Itinerant Air-Cooled

West Coast Metric
https://shop.westcoastmetric.com/index.php

(reproduction rubber parts and some plastic)
As a general rule, the best rubber replacement parts you can get.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Fresh Air Flap Hinge, Part #211-259-159, Wolfsburg West manufactured $2.27

12/23
****************************************************

Bus Depot 1972 only Left Heater Cable. All the other ones I found were too short and had the wrong ends. The Bus Depot one is perfect.

Gotta second the opinions about bus depot engine seals. Mine have been in about 6 months and they are total crap.

I put bugpack seals on my beetle and they were amazingly easy to install. We'll see how they do for longevity.

My local VW parts distributor (he's an aircooled mechanic too, just not on my cars) swears by West Coast Metric. They have a complete engine seal kit for my beetle that I'm going to try. Comes with front and rear seals all grommets, 3 tarboard sections, and even the spark plug wire holder thingies, and reasonably priced. Dunno if they have the same kit for buses though.

Wolfsburg West felt window channels. Nice tight fit, and quality construction.

Also, Busdepot's Westy poptop seal and luggage rack seal get a thumbs up. Internal clips are aluminum, so they shouldn't rot out like the original steel. Flat seal looks good too, but I didn't install, as my current one is still in good condition.

Not sure if this is the right place, but I just got a GoWesty Seat belt for the drivers side. Functionality is wonderful. I felt kind of silly "strapping in" before. Now I just pull across and insert, I'm snug and strapped in, just like a modern vehicle. Only thing is that I kind of got used to the heavy duty straps that I had and these look much more light weight, like a toy. I assume there is a testing process for seat belts and these will hold me in as good as the industrial belt I just took out.

So far, very pleased.

Bus Depot replacement kick panels, although they are plastic this makes any trimming to fit very easy with a dremmel.

I wouldn't say stellar...but they are acceptable.

spiffy wrote:Bus Depot replacement kick panels, although they are plastic this makes any trimming to fit very easy with a dremmel.

I wouldn't say stellar...but they are acceptable.

Best I've found so far.

Aren't they a thin plastic sheet? Do you just mount them like that? Or do you attach them to something stiffer?

chitwnvw wrote:Aren't they a thin plastic sheet? Do you just mount them like that? Or do you attach them to something stiffer?

They're ⅛" ABS platic with one textured side, similar to the original vinyl. Plenty thick enough to last forever and light years ahead of the garbage from TMI.

i'm replacing all the glass seals on my 78 westy. anyone have recommendations? looking at oe vee dub, but wondering about the difference in quality and fit (and life span) of the uk-manufactured vs. german (not oem, i think)- difference in price is 2-3x's more for german. i'd like to know if it's gonna make a big difference. thanks

metric Cwrench wrote:i'm replacing all the glass seals on my 78 westy. anyone have recommendations? looking at oe vee dub, but wondering about the difference in quality and fit (and life span) of the uk-manufactured vs. german (not oem, i think)- difference in price is 2-3x's more for german. i'd like to know if it's gonna make a big difference. thanks

The additional aggravation of poorly fitting seals that then crack prematurely is not worth the lower price of the cheaper ones. BUT, I cannot speak with any authority about the UK seals, just the Brazilian junk.
Colin

i'm replacing all the glass seals on my 78 westy. anyone have recommendations? looking at oe vee dub, but wondering about the difference in quality and fit (and life span) of the uk-manufactured vs. german (not oem, I think)- difference in price is 2-3x's more for german. i'd like to know if it's gonna make a big difference. thanks

It really depends on the seal. As a general rule the German seals are the best fit and quality, but there are a few cases where OEM VW/Brazil (not aftermarket) or UK manufactured are very close or even comparable and a fraction of the price. Aftermarket Brazilian is another story entirely. There is a huge difference in quality from one supplier to the next, ranging from decent to completely worthless. I tend to pick and choose what I carry on a product-by-product basis, and when there is a notable difference in both price and quality, list both. (Although the $60 German front door seal is much better than the $20 OEM Brazil one, not everyone has $120 to spend on a pair of front door seals.) There are also a few cases where even the best seal available does not match the original in fit and/or quality; unfortunately we can only choose from what actually exists.

Another issue is that country of origin can often be mislabeled. For example there are not as many UK made seals as you might think from reading the OEVeedub website. In some cases they list a seal as UK made whereas I list the same product as Brazilian. That is because while OEVeedub is buying it from England, I happen to know that it is actually a Brazilian seal that is repackaged by a UK middleman. In cases like that I will try to list the actual country of manufacture (if known).

If you go to this page:
http://busdepot.com/details/rubber.jsp
you can find links to diagrams showing most of our Bus and Vanagon rubber. Additional seals (and seals for other aircooled models) can be found in our regular catalog pages. I would urge you to compare our rubber prices, "apples to apples" to OEVeedub or anybody else. In many cases we can offer you OEM rubber German for about what others charge for aftermarket - making the decision a no-brainer.

Genuine German rear window seal for '75 - '79 convertible from OEVeedub. It fits, the one made by West Coast Metric doesn't. Enough said.

(For now) Bay window OE German front door seals from Wolfsburg West. They are actual VW seals somehow, even have the top corner rubber as well as a genuine VW part number and logo. They fit much better than the crappy aftermarket seals and are made of a softer material so they seal better.

Thought I might add a little here. If this is not the place or if it has been covered please move or just delete.

The OEM door and hatch seals are Grey. This is a release agent and should be removed prior to installation. Once installed they should also be lubricated with silicone to aid the break-in process. I generally clean mine prior to shipping to save the customer the trouble but I know most do not. So I thought it worth mentioning so people do not install them as they arrive. Good luck