Safaris discussion thread

[Navydave73]

Those are great pictures. I like the detail on your rivets. I bought what they had that was close and now with beer in hand, I’ll be visiting my neighbor tonight to see what he can do for the details like the head bevel and drilling out the center to make them semi tubular. Pics coming tonight or tomorrow

[Navydave73]

A variety of rivet options. The mangled one with the red fiber washer is the one that came of my EIS V channel safaris. I got the last set before they went out of production and now the company burned to the ground.

Part numbers and specs

I went with the solid rivet on the left

Pictures of my neighbor center drilling them with a 1/8” bit on his Bridgeport mill

[Navydave73]

After holes drilled. We went with a smaller hole to keep the wall thickness heavier like in the other photos provided by the previous poster.

Machinists don’t do anything half ass. He made a jig to hold them in place while he drilled them about 1/2” deep.

In the end, I don’t think anyone is going to inspect my safaris but the rivet turned out great, better than before. We stacked everything in a smooth jaw vise with the wavy washers between the frame tab and chrome slider and squeezed the whole set up. At that point, the slider was bound up so we used a small socket over the rivet end and squeezed it all again. This time, we could see the slider moving closer to the tab and compressing the wavy washer. Perfect. There was no way my machinist buddy was going to let me beat the shit out of the rivets with a hammer. LOL. He almost kicked me out of his shop.

They look nice! Johnny Salazar (VTO Bus Club President) told me years ago that nothing says after market safaris like white frames. This is my first set of painted safaris!

[peecee69]

Nice! If all of us could be so lucky to have a neighbor with a Bridgeport! Those rivets look awesome!
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[Navydave73]

Step 1. Buy rivets from Hanson Suppy
Step 2. Walk across the street to your neighbors house who has 5 CNC mills, a computer controlled Bridgeport, and other equipment I don’t even know the name of.
Step 3. Drink beer and watch
Step 4. Install safaris and brag on Samba.

I am very lucky to have neighbors like this, and ones who do t call the cops when I set up a paint booth in my front yard.

[gatorwyatt]

Or skip all that and just order a set from Scott and be done with it... the research is done, the tests were sorted out, the visual confirmation they are exact copies are shown...
Those are my safaris with his first to the public set in.. thanks Scott and thanks also to Mark Rafferty for helping and passing along his set to me to keep me moving.
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[Navydave73]

yes, would have been easier.

great pictures that Scott provided.

[T Crane]

West Coast Metric is selling a safari window kit. Its website has only one picture, which is of a bus with safaris installed. From the picture, I cannot see any detail about the kit. Does anyone know what the frame profile is of the WCM safaris? Are the WCM safaris another brand or WCM commissioned sets?
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[widehatch]

has anyone bought and installed these yet? the seller has good feedback but im not sure of the quality and fitment.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2450541

i had some Izzs i bought back in 2000 and put them in 2 different buses and the fit great and barley leaked. i should if pulled them when i sold my last bus in 2014. the Wolfgang or square U ones ive seen lately look to have a horrible fitment with large gaps on the sides and in the corners. it seems that today we are down to Wolfgang, CE or the China made ones that are starting to show up. these look nice in the pic but im pickey on the fitment and the CE tempered glass has me concerned.
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[ezcamper]

I know the Brazilian safaris like that have weak latches. People are always emailing me asking if I have replacement latches for them.

I sell a really nice set of all stainless safari windows that fit really well and have the correct profile V frame.
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instagram is http://instagram.com/bullidriversteelworks

[grailoc]

[robin.richard]

I was able to pick up a set of used Safari windows for a third of the price of new set. I’ll need to replace both sets of glass, but am still way ahead.

How can one tell the manufacturer of a set of Safari windows? They clearly have a “V-shaped” profile, or at least my novice eye leads me to believe so. Definitely not a box or flat outer edge.

Here are some photos of the parts, including old seals. What should I look for on the safari windows? What characteristics do OG safari windows have that others don’t that I could look for? Logos or markings on the hardware? I did notice the friction washers are what I believe to be the correct material as OG.

I’ll take a pictures of the windows and send them too.

Any hint of the manufacturer is much appreciated.

-Rich
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[robin.richard]

Here are some photos of the windows. Could these be OG safaris? If not,
What manufacturer?

Thanks,

-Rich
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[type241]

Those sure look to be OG. The wing nuts and such are originals. Where did you get cheap OG safaris?

[robin.richard]

Type 421,

Where? We’ll that’s a secret…😀

I hope your right about them being OG. I took a chance, but for what I paid I figured It would be good even if they weren’t OG. All the rust on the outside is surface rust. I’ll open the frames to check the channels eventually. Doesn’t look bad, but you never know.

I’ll need to replace each window glass. Neither are
VW Sigla.

I will need to get good weld-in mounts, 4 more friction washers and one screw for the tabs and I’ll be good.

-Rich
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[type241]

Take the latch off the frame. On the back it should say "ATLAS" . I dont know any aftermarket with chrome wing nuts. Like you said fiber washers are correct.

Where did you find these? Whats the story?

[robin.richard]

Type241,

Looks like it’s the real deal.

Now to source glass and brackets. Any suggestions?

By the way, I picked them up on the big auction site. Since I live in VA shipping was a premium, but at the end of the day I’m ecstatic.

-Rich
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[type241]

I would buy these or find originals(he has other parts for the safaris also):

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2405479



These plates were also installed on factory safaris(bit of work to install correctly):

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2413708

[cru62]

I bought a set of Mahk’s brackets. They aren’t close to OG. They are exactly the same as OG!!!! I bought an original set after I bought his and compared them. There are no discernible differences.
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[robin.richard]

So I took one frame apart. It had a sheet of plexiglass instead of glass!? The frames are original L87 paint. They looked incredibly clean minus the lower corners, but that’s expected. The good thing is it’s only light flaking, no rust through. I’ll clean them up as best I can and then coat them and paint to match. POR15? They are not as bad as they seem.

My intent is to keep as much original paint as I can. I was also thinking about spraying “Framesaver” on the inside of the frame before reassemble. I use it on my vintage steel bikes and it seems to work. Easy to apply and clean up.

The last photo is the original seal? Are the seals for OG frames offered from Wolfgang the same profile? Any other recommendations before I reassemble these?

-Rich

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