nasty dash - gappy doors

bajio181 · Samba Member Joined: October 23, 2002 Posts: 10

Hi-my boyfriend and I are writing to you from the northern highlands of mexico and we are considering our first vw purchase... a 1975 safari. looked at one today and it had a wood paneled dash and there were gaps between the body and rear doors when closed.when sitting in the back seat, you could see straight through to the outside.
the safari never came with a wood paneled dash, did it? and the gaps? what could cause that? it didnt look like it had ever been hit, should there be a seal there? any help advice, or comments are greatly appreciated. -amy

TimGud · Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2002 1:36 pm Post subject: nasty dash - gappy doors

I have never seen one with a wood panel dash.Look and hope there is a metal dash under the wood if you intend to buy it.Thing parts can be very hard to locate,although I have been told they are easier to find in Mexico,but they come up here once in a while if you are patient.The doors should have a seal on the door itself and a rubber welt around the body (not a seal) opening. Look at the door from the outside when closed and if the gap between the door and the body is fairly even all the way around the door it probably just needs a door seal.The kind of gap you are describing would be very obvious from the outside when the door is closed if it was from a collision. Best of luck to you two.

bajio181 · Samba Member Joined: October 23, 2002 Posts: 10

Thanks so much, that is exactly what I needed to know! We are test driving the safari for the second time today and man,, it drives like a dream...we have looked at some visually beautiful safaris but they drove REAL sketchy- so we do have something to compare to. This one needs a decent amount of cosmetic work to get it back to stock (what ever '75 stock is?)Looks like I have some more research to do!
Thanks again!

bljones · Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2002 5:11 pm Post subject: nasty dash - gappy doors

If you need dash panels, i have 'em. i also have decent used door seals, and all sorts of other stuff. e-mail me with needs.

bajio181 · Samba Member Joined: October 23, 2002 Posts: 10

cool- thanks... we may just do that. today i took another look at that dash and the paneling is actually this cheesy contact paper crap....eeewww- no accounting for other peoples taste especially here in mexico.and, yes, it needs seals on the back doors. we are gonna go to a vocho(bug) show here on sunday, check out some other safaris and decide whether we should make an offer on this one or not...this guy is asking $4,000. us dollars, but the floor pans are not so hot, the interior is crappy but liveable, the window wiper motor needs fixed, fakey homemade side curtains,and the hard top leaks....BUT- mechanically its sound as a pound...

lastsafari · Samba Member Joined: February 26, 2003 Posts: 18

bajio181: it sounds like not a good deal at all. To begin $4,000 is way to much in Mexico for a Safari, unless it is in really good shape, and this one doesn't sound like it. Side curtains are hard to find anywhere so it doesn't count; but the dash job means a way of doing and treating cars. But specially that gap in the rear doors that stars as a little one at the botton and it grows as it goes up only means that the car is so rusty that the side of the body rusted away and the rear section of the car is leaning downwards. I have seem so many of those. If it drives like a dream as you said, even with those problems I think the price should be somewhere around $2,000.
By the way I am in Puebla.

edgy · Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2003 5:55 pm Post subject: nasty dash - gappy doors

I have not had any trouble finding Thing parts. Maybe not NOS but definitely good used or repro stuff. Good luck.

I kind of like a contact paper dash. Do you have a pattern? Just kidding.

[email protected] · Samba Member Joined: February 01, 2003 Posts: 21

bajio...If you are far enough north just come into the U.S. I would be happy to sell you a much nicer 1974 THING for less than $4,000 and I don't think that you have to pay import fees because of the age and country or origin. I am 100 miles from T.J. and I will take off the wood grain dash and the wood grain wheels and you will never know it was there (LOL). The wood grain on the top stays...

bajio181 · Samba Member Joined: October 23, 2002 Posts: 10

lastsafari,egroth,vwthing...
thanks for all your comments,, but i ended up doing alot of research and math and decided (as you were right lastsafari) that it wasn't a good deal. Low and Behold another safari for sale popped up and in my research discovered that this one was a steal...1977, needs minor cosmetic work, but the body is good, lots of original details... it needed an overhaul and a valve job...we got it for a little over $1,000 bucks!Needless to say that I'm pretty damn happy- and I keep reminding myself that this is not the safari to restore... this is just the project car to get me to around town...and it has NO fake woodgrain panneling!!!! thank the lowered...

bajio181 · Samba Member Joined: October 23, 2002 Posts: 10

lastsafari,,
by the way, we are in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato!

lastsafari · Samba Member Joined: February 26, 2003 Posts: 18

http://mx.groups.yahoo.com/group/clubsafari/
bajio this is the address for the Safari club in Mexico. Get in touch.


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