Fellow TexasVanagons member Kevin came out to our Houston Area campout with his 1987 Vanagaon Westfalia camper and this gave me a good opportunity to take a few photos of what I think is the cleanest gauge pod available on the market today. I've searched high and low for gauge pods for the Vanagon and even pods for all other makes and models looking to adapt them to our Vanagons. Nothing really caught my attention.

What I Used

1. GlowShift Oil Filter Sandwich Adapter
2. Prosport Oil Pressure Gauge
3. Prosport Oil Temperature Gauge
4. T3 Techniques Dual Gauge Pod
5. Ancor 18awg Marine Grade Duplex Wire

Then I stumbled across a dual gauge pod made by Brickwerks that pops right into the existing ashtray opening of the Vanagon's dash. Score! You just remove the ashtray and drop this pod in its place and it looks like it was meant to be there. The manufacturer was located in the UK so I contacted them so I could order one (or five) and I find out they will not ship to the United States. Ugh. Bummer. Back to square one. A few weeks later I posted the photo of the dual gauge pod I found online in the UK and Chris from T3Techniques.com chimed in saying he actually worked out a deal to become a US Distributor! Awesome. Now they're available here in the US! You can find the gauge pods for sale HERE. Well the more and more I looked at my own setup the more I realized I needed more than 2 gauges since I wanted to also monitor my water temperature as well as my automatic transmission fluid temperature. I chose not to get the pod for my own Van but recommended it to Kevin and since he only wanted 2 gauges it worked out perfectly. Kevin chose some really good looking gauges as well. The Prosport Oil Pressure Gauge and the Prosport Oil Temperature Gauge. These gauges are very low profile and have a minimal bezel around the perimeter of the face which works nicely with the gauge pod. It is worth noting that gauges with thicker bezels may not work with this pod so keep that in mind when shopping for gauges. I know the AEM gauges I chose to use will not fit in this dual gauge pod. The bezels are just too thick. Once you have your pod in place and your gauges selected, the easiest way to install the oil pressure and temperature senders is by using a GlowShift Oil Filter Sandwich Adapter. This adapter plate mounts in between your aluminum oil cooler and your oil filter. The senders simply thread into the adapter plate. The photo below is of my own sandwich adapter on my Vanagon with my two (unwired) senders for my AEM gauges. The sandwich adapter plate screws into the oil cooler much like an oil filter does then the actual oil filter screws into the adapter plate. You have to make sure you get the Glowshift Adapter Plate that is sized for our Vanagons. The size required for our 2.1L engines is 3/4 unf-16. The correct sized adapter plate you will need is HERE. So if you're in the market to add a couple of gauges to your Vanagon in order to keep tabs on things this is one setup I highly recommend. Once installed you'll be able to monitor your oil pressure and temperature easily. This is, in my opinion, the best setup you can go with if you're only needing to add two gauges to your Vanagon. The dual gauge pod fits perfectly and doesn't look out of place at all. It's nice, subtle and even looks stock!