one of the rear door handles has no mechanism in it.. i.e. no "trigger" part to grasp with your finger.. this means the door is not openable from the out side... opens fine (if a little stiff!:)...) from the inside...
question what are the door handles from? they look similar to rear handles from a 411/412... i.e. no locks... chances of finding one of these is slim..
soo.. is it possible to take a mech. from a camper door handle, and put it in the "thing" one?!...
To add, will the lock-equipped front handles install into the rear doors? I'm not about to fool myself into thinking that I can make my Thing impervious to thieves, but I'd like to at least be able to lock all the doors.
I have a 73 Standard Bug parts car and two 73 Things. None of the door hardware from the Bug works on my two things except the screws and interior parts. Referencing your mid america pn.. There is the 300--249 and the 303-240 both claim to be for the same year. My bug has a latch trigger with finger notches while both things have a smooth trigger. I liked the triggers on the 73 bug and wanted to put them on the thing road car. They would not fit. Neither would the very cool door latches. I once found a 73 Thing in a bone yard and it had allen hex head securiing screws and a totally different door latches with different rubber bumpers. Funny how many different types of hardware there are for the same function. This was ( I have been told by the old time VW line mechanics) the result of numerous contractors providing different parts for the same replacement. and the journey continues.... K-mann
Kubelmann wrote:I have a 73 Standard Bug parts car and two 73 Things. None of the door hardware from the Bug works on my two things except the screws and interior parts. Referencing your mid america pn.. There is the 300--249 and the 303-240 both claim to be for the same year. My bug has a latch trigger with finger notches while both things have a smooth trigger. I liked the triggers on the 73 bug and wanted to put them on the thing road car. They would not fit. Neither would the very cool door latches. I once found a 73 Thing in a bone yard and it had allen hex head securiing screws and a totally different door latches with different rubber bumpers.
Hmm... good thing I didn't include said latches in my order, then!
Funny how many different types of hardware there are for the same function. This was ( I have been told by the old time VW line mechanics) the result of numerous contractors providing different parts for the same replacement. and the journey continues.... K-mann
I wouldn't doubt that. I also think the Thing was a convenient way for VW to use up certain parts (like their old tranny mounts) that they changed on other models.
it seems its all bus stuff!:)...actually got the handle from an early 70's US bay window...
on the rear of the trekker of course, the lock mech is absent..
i wanted to keep the original "black" rear handle, so just swapped all (well the 3..) bits from the bus trigger mech and they fit right in... no problems...
as for the lock mech working.. it should do.. all the doors are the same no?!... if the fronts work.. so should the back..
You have discovered one of the secrets to Thing parts crossover. 67-74 Ghia/68-71 Bus with some Type 4 parts thrown in. I may not be an expert but the I do have a fairly comprehensive knowledge of where Thing parts came from and I definately can list all the Thing only specific parts. Although some would argue this point with me, the original Thing transaxles housed a number ofr 68-71 bus parts as replacement to a off the shelf T-1 trans. A few years ago we took a known stock Thing trans apart and listed parts that were not "bug" parts. Then we totally built the trnas using as many 002 parts as possible to include close ratio Weddle gears (electron beam welded and a Quaffe posi diff. It is a special trans that has more time and effort than normal. But it will go into first gear at 35 mph at 3500 rpm smooth as butter. Nothing like kicking up twin rooster tails in deep mud and dirt.. K-mann
Good to hear, Dunk! I recently grabbed a set of Bay Window bus seat belts for my upcoming 3-point belt install.
Kubelmann, in the Idiot book, John Muir says that the Safari/Thing uses a '68 Bus transaxle -- is it safe to say that they just started with those, and used whatever was compatible when building these cars?
