>From: mark drillock

>There is no one cutoff point. There were different improvements made at
>different points during the 85 model year.

>All 85s have the much improved sliding door.
>During the production run the parking brake was greatly improved, the
>cooling system pipes changed to plastic, and the front lower control arms
>started being solid metal not stamped.
>Also, most 85 models have power steering and a tach while very few did
>before 85. Other improvements were made to the electrical systems.

>Most of this is subtle improvement except the sliding door and parking
>brake. Anyone who had both types would know they were different.

I will have to check the control arms and the coolant tubes, but mine does
not have power steering and did have a clock. Also my multiconnector on the
back of the instrument cluster is setup like the later models no wire
changes needed for the tach, except to run a wire from the coil to the
front. I still have noe done that since putting the tach cluster in.

My van was bought in Germany and then imported a few years later. I wonder
if this has anything to do with it. I pulled the carpet and pads underneath
this past weekend and found a German news paper from '88 under it all.

Michael Knight
'77 Westy Deluxe, "el Verde"
'85 Vanagon GL, nameless