TheSamba.com :: View topic - Hinge covers for pop-out windows, educate me

Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:37 am

I see plastic ones on eBay in white and black. I see a metal set of 'Empi' ones in the classified here for $100. Which kind actually came from VW? Are they different for early and late pop-outs?

Wed Jan 25, 2006 4:06 pm

The plastic White & Ivory ones would be VW-issue if you purchased the car with the opening rear qtr window (popout) option. These are currently being reproduced for about $5-10/ea When they're installed, there are two visible screws.
If you purchased popout windows from say, Economotors back in the 60s, you might have gotten the Aluminum hinge covers. The Aluminum covers have no visible screws at all when mounted. But they require the special hinge that will hold them in place. Also, "Empi" distributed windows should have a bullet-shaped Ivory knob rather than the more common mushroom knob. A perfect example would be Jeff Kritz' '61 (currently 4-sale on the West Coast Classics web site) The Aluminum hinge covers are not currently being reproduced.

Wed Jan 25, 2006 4:24 pm

My former '55 sedan and my current '61 sedan both have the Aluminum hinge covers. here's a pic:

On a side note, there are also reproduction Chrome hinge covers available from several VW part houses. But, much like the regular plastic hinge covers, there are two screws visible when mounted.

Thu Jan 26, 2006 8:54 am

The hinge covers on my early popouts are just like the ones you pictured. I didn't know they had special hinges though. The car I pulled them from was a junker, so I don't know their history. I got lucky in that one of the covers was still in place, and I found the other cover after digging around under the back seat!

Thu Jan 26, 2006 11:09 pm

10mm wrote: I didn't know they had special hinges though.

The hinges will have two "fingers" on the side to actually hold the cover in place. Without the fingers, the cover won't have anything to hold it on.

Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:13 am

My NOS popouts came with ivory plastic covers, very similar to the WW repro's. Hard for me to see any discrepencies.

Fri Jan 27, 2006 7:52 am

c.davis419 wrote: My NOS popouts came with ivory plastic covers, very similar to the WW repro's. Hard for me to see any discrepencies.

That's what most popouts came with. Finding the Economotors-issued Aluminum covers are getting harder to find since they're so few and far between.