TheSamba.com :: View topic - Scrivyscriv's 1967 java green sunroof sedan (stock)

Wed Jun 04, 2025 1:05 am

Where did you buy the rear belts from, in that color? I only found 3 point retractable for front, as you have, and used the newer mounting style with the 90 degree brackets. But I would like 3 point fixed belts in the rear, not two point... Now I have some black ones.
And I am sooo jealous on your pop-outs! I need a set, too, and I could not find another set yet...

Wed Jun 04, 2025 3:00 am

Hey thanks! The seatbelts all came from seatbeltplanet.com, and I color matched the webbing to my stock 1967 lobster claw belts. They have free samples!
They sell lap belt, three point retractable, and three point non-retractable.
I need to adjust my popout latch tension since both windows don't like to stay open. But really since the car is a sunroof, I don't "need" popouts like a regular sedan does! I do like them a lot though.

Wed Jun 04, 2025 7:06 am

Robert that wheel refurbish is looking great. If that is the same wheel you showed with the big bend in it you must be a magician! Are you planning on the black and white 2 tone as they originally were? The reason I ask is that when I have done those I always tape off each color section and paint each color. I have tried to come up with a less tedious way of doing it but came up empty. Very nice work-bob

Wed Jun 04, 2025 2:24 pm

Bobs67vwagen wrote: Robert that wheel refurbish is looking great. If that is the same wheel you showed with the big bend in it you must be a magician! Are you planning on the black and white 2 tone as they originally were? The reason I ask is that when I have done those I always tape off each color section and paint each color. I have tried to come up with a less tedious way of doing it but came up empty. Very nice work-bob

Yep, it’s the same wheel, just took a bit of heat and some hammer and dollying. It’s still out of round by about .080” TIR at the bead seat which is quite a lot. I’ve never tried to repair a wheel before and I think old steel wheels just have a lot of road wear and go out of round.

And yes, I plan on the stock black/white color combo; it looks like VW painted the entire wheel black, then painted the white on top of that. I’m not 100% sure, but that’s what it appears like. I’d like to shoot the entire wheel in single stage gloss black, flatten it a bit, then shoot the rim with l282 lotus white. If I can’t get the white mixed up locally, plastidip white may be an option. It would be great if I could find some flexible plastic sheets, like cheap dollar store school binders are made from, to mask the black off. I don’t want to rely on tape at the seam!

Thu Jun 05, 2025 6:58 am

scrivyscriv wrote: It would be great if I could find some flexible plastic sheets, like cheap dollar store school binders are made from, to mask the black off. I don’t want to rely on tape at the seam!

You can use index cards or playing cards to get the same effect

Fri Jun 06, 2025 12:42 pm

Thanks for the idea vwuberalles!

This wheel is still in rough shape with a lot of pitting so hopefully nobody is expecting a pristine NOS-looking wheel in the photos! :D

It took a little bit of work to level some of the rust pits out and this is as far as I wanted to go with it. Date stamp is still visible!

Capping it off with a cheapo Bezos special called “Thunderer” not sure what that means but it’s black and round. Of course I had QC perform the inspection on it when it arrived

With a good cleanup, painting, and reassembly with lube.. the stock (but not stock for ‘67) jack is quite smooth!

Don’t know if anyone has priced a caswell electroplate kit lately but man I couldn’t justify spending $300 on refinishing this jack in stock plated color. I’m telling myself this lie “When I find the year correct jack for a good deal, THEN I’ll spend some money to electroplate it for stock look” :lol:
Anyway that’s where things are now. I’m painting the white portion later after the black sets up and has a good cure. We get a work discount at a paint supply down the road, I think they have Nason paint. Looking at my lotus white from them.

Fri Jun 06, 2025 1:45 pm

Please excuse my dense-ness, but what would the plastic and/or index cards be used for that tape couldn't accomplish?

I'm asking genuinely from a learning perspective, not trying to be contrary! :D

Fri Jun 06, 2025 2:10 pm

Paint bleed! The transition groove is notorious for being challenging to mask off for a crisp color change. Masking tape loves to wick paint up.
As they say, the proof is in the pudding - whatever method works is ok with me, I just want a clean finished product.

Fri Jun 06, 2025 4:17 pm

I have a question that I hope someone can shed some light on. Having just ordered carpet from Wolfsburg West today, I pulled out my original rear seat panel for inspection and noticed it still has an intact square weave carpet or matting attached. It looks stock, just like this photo from Mike’s ragtop restoration:

It’s identical to his.
Here’s what I have:

Is that a stock covering for the back seat and luggage tray/firewall? I assumed there was carpet back there to match the front, like all the suppliers sell.
Any info would be quite helpful.

Sat Jun 07, 2025 6:06 pm

The carpet you’re holding looks exactly like mine, if that helps. Same color, same place for the strap hook. I’m 99.9% sure that my luggage compartment carpet is original, so the answer is very likely yes, that carpet was original for your car.

Here are a few pictures of mine. Someone screwed a board to the back firewall to keep the carpet in place. Pretty sure that’s not original. Haha. Someday I’ll fix it.

Sat Jun 07, 2025 7:26 pm

Thanks, it looks just like mine. All hard rubbery feeling right?
Does the back seat carpet get screwed into the back seat rest on the top and the bottom? I took mine off, and I can’t remember how it went. I think the bottom bar under the “fold” was screwed into the seat frame, and I assume the bar at the end of the carpet gets tucked into the luggage tray lip?

I just realized last night from the Wolfsburg west color charts that I ordered the wrong carpet color too. I thought it should be tan, but after seeing their chart I believe dark brown is what was originally in there. Assuming it matches the seat back?

Sat Jun 07, 2025 8:25 pm

I had WW send me samples of their reproduction square weave carpet. My interior was Gazelle originally as I think yours probably was, but I wasn’t sure if I should go with tan or brown for the best match. The luggage compartment carpet is sun faded, so it made color matching harder. Ultimately I went with brown and I’m happy with the color. I think the tan would have been too light, although the brown might be a touch darker than the original Gazelle. Hard to say.

The luggage compartment carpet is definitely screwed at the top of the seat back, and I would guess it’s screwed on the bottom too. I didn’t replace that carpet, so I don’t really know how it is attached or tucked. I will learn more when I remove the board and fix it properly. I’m not going to replace the luggage carpet, but I can see myself removing it for a good cleaning.

Are you going to get a floor mat too? If you ask them, WW will sew the front piece of floor mat (that sits vertically behind the pedals) to the front firewall carpet so it doesn’t fall down. I had them do this and I’m really glad I did. I went with their gray mat because they don’t offer brown, but if I had to do it over I might have chosen black. The gray mat is a little lighter than I thought it would be. I’m not going to change it, but if I ever find a brown mat or a way to reliably dye mine brown, I’ll do it. Just some thoughts.

Sat Jun 07, 2025 9:50 pm

aquifer wrote: I had WW send me samples of their reproduction square weave carpet. My interior was Gazelle originally as I think yours probably was, but I wasn’t sure if I should go with tan or brown for the best match. The luggage compartment carpet is sun faded, so it made color matching harder. Ultimately I went with brown and I’m happy with the color. I think the tan would have been too light, although the brown might be a touch darker than the original Gazelle. Hard to say.

The luggage compartment carpet is definitely screwed at the top of the seat back, and I would guess it’s screwed on the bottom too. I didn’t replace that carpet, so I don’t really know how it is attached or tucked. I will learn more when I remove the board and fix it properly. I’m not going to replace the luggage carpet, but I can see myself removing it for a good cleaning.

Are you going to get a floor mat too? If you ask them, WW will sew the front piece of floor mat (that sits vertically behind the pedals) to the front firewall carpet so it doesn’t fall down. I had them do this and I’m really glad I did. I went with their gray mat because they don’t offer brown, but if I had to do it over I might have chosen black. The gray mat is a little lighter than I thought it would be. I’m not going to change it, but if I ever find a brown mat or a way to reliably dye mine brown, I’ll do it. Just some thoughts.

I did order the small mat at the same time. I’m not ready to spend the cash on their square weave to get brown, so I ordered their synthetic loop. TMI has a brown loop synthetic I just requested samples of… knowing that tan isn’t the stock color is kind of a deal killer for me buying it from WW.
Their chart also shows gazelle interior gets the brown/tan floor mats like you’re talking about. I got their front mat in grey before I knew about the brown mat. It works out ok, no regrets buying it, but in the future I’d love a good set of tan mats.

I guess if I can figure out a good way to clean and then re-bind the stock carpet I still have, I’ll leave it there.

Fri Jun 13, 2025 4:04 pm

With an extra jack and a tool blueprint.. I maed dis

I skipped a couple design features on it, all I really want it for is the spring plates in the back. On the bonus side I got to brush up on TIG, which is way easier than I was expecting but my welds still look janky. “A little grinder and a little paint, make me look like the welder I ain’t!”

Fri Jun 13, 2025 4:28 pm

I would be happy with those welds because they will work. To quote an old mechanic friend of my dad's who is now deceased, " a blind man would be glad to see it". Good work!

Sat Aug 30, 2025 7:00 am

Added a water cooled to the stable.
It’s a 2006 TDI. MPG is great! But it’s got the same VW quirks needing specific oil and being expensive for shops to work on.