Itinerant Air-Cooled

whc03grady wrote:Never been happier I have a headlinerless camper.

And I am jealous of that fact just today.
Colin

This appears to be the post you were expecting to make all along, though I really had hoped TMI was going to pull out the stops to make sure you got a 'good one' a after the whole Samba thread.


There's always alternatives:

airkooledchris wrote:This appears to be the post you were expecting to make all along, though I really had hoped TMI was going to pull out the stops to make sure you got a 'good one' a after the whole Samba thread.

I too was hoping TMI would stand behind their product instead of slamming you. Glad I haven't ever pulled the trigger on their stuff as the reviews have never been stellar.

airkooledchris wrote: There's always alternatives:
[img]exotic_leather_headliner.jpg[/img]

Thanks. I always thought you had good taste . . .

airkooledchris wrote:This appears to be the post you were expecting to make all along, though I really had hoped TMI was going to pull out the stops to make sure you got a 'good one' a after the whole Samba thread.

That thread was amazing. Mario totally misrepresented my exchange with the staff.
I asked the staff to call "management" at the SEMA show over the weekend so they *could* authorize an expedited order on a Friday.
They called. I thanked them for stepping out of protocol!

Mario then presents it on the forum as "they were so upset with you that they had to call us at the SEMA show" and that I was disrespectful and used profanity and somesuch. Me? An upset staff member (referred to as "girls" by Mario) would NOT say, "thank-you for your order and if there is anything else I can do, be sure to call me."

His utterly bizarre scolding manner is not going to last long in business or on theSamba. Furthermore, I put him on alert twice that the reason we get aggravated is because the ad copy is over-the-top false and misleading. "Better than OEM!" That crap? Do not insult us! "Best Available!" I told him that might work.
ColinMustInstallWindshieldNOW

Have you found an acceptable piece of glass to get you on the road?

asiab3 wrote:Have you found an acceptable piece of glass to get you on the road?

Here:



It was a breezy and wonderfully present drive to the glass shop. I could literally reach out and pet the pedestrians. I could feel immediate temperature changes, hear conversations at sidewalk cafes, I could hear my own engine sound reflecting off of buildings. I loved that drive:



But I was so nervous at how much work was in front of me. A shout-out to jackstar for helping me install a totally incorrectly sized Made In China $123.99 windshield yesterday at 5:30PM. Then I installed three vent windows two rear side windows, middle center window, and my hands are shot this morning.

The good news is I had an inspiration moment and "fixed" that TMI headliner fiasco in the rear with:





That tightened up the rear acceptably enough, and I now have a visually acceptable headliner with some crazy secrets . . .

Did I earn the right to do an Official Procedure?




Off to Atlanta for the holidays and to pick up those NOS interior panels from storage and hopefully make Kris's fuel injected bus run correctly (the Bishop GA appointment).
Colin

Amskeptic wrote:A shout-out to jackstar for helping me install a totally incorrectly sized Made In China $123.99 windshield yesterday at 5:30PM.

Is the brand on it FYG? I wrestled with the FYG windshield & the "probably Brazilian" new-in-bag-swapmeet windshield seal earlier this year with my '75 and finally got it in. No leaks! No cracks! No scratches!

Would also like to know the brand of glass. Jennifer broke hers trying to install it herself and wad worried it was due to an error in her welding of the lip. I'm guessing it's just the cheap glass issue

Not looking forward to replacing my delaminating Sigla glass next

I think you did an amazing job of installing, adapting and overcoming that poor quality headliner Colin. I hope you contacted TMI to let them know about the total horror of their "alleged" quality product.

Kudus to you and your tenacity in making it work and looking so good.

Amskeptic wrote:

asiab3 wrote:Have you found an acceptable piece of glass to get you on the road?

It was a breezy and wonderfully present drive to the glass shop. I could literally reach out and pet the pedestrians. I could feel immediate temperature changes, hear conversations at sidewalk cafes, I could hear my own engine sound reflecting off of buildings. I loved that drive:


Off to Atlanta for the holidays and to pick up those NOS interior panels from storage and hopefully make Kris's fuel injected bus run correctly (the Bishop GA appointment).
Colin

Time to install a Bay window Safari windshield! Ignore the leaks.....

Amskeptic wrote:
It was a breezy and wonderfully present drive to the glass shop. I could literally reach out and pet the pedestrians. I could feel immediate temperature changes, hear conversations at sidewalk cafes, I could hear my own engine sound reflecting off of buildings. I loved that drive:

Colin

THAT is what is like to ride a motocycle. :)

airkooledchris wrote:Would also like to know the brand of glass. Jennifer broke hers trying to install it herself and wad worried it was due to an error in her welding of the lip. I'm guessing it's just the cheap glass issue

Not looking forward to replacing my delaminating Sigla glass next

I will let you know the brand. Windshield is coming out again today or tomorrow so I can *sand the upper corners down* until it does fit correctly. I hope I can hand-sand this thing down. What if it takes all week?
Colin
(p.s. my water leak test was an epic FAIL - every single vent window leaks)

Amskeptic wrote:

airkooledchris wrote:Would also like to know the brand of glass. Jennifer broke hers trying to install it herself and wad worried it was due to an error in her welding of the lip. I'm guessing it's just the cheap glass issue

Not looking forward to replacing my delaminating Sigla glass next

I will let you know the brand. Windshield is coming out again today or tomorrow so I can *sand the upper corners down* until it does fit correctly. I hope I can hand-sand this thing down. What if it takes all week?
Colin
(p.s. my water leak test was an epic FAIL - every single vent window leaks)

Where did you purchase the vent wing seals? When I bought my bus in June, it came with a seal w/out a tag. I installed it since the other was missing. What an exquisite POS it is.

Does ANYONE make a repop that's worth a darn?

wcfvw69 wrote: Where did you purchase the vent wing seals?

Ain't nobody purchasing nothing around here. The vent windows all have VW seals, but they are getting less compliant.

I should have gotten new ones, but I cannot bear the thought. Jackstar and I battled a stupid vent window vertical seal purchased from Bus Depot, it was just too big and too hard (that's what she said, but really) and would not slide into the channel. I got my Wolfsburg West one, and it slipped right in like the factory seals. We know HOW to make properly dimensioned stuff, the question is "do we care to?"

For example, I spent all day ripping out my Chinese windshield, pulling down the TMI headliner, and fashioning wood blocks to allow me to adjust the headliner bow to fit where this stupid headliner tells it it has to go. Just a massive annoyance at craptastic cynical shoddiness (had to staple every damn seam where I trimmed because the threads are all just unravelling), spent the evening sanding down the windshield which, other than being too big at the upper corners, is *not bent correctly*. Come on, people, don't even make this stuff if you don't know how.


My windshield binds in the corners and almost pulls the seal out at the upper corners inside the car:




It also flattens along the center and bows out at the corners. Shoddy.




Jackstar's original VW Audi windshield with a perfect gap and fit:



That is jackstar's original VW Audi Sigla windshield laying on top of my new one so you can see how crisply the original goes around the corners.




These cars are such a joy that I will put up with the annoyances, but don't expect me to be cheerful ABOUT IT, I have seen too many people brought up short by lousy replacement parts, I witness their energy deflate, it is wrong.
Colin

So, for clarity sake, you're saying the Wolfsburg West vent frame seals are good? How about the seal that the vent glass rests against?

That windshield is terrible. I wonder how many different companies (Chinese, I'm sure) manufacture windshields for bays? There appears to be a few different Chinese companies making bug windshields. A guy posted in the bug forms that he got two different bug windshields that de-laminated within weeks from MAM. About three years ago, everyone in the bug forum was complaining about the Chinese windshield glass not fitting. Everyone started getting their windshield cut by using their known good windshields as patterns. After I repainted my 67, I needed a new windshield and called the local glass shops. The place I went with came out with a Chinese windshield of course. I laid my old, cracked glass on it and it was perfect. The tech had it in place in less than 5 minutes. No leaks. It was a different Chinese brand than the one from MAM. SO, let's hope the Chinese get their shit together and fix the bay windshield templates so they fit.