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Wed May 06, 2015 10:56 am

Oh boy.
So after months of scouring the Samba, Craigslist, and eBay for '67-'71 Squarebacks and months of heavy research here on the Samba and great input from folks like Tram and Jim Adney, I finally found "the one" and pulled the trigger on Keith Park's '65 Variant.

I originally specified '67-'71 because I wanted 12V, I wanted FI, I wanted IRS, I wanted disc brakes. Instead I got 6V, dual carbs, swing axles, and drums. :lol:

But the car was too good to pass up and Keith restored in such a way that it can really be used and driven properly. I went up to Albany a couple weeks ago to see it in person and it's completely gorgeous - everything it was advertised to be. We've since done the document transfer via FedEx and we'll be working out a date for me to take the train up there and drive it home.

I'm excited to get back into the ACVW world. I've been out of the game for a while but previous experience includes a '75 Beetle, a '78 Bus, a '74 Karmann Ghia convertible, an '83 Vanagon Westy, and a '79 Westy. I've always wanted a Squareback and, since they aren't getting any more plentiful out there, I figured now is the time.

One of my first orders of business will be to install a period reverse light. I have already acquired one of the NOS Bosch reverse light kits that goes on the shift rod. I was dreading the idea of drilling a hole through that perfect rear bumper for the light itself but I was relieved when I went to look at the car to find that the left side of the bumper is already drilled for the light. Whew!

I'm sure I'll have questions as I get more into things but I think one of the first things I'll want to do is build a spares set, especially for spare light bulbs since it's not like I can run down to AutoZone and pick up 6 volt bulbs.

What's the go-to source for 6V replacement bulbs these days? And what's the deal with wattages, seems like VW spec'ed 6V 18.5W for brake light bulbs/turn signal bulbs but it seems like what's out there now is all rated for 16.8W. I have 1129 for single filament, 1154 for dual filament, and 81 for the fender-mounted side parking lights?

(the comparable 12V bulbs are 21 watts, I'd love to find 6V 21W bulbs if they exist out there.)

Also, while generally speaking I hate LED lighting, especially in an old car, I'm thinking it might not be a terrible idea to have LED lighting for just the brake lights in this car. Anyone know of a good 6V capable 1129 replacement that has LEDs not just rear-facing but in all directions so that the reflector housing is properly utilized?

Wed May 06, 2015 11:16 am

Congrats and welcome to the Brooklyn squareback club!!

Wed May 06, 2015 12:09 pm

periscopebill wrote: Congrats and welcome to the Brooklyn squareback club!!

Yeah, the only reliable Squareback in Brooklyn!!

That's a beautiful car.....I saw it in person a few years ago at a show. What a great purchase.....from what I can tell, Keith really went all the way with the restoration.

I hope you have off-street parking!

Wed May 06, 2015 12:18 pm

Oh yeah, I wouldn't have even considered this car if I didn't. :shock:

Yes thankfully I have a garage.

On the topic of other Squares in Brooklyn, I've only ever seen the hippie nightmare one on N. 6th in Williamsburg and sometimes when I go surfing there's a guy down in Rockaway (Queens I know) with a really sweet early Squareback surfmobile. I'll have to post a pic later. But maybe he lives in Brooklyn :D

Wed May 06, 2015 1:16 pm

Great looking square. Welcome aboard.

Wed May 06, 2015 1:22 pm

they've got to be out there - my notch was tourist delivery to Queens (Woodside) and the man lived there until he kinda recently passed

great looking Square, these early type 3's are kinda coming out of the woodwork

Wed May 06, 2015 1:31 pm

Nice score! That's a beautiful 1500S square.

Wed May 06, 2015 1:38 pm

Damn... so you went and done it. Tell Keith he owes me a box of H. Upmann Churchills. :lol:

Congrats!

Wed May 06, 2015 1:40 pm

Tram wrote: Damn... so you went and done it. Tell Keith he owes me a box of H. Upmann Churchills. :lol:

Congrats!

You still haven't told me where to send that nice bottle of single malt! If you're not careful, it's gonna start getting lighter and lighter. :lol:

Wed May 06, 2015 2:29 pm

sjbartnik wrote: On the topic of other Squares in Brooklyn, I've only ever seen the hippie nightmare one on N. 6th in Williamsburg and sometimes when I go surfing there's a guy down in Rockaway (Queens I know) with a really sweet early Squareback surfmobile. I'll have to post a pic later. But maybe he lives in Brooklyn :D

Funny, I was on a crusade to save that poor square in williamsburg. I tracked down the owner to try to rescue it. Apparently he's an Olympic snowboarder, which at least explains the stickers. It's a '71, same light yellow as mine underneath all of the bad decisions. I even found the original owner out in Oregon who was horrified to see what it had become, but never heard from the current owner.

Wed May 06, 2015 2:45 pm

Sweet. Yes, Keith went all out on that Square. Beautiful car with some great history. I got to check it out at the '14 Invasion.

Congrats!

Wed May 06, 2015 3:24 pm

Nice car. I saw it when I was in the USA a few years ago (my first trip there) and Keith has sent me images of it previously after it was painted.

If you would like these images please send me an email - [email protected] and I will forward them to you.

Wed May 06, 2015 3:28 pm

periscopebill wrote:
Funny, I was on a crusade to save that poor square in williamsburg. I tracked down the owner to try to rescue it. Apparently he's an Olympic snowboarder, which at least explains the stickers. It's a '71, same light yellow as mine underneath all of the bad decisions. I even found the original owner out in Oregon who was horrified to see what it had become, but never heard from the current owner.

I saw it one day a couple weeks ago with a sign on the windshield basically asking the city not to tow it as they were working on getting the title/documents from Oregon(??). At any rate, that Square has been sitting there all winter with the driver's side window down, including through a couple serious snowstorms so if that interior wasn't trashed before, it is now.

Wed May 06, 2015 3:30 pm

Aaron Britcher wrote:
If you would like these images please send me an email - [email protected] and I will forward them to you.

Thanks Aaron; Keith has already sent me his entire archive of restoration photos. Quite a job! :shock:

Wed May 06, 2015 3:38 pm

Here's the hippie nightmare (this pic was from Feb.)

And here's the sweet Rockaway surf Square:

Wed May 06, 2015 4:50 pm

sjbartnik wrote: Here's the hippie nightmare (this pic was from Feb.)

And here's the sweet Rockaway surf Square:

That nasty hippie one was still there as of 2 weeks ago. The other one.....wow! It lives out in Rockaway all year long?

Wed May 06, 2015 5:22 pm

D/A/N wrote:

That nasty hippie one was still there as of 2 weeks ago. The other one.....wow! It lives out in Rockaway all year long?

That I don't know. I've seen it out there a couple times but I don't know if the guy is a local. Nice car though. Has a red interior if I remember correctly.

Wed May 06, 2015 5:39 pm

sjbartnik wrote: What's the go-to source for 6V replacement bulbs these days? And what's the deal with wattages, seems like VW spec'ed 6V 18.5W for brake light bulbs/turn signal bulbs but it seems like what's out there now is all rated for 16.8W. I have 1129 for single filament, 1154 for dual filament, and 81 for the fender-mounted side parking lights?

(the comparable 12V bulbs are 21 watts, I'd love to find 6V 21W bulbs if they exist out there.)

Also, while generally speaking I hate LED lighting, especially in an old car, I'm thinking it might not be a terrible idea to have LED lighting for just the brake lights in this car. Anyone know of a good 6V capable 1129 replacement that has LEDs not just rear-facing but in all directions so that the reflector housing is properly utilized?

You can find most of the 6 volt filament bulbs at Wolfsburg West. I bought a complete set of bulbs from them.

I have some super/stupid bright LED bulbs that I use for brake lights - they're 6v / 12v compatible but they're not cheap.

Here's the thread, starting where I installed and photographed the output:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6...p;start=62

There's plenty to read before that post as well.

Keith's car is very nice and close to original stock...great find for sure! If you wind up needing early parts - feel free to get in touch.

Wed May 06, 2015 7:10 pm

Welcome to the Sea Blue '65 Squareback club!

Wed May 06, 2015 9:19 pm

Speaking of squarebacks and NYC, many years ago (1995?) I had just parked my old '65 square on the street in West LA and started walking toward Rhino Records when this guy with wild white hair came out of nowhere and asked me about the car very excitedly. He said he drove one just like it for years in NY and it was the best car he'd ever had. Never let him down. As he was talking I realized it was the filmmaker Jim Jarmusch. He was totally geeking out on the square -- I think it made his night.