which we can supply or you can pick up used)

http://www.busdepot.com/1495A (With inner lights only)
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unibagel
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PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2015 4:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm with Jay (thatvwbusguy) above, made my own...

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RocketBox
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PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2015 7:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

so does anyone have a write up on making your own SA Grille? Also - it seems like ABS cement could be used with a mold to make the outer rim on a DIY grille
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rcook52459
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PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2015 8:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

just scroll up thatvwguy has a great write up on it
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