Need a few items for 411

[Justin Shelton]

I need a few items for my new baby! It's a 71 411 4-door, dark blue, and it only has 42,000 K on it.

- rearview mirror
- driver's side mirror
- AM/FM (if possible??) VW radio - will take one from any model VW that will fit the hole.

Thanks,

Justin

[raygreenwood]

Are your mirrors totally missing? If not, clean, polish, re-chrome or powder coat them. Most good glass shops can cut new mirror glass for about $25. Otherwise...type 3 mirrors will bolt right up...but are not the same. Type 4 mirrors are unique. Ray

[vwbill]

Hey, have you looked in the type 4 parts and thesamba.com or Paul at paul@jbbugs.com He just bought a shop and has some stuff on Ebay also.
Good luck! Maybe the type three mirrors works for a 411. Bill

[justinshelton]

The driver's side mirror at some point had the glass broken out, and someone before me glued a smaller piece of glass in the frame. The mirror is solid otherwise.

As for the rearview mirror, the plastic is really degraded from sun damage and while I have the mirror itself, it's the plastic "hanger" that's messed up.

Thanks for the tips - I'll check out your recommendations.

- Justin

[Matthew Bulley]

[quote="Justin Shelton"]I need a ...
- AM/FM (if possible??) VW radio - will take one from any model VW

If you are looking for authenticity, I have the original Sapphire XVIII (AM with 5 station presets, all knobs, nuts, etc) which I would be happy to part with for the cost of shipping. It worked great when I took it out (2 weeks ago).

Matthew

[justinshelton]

Matthew - I'd love to have the radio. E-mail me at justin.shelton@colorado.edu, okay? We'll work something out.

- Justin

[Kirk Knighton]

Hey Justin - did you just get this 411 from ebay last month? If so I saw that one and was tempted to bid on it, but I already have a 411 and a 412. I just put new rear shocks on my 411, and Ray Greenwood was right about the KYB Gas-Adjust ones. They fit and work great! Kirk in Seattle

[3rd slow 411]

Justin: don't let anyone tell you type 4 EXTERIOR mirrors are the same as anything else, they are NOT. I just spent about a year searching and looking, all mirrors are not the same. Most people look at it and say,"that's a regular type 1 mirror." Wrong, the length of the studs are ALL different on a type 4. They are LONGER!! Regular mirrors don't tighten enough to stay in position.
IIRC, I spent about $35 to have mirror added to the stock holders. They are great, work far better at staying in place than type 1 mirrors.

PS, NEVER buy MEXICAN mirrors, they are "POT" metal!!

[justinshelton]

I bought the '71 411 at a used car auction . . . just happened to see the listing on the WWW and picked up a 42K car for $300 (plus the $99 fee that the auction co. charges to sell . . . what a waste.)

There are a few cosmetic problems with the car - needs new shocks/struts, paint is faded, rearview mirror and driver's mirror are busted, no radio, dirty leatherette, and the carpet is faded. But that's the fun stuff to fix since people get in the car and will oooh and aaah over the fixes once they're made. I went to the VW show in Lakewood CO over the weekend and bought new taillight lenses - there was a chunk out of one of mine - but I've had no luck so far with the other items, but haven't looked so hard.

I've been prepping the car to paint it - someone put on flat dark blue over the original metallic blue, and they didn't bother to remove any chrome for the repaint. I've stripped all of the chrome and have sanded the car and have bondo'd a few door dings, so now I need to spray her. This has been a really fun project so far!

Anyway, that's the history . . .

- Justin

[raygreenwood]

Actually, if you are looking for authenticity, the stud length is the least of your worries. The type 4 mirror is a totally unique and distinctive style. Nothing really similar, though a lot of things ...like type 3 mirrors, bolt rightr up. Ray