My new top was made by the local guy who does the canvas work in my boatyard and it’s perfect in fit and finish. He used the old torn one for some measurements and pattern and had the car for a few days fitting it and placing the new snaps on, etc. I selected an extra thick brown vinyl material with black cloth backing – convertible top material -…[Read more]

What made you want to switch to that, instead of the usual Solex 30 or 34 PICT?

I don’t know what that looks like or how it hooks up, but if you can do that to adjust it, can’t you leave it that way? Maybe you had it on backwards to start with? Maybe once it’s set right, they don’t want you to play with it anymore.

Do you mean flat towing the car on a trailer? Or with the VW tow bar? Because of the shape of our cars (very little frontal exposure except for the leading edges of the fenders and the grill and headlights) I can’t see much damage from kicked up gravel or stones on the road towing it with the tow bar. I would think that practically all of it…[Read more]

The rear lights on either of my tow vehicles are quite visible over and around the TD, and I don’t bother with extra lights for a short trip. But those of a car towing it would probably be blocked, and you would definitely need some lights on the TD for a long trip (just for the LEO’s following you).How much do those suction cup lights mar up the…[Read more]

I bought one of those very soon after I got my car and left it in the back of my Saturn Vue for a while – my car kept crapping out after 5-10 miles of driving until I sorted out my problem by replacing the coil. I had to call my SO to come and get me so I could tow the car home. It takes less than 5 min to hook it up to the front axle/lower…[Read more]

That was the way it was when I got it, there were no heater hoses and the heater outlets off the fan shroud were plugged. On my car, the rounded caps that the hoses should attach to underneath the tin (I don’t know what you call them), where they attach to the heater boxes, do not exactly line up and and the end caps don’t readily slip over them,…[Read more]

Sorry about your Mom, you, and everyone else involved. Basically there is nothing we can say, except to tell you we are here for you.

My car came with the VW tin, and it was put back on after the engine removal/rebuild/reinstall, as recommended by the really good VW mechanic who rebuilt it and from what I have read. I sealed off the gaps between the tin and the body with that same metal heat-resistant tape and it is still sticking on there, so I do have a fairly good seal…[Read more]

I just cut a piece of roofing material (galvalume?) used to cover the top ridge of my house that was left over (I save all kinds of “stuff” thinking I will use it someday) – It has a few slits or openings in it to pass the throttle cable through and the fuel line on the driver’s side, and it was cut large enough to close off the front of the…[Read more]

Those remote coolers, the coils that look like a little radiator, won’t do much unless there’s a large amount of air running over them, so if you want them to do anything, you need a fan blowing air across them. There’s really not much room or space in the engine compartment for that and you will wind up plumbing it somewhere forward of the engine…[Read more]

VW recommends you change the oil every 3000 miles, so why do you have to add a filter over and above (in addition to) the oil screen, which is all they designed into this engine and all it seems to need? You would have to reroute the oil lines, and for more info on this, John Muir discusses this pretty well in his book.

At least we have some exposure on the web and people are finding us – including the spammers (LOL).

Dune buggies with totally exposed engines are not at all comparable to our cars. The tin keeps the hot air from going into the fan in our cars because we have a rear deck lid that can trap the hot gases. The fact that most of the TD’s have no tin separating upper and lower engine just shows how lucky those owners are that their cars don’t overheat…[Read more]

The vents in the rear deck over the engine are to let sufficient cooling air IN, so the fan can blow it over the oil cooler, not to let hot air OUT. If you don’t have the tin underneath the engine topsides, separating it from the hot cylinders and exhaust, you will be theoretically sucking warm/hot air into the fan and not allowing it to do it’s…[Read more]

You might look on the state vehicle title or registration – it may be on there.

I’ll have to wear mine – my car makes much more noise than any of my motorcycles. And you need to carry an extra pair just in case you have a passenger.

Larry, that sounded like a nice solution, using the pre-existing hole for the mirror mount as well as the windshield.I found these on ebay and mounted them similar to what stacks did. They match the mirrors and stalks that are up on the front fenders.http://www.ebay.com/itm/200313736624?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:I T&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649
I’ll try…[Read more]

Is your engine compartment closed off with a firewall or tin up front? That needs sound insulation more than the rear deck lid because, at least in my car, that’s where most of the noise enters the passenger compartment from, from behind and through the rear storage area. With my top down and folded up in there, it greatly muffles the noise. and…[Read more]

Thanks, I found it in the download, I hadn’t seen that before. Can those rubber heater rings for the tubes be obtained from any place, or is there anything else commonly used? I guess I can look in a hardware store for something that may fit or can be adapted if those are not to be found anywhere.