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Fri Apr 04, 2008 9:11 am

i just picked up a zwitter recently and have been doing some research on the correctness of this car . i understand that the speedo is supposed to be different than other oval speedo's . does any one have a pic of a zwitter only speedo? the search did not work for me or i just dont know how to search correctly, also should mine be in mph or km? thank you in advance for any help recieved.

Fri Apr 04, 2008 9:35 am

Congrats on your new project car.

The turn signal arrows on the Oct '52 to Mar '53 speedo should look like on my avatar. (I knew it would prove useful eventually!)

The dial will also show lower shifting points because of the 25 hp engine.

MPH vs. KM depends on the market that the car was sold in.

Good luck,
Harv.

Fri Apr 04, 2008 10:45 am

cool i will check mine to verifiy if mine is correct. finding solid facts on this car is proving to be difficult. bumpers , semi's, tails ,etc. i guess thats part of owning an old v-dub. :?

Fri Apr 04, 2008 10:50 pm

I just had my redone at North Hollywood Speedometer, they did a fantastic job ! my camera sucks!

Mon Apr 07, 2008 9:06 am

can i use the windsheild, bumpers and rear seat from an oval and still be "correct"?

Mon Apr 07, 2008 10:31 am

To the best of my knowledge the windshield should fit, but I suppose the purist may comment on the mfg. & part number. I believe my windshield to be original, I can get that information if you need it. Bumpers are the same. The rear seat I am not sure of, I was lucky to buy a zwitter that had seat covers on all the seats and the rear seats are in like original condition with beige herringbone cloth, beige cardboard in the rear with 2 metal strips. I can get pictures if you want to compare an area.

Bill

Mon Apr 07, 2008 1:53 pm

i would appreciate it if you could do so. thank you. maybe we should have our own zwitter forum that zwitter owners could use as a sort of "home-base", i know there a few of us out there. :)

Mon Apr 07, 2008 4:11 pm

bugman56 wrote: i would appreciate it if you could do so. thank you. maybe we should have our own zwitter forum that zwitter owners could use as a sort of "home-base", i know there a few of us out there. :)

Cool idea! Mention this one to Everett. :)

Mon Apr 07, 2008 4:12 pm

bugman56 wrote: can i use the windsheild, bumpers and rear seat from an oval and still be "correct"?

A rear seat for pre August of 55 ovals would work for your zwitter. They changed them slightly around that time.

Mon Apr 07, 2008 5:30 pm

Windshields are the same through '57.

Mon Apr 07, 2008 6:08 pm

Here are some pictures of the rear seat of my zwitter.

[img]

Mon Apr 07, 2008 6:19 pm

The windshield on my zwitter has the markings
"Shat-R-Proof"
"Safety Plate"
R LSG ASI
This is the windshield that was on the car when I bought it in 1975 from the original owner. It is a Hoffman split. To the best of my knowledge it came with the car since the owner told me all that had been done to the car and never mentioned replacing the windshield. The rubber seal has traces of green paint (same as car) and has the aluminum trim. I was shocked not to see the Sekurit brand name. Not sure if it was replaced by the dealer to meet US standards or possibly the state of Connecticut requirements. Can anyone shed some light on this subject?

Mon Apr 07, 2008 7:11 pm

Good question about the windshield, that sounds like a piece of aftermarket glass but I know for a fact that Pennsylvania State Inspection regulations have required Laminated Safety Glass since the late 1920s! back in the old days different states had their own specs and I remember seeing a lot of old Ford Model As that has sealed beam headlights stuck into the old bulb and reflector housings back in the 1940s when PA required everything to have sealed beams, I would suspect that most of the real Hoffman Zwittters had sealed beams but I'm not sure what they did with the earlier cars in states which were requiring sealed beams on new cars as early as 1940?, does anyone have a pre zwitter split Hoffman car with its original headlights for an absolute fact? it seems that everyone switched out the bulb headlights for later sealed beams as soon as they became available, Another State regulation Pennsylvania had was that the parking brakes had to be a completely seperate system, cable brake Model A Fords again had to be redesigned in 1928 to be legaly sold new in Pennsylvania, they had an extra set of brake cables and shoes added in the rear drums just for Pennsylvania, This means that Hoffman Split Standards with cable brakes could never be legaly sold new in Pennsylvania, even now they dont officially pass the state requirements for a seperate park brake system since the brake pedal basically is just a remote control for the hand brake lever which operates all 4 wheels,

speaking of the rear seat for a zwitter, I have a 1954 Beetle that was missing its rear seat, I managed to find a '52 standard rear seat and I have always noticed that on my standard split the top of the backrest springs kind of show thru more so than on ovals I've seen, I also have a '55 and the backrest with the original padding and seat cover definately doesn't have the obvious wavy spring look to it on top, I haven't had the upholstery off of any of these seats so I dont know if its a difference in the frames or the springs or just the way they are padded, I know on the '53-'55 front seats the horsehair kind of has this sponge rubber stuff moulded into the edges, I am thinking this is probably the reason the springs don't show on the newer back seats, I would suspect that the rear seat padding changed at the same time as the front seat design change with the zwitter, can anyone confirm any of these assumptions?

Mon Apr 07, 2008 7:17 pm

poop! looks like the search begins for a correct speedo for the car (ought to be a fun one) my windshield that came with the car has no markings other than the huge cracks in it from the clown who transported it. not so sure the tailights or semi's are right either. shouldnt the semi's be different from my 56 oval along with the tails? sorry if these questions are kinda stupid to some of you, but this is my first split even though some consider it more of an oval and there is really no other source of great information other than the samba.

Mon Apr 07, 2008 8:25 pm

Did you say that there was green paint on your windshield seal? If so, it has also been re-painted since VW put the windows in after the fact.

Mon Apr 07, 2008 10:11 pm

Splitdog wrote: Did you say that there was green paint on your windshield seal? If so, it has also been re-painted since VW put the windows in after the fact.

Looking closer it was not green paint but a what I believe is wax or rubbing compound. However this leads me to another question. I have found bolts on the car that have been painted for example the hinge bolts for the deck lids & door hinges. I assume they were installed when the final coat was applied. With the headliner removed the nside of the roof shows signs of the body being dipped. What was the painting process?

This car had sealed beams installed when I got it. The wires had been clipped inside the bucket and new plugs neatly soldered on and taped over.
Having grown up in Connecticut I wouldn't doubt that the headlight and windshield were required to be changed. I remember when I built a fiberglass dunebuggy in 1972, getting it registered was a nightmare. We had to fabricate mudflaps behind the rear tires ...which through some misfortune had mysteriously fallen off shortly after.. :roll:

Tue Apr 08, 2008 10:10 am

crap, I looked up Shat-r-Proof and it's a company that makes windshields in Minnesota, I just relized I scrapped out a 57 standard about 10 years ago and I believe thats where the windshield came from. I need to go back out and dig for the zwitter windshield...hey I am 53, memory is first to go !

Bill

Tue Apr 08, 2008 5:48 pm

ZwitterND wrote: I have found bolts on the car that have been painted for example the hinge bolts for the deck lids & door hinges. I assume they were installed when the final coat was applied. With the headliner removed the nside of the roof shows signs of the body being dipped. What was the painting process?

The entire shell would be assembled. hood, doors, deck lid, fenders held on with 3 or 4 extra long bolts so they just hung on there, glove box door and speaker block off.

Then it was dipped in gray primer. Then sanded and then sprayed with paint. They did not spray every square inch of the car. Only parts that were easily accessible, that were seen and exposed to the elements.

All fasteners that held these items on should be painted. After the paint had dried and been buffed, the fenders would be installed with new bolts so they should not have paint on any of those bolts.

Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:59 pm

any body here got an extra zwitter speedo?