| Author |
Message |
fifthcenturycheese 
Samba Member
Joined: May 04, 2014
Posts: 172
Location: Pismo Beach
|
 Posted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 10:59 pm Post subject: 67 beetle vent wing rebuild |
 |
|
I have come to understand the vent wings on a 67 are the hard part to deal with. I haven't seen any repops advertised for sale, other than in a non-operational website for a business in Taiwan. Finding parts to put one together is not easy, especially when the closest swapmeet is 3 hours away! So, I put the cleanest, straightest parts together I could come up with and rebuilt my own. Rubber seals, felt and rivets came from Wolfsbug West and the vent wing glass seal came from WCM. The hard part was trying to figure out how I was going to put the vent wing glass in the vent wing frame. I called WCM to ask them and was appalled at the salesman's answer! He said they offer no advice on how to install their rubber seal, they just sell the product and leave it up to glass shops to figure out! WOW, sales and service 101 is the salesman knowing his product!!! That was amazing. So I first tried clamping the glass held with rubber and wood slabs in a vice. I tried stretching the rubber seal around the edge of the glass and slipping the frame around it. Nope, slipped off. I then tried the old bicycle grip trick using Aquanet Superhold as a lubricant at first, then as an adhesive. Nope! Slipped right off! So then I used a product called "barge glue". Applied it to the glass then the frame and stuck it together. It's kinda like rubber cement, and after several hours , kept everything together. You can used lacquer thinner to clean off the excess glue. If I could find a similar glue in black, I would try that, but not sure what it would be. I also used a Stanley carpenters knife to trim the excess rubber away and a dental tool to trim away the excess rubber under the rain gutter area...worked good. I put this on here to share with other people going through the same headache as a way I found to deal with this issue until someone starts reproducing the 65-67 vent wings. I've included some pictures....hope this might help someone out there...thanks, Mike.
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
APPLEGREENVW
Samba Member
Joined: November 30, 2003
Posts: 2388
Location: Seekonk,Massachusetts USA
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
fifthcenturycheese
Samba Member
Joined: May 04, 2014
Posts: 172
Location: Pismo Beach
|
| Posted: Tue Nov 13, 2018 8:34 pm Post subject: Re: 67 beetle vent wing rebuild |
|
|
APPLEGREENVW,
I tried to install the glass like the guy from Airhead Parts, but it would not work for me. Sneaking suspicion tells me a bus vent wing is much easier than a 67 and later bug vent wing. Each time I tried the stretch method and fit the frame around it, it just slipped right off. Tried it dry, tried it with Aquanet Superhold, tried 3M black molding adhesive, that was a mess. I tried Barge Glue and that was the trick. It's a rubber type cement that is workable, you can clean it away with thinner, it's not permanent and worked very well. Very pleased with the results. Kinda like to see that guy install those while I watch.....
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
