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Tvättbjörn Mon Feb 14, 2005 9:44 pm

Hi guys,

I know that´s is the wrong spot to put a search add, but I placed a search add month ago and did not get a single responce!!!!!!!

I´m looking for one set "camping hinges" for the squareback to fold down the backseat to get a longer sleeping area. If somebody like to sell a set or has a set I can borrow to make a copy of them - please pm me.

Thanks

Air_Cooled_Nut Mon Feb 14, 2005 11:03 pm

Making a copy isn't going to be easy at all as they are made up of three pieces per hinge. I looked into that and the machine shops were saying a couple hundred US dollars at least and most likely more.

Here's all the info I've got on them:
http://www.icbm.org/erkson/ttt/back_seat.html

Technically you only need one hinge if you were looking to make copies as the hinges are universal i.e. there's no left side nor right side.

Big Fat Tue Feb 15, 2005 7:16 am

Yeah, I've been looking for a set since I bought my car. Evidently they're a little more rare now than they were a couple years ago. :cry:

GjMan Tue Feb 15, 2005 9:49 am

I have a pair of those hinges. I MAY be willing to loan one to someone who wants to repro it. Yeah, it would probably cost too much to have a machine shop make a pair, but I think a patient, reasonably skilled person could make up a pair in his home shop. I recall hearing about an engineering school which requires beginning students to make things using nothing but a block of steel and basic hand tools. So it's possible. And since there appear to be only a few of these hinges left in the entire world, making your own may be the only option.

PM me if interested.

If there's enough demand for these things, it may be feasible to do a group buy of repro hinges. A machine shop would probably do the work if enough could be sold to recoup the start-up costs.

Air_Cooled_Nut Tue Feb 15, 2005 10:28 am

If you're gonna do a group buy then get their money first. This will weed out the tire-kickers :wink: Expect to have 10 pairs made at the very minimum and have a hinge available for the machinest to examine before he makes a quote for making them in pairs. The hinges are aluminum.

EverettB Tue Feb 15, 2005 10:44 am

I still see them on eBay sometimes. NOS in the box.

Big Fat Tue Feb 15, 2005 11:00 am

Yeah I missed a pair a couple of months ago. Still kicking myself for that one.

WVtoH Tue Feb 15, 2005 12:39 pm

I bought a set from an ebay seller by the name of Bodo Schmidt, his ID is Carbuff113. Look him up on there and shoot him an email, that's how I got mine. He has lots of stuff and can't put it all on there at once. He just might have a set or two left :D Expect to spend around $125, but they are NOS in the box and worth it (to me at least). Great seller from OC! There ya go, good luck!

speed holes Wed Feb 16, 2005 12:29 am

I've bid on 3 different sets of those, NOS in the box, from the same ebay seller. All 3 times I was sniped at the last second by the same buyer from Japan. The third time I bid ridiculous money for them, well over the $125 average.

Yeah, they turn up from time to time, I almost wonder if the guy has a crate of them and just puts a set up on ebay every few months to keep the price high and the demand up. Either way, 3 different times, same situation each time, that's fishy and I'm not bidding on anymore sets. I tried emailing the seller about buying a set off ebay, but I got no reply.

If anyone decides to reproduce these, I'm in for a set. I'm thinking I could fab up something that would perform the same function, but it wouldn't look very nice.

Barter_Builder Wed Feb 16, 2005 12:51 am

Air_Cooled_Nut wrote: If you're gonna do a group buy then get their money first. This will weed out the tire-kickers :wink: Expect to have 10 pairs made at the very minimum and have a hinge available for the machinest to examine before he makes a quote for making them in pairs. The hinges are aluminum.

How much would each person have to pay?

2Kabrios Wed Feb 16, 2005 1:00 am

I definately want a set

65Swngr Wed Feb 16, 2005 1:02 am

hey huck me up with a set of those things!! :wink:

Barter_Builder Wed Feb 16, 2005 1:07 am

this is the first time I even heard of these hinges. i thought all you could do was fold the seat back down with the bottom up.

EverettB Wed Feb 16, 2005 9:15 am

speed holes wrote: I've bid on 3 different sets of those, NOS in the box, from the same ebay seller. All 3 times I was sniped at the last second by the same buyer from Japan. The third time I bid ridiculous money for them, well over the $125 average.

Yeah, they turn up from time to time, I almost wonder if the guy has a crate of them and just puts a set up on ebay every few months to keep the price high and the demand up. Either way, 3 different times, same situation each time, that's fishy and I'm not bidding on anymore sets. I tried emailing the seller about buying a set off ebay, but I got no reply.

I haven't bought hinges from "Bodo" but I have bought other stuff in the past. I won a set of Type 3 Coco mats from him a couple years ago and asked him him if he had more. I supposedly bought every set he had (only 4). He hasn't listed anymore that I have noticed.

So at least on that deal I know everything was on the up and up.

It has been a while since I remember him posting any hinges so maybe he finally ran out.

Air_Cooled_Nut Wed Feb 16, 2005 12:02 pm

automatic_squareback wrote: Air_Cooled_Nut wrote: If you're gonna do a group buy then get their money first. This will weed out the tire-kickers :wink: Expect to have 10 pairs made at the very minimum and have a hinge available for the machinest to examine before he makes a quote for making them in pairs. The hinges are aluminum.

How much would each person have to pay?
I don't remember exactly as this was a couple years ago. I want to say over $200US/pair. The vast majority of volks won't pay that and that was an estimate. Until actually tooled the cost could vary. One of the guys in The DDB club knows someone with a CAD and had them electronically 'duplicated'. Now, getting that info into metal is another matter. I'll ping him and find out what's up...

Tvättbjörn Wed Feb 16, 2005 7:03 pm

Yeah,
sounds good. steel would be better anyway. If somebody has a set in San Diego county, I like to take messurements of it and see what I can do. Anybody down here????

WVtoH Sat Feb 26, 2005 4:26 pm

I thought he had some more! Look on ebay for a set if you are still in the market......those that would rather grow their own please ignore this message :P

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...gory=34206

Big Fat Wed Mar 09, 2005 9:44 am

WVtoH wrote: I thought he had some more! Look on ebay for a set if you are still in the market......those that would rather grow their own please ignore this message :P

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4531454134&category=34206

So who got lucky? :D

wynsquezr Wed Mar 09, 2005 11:04 am

It the first time I heard of them too. had thought about such an ideal. seems to me that a few people w/ fabrication skills should be able to do in alrge enough scale so all could have if wanted at more resonable price or design freeware type ideal that handyperson and minimal outside cost could do. any like minded thinkers/tinkers out there?

WVtoH Wed Mar 09, 2005 11:08 am

Gee.....and they went for EXACTLY what I estimated...go figure! :wink:



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