TheSamba.com :: View topic - Possibly a rehashed louver question, but I did do a search!

Wed Jul 02, 2008 4:07 pm

I have a 69 sqbk, with the dealer reversed louvers on the rear fenders.
I am having paint and body work done presently, and I cannot find new rubber seals for them. Any ideas?
I thought about using bitumen, such as they use in home dual pane windows.
ISP doesn't carry them, and Alex said that was the first time someone asked for those in 20 years....... :lol:

Wed Jul 02, 2008 4:13 pm

What is the profile of the old ones? I've never seen the bare seal.

Wed Jul 02, 2008 4:22 pm

you talking about the upper one in this pic?!if so I think alex is crazy cause I bought some in the last 4 years :lol:

(pic borrowed from gallery)

Wed Jul 02, 2008 4:43 pm

This is about the best pic I have at the moment.

I just talked to my body man, and I asked him if he could reverse them original and weld them in and make it clean.......answer: No problem!
So, Problem solved! Thanks for the replies.

Wed Jul 02, 2008 5:09 pm

Hey wolfmans brother!
What is woolies? I replaced my mud flaps with the seals off a pop up camperbut soon I'll need the ones you have marked "sponge extrusion"
Thanks for the info

Wed Jul 02, 2008 5:13 pm

I borrowed that pic from the gallery.I forget who originally posted it but I believe he is from the u.k. as is the company he got the stuff from.seems like they got a lot of stuff to go crazy with :)

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/

Wed Jul 02, 2008 7:29 pm

the seals for those reveresed louvers are long since NLA, if i was going to go about replacing them I dunno what I would do... fender beading could work, but it would look funky. other than that... maybe an inner pop-out seal stretch and fitted?

Wed Jul 02, 2008 8:07 pm

6T5 square wrote: Hey wolfmans brother!
What is woolies? I replaced my mud flaps with the seals off a pop up camperbut soon I'll need the ones you have marked "sponge extrusion"
Thanks for the info

I have found the two fender rubbers at JC Whitney in roles. They are trunk seal/ door rubber. I will see if I can get some part numbers for you guys. I think you could look them up on line. as for the louver seal I have no ideas but to keep looking the is something out there.

Wed Jul 02, 2008 8:43 pm

Might cost you less to just replace the fenders if you are considering welding, since you will have to smooth, primer, and pain tthem in either case. Then if someone wants the challenge of "original" fender grilles, they can buy them from you.

Thu Jul 03, 2008 6:10 am

You could just get a big piece of rubber gasket material and cut out what you need. I have looked at the stuff before... on that famous auction site... to do little seals here and there on my cars. I think it would work pretty well for what you need.

Just hope you have a steady hand for cutting. :)

Thu Jul 03, 2008 7:33 am

The two seals pointed out in the picture above are available from ISP West:
http://www.vwispwest.com/home.php?cat=374&isppage=1
The seals peaceful warrior is talking about are the ones for the side vent louver dealer conversion.

Thu Jul 03, 2008 7:36 am

maybe not the right place, but what's the deal with the reversed louvers? Every time I see them they look like ass and up until this moment I thout they were notchback fenders that someone hacked. They look like an afterthought, not something factory

Thu Jul 03, 2008 7:52 am

Search for threads already covering this.

Thu Jul 03, 2008 9:37 am

Thanks, and I did as I said, search for this.

Anyhow the welding is out, as the louvers are tapered and won't fit in reverse. I'll come up with something. Thanks for all the input! :D

Thu Jul 03, 2008 9:55 am

Weld them in the direction they are now! You don't have to reverse them. weld/grind/bondo/paint :D

Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:54 pm

peaceful warrior wrote: I have a 69 sqbk, with the dealer reversed louvers on the rear fenders.
I am having paint and body work done presently, and I cannot find new rubber seals for them. Any ideas?
I thought about using bitumen, such as they use in home dual pane windows.
ISP doesn't carry them, and Alex said that was the first time someone asked for those in 20 years....... :lol:

beetle fender beading worked fine for me, but it was dificult to fit. don't have pics now but will post some later. jack

Thu Jul 03, 2008 1:13 pm

peaceful warrior wrote: Thanks, and I did as I said, search for this.

I was addressing Erik G's post, not yours. He asked about the reason for the louver panels.

Fri Jul 04, 2008 6:32 pm

KTPhil wrote: peaceful warrior wrote: Thanks, and I did as I said, search for this.

I was addressing Erik G's post, not yours. He asked about the reason for the louver panels.

Oh, but you did not quote him, so I had no idea.....thanks for the explanation :D

Thu Jul 10, 2008 6:10 am

Mike Fisher wrote: Weld them in the direction they are now! You don't have to reverse them. weld/grind/bondo/paint :D

Thanks Mike, I talked to the body man about doing this. We looked at it, and just had to trim a bit off the opening (which was rough cut), and flanged it so the weld would be smooth and level with the fender.
Looks good so far.

Thu Jul 10, 2008 6:32 am

Good! I always follow the KISS Principle! (Keep It Simple Stupid!) :wink: