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Wed Nov 24, 2010 3:59 pm

I'm in the process of reconditioning my '87 QSW. I've had to do a lot of rust repair (luckily found a totally rust-free QSW parts car) and will be ready to paint it fairly soon. The problem is that I'm one of those guys that HATES doing a half-assed job on anything. So, I need to remove all glass so that I can put a good paint job on the car.
Of course, with VW's long-standing program of forced obsolesense, I'm having a terrible time finding rubber components for the car, particularly window glazing rubber/gaskets/weather seal....whatever you want to call it.
Anyone have a source for this stuff?
Thanks.
Bud

Wed Nov 24, 2010 5:16 pm

If all else fails, you could contact the VW classic parts center in Germany. http://www.volkswagen-classic-parts.de/.

I'm sure it wouldn't be cheap, but they may be the only resource for something like this. They buy out all the obsolete parts from dealers around the world, and resell them. The can get stuff reproduced too, and in most cases from the original suppliers.

Wed Nov 24, 2010 8:31 pm

Thanks for the tip. I'll get with my dealer & get a few part numbers, then get a native German friend of mine to help me compose an email ;)
Thanks!

Tue Jan 26, 2016 4:03 am

Were you able to get the gaskets you needed ?

Tue Jan 26, 2016 8:13 am

No, I haven't been able to find them anywhere. I've pretty much had to give up on the restoration and move the car to another location (still indoors), in hopes that the rubber parts I need will become available.

Tue Jan 26, 2016 11:30 am

Too bad you picked a car to restore that had dismal production/sales numbers, if it had sold in any real numbers, there might be some stuff leftover for it. I doubt there would even be much available for a higher selling chevy/toyota/ford from 1987 for one of their wagons.

I'm not trying to discount the vehicle you chose to restore, as the older stuff has it's appeal, but I never saw very many of these on the road when they were new. I'd take an older well cared for vehicle over a new one any day, as I have the ability to keep one on the road with simple tools and no dealer/computers required.

Tue Jan 26, 2016 3:25 pm

ps2375 wrote: Too bad you picked a car to restore that had dismal production/sales numbers, if it had sold in any real numbers, there might be some stuff leftover for it. I doubt there would even be much available for a higher selling chevy/toyota/ford from 1987 for one of their wagons.

I'm not trying to discount the vehicle you chose to restore, as the older stuff has it's appeal, but I never saw very many of these on the road when they were new. I'd take an older well cared for vehicle over a new one any day, as I have the ability to keep one on the road with simple tools and no dealer/computers required.

Actually, I've owned the car since '98 and got many good years of service from it. My son pulled a knuckle-headed move with it, soon after getting his license and damaged the RR quarter. I found a good parts car and spliced/inserted a "new" quarter (and a bunch of other rusted sections), but had to stop when I realized rubber was "unobtainum". I've also got an '82 Quantum wagon (in the family since new), which I really like, but it's been off the road since '98, due to the normal pre-'86 VW electrical issues. Yeah, I can fix it, but then there's the metal work I need to do and.............

Meanwhile, my passion is MGs, which are a lot more fun to drive and parts availability is better, now, then when they were new. So, all my VWs sit (including a couple of beetles), while I enjoy the MGs.

But, one of these days....................

Tue Jan 26, 2016 3:56 pm

I know how it is, back in 2014 I was about to assemble the last motor for my 1980 Rabbit, that was my work car for the last 20+yrs. Then while sitting at a stop light, I got rear-ended in it and the insurance company gave me less than $1K for and didn't even want it. I parted out what I could and then proceeded to figure out how to get my father's Bug up to me, that had been parked for almost 20yrs.

There is almost nothing available for cars from the 80's unless it was a highend or something like an MG. Rabbits/Jettas, Quantums and the such are nothing. Like the insurance adjuster said, If my Rabbit had been a Bug, they would've paid $5K or more to fix it, but since it was not a "classic", not chance. I did get about $50 scrap for what was left of the shell when I took it in.

Tue Jan 26, 2016 8:49 pm

Really sorry to hear about your Rabbit. But, that's a risk we have to accept, when we drive older cars as daily drivers. Right now, my daily driver is a Golf III, with 387,000 miles on it. It's still in great shape and I really have become attached to it ( I've owned it since new, in '98 ) and there's no end in sight. But, if it gets hit, or a deer runs into it (happens a LOT, in Pennsylvania), it'll be "totaled" and I'll get maybe $2500 for it. This isn't anywhere near what it would take to replace it with something in similar condition, with similar reliability.
I'm just hoping to drive it for another year, or two, until I finally retire.

Mon Sep 25, 2023 8:31 pm

Wow! What a long, strange journey it has been! :D

The QSW has been sitting in another building for several years, now, while I've been working on my MGs and other projects. I've thought about selling it, but I really don't want, or need to, so I'm going to bring it back into my workshop, this fall and get it finished and back on the road.

I've decided that, new glazing rubber, or not, it's getting put back into service.
The main reason for doing this (besides the fact that my son and I really like the car) is that I've retired and sold my daily driver. I share a '21 Tiguan, with my wife, but I'll need something to drive, during the winter and at other times the weather is not healthy for one of my MGs.

So, after I finish dismantling my rust-free, QSW parts car, it'll be time to do the last bit of metal work on the QSW, which will consist of inserting a patch in the sill, under the driver's door and repairing whatever rust I find when I remover the LF fender.

I'll try to post some photos and updates, as I go along.

Fri Oct 06, 2023 12:54 pm

This one was really buried, in a corner of one of my buildings. Now, it's accessible for further dismantling.

As you can see, I've already removed plenty of sheet metal and I used it for repairing previous collision damage (my son) and corrosion. I plan to cut out a section of the left sill/rocker, plus a section of the LF fender, to use in corrosion repair. The left hand, driver's door will also be used in restoring my OSW.

I guess this make me a masochist, in the eyes of many, but I enjoy the challenge and look forward to having the very utilitarian OSW back in service.