Hello
Read a few of the old posts, some of them mentioned fitting VDO gauges with electric window switches etc and keeping it faily standard and not hack up the dash too much.
On the later cabs the blanking plate that would house the VDO's has three blanks for electric windows and the power roof.
I am recently adapting electric motors to drive the front windows as cheaply as possible as ?90 just aint worth it i obtained some VDO's for a tenner from a 1985 audi with their surround.
Having looked around the dash and deciding not to use the normal positioning for the VDO's i found that the ash tray space is excellent to house them.
Basically pull the whole ashtray out and your left with a small metal frame which is designed to keep the shape of the dash, remove this and your left with a rectangular hole the size of the original housing.
If you obtain the surround off an eary audio 80 you will notice its is not rectangular to start off with, but using a sander sqaure all the sides up so you can obtain the biggest rectangle out of the surround, then sand the front as there are a few raised surround sections.
What your left with is a rectangular plate with three holes, you could make your own surround but the audi one has angled gauges towards the driver and makes it look a lot more pro.
once sanded you either sponge a paint finish onto the surround as it will be scratched from sanding, wet and dry it smooth or covering it in material, if you go to a scrappy and cut a panel out the back of a VW seat you can match the material up to the dashboard.
If you leave the large tab on the back of the surround on still this enables it to push fit into the whole, allowing easy access to wire up but not letting it drop out during driving.
the cigarette lighter you may still need for charging a phone or something, move this down to the right hand side of the original VDO blank next to your electric windows, you may have an alarm light here or the roof opening badge stuck here, remove it, drill a whole and push the lighter in then re wire.
you now have electric windows, powered roof, cigarette lighter and three angled VDO gauges without cutting the doors.
if you still need an ashtray obtain one off an old scirocco or jetta and the indentation just above the center console, cut this out and this will hold a drop down ashtray its what the american cabs had.
looks pro and you can always put the ashtray back if you dont like it, and put the roof opening warning badge over the cigarette hole.
i took a few photos of it, it looks tops at night.
