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Mon Jan 24, 2005 10:20 am

Hi all,
I just got a '74 412 wagon {A/T - A/C}. It looks to be the same color and exterior as lilroach34. surface rust all over the flat areas. I was reading through some of the posts and must say I can relate to the "critters" in the car. :)

The interior seems to be in pretty good shape. Dash and steering wheel are cracked. Motor was pulled but I have all of it 'cept for a few parts like starter and such.

So here's the thing: Where do we go for parts for a 412? I want to start on the body [before it rusts any more] and to do that I have to remove the glass. But I'm afraid I won't get window rubbers to put them back with.

Hope to hear back soon, can use all the encouragement I can get.

Mon Jan 24, 2005 12:04 pm

Well, there is not really one source for 411/412 parts. Forget the dealer for most things. For the most part, engine mechanical parts are the same if not closely related to the late model bus, Porsche 914, etc... Good news in that department. Auto trans. is virtually identical to the Type 3, parts are still available. A really good list for parts is on the shoptalkforums.com 411/412 forum(which I noticed you already visited), check the sticky vendor thread at the top. 411/412 guru Ray Greenwood dispenses advice for many fabricated and substitute parts in the forum. He is probably as knowledgable as the VW engineers for these cars. Here are places you might want to talk to or visit:

busdepot.com
autopartsgiant.com
revolks.net
bughaus.com
evwparts.com
type4.org
http://www.tunacan.net/t4corner/index.shtml
Parts Place for all VW's (Auburn Hills, MI) 248-373-2300

Check ebay, tons of parts have been popping up recently, check the samba classifieds religiously, I have gotten good parts here.

Revolks should have a lot of your window rubber. They are the only people on the planet with the correct new stuff, as far as I know.

Good luck, and don't give up! :D

Wed Jan 26, 2005 10:55 am

Welcome to the obsession :P .

Wed Jan 26, 2005 4:07 pm

Hi! I'm new here too, though I've been reading these pages for almost a year now... I just added pictures to the gallery if you wish to see my project. All the best -P- Lahti, Finland

Wed Jan 26, 2005 5:15 pm

Welcome Lahti411! :D

No back seat? :shock: Sort of defeats the utility of the Variant, eh? I'm rebuilding a '73 412 Variant myself, take a look in the gallery for images. Boy, your paint is in good shape, but oh, that rust!

Do they put tons of salt on the roads in Finland like here in the Northeastern USA?

Thu Jan 27, 2005 8:11 am

Looks like the Type 4 disease is spreading rapidly :P .

Thu Jan 27, 2005 9:13 am

The back seat in my red Variant is missing because it has been registered as a van. Finnish taxes for cars have allways been very high (factory price + 90% tax of the factory price), so car buyers have allways been very innovative, what comes to avoiding the taxes. Some say that a finnish driver would screw a steel bucket to a fender, if it would lower the price of a car... The red car used to have a loading area made of plywood covered with rubber mat, where the back seat should have been. It also had fold down plywood backseats for occational use. I believe this practise was a finnish market only. As soon as I get my scanner working I can send here some pictures of a dealer leaflet about these van rarities. By the way, I believe most of the Variants (Squarebacks) of the early seventies were sold as vans here. This I found out when I tried to find a decent example to restore: most of the cars I found where vans and could not be registered as a passenger vehicle.

They certainly used to salt the roads heavily, but thank goodness not so much anymore. The red car has suffered corrosion really bad and it's been patched at some point of it's life. When I started to strip the car I found that allmost whole of the front end had been remade. Inner wheelarches were completely remade and so were the bottoms of the a-posts, which are now rusting again... And the floors are gone, nothing but air in there. Good luck for me was that when somebody had repaired the car he had also fitted new front fenders, which were still perfect when I bought the car. Now they are allready fitted to the yellow car.

Thu Jan 27, 2005 5:22 pm

Wow, good luck with the rust repairs :roll:

When I was in the USAF in Upstate New York, I found out all about "fender solvent". The state and the Thruway Authority used to put CALCIUM CHLORIDE on the roads up there vice the usual Sodium Chloride. It really ate through sheet metal. I had a (then new) 1982 Plymouth Turismo that had holes in both floor pans after 3 winters up there.

The base used Urea for de-icing, so guess what it smelled like in the winter :shock:

Fri Jan 28, 2005 8:37 am

I think he is only using the red one for parts.

Fri Jan 28, 2005 6:47 pm

Jawohl, Herr Uber :oops: You're right