I did a major rebuild on mine and eliminated the troublesome
connector which seems to be the part that usually goes bad on the
printed circuit.  I also fixed several other problems like broken
plastic.  My repairs have been solid for over 4 years.

Finally back on the internet by popular demand is my BZ shelf award
winning illustration of what I did:
http://staff.blueridge.edu/~edwardm/vanagon/pp023/

Edward

At 11:54 PM 10/14/2010, A J wrote:
>I need a complete dash/instrument cluster assembly for an 85 vanagon.
>I am trying to repair the one that is here but I do believe it is too
>far gone. The connector with all the printed circuit is bad. The
>plastic behind the connection assembly is broken and some sections are
>missing. The connectors are separated from the plastic and some are
>torn. I believe someone tried to either turn back the odometer or
>maybe tried to repair it and did so very badly. The entire back of the
>housing is broken off and was in place with one screw, duct tape and
>glue, and several sections of the corners are missing..
>I originally was going to lube the speedo cable because the needle was
>jumping all over the place. I wasnt worried about some of the other
>stuff that wasnt working, figured I would get to it in good time. Now
>I know why things werent working. Talk about a mess. I am not sure I
>can get this back together as a functional unit at all.
>That is why I need a complete assembly, well evrything but the
>switches but I am sure that any would be better than the ones I have.
>If you can help me out with an assembly please let me know how much
>and shipping. I am down until I can get this back together again.
>
>Thanks,
>
>A J