Gray e-brake boot

My best find from the VW Classic weekend was an original gray e-brake boot. It's a surprisingly hard to find item, and I've been trying to locate one for years. It's really clean and there are no holes or rips. I picked it up from a seller at OCTO for a very reasonable price. Couldn't believe my luck.

Several years ago the restorer of a '58 beetle had a short run of gray repro boots made in Belgium, and I bought one when they were available. Here it is next to the OEM original.




It's not perfect—the shape and texture are a little off and the gray color is too blue—but it's well made. It's also the style without the adjustment access slots/flaps on the sides. Some original boots have these access slots and some don't, and I don't know what applications got which boots, or when. The supply of these repro boots now seems to have dried up as well. I'll sell this one and put the proceeds back into the Ghia's restoration.

Gray e-brake boots are very much in demand and it's surprising to me that a good quality reproduction isn't currently available. Respraying black boots gray is always an option, I suppose, but I doubt the result would ever look exactly right.

In other brake news, the rear brakes are finally completely assembled, adjusted and bled. If all goes as planned the engine will go back in next weekend.

Type 34 Ghia hood latch deflector

There are a few parts that every Type 34 Ghia owner needs. Who couldn't use a pair of those visor clips that seem to have been designed to break the first time they were used? Or how about the plastic deflector that keeps the front hood safety catch from damaging the rubber seal? When's the last time you saw an original one? In my case that would be never.



Greg Skinner has taken it upon himself to reproduce the elusive deflector and he very generously brought a few to Bob Walton's pre-Classic BBQ for the Type 34 owners in attendance. Here is one of his repros, a faithful copy of the original part (341 823 491). I decided to test fit it to my Ghia.



One of the good things about having owned a number of old VWs over the past 30 years is that I've amassed a lot of hardware. I was able to find screws and washers that match the originals.



Here you can see how the deflector would protect the seal—if there was a seal there to protect.

Many thanks to Greg for addressing this very real need. We all owe you one.

It's a good time to be restoring a VW 1500

The past few years have seen a marked increase in the availablity of reproduction parts for VW 1500s and 1600s. ISP West has lead the way, reproducing a number of obsolete Type 3 parts over the last ten+ years, and they've been joined by the now-defunct PoP of Thailand (Simon Kelley has begun to pick up where PoP left off), Rudiger Huber, BerT3 and others, including my own self. But in the last year things have really picked up.



The latest news is that the original "salt & pepper" wool cloth used from 1961–63 is now available for purchase from Gizmo Bob Walton. The possibility of reproducing this cloth has been talked about for many years, and it's amazing that it's finally here. I dropped in on Bob yesterday and saw one of several giant rolls. It looks fantastic.




Equally exciting news: new right and left side floorpan halves for Type 3s are now available from KlassicFab. Almost all Type 3s need to have some part of the floor pan patched, most commonly the area under the battery, but many are in need of full pan replacement. The availability of quality pan stampings will make it possible to save many cars that would probably have otherwise been parted out or gone to the crusher. Gerson of KlassicFab says he'll be at the VW Classic next month with ten pairs, and I plan to buy a set there.



A long-requested accessory now available from Neil Mast is a high-quality VDO Type 3 tachometer reproduction. Repro Type 3 tachs have been available from Bill & Steve's and Tacho Thomas in the past (and Tim Dapper made a Type 34 version), but they have followed the Gossen tach style in which the needle is positioned under the center escutcheon. Neil's new tach is faithful to the original VDO design and matches the other Type gauges perfectly. ISP West is also finishing up their Type 3 tach repro, which follows the Gossen style and also looks great.

And with any luck, BerT3's repro wraparound dash pads will be available soon too.

Quality control, part 2

Over the past two months I've been testing my water slide decals in harsh conditions to see how they hold up and if wax or a clear coat will provide added durability. I applied three decals to an old glovebox lid, giving one a clear coat of enamel, another several coats of wax, and the third left untreated as a control. I subjected them to weeks of full sun—at times over 80°F—and to damp 45°F nights. I dipped them in water regularly to simulate the effects of normal washing. I simulated daily wear and tear by rubbing the surface. The decals showed no ill effects after a few weeks of this treatment, so I decided it was time to pull off the gloves and give them the Extreme Humidity Test. I sealed them in an airtight bag with a few ounces of water and left them in the hot sun for a week. Here's the result:



None of the three test decals fared very well, but then neither did the original paint on the glovebox lid or the original 40-year-old decals on the other side. The glovebox itself started rusting very quickly and the paint began to bubble. Needless to say, if your car was stored in similar steambath conditions flaking decals would be the least of your worries. It's worth noting that the wax didn't provide any protection at all, but the clear coat did help a bit.

Clear coat (left) and wax:



The original Karmann decals began to bubble and loosen too. There was no rust on the glovebox prior to the humidity test.



In the end, I think these tests show that the decals themselves are as durable as Karmann's originals, which is to say that they're vulnerable to damage from unusual dampness and abrasion but should be fine in normal conditions. A clear coat does seem to provide an extra measure of durability and protection from normal humidity, but if you happen to live in a rainforest all bets are off.

If you purchased decals from me and have experienced any unusual problems please let me know and I will be happy to provide replacements.

Quality control

I've ordered a lot of parts and some tools I need to get the Ghia on the road again. While I'm waiting for them to arrive, I thought I would do some durability tests on the water slide decals I had printed a few years ago.

Andy Holmes reported recently that the edges of his Ghia's decals began to flake, so I sent him a set of replacements. I don't know what the cause was—humidity? rapid temperature changes of the metal surfaces they were applied to? offgassing from recently applied paint? or some combination thereof?—but water decals are fragile in the best of circumstances, and I want to test a few ways of making them more durable.



Using a glovebox lid with original paint as a test board, I have applied three air cleaner decals. The one on the left was masked and coated with clear enamel (two mist coats and a heavier final coat with drying time between), the one in the center was given three coats of pure non-abrasive carnauba wax, and the one on the right was left untreated as a control. I'll be subjecting them to all manner of heat, cold, humidity, and abrasion over the next few weeks. I'll let you know what I learn.

Type 3 engine lid graphics

As a followup to a recent discussion among Type 34 Ghia owners about how to reproduce the "auf/zu" graphics that appear on every Type 3 engine lid, I've created high resolution vector pdf artwork based on direct scans of an original 1963 lid that Everett Barnes supplied. This version of the graphics was used from 1963 until sometime after 1966, when the letters O and C were replaced by the words Open and Closed. The pdfs can be downloaded and used in a number of ways to recreate the graphics.



[Everett's engine lid scans]

The easiest way to do it would probably be to have a sign shop use their plotter to cut a graphic in black vinyl (matte black vinyl would probably look best). As a reference for position, the dashed line triangular shapes on the graphics correspond to the recesses for the handles, though placement was probably a little different on every car. The files are actual size. If you're not familiar with how to apply vinyl graphics your sign shop should be able to advise you. I would recommend dry application.

A sign shop could also make the graphic as a stencil that you could apply to the surface if you would rather use paint. Another suggestion was to have wood blocks laser cut and use them to block print the graphics with printing ink. I suppose rubber stamps could also be made and used the same way.

Click the images below to download the pdfs, and if you try using them to make graphics for your car please let me know how it goes.

Factory-style key tags

Jeff Grant (a.k.a. "Anchovy" on thesamba.com) has started offering these cool reproduction aluminum key tags stamped to order with your VIN for just $12.



When VWs were originally delivered the keys came with an identifying tag like this. Our '65 Squareback's keys still had their original tag—lucky for us, as most were discarded by the original owners. Though the tags became increasingly thin and more crudely stamped as the years went on, the '58 tag Jeff modeled his reproduction on was cut in a nicely rounded shape from heavy-gauge aluminum.

It's the perfect key fob for your set of original keys. Go here to order yours.

New Type 3 floor pans

After much discussion and debate it looks like Gerson of Klassic Fab is getting started on making dies for reproduction Type 3 floor pans. They should be available for purchase by the beginning of next year—$500 + shipping for a pair of complete pan halves. This is great news for Type 3 restorers. Until now our options have been to track down a donor pan or pan sections that are hopefully less rusty than what we already have, to adapt sections of Type 1 Karmann-Ghia pan sheet metal, or to use pan repair stampings of somewhat questionable quality that are sporadically available. Labor-intensive and/or costly endeavors all.



Gerson's shop hand-fabricated the pan half pictured above for his own notchback project.

Klassic Fab has become famous for producing high-quality sheet metal stampings for VW Buses. The quality and accuracy of their products are regarded as second to none. I'll be buying a set of these pan halves for the Ghia as soon as they're ready. If we're lucky these will be the first of many Type 3 stampings to come from Klassic Fab.

Read the Samba forums discussion of reproduction Type 3 pans here, and Greg Skinner's impassioned Type 3 Floor Pan Manifesto here.

559 cerulean fabric is sold out

My entire stock of 559 cerulean 1500 Ghia upholstery fabric has sold.

1500 Ghia tool rolls

I decided to try making an original-style tool roll with the reproduction Type 34 fabric.

1961–63 VW 1500 upholstery fabric

Due to popular demand Bob Walton and I are getting started on a reproduction of the 1961–63 "salt and pepper" upholstery fabric. Like the 1500 Karmann-Ghia fabric, this will be a high-quality woven reproduction of the original cloth used in VW 1500 sedans and Variants in the first few years of production. It will take about 4 yards to reupholster the complete interior of a notchback with a rear seat armrest, or 3.5 yards for a notch without an armrest or a Variant.





[images borrowed from the 1500 Club website]

At this point we're trying to gauge interest. I've started a forum thread about the project on the samba, so if you're interested in buying some of this fabric please post in that thread.

To see original VW literature showing salt and pepper fabric go here.

Many thanks to Jason Weigel and Bob Walton for their advice and encouragement and to everyone who has already expressed interest.

564 silver fabric is sold out

All 35 yards of the reproduction 564 silver 1500 Ghia upholstery fabric have sold! I still have a few yards of 554 (red) and 559 (cerulean) in stock.

1500 Ghia fabric is here

75 yards of reproduction 1500 Ghia upholstery fabric arrived today. I'll start shipping orders this week.

Silver 1500 Ghia fabric sample

I just received a swatch of the silver upholstery fabric reproduction, and it's a really good match of the original piece of 564 silver cloth I supplied to the manufacturer.



This photo shows the new cloth sample next to an NOS silver beige sun visor and e-brake button, an anthracite e-brake handle, and a sample of anthracite paint. I think I've decided what color the Ghia will be!

1961-64 1500 Ghia upholstery fabric reproduction

I just received swatches of the red and cerulean 1500 Ghia cloth reproduction, and they look great. They were able to match the original colors perfectly. It was worth the wait.



This cloth will be available in the next few weeks in red, silver (gray), and cerulean (blue). It's the closest thing to the original Karmann cloth that you'll ever find.

1962 VW 1500 Karmann-Ghia badge

A nice first-year-only 1500 Ghia badge scored on eBay Germany, seen here installed on my currently unworthy '62 with a PoP reproduction seal. These badges were only used through chassis number 0 058 489 (July 1962).



Many thanks to Gizmobob for his help.

A late 1963 1500 Ghia with a surprise in the trunk

Lee Hedges shared some pictures of this late 1963 1500 Ghia owned by Antonino Magnano of Udine, Italy. The car has only 70,000 miles and has been in Antonino's family since it was new. It's very rare to find such an original, unmodified example.




This photo of the rear trunk reveals something unexpected: the air intake warning decal that was used on earlier Ghias without the protective grilles. The grilles were introduced in May 1963 (0 183 839), and I've never been able to confirm that the decal was used after that date, until now. It's too insignificant a thing to have appeared in a parts book or production survey. This car has the decal positioned just above the grille on the far left side, while on earlier cars without the grilles the decals were positioned as shown below:



Antonio's car was produced in late June of 1963, very late in the 1963 model year, so it's possible that use of the decal extended into the 1964 model year as well. They may just have used them until their inventory ran out.



Thanks to Antonino for the photos of his beautiful car, and to Lee for giving me permission to post them here.

Another Amazing Volkswagen

Jason Weigel had a nice surprise for 1500 Club members who attended the VW Classic this year: everyone got a reproduction of the rear window sticker that was used on the Canadian VW 1500 promotional tour of 1962. Very cool. Jason has had this sticker in the rear window of his low-mileage '63 notchback for a long time. I've always liked it. [photo by Jason via The Samba]



The Canadian VW 1500 tour has become somewhat legendary because it featured all the VW 1500 models, including both the 1500 cabriolet (Type 351) and the 1500 Ghia cabriolet (Type 341), models that never got beyond the prototype production stage. The cabriolet prototypes reportedly remained in North America when the tour was finished, so they may still be hiding somewhere up there in the Great White North. Now that would be amazing. [image "borrowed" from vwtype3.org]



I'll put the sticker on my car when I get it back on the road, but right now it's more of a storage shed on wheels, as you can see.

Roofrack madness!

Type 3 owners seem to have a highly-developed appreciation for roof and luggage racks. These days it's almost become more unusual to see a Type 3 without a rack at a show than with one. There's a roofrack thread in The Samba's Type 3 forum that catalogs the different racks that have been produced for Type 3s over the years, and many of them are very rare period accessories, but some of the best racks ever offered are being produced right now by 1500 Club member Pedro Sainz.



This year, in addition to the roof and decklid racks he offers for all Type 3 models, Pedro has introduced an unusual and very interesting new notchback rack to the lineup:



The idea is based on the EMPI Titelock rack (also known as the Jim Dandy) that was available for beetles in the early 1960s. Here's a Titelock on the cover of the July 1963 issue of The VW Autoist, the newsletter of the Volkswagen Club of America:


And here's Pedro recreating the same demonstration on his own car last week:


As you can see, the rack is designed for use, and Pedro is clearly confident in his engineering. I'm not sure this rack is the most practical luggage carrying solution, at least compared to more conventional roof and decklid racks, but that's not really the point. It's a beautifully conceived and fabricated work of art that's perfectly in harmony with the lines of the car. Though it's a new design it looks like something that could have been available when the cars were new.

Here's Pedro with Rick Christensen fitting one behind Rick's Spanish Airstreme rack on his '65 sunroof notchback:


If you're interested in buying one of Pedro's racks, or his other products like foglight bars and rear parcel tray "jailbars," you can contact him at pedro@vw1500.com.

1961–64 VW 1500 Karmann-Ghia upholstery fabric

After years of thinking about it and months of planning and research I finally have a manufacturer starting work on a reproduction of early 1500 Ghia upholstery fabric — the woven fabric used for the front and back seat inserts and door panels from 1961–63 and the seat inserts only from 1963–64. I asked 1500 Ghia owners which colors they would most like to see reproduced and the three most requested colors were red (554), silver (564), and cerulean (559), so that's what I'm having made. 3 yards will be needed for seats and door panels and 2 yards for seats only.

Here are some samples of the original fabric (shown larger than actual size):


554 red, originally used in black and pearl white cars from 1961–64 and anthracite cars from 1963–64.


564 silver, originally used in anthracite and ruby red cars from 1961–64 and emerald green cars from 1963–64.


559 cerulean, originally used in sea blue cars from 1961–64.

(You can see these and other paint and upholstery combinations in the early VW 1500 Ghia color brochures)

It should be available by late summer or fall of this year. If all goes well the next project will be reproducing "salt and pepper" fabric for 1961–63 Type 3s.

Many thanks to Lee Hedges and Matt Pierce for sending original samples of cerulean and silver fabric, respectively.