TheSamba.com :: View topic - Parts supplier recommendations

Wed Nov 30, 2022 9:59 am

Hello:

In 5 weeks, I retire from my professional career and plan to devote my time to finish a long delayed, pan-off restoration of a 1957 Oval that I began 40+ years ago. Having been out of the parts loop for this car since the mid 1990's, I am interested in current recommendations for quality parts suppliers for this car, particularly rubber seals, rear axle boots, etc.

Gliderman
'57 Oval (under resto)
'79 California Westy since 1990; 100%-original, unmolested.
'88 964 C4

Wed Nov 30, 2022 11:35 am

West Coast Metric for any window rubber and trim and WolfsburgWest for everything else.

Wed Nov 30, 2022 2:34 pm

Don't forget Wolfparts for body panels.

Don

Wed Nov 30, 2022 3:11 pm

Also the classifieds here…some parts aren’t made anymore…find good originals that can be restored

56-57 is much easier than 53-55-1/2

Wed Nov 30, 2022 4:23 pm

https://restorationpanels.com
nothing but top notch products.

Wed Nov 30, 2022 9:05 pm

Howdy Tim,

One thing I now know is not to buy anything online unless I know someone who has had luck with that supplier.

I have bought a great many things through the net (can't buy them from a retailer even in a big market such as Melbourne (Aus) thanks to the internet putting them out of business) that have been no good. Has cost me dearly with this build, whole different thing when you buy from a shop who sort out the rubbish for us and who you can talk to if a part is not what you expected.

We have a retail chain here that sells aftermarket parts for the older popular Australian makes which is a franchise and a shopfront - whole different experience.

Our biggest online supplier of VW parts here in Australia does not take phone calls or answer emails - how good is that?

Tread carefully.

Thu Dec 01, 2022 8:55 am

I can not agree that restorationpanels are top notch. I used several of them in my build and they all required hours of modification to fit. Especially disappointing was the drivers side A pillar. The lower hinge mount was in the wrong place and required many hours and much cutting and welding to get it so I could mount the door.

In order to make the right rear quarter fit I had to pie cut the bottom and weld in a strip to widen it. Also I had to relocate the fender bolt.

Once I got it fitted in place I discovered that the crease was in the wrong place and I had to hammer and dolly it over a bit to get the fender to bolt up correctly.

The only panels I bought that fit up consistently without issue were Wolfparts. This large piece fit like a glove:

Wow.

If only others cared as much as Wolf!

Don

Thu Dec 01, 2022 9:41 am

I have been selling here on the Samba for well over 20 years with a specialty in oval and split parts and especially semaphores and oval grill clocks.

While the Feedback forum offers some insight into sellers it can also be quite skewed. One of the largest advertisers in the split and oval parts classifieds has very good feedback yet most of my customers relate very big issues with the quality of many of the parts mirroring my own experience with them.

They are reluctant to provide feedback in case, in the future, they need to get an otherwise unavailable part from them. It is also the case that some customers may not know how to assess the quality of parts. Lastly, there seems to be some reluctance to provide negative or constructive feedback on public forums.

Feel free to contact me directly for frank feedback about this.

Matt

Thu Dec 01, 2022 2:54 pm

anyone know where to get the heater pipes that come through from the engine bay into the passenger compartment under the rear seat?

Does anyone reproduce these? They look like a small catalytic coverter.

Thu Dec 01, 2022 4:00 pm

painters wrote: anyone know where to get the heater pipes that come through from the engine bay into the passenger compartment under the rear seat?

Does anyone reproduce these? They look like a small catalytic coverter.

they sell halves or full tubes: https://wolfparts.com/product-category/vw-type1/page/2/

Fri Dec 02, 2022 12:10 am

Quote: anyone know where to get the heater pipes that come through from the engine bay into the passenger compartment under the rear seat?

https://wolfparts.com/product/complete-heater-tube-left/

Don

Fri Dec 02, 2022 1:46 am

Thanks Don, got them ordered. See how long they take to get here to the US from Sweden!

Sat Dec 03, 2022 8:22 am

As far as axle boots go, if you can put the seamless type on, that's the way to go. The split type (not split window) only last 2 years on my '57. My zwitter has the seamless ones and they've been on there for over 10 years with no issue.

Sun Dec 04, 2022 5:00 pm

Quote: The split type (not split window) only last 2 years on my '57

My experience as well. The worst part is what a pain in butt replacing them is!

Don

Wed May 10, 2023 3:11 pm

Interesting to see what others say here about the axle boots they have had experience of, as I'm tearing my hair out about this issue at the moment, along with rubbish rear gearbox mount rubbers.

I bought a 56 a couple of years ago, and had to immediately take the gearbox out, and found that the original gearbox rubbers to be of huge age, made of flexible rubber, but were on their last legs, and so replaced them. At the same time, I thought I would put on some new axle boots. Big mistake!

The original boots were at least 25 years old, and I managed to take the one side off, but the other side had rusty screws, and difficult to remove, and so I cut it off. The one I took off intact is in very good shape still, flexible, and made of rubber.

I put a new set of Febi boots on, and found that after a year, they were perished and cracked, even though the car hasn't moved an inch in that time, and also that the gearbox rubbers were delaminating from the metal they were bonded to, and so these were replaced.

One year on, i.e. Today, the car still hasn't been used, and whilst trying to test fit the engine today, what do I see again? A set of highly cracked, and perished Febi boots, leaking oil from the bottom, and more delaminating gearbox rubbers. I've checked when these boots were purchsed, and it was almost a year to the day.

There used to be a company (German I thought), who produced the gearbox rubbers, called Vibrastop if I remember correctly, which we always bought, and didn't have any complaints, but these don't seem to be available any longer.

Having subsequently spoken today to others who have been on the scene for a long time, they tell me the same story, and can offer no solution. Again, what we are being sold is not of merchantable quality, and certainly not fit for purpose. We're all being taken for mugs.

As far as I can see, there is no alternative to the cr*p we're bing sold, and I'm certainly not going to go through the process again in a years time if I can help it, and the car can go back in the garage. Does anybody know of a secret source for obtaining these parts, ones that do what they are supposed to do, and for which they can vouch from experience? If so, a lot of people would love to hear from you.... Me included!

Wed May 10, 2023 4:00 pm

Martin Southwell wrote: Interesting to see what others say here about the axle boots they have had experience of, as I'm tearing my hair out about this issue at the moment, along with rubbish rear gearbox mount rubbers.

I bought a 56 a couple of years ago, and had to immediately take the gearbox out, and found that the original gearbox rubbers to be of huge age, made of flexible rubber, but were on their last legs, and so replaced them. At the same time, I thought I would put on some new axle boots. Big mistake!

The original boots were at least 25 years old, and I managed to take the one side off, but the other side had rusty screws, and difficult to remove, and so I cut it off. The one I took off intact is in very good shape still, flexible, and made of rubber.

I put a new set of Febi boots on, and found that after a year, they were perished and cracked, even though the car hasn't moved an inch in that time, and also that the gearbox rubbers were delaminating from the metal they were bonded to, and so these were replaced.

One year on, i.e. Today, the car still hasn't been used, and whilst trying to test fit the engine today, what do I see again? A set of highly cracked, and perished Febi boots, leaking oil from the bottom, and more delaminating gearbox rubbers. I've checked when these boots were purchsed, and it was almost a year to the day.

There used to be a company (German I thought), who produced the gearbox rubbers, called Vibrastop if I remember correctly, which we always bought, and didn't have any complaints, but these don't seem to be available any longer.

Having subsequently spoken today to others who have been on the scene for a long time, they tell me the same story, and can offer no solution. Again, what we are being sold is not of merchantable quality, and certainly not fit for purpose. We're all being taken for mugs.

As far as I can see, there is no alternative to the cr*p we're bing sold, and I'm certainly not going to go through the process again in a years time if I can help it, and the car can go back in the garage. Does anybody know of a secret source for obtaining these parts, ones that do what they are supposed to do, and for which they can vouch from experience? If so, a lot of people would love to hear from you.... Me included!

I would ask where are you getting the boots and mounts from? How long have they been on the shelf? I have purchased boots and mounts from Wolfsburg West many times in the last 12 years, and so far none of them has failed. The boots on my street car are about 10 years old, and have some cracking, but aren't leaking yet.
Sometimes these things sit around for a good long while, and the rubber hardens. They may be "new" to you, but they could in fact be 10-15-20 years old.