TheSamba.com :: View topic - Mr. & Mrs. Henry Oppenheim and their '71 Squareback.

Tue May 15, 2012 4:33 pm

Amazing!!!

Tue May 15, 2012 4:59 pm

kirk...
mate thanks for sharing... this is truely amazing to have all this history. :wink:
tram will be rolling on the ground with stomach cramps, salivating from the mouth over all this :P

Wed May 16, 2012 1:52 pm

You're Welcome. :)

Sun May 20, 2012 1:11 am

Thanks for sharing Kirk. Always a great read and looking forward to the next installment!

Sun May 20, 2012 12:26 pm

Awesome story Kirk! Thanks for sharing!

Tue May 22, 2012 1:45 pm

Kirk wrote: In a letter postmarked 07.16.1971:

Henry and Elizabeth were notified that their square was arriving on the Holenrecht in three days. The letter advises them to bring a copy of the comercial invoice, and to be prepared to pay $20.53 ($15 for documentation and $5.53 for handling charges). It further warns that they will owe approximately $90 in Duty charges as well. On the rear of this letter, it advises Elizabeth (interestingly, it doesnt mention MR. Oppenhiem, just MRS.) that she will have to go to the dock office for a service order, then to customs to clear the car. She is advised that the car will not have gasoline in it, and she will need to arrive with gasoline and be prepared to hook up her own battery.

Now, the Department of the Treasury Bureau of Customs form:

Says they owe Customs $46.97 in duty charges. (3.5% of the $1342 declared value)

And the actual shipping form: (Which shows a document fee of $15.00)

The M/S Holdenrecht arrived late on July 19th, and the Square was unloaded to a staging area on the 20th. All the other paperwork is signed by Henry on the 23rd. I was curious why they let their square languish in Customs care for three days, so I looked at the 1971 calender online. It appears that the 23rd is a Friday, so perhaps they wanted to be able to drive home over the weekend.

When Henry and Elizabeth signed for their car, it notes that there is "red paint on front floor rug". Since it wasnt there when it was cleaned and loaded, one can only assume whomever unloaded it must have had red paint on his boots. It appears Henry wasnt happy with this, as explained later.

Before lunchtime on Friday, July 23rd, Henry and Elizabeth had been reunited with their beloved Square after 21 days and over 5000 miles at sea.

This is so awesome.

Tue May 22, 2012 1:45 pm

Kirk wrote: Henry left the Port, and with the Square still bearing its Zoll plates and with just over 3227 showing on the odometer, Henry and Elizabeth went to (I assume lunch) and then immediately to the Norman Scott Volkswagen dealership. I say I assume lunch, because the square was picked up before lunchtime, with 3227 miles on it, and was checked into the dealership at 130pm showing 03254 miles. The dealership and port arent that far apart.

Henry and Elizabeth had the oil changed, and the car lubed for $7.22.

AND:

They bought front and rear embossed floor mats for the Square. $15.96

I assume that was because of the red paint. ;) They are still in the car today.

The Oppenhiems left Houston and headed for home in their boat fresh freshly oiled, lubed and floor matted Square.

August 11th, Henry and Elizabeth recieve a letter from the IRS stating that their "foreign made motor vehicle" was liable for excise taxes. The form states that the car was valuated at $1342, plust 162 freight and insurance fees + 46.97 in import duties already paid, plus the $15 documentation totals $1565.97 in taxable items. The letter included a statement for $109.62 due. It notes at the bottom that the amount must be postmarked by October 19st, 1971. This is important for later.

In a letter and check dated 10.19.1971, the Oppenhiems paid the $109.62 (waiting to the very last minute) making the Square theirs free and clear. In the second picture, you can see a copy of their check.

Unrelated/partially related story:
My boss and I went back to the County I bought the car from, visiting some of his old co-workers. He mentioned off hand to one older woman who worked for him there, that I bought a VW in her home town. She asked who owned it, and when I asked if she knew anyone with the last name Oppenhiem, she looked at me and blinked for several seconds. Then she said: "You didnt buy Henrys station wagon did you???" I advised her that I did and showed her a picture on my phone. She squealed, and told me how she used to play in it, and how Elizabeth used to drive her to Elementary school every morning in it. She then unprevoked, stated "He babied that car! He worked on it every single weekend and was always waxing and cleaning, and doing something to it! I've never seen anyone who worked on their car like he did."

I thought that was neat. :D

Its AMAZING what you know about this car. Cant wait for the next part.

Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:23 am

No updates (in case anyone is still reading)..

BUT!

I did get it out of storage...

Back on a trailer...

To the house..

And in my garage.

Now that its here, I have no reason to not work on it. Yay me! (I'm excited.)

Wed Aug 29, 2012 9:31 am

I really like the chrome roof racks. My '71 came mounted like yours, but my '67 came as a Unit with the cross pieces and only needs 8 screws into the roof. You might keep an eye out for a parts rack to change up yours someday?

Wed Aug 29, 2012 4:42 pm

I love how clean and straight your rear apron is!!!!

Wed Aug 29, 2012 5:43 pm

Kirk wrote: You're Welcome. :)

I bought my 1st VW last year, a 1974 Ghia and traced it to the original owner.... had quite the conversation, but nothing like this.
I was originally looking for a Squareback.. what a great story!! You`ve got to find out what Henry`s pet name was for the car....
Glad to see she ended up with you!
Best of luck with your gem!

Thu Aug 30, 2012 7:58 am

Kirk wrote: No updates (in case anyone is still reading)..

BUT!

I did get it out of storage...

Great use of Tiltshiftmaker photo effect, and a fantastic story. Have you kept your promise by sending updates to the seller? I bet he'd be tickled to know what you've learned and completed in all this time.

Wed Sep 05, 2012 8:22 am

Started work. Sorry for crappy black and whites. Camera setting was wrong.

Since its been sitting so long, I decided my best approach is a "nose to back" approach, fixing and repairing/replacing anything wrong as I go along. I started this weekend by removing the gas tank to have it boiled out. The vent lines were solid, and broke to the touch, so I ordered the kit from Jim Adney (thanks for the tip on him, Bob. He seems to be an invaluable resource.) Dirty greasy tank:

Ill have to fix this, its clear someone used something big to pry this out when it was repaired in '94. :?

Tank out, everythings super dirty and covered in oil and crap.

Okay, my real question is this. Once the tank was out, I noticed it had this sticky gummy line on it, coming from where the tank was clearly patched.

When it was in storage, I put fuel in the tank (about a gallon) to see if it would loosen up any crap while it sat, and when I removed the fuel pump/lines, very little came out. So I think it was leaking from here. Would you attempt to mess with this tank, or find a replacement? As far as I can tell it’s the original.

Wed Sep 05, 2012 8:26 am

I do have a spare tank, but its a '69. Appears a vent line is missing on it, so I will probably look for a 71 later tank. Thoughts?

And, even though you cant tell, I completely cleaned and de greased every stinking inch under this tank and then waxed the paint. Its gleaming. There are some surface rust areas Ill POR 15 before I put the tank back in, but otherwise I'm in good shape.

I'll take suggestions on things to look at while doing the front part of the car. Ranger fuel pump install and having the front calipers rebuilt are next.

(damn black and white photos...)

Wed Sep 05, 2012 1:36 pm

I like the B&W pics... easier to see details!

Thu Sep 06, 2012 8:31 am

Hey man, I just read through the entire thread before I realized that we had a conversation on instagram the other day because my friend has a super beetle and I have a squareback.
lucasjohnsonn on instagram.

Nice car you got there.
Definitely gonna follow closely on the progress.

Thu Sep 06, 2012 8:40 am

Luke. wrote: Hey man, I just read through the entire thread before I realized that we had a conversation on instagram the other day because my friend has a super beetle and I have a squareback.
lucasjohnsonn on instagram.

Nice car you got there.
Definitely gonna follow closely on the progress.

Hahahaha Thats so funny! I keep thinking we need a "Who's on Instagram" thread in the Off Topic section. Will do man. Updates coming. :)

Thu Sep 06, 2012 9:57 am

I'd personally look for a 70 and later fuel tank. I only say that, because some of the earlier tanks had an ovaled fuel filler neck.

Thu Sep 06, 2012 11:37 am

man that is one amazing read and thanks so much for sharing

Mon Sep 17, 2012 11:38 am

Replacing the ignition switch. ISP has the one year only switch and it seems a nice quality. I have a question if there is someone reading. Figured I would post it here before starting a new thread (which I may still do).

The bentley sucks for directions on how to do this, btw. Got the steering wheel off, Column out, (which involved moving the AC unit) and got the switch out. The problem is the wiring on the new switch:

Which exactly matched the old switch

However, each wire on the new switch coordinates to the plug for the old switch, except the brown/blue wire. There are six wires from the ignition switch to this plug. Five wires leave the plug and go to parts unknown. This is exactly how the other switch was wired. My question is, what do I do with this brown/blue wire. I'm currently looking at the color wiring diagram. Its not much help.

old vs new

Considering the old switch (busted to hell) had a plug that plugged into this plug (plug busted to hell too) guess I'll have to cut this off and splice them together? Prefer not to, but havent seen that "plug" repopped.

And, my column only had one of these. Anyone have a spare I can have?

As always any help helps.