A good question.
 
> > 
> > Now my Vanagon is running better I'm interested in making some other
> > improvements.  Unlike the other two I've owned, the '87 I have now came with
> > a pretty nice looking "VW Design" radio/tape player combination.  Is it any

It is an OK unit. I have an older Blaupunkt Boston head deck in my bus.
Increadible sound, while maintaining the stock shitty appearance.
I have played with bus stereos from no watts to 800+ watts.
This is just a quick blurb, feel free to e me if you have specific
questions or problems.

Be careful if you replace the stock unit because you may experience
interference from the winshield wiper motor ( a small piece of metal
screen from a screen door, wrapped around the motor and deck individually,
will normally break the magnetic field which causes this). A nice 
high powered deck 25W per channel will give you a decent amount of sound
provided that you have good speaker placement. Lower door panels are a poor
choice for obtaining a good sound/$ ratio. Mount the speakers as high as
possible and direct the sound towards the listeners. Below the dash and 
overhead are good places to locate plate/surface mount speakers. Back to
decks; expect to spend $200+ dollars for a quazi decent unit, just being
honest so no lashbacks :) Expect to spend about $75+ for decent speakers.
If you have the initiative, time and money, go for front and rear speakers
and consider amps, a worthwile investment. Your listening pleasure can be 
calculared by the following:
	pleasure= ((designtime + installtime)/cost)*drivetime*100
		the higher the better  
		less than 1hr^2/$ (give up you will get no pleasure)
		1-2hr^2/$ normal (spend more time on design)
		2-5hr^2/$ good (buy amps and crossovers etc.
				good design is critical)
		5+hr^2/$ wow (call me:))
I have designed prizewinning systems in vw's for less than $500, about the
cost of a typical factory setup. Good design is essential, I have yet to
see a stock vw with a good design interms of bang per buck:(

> What I am concered about is how warm/hot a cassette will get after
> being played in it.  I'm also concerned with how to clean it.  The manual
> just says to use a head cleaning cassette.  I'd rather do a manual clean but
> It looks pretty tuff to get at the head.  Any suggestions?
> 
Manual cleaning is very difficult and I advise against it. The cassette
cleaners work well if used after about every 6 hours of use. Demagnetizers
are also a good Idea once a month or so. Depends on how much you like your
tunes/equipment. Never use tapes greater than 90 min in car audio deck.
These tapes are drastically thinner and leave a magnetic residue (much 
more so than shorter tapes) on your heads. It is not unnormal for a tape 
to be warm after use. On long trips give the deck a 5-10 minute break
and listen to the radio; this is good for both the tapes and the deck.

Sorry for the lecture; send any specific questions.

*Werner Hellmer		whellmer@icaen.uiowa.edu