I've been slowly swapping out my brown parts for black, just grabbing stuff
as I see it in the u-pull-it yards and classifieds.  So far I've done grab
handles, shift cover, rearview mirror, and a few other odds and ends.  The
black actually looks better with my tan Weekender interior than the brown
did.

Next up is a pre-'85 black dash...I saw one in a yard a few months ago and
didn't grab it!

Joe T.

On Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 8:06 AM, Mark L. Hineline <hineline@ocotillofield.net
> wrote:

> Thanks, Karl. I've been thinking about swapping out all of my brown
> parts for black (and younger parts, even new parts like Ron's map
> pockets).
>
> On a side note, this is something that this list is really good for:
> figuring out whether a problem is universal, or particular to one
> area, climate, or color!
>
> Mark
>
>
> On Feb 3, 2011, at 5:44 AM, Karl Wolz wrote:
>
>  I've been told that the brown plastic is much less durable than the
>> black.
>> Living in hot and dry (though not today) Phoenix, we tend to lose
>> plastic
>> parts early in their expected lives.
>>
>>
>>
>> I agree with Mark; most all of the parts he's mentioned have broken
>> on my
>> Westy ('85 with 450,000 miles).  Some of them get impacts on
>> occasion, like
>> knees to steering column covers and map pockets, while others just get
>> normal usage, like door pulls and door latch inserts.  The
>> plasticizers have
>> simply broken down and they've become very brittle.  If you plan to
>> keep
>> driving your van for a much longer period of time, it would be a great
>> investment to pick up all of the parts on Mark's list and store them
>> away in
>> a cool dark location.  Find black parts.
>>
>>
>>
>> Karl Wolz
>>
>>
>>

--
Joe T.
'85 Wolfsburg Westy Subie 2.2