Hidden wire to Westy fwd cargo area via driver pillar

[Sodo]

Heres the goal:

You can put a grommet just about anywhere you want up there below the fiberglas.
Westfalia has drilled 12 holes in the top to bolt down the fiberglas roof.
You will be drilling "hole #13" and perhaps "hole #14".

A hidden wire from the lower cabinet area (or aug battery or solar controller) inside the driver pillar.
The driver door air vent cover can be removed to fish the wire into the lower cabinet.

I found a decent route that gets above the headliner by drilling a hole onto the pillar behind the Westy Spice shelf.
Once you're above the headliner area, it's just a hole thru the roof and you're into the "dry" area below the fiberglas westy cargo roof.

I used it for a solar panel wire and also for a stove-front switch to turn on kitchen lighting.
A switch that I can poke, just leaning in from outside the slider door.
The route could be used to route power to high-beam lighting bolted to the cargo roof.

Note that it's VERY VERY easy to remove the cargo roof. It's four screws and four nuts, and takes 5 minutes.

=========

I had a rather difficult battle with my roof, trying to be a Samba hero.
I cut into a '85 Tintop hulk, found the perfect wire route,
came home,,,, measured carefully, drilled cautiously and BAM !
....discovered that that the underlying Westfalia structure was different.
The photos were graphic and caused significant distress to Samba members.
One fearless member (MarkWard) who has cut out an entire 2WD running gear and installed a Syncro drivetrain, was queasy.
So I photoshopped out the violent elements of the battle in this opening post.

Note: These photos remain in subsequent replies from the distraught members .....so use care in scrolling.
Consider it an example that real mods won't be all puppies and rainbows.
And remember that lots of Samba members enjoy a big fight.

=========

"Bending the hole" is pretty important to help you get the fish wire going in the direction of "down the pillar.
It also helps to blunt the sharp edges of the drilled hole.
An allen/hex wrench works well for this.

From the pillar, the wire goes rearward a little behind the spice rack then back forward to get above the headliner card.
Once you're above the headliner you can pierce the roof wherever you want.
I sheathed my wire with a (light blue) poly hose for added protection from unknown sharp edges inside that pillar.

From behind the spice shelf you can go forward under the headliner board, then thru the roof to the Westy cargo area.

You can also route behind the spice shelf to the rear closet.

Here's the pic showing that there's already a large hole in the sheetmetal pillar.
You just have to poke a hole in the fabric.

==============================

NOTE:
This opening post has been edited to show the project better.
If you have tender eyes, be cautious in scrolling thru the following replies.

But in any case I now have a 10ga wire completely hidden to below the Fiberglas cargo roof, and it's "all good".
But with this SAMBA info, your hidden wire route will be 'easier'.

_________________


'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[Alaskaberrys]

[shagginwagon83]

Great spot! Thanks for sharing.

But with this - and solar panels in general - please use MC4 fuses on the outside.

Also - where is the ground from your solar panel?
_________________
Brandon
"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin
Instagram @joannthevan

[Sodo]

OK so I'll show you the hard way that was supposed to be easier.
I was trying to find a simple way to do it without having to remove the headliner card or the spice shelf.
But this was dicey.
Drilling behind the spice shelf is a better way.

Well,,,, first I did it like this ^^^
I cut into the rooftop then drilled with a long 3/8 bit into the driver pillar.
I did not enjoy this.

There is "a way" to do this, you can see an existing hole in a sheetmetal brace that works as as a drill guide etc.
I could explain it, but no real NEED to, 'cuz drilling behind the spice rack is much better.
I covered the roof hole with a stainless steel plate that's riveted on and sealed with Permatex UltraGrey®.
All of this is in the open space beneath the fibreglas Westy Cargo roof.
You can come up into the roof space (almost) anywhere.
The wire is inside a 5/16" plastic tube conduit that goes down the pillar, and all the way to the bottom of the Westy cabinets.

Here's the Solar panel connection.
The SAE bulhead connector will emerge partway up the side in the forward area of the cargo area recess.
Its grounded to the van body.
I used 10ga wire.
The SAE connectors are 12ga wire.
_________________


'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[Zeitgeist 13]

Couldn't you also just pop out the dome light and have line of sight access to the outer skin...if you part a path through lots of fluffy yellow insulation?
_________________
Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[Sodo]

[Zeitgeist 13]

I would snake it up the route you went, and then grab it with the hooked end of a coat hanger from the dome light hole. Pull the wire through the dome hole. Drill a hole up under the cargo rack and snake the wire up to that hole and grab with aforementioned hook.
_________________
Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[Syncronoid]

These are two very scary photos. I couldn't imagine doing that.

_________________
'90 Syncro Westy w/GW2.5L

[VicVan]

Just a thought about the blue wire and the cabinetry: you might want to add quick-cnnectors in there, should you remove the kitchen cabinetry one day. Otherwise you'll have to cut the wires.

As for the pictures of the hole, ouch!
_________________
'90 Little Blue Truck, 2WD auto, FAS GenV 2.0 NA (AVH)

[MarkWard]

[Syncronoid]

When I did my solar from the luggage compartment, I ran the wire in under the lower tent strip. From here it could easily be brought down into the cabinet in several ways.

_________________
'90 Syncro Westy w/GW2.5L

[Sodo]

[shagginwagon83]

Have you tested the setup yet? I know a user on here grounded his similarly and had trouble with his solar controller when he switched from a PMW to MPPT controller.

https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/7190...ry-pv.html

[fxr]

[Sodo]

Grounding....very interesting.
Seems a little obvious now that I’ve seen more than a few solar installations by people who ought to know and don’t recall seeing them chassis grounded.
Cutting the wire run in half is compelling.
I can’t think of the principle as to why it would be any different but I suppose someone knows.
_________________


'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[shagginwagon83]

I mean if it works then dont sweat it. If i had to imagine it would make a difference because your panel doesnt produce 12v. It produces like 19v. But youre grounding to a 12v circuit. If anything you might lose 5% efficiency. Or maybe none at all. Just thought id relay info from another thread.

You did a good job sealing up that hole. I also dig the strain relief clamp
_________________
Brandon
"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin
Instagram @joannthevan

[Sodo]

[a2wolfsburggli]

[DeLvxe]

Sodo,

This is a really elegant factory-like solution. It seems like the sausage making may have set some folks off, but I for one thank you for making the sausage and sharing the process and outcome. I'm in the process of trying to add solar to my alternator charging and will keep this route in mind.

Quick question, how did you route the solar wire through the luggage rack? Drain hole or drill a separate hole?
_________________
1991 manual camper with EJ25

[rmcd]

Another example.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_search.php...ts=summary
_________________
VW LT40 build. Like a Vanagon but 30% larger in every direction and 40% slower even in metric.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=749359&highlight=