At 11:04 PM 1/14/2001, Patrick Harris wrote:
>right hand side (with the gas gauge) is blank.  Was there to be a factory
>optional tach there or something else?  If there was, is there a way I can
>purchase perhaps an aftermarket one or something to go into that location?
>I'd like to do that if I could.  Any help is great!!!!

I  believe VW had in mind for you to appreciate the stark aesthetic of the
magnificently open expanse of plate, contrasted with the pinched arc of the
fuel gauge.  Be grateful, Chevy would have put a fuel gauge there that
filled the entire space.

Later models had a very nice analog clock there, and even later ones had an
extremely nice tach.  You can buy a later panel and rewire the plug that
connects to it to fit the later wiring scheme.  Or you can put a nice
(little or big) Sun tach on the cover.  But the VW tach is as I said
extremely nice, and it shows the power band directly which is genuinely
helpful going up mountain roads because you can tell your wife or SO or
other non-aficionado that the best power is in the middle of the green
band, and if it starts falling off the bottom it's time to downshift well
before it gets there...

david

David Beierl - Providence, RI
  http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
'84 Westy "Dutiful Passage"
'85 GL "Poor Relation"