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MKIII and Sons
Samba Member
Joined: December 10, 2007
Posts: 271
Location: penn
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 Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 5:45 am Post subject: |
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| BenT Syncro wrote: |
Sorry for moving tangent to the subject but has anyone found a source for the Tristar alloy gate hinges? I'm planning on getting them CNC milled but sure would prefer to get them ready made. I can't remember if it was Russell, Stuart, or CJ who had some made in the UK. Unfortunately, they only made enough for their project. The orginals were extruded but copies will likely be cheaper to produce as a machined part.
Here's my trashed hinge:
And here's the reproduction:
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are the drawings for these floating around?
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keithwwalker
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Joined: May 30, 2005
Posts: 886
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| Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 11:54 pm Post subject: |
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| syncrodoka wrote: |
| hinge 707 829 361 is the vertical bars that are welded to the dropgates that he is working on in this pic. |
Correct. I think when I had the accident the hinge that attaches to the body was still close to its shape, so it was reused. To make one you only need high school shop skills anyway. |
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syncrodoka
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Joined: December 27, 2005
Posts: 12406
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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| Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 9:32 pm Post subject: |
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hinge 707 829 361 is the vertical bars that are welded to the dropgates that he is working on in this pic.
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turbotransporter
Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2006
Posts: 459
Location: Bainbridge Island WA
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| Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 5:47 pm Post subject: |
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Cool. I just saw the other thread. Funny that the two very differnt parts are given the same name... translation perhaps?
I started washing the rubber gate inserts with 50/50 Simple Green so I could read the part number and the dang thing started to melt!
I wonder if Ms. TurboTransporter would let me put them in the dishwasher?  |
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Bman
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Joined: April 28, 2005
Posts: 895
Location: South Coast, Oregon
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turbotransporter
Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2006
Posts: 459
Location: Bainbridge Island WA
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| Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 12:35 pm Post subject: |
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Just happen to have mine out ... 245 829 397
a.k.a "stop buffer" |
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Bman
Samba Member
Joined: April 28, 2005
Posts: 895
Location: South Coast, Oregon
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| Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 9:58 am Post subject: |
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| keithwwalker wrote: |
Believe this is the hinge part no.:
Hinge 707 829 361 Euros 60,03
Today it costs a fortune, I think I will start investing in pesos instead of US$, lolz.... 
| keithwwalker wrote: |
This won't answer the recent questions, but this will deal with the contigencies I have with Doka gate.
First of all, I had an accident 3 years ago where the hinge and pin were torn off.
I was able to get the NOS hinge from a European based supplier (will post part no. later):
http://www.ibexparts.com/eng/spare_parts_urgent_delivery.asp
Shipping is only 2 day or something like that, so you will pay through the nose, but sometimes this guy is the only option. He has come up with NOS parts that almost no one else has.
Anyway, I got the hinge and tristar eric welded it on for me (thanks so much!). I have a small lathe at home and machined a brass rod to size to act at the pin. I threaded the pin ends and used button head allen bolts with fender washers to retain the pin.
The brass pin eliminates the steel on steel contact, just have to keep it lubricated. The setup also looks much better than the VW kluge setup. Eventually if I can get the other frozen pins out, I will put in brass pins there as well.
The second contigency is to buy extra gates when you find them. I have a rear and a side for spares. I have been off list for a while, so I am sorry that I didn't see this post sooner, as I could of offered them.
It seems you did the right thing though as it is almost always possible to repair the gates rather than switch them out.
kw |
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Thanks Keith,
But what are you refering to about the hinge? Do you mean the hinge bracket that is welded to the truck bed body or are you refering to the hinge sleve that you would weld onto the gate "hinge stud" and slide the pin in? Pictures? If your truck is handy can you get me that rubber part number stuffed in the hinge stud; I know it starts as 245?
Thanks,
Bryan
_________________
~Bryan
1990 Burgandy Tintop (Wife's Daily Driver)
1989 Tiico Westfalia "Taj"
2WD Doka build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=503578&highlight=
FaceHook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/VW-T3-DokaSinka/129026087217120?ref=hl |
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keithwwalker
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Joined: May 30, 2005
Posts: 886
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| Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 9:25 am Post subject: |
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Believe this is the hinge part no.:
Hinge 707 829 361 Euros 60,03
Today it costs a fortune, I think I will start investing in pesos instead of US$, lolz....
| keithwwalker wrote: |
This won't answer the recent questions, but this will deal with the contigencies I have with Doka gate.
First of all, I had an accident 3 years ago where the hinge and pin were torn off.
I was able to get the NOS hinge from a European based supplier (will post part no. later):
http://www.ibexparts.com/eng/spare_parts_urgent_delivery.asp
Shipping is only 2 day or something like that, so you will pay through the nose, but sometimes this guy is the only option. He has come up with NOS parts that almost no one else has.
Anyway, I got the hinge and tristar eric welded it on for me (thanks so much!). I have a small lathe at home and machined a brass rod to size to act at the pin. I threaded the pin ends and used button head allen bolts with fender washers to retain the pin.
The brass pin eliminates the steel on steel contact, just have to keep it lubricated. The setup also looks much better than the VW kluge setup. Eventually if I can get the other frozen pins out, I will put in brass pins there as well.
The second contigency is to buy extra gates when you find them. I have a rear and a side for spares. I have been off list for a while, so I am sorry that I didn't see this post sooner, as I could of offered them.
It seems you did the right thing though as it is almost always possible to repair the gates rather than switch them out.
kw |
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keithwwalker
Samba Member
Joined: May 30, 2005
Posts: 886
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| Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 9:05 am Post subject: |
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This won't answer the recent questions, but this will deal with the contigencies I have with Doka gate.
First of all, I had an accident 3 years ago where the hinge and pin were torn off.
I was able to get the NOS hinge from a European based supplier (will post part no. later):
http://www.ibexparts.com/eng/spare_parts_urgent_delivery.asp
Shipping is only 2 day or something like that, so you will pay through the nose, but sometimes this guy is the only option. He has come up with NOS parts that almost no one else has.
Anyway, I got the hinge and tristar eric welded it on for me (thanks so much!). I have a small lathe at home and machined a brass rod to size to act at the pin. I threaded the pin ends and used button head allen bolts with fender washers to retain the pin.
The brass pin eliminates the steel on steel contact, just have to keep it lubricated. The setup also looks much better than the VW kluge setup. Eventually if I can get the other frozen pins out, I will put in brass pins there as well.
The second contigency is to buy extra gates when you find them. I have a rear and a side for spares. I have been off list for a while, so I am sorry that I didn't see this post sooner, as I could of offered them.
It seems you did the right thing though as it is almost always possible to repair the gates rather than switch them out.
kw |
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Bman
Samba Member
Joined: April 28, 2005
Posts: 895
Location: South Coast, Oregon
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Bman
Samba Member
Joined: April 28, 2005
Posts: 895
Location: South Coast, Oregon
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| Posted: Thu May 12, 2011 8:26 am Post subject: |
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Update: Well, I visited a new friend last night, Terry C. of Coos Bay, a real champ who upon first meeting me jumped in to help me out with my rear gate problem. But this story is both happy and sad as you shall soon read: Sorry for the poor quality of the photos I only had my phone camera with me...
First we used his torch to heat up the hinges to get anywhere with moving the frozen pins.
Then we pounded  on the hinges to move them out.
This one here was a real stubborn bastard; ultimately requiring a tack weld on the hinge bracket to keep it from moving. All the other hinges pretty much moved after a minute or two of the torch.
We used wet rags around the bed and body to try to protect the paint and bed liner as much as possible. For the most part this worked well.
Finally we got the worst of the gates off and started to tackle the repair.
Terry being a much better welder than I tack welded the original broken piece back on and then we did our best to align the hinge. This required a bunch of gate placing and testing on the bed.
And here are the final results (again sorry for the pic quality); as you can see the top pic is of the hinge which completely broke, the bottom was the severely stressed one. Terry was able to weld, grind, and sand the top piece pretty much to stock shape. The bottom one actually looks better than the pic shows. For the pins I took them all to the grinder and wire wheel to get the crust off, added a liberal amount of grease on them and was able to replace them all back on the truck. As a result of the work there are now a few paint chips missing from the hardest worked areas; however we have a solid repair that now looks as bout as stock as you can get. The red primer that you see is a very TEMPORARY seal until I can get in there to strip, treat and properly prime. Needless to say I will be facing a paint job sooner than I expected.
Now the sad news, during the work I had removed the rubber VW items that fit within each gate hinge and placed tham in my tool bag; see:
As I was doing this I remarked to Terry: "Gee, I need to write down this part number incase I ever need to replace." Terry and I did all of this last night right up to sundown. I went home, left my tool bag in the back cab and forgot to lock my door. Surprise!  This morning I found my door half open and my tool bag, rubber parts, spare license plate, CDs, and my DoKa car journal gone!!!
Fuck I hate tweakers!!!!!!!!!!! 
So my question to all my DoKa friends is what is the part number for those rubber inserts in your gates; and does anyone know where I can find them?
Thanks.
Bryan
_________________
~Bryan
1990 Burgandy Tintop (Wife's Daily Driver)
1989 Tiico Westfalia "Taj"
2WD Doka build thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=503578&highlight=
FaceHook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/VW-T3-DokaSinka/129026087217120?ref=hl |
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BenT Syncro
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Joined: January 07, 2005
Posts: 1088
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 8:41 pm Post subject: |
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| Crankey wrote: |
remember anodising is very difficult to touch up, aluminum is soft and also corrodes into white dust.
steel is easy to weld and fix...well, I can weld aluminum just fine but I trust steel more than aluminum, and they are gates for a truck...it's not like a carbon fiber hood on a race car.
if you really wanted rust protection you could also have steel gates totally stripped, and then zinc plated (not hot dipped, they'd warp all to hell) and then painted, even dipped in zinc paint.
there's also the galvanic reaction between the steel hinge and pin between the aluminum hinge parts to consider...(we have a big thread about galvanic reactions here heh) |
I believe that was mentioned earlier. 5 tons was not enough to dislodge my steel pins out of the aluminum alloy hinges.
The aluminum gates are hardier than you would expect. |
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Crankey
Samba Member
Joined: July 11, 2004
Posts: 2672
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| Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 7:20 pm Post subject: |
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remember anodising is very difficult to touch up, aluminum is soft and also corrodes into white dust.
steel is easy to weld and fix...well, I can weld aluminum just fine but I trust steel more than aluminum, and they are gates for a truck...it's not like a carbon fiber hood on a race car.
if you really wanted rust protection you could also have steel gates totally stripped, and then zinc plated (not hot dipped, they'd warp all to hell) and then painted, even dipped in zinc paint.
there's also the galvanic reaction between the steel hinge and pin between the aluminum hinge parts to consider...(we have a big thread about galvanic reactions here heh) |
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BenT Syncro
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Joined: January 07, 2005
Posts: 1088
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 4:26 pm Post subject: Re: Painting alloy |
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| Vwcrewman wrote: |
As an owner of a set alloy gates . I like the weight of them in everyday use, much lighter . Most commercial alloys are anodized before being painted ,as it opens the pores .
I sit on the fence between painting them or not, I actually like the looks of the contrast .
Stacy |
If I had a silver Doka I'd be fine with the stock color. After seeing Dave Orozco's Doka at Van-O-Rama #1, I was smitten. Then I saw pics of Rob Tippey's Escorial Green Doka with painted alloy gates to match. There was no turning back.
I am concerned about paint longevity though. Obviously, the anodized gates will remain presentable for a much longer time than a painted surface. I've only seen pretty Dokas with fresh matching paint on their alloy gates. Maybe if I saw some with peeling paint, it will make me stay with the anodized look.
BenT
Last edited by BenT Syncro on Tue Feb 01, 2011 8:43 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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16CVs
Samba Member
Joined: February 22, 2004
Posts: 4281
Location: Redwood City, California
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| Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 3:56 pm Post subject: Painting alloy |
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As an owner of a set alloy gates . I like the weight of them in everyday use, much lighter . Most commercial alloys are anodized before being painted ,as it opens the pores .
I sit on the fence between painting them or not, I actually like the looks of the contrast .
Stacy
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread. |
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BenT Syncro
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Joined: January 07, 2005
Posts: 1088
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 1:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Crankey wrote: |
There are fancy aluminum gates -$$$
and in the UK and Germany, there is fiberglass, plywood core gates,which look pretty cool, but ...ehh, I don't like the wood core idea. The latched on these 'glass gates are hidden... maybe DIY ? |
Hey, isn't wood and fiberglass the first 'composite' body parts used on cars? I love the look of the gates that follow the bodylines. I didn't like the idea of using household door hinges that most of the kits suggested. Plus the ones I've looked at require you to trim the portion of the metal towards the cab to match the new lower gates.
I have seen some German vendors on eBay offer steel versions of the body contour gates. Those versions are single wall with fixed side gates. Kind of turns your Doka into an American style pick-up truck. What next? Bedslides? 
Lastly, some handy dandy people with good decent welding skills just cut old van bodies and make their own body contoured gates. Most are not so well done with seams not so invisible I suppose it's still smoother than the corrugated gates. Those corrugated gates can start to grow on you after a while. Besides, I'm not ready to give up the tailgate cable stays on my Doka yet.
Sorry for the slight thread jack but does anyone know if the body colored alloy gates were painted or maybe powdercoated? I like the look of the alloy gates but not the anodized aluminum color.
Cheers,
BenT |
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BenT Syncro
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Joined: January 07, 2005
Posts: 1088
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 1:33 pm Post subject: Re: Doka Gates |
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| B Love wrote: |
O-Yeah
BenT can you get me the contact info for the fella in San Fran, although not in the neighborhood he certainly is within my region.
Also I see what appears to be some aftermarket Alluminum gates on some of the other Doka's out there. What are the stories with those and where do you get them?
Bryan |
I'll have him take pics and email them to you.
BenT |
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BenT Syncro
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Joined: January 07, 2005
Posts: 1088
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 1:31 pm Post subject: |
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| shaun0008 wrote: |
| Hello Ben, I have four spare alloy gate hinges left over from a prior project if you need them give me a call. By the way the alloy gates were not just used for Tristars they could be ordered for any crewcab or single cab. I cut down two sets of gates from single cabs for mine and a friends Tristar and that is why I have a few extra hinges. Shaun |
Thanks, Shaun. Call you later. Guess by calling them Tristar gates, I'm just as guilty as everyone else who calls the aluminum canopies "NATO" canopies. IIRC it was mostly used by the US military in Europe rather than NATO forces. I have seen photos of same on ambulances and fire support vehicles which were never in military service. Since I have some Sinka alloy gates as well, I am aware they came on other trucks beside the Tristars. I'll have to remember to smack my hand next time I start writing 'Tristar gates'.
I forgot to add that the hinges for the alloy gates look an awful lot like the ones on the "NATO" (OUCH! Slap on the hand) canopy.
Cheers,
BenT
Last edited by BenT Syncro on Tue Feb 01, 2011 1:36 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Crankey
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Joined: July 11, 2004
Posts: 2672
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| Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 1:18 pm Post subject: |
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There are fancy aluminum gates -$$$
and in the UK and Germany, there is fiberglass, plywood core gates,which look pretty cool, but ...ehh, I don't like the wood core idea. The latched on these 'glass gates are hidden... maybe DIY ? |
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Bman
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Joined: April 28, 2005
Posts: 895
Location: South Coast, Oregon
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