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hello, i was wondering.what did the original side curtains cost from the dealers for a thing? were the originals made of canvas or vinyl? what would a good set of originals in mint cond go for? or is it even poss. to find them? sorry for so many weird ?'s lol. thanks!

The ponderings to locate perfect side curtain Thing issue is never a weird question. It has baffled many. A few years ago there was a guy Joe (a RoMTOC member) who had inherited a family Thing that had been garaged and bought orignally from the dealer. He sold many orginal parts that were near perfect and OEM and wonderful. He sold his set of side curtains for near the same amount as a set of glass Thing Shop curtains would have cost. On the other hand, my Dad bought a used 74 Thing in 75 and by about 78 living by the beach his side curtains were looking sad. So he went to Plunkett motors in Tujunga where he bought it to get the side curtains overhauled. They sent him to a boat upholstery shop down in Hermosa and they recoved the frames with new vinyl, buffed out the frames, and installed new snaps, hinges and window plastic for the grand total $35. But that was in 78...... Now you should look at the German Motor Works windows. Thing Shop Windows or go on eBay and buy those velcro latch in windows.. Or find a boat shop and have them restore a set of old frames. I have a few original Thing side curtains if you need pictures for acuracy. Mind you, they are far from being in showroom condition. But they have all the details in tact to show how they looked new... I have two different plans in mind to create Thing side curtains. One of the plans is to use splitty bus front door window frames. They are exactly the same size as a Thing side curtain if you remove the wing vent portion of the frame. Check it out.... K-mann

surferdudedav,
This is part of process of discovery about the world of the VW thing.
Some items, i.e. common, interchangeable VW parts are very reasonable, sometimes unbelievably cheap.
Other specialty item exclusive to Things only will make you break out in a cold sweat as you pull your wallet, checkbook, or credit card from your pocket.
Side curtains are one of those very pricey items.

Quite often, they come up on eBay for sale.
Since you are in the Queen City of Cincinnati, you might want to look at some side curtains being auctioned by a guy in Bloomington, IN (home of Indiana University) about 128 miles west of you.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/vw-thing ... dZViewItem
No current bids. Starting bid: $40. Buy it now price: $100. Auction ends tonight, 1/10/06
These are fairly typical of what you'll find...scratched, cracked, or obscured plastic panels....really too poor in quality to be safely used in the car.
What you are really buying are the cores.
Here's another set for sale for $255.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/ ... ?id=256032
A much nicer looking set of used ones.

If you want to go with newly rebuild curtains, here's where it gets exciting from a monetary standpoint.
GMW 898 501 - SIDE CURTAIN SET - Includes 2 storage bags with center divider. $650. Exchange $80.00 core charge.

The Thing Shop:
Front Soft Plastic Original Style Curtain ...opens like original....$160.
Rear Soft Plastic Original Style Curtain...$130.
There is an additional $25 core charge per window refundable when your frames are returned.
Set: $580

Front (or Rear) Sliding Tempered Glass Side Curtain...$280
Rear Solid Tempered Glass Side Curtain...$210.
There is an additional $25 core charge per window refundable when your frames are returned.
Set (in two sliders, two solid glass): $980.

Side Curtain Bag with Divider: $45 ea.

Very nice, but very expensive
It has been suggested elsewhere, that competent boat and upholstery shops can usually rebuild these cores with reasonable looking results, so that's an option if you can locate good cores and a good shop.

Hope this helps a little.

ztnoo

HAHA!!!! GUESS WHAT?!?!?! I located a set of GENUINE NOS THING SIDE CURTAINS!!!!! the lady said her dad bought them in 72' from a dealer ship in germany had them shipped, AND NEVER USED THEM! there in perfect shape, no cracks yellowing or warping.. and still in the the box! ill try getting pix! im so happy!

Right on.. Good find... Do post pictures please. They would be a good addition to the RoMTOC Thing picture files.. Congrats on finding a set so quickly. What is she asking for them?/

I have paid good money to have Thing window plastic replaced and have had the work completely in a less than perfect manner. Paid too much and the work was not good enough. I am in need of a number os side curtains or a way to get the plactic replaced. If anyone finds a good locale source of this service for a resonable price with quality craftsman, I would be willing to ship side curtains to them... I keep thinking I will find someone in a Jeep club who has a club member who has an upholstery sewing machine sews the plastic in place for less that a portion of the national debt. At times I consider jsut chocking up the $ and going with GMW or Thing Shop windows. Then I have a spaz attack over the price. and so it goes with side curtains... Hey Bucko, have you seen side curtains for sale in Germany? What do your boat guys charge to put in new plastic?

K-mann

i should be getting them monday, i will post pics! how much these go for? are they made of canvas? how much were they from the dealer? thanks!

hello, i got em'.. eh.. im not to happy.. 3 of the 4 have a flap.. and 1 is solid ?? and 2 of them have a bad haze! its from the cardboard.. im afraid to try cleaning them.. i tryed one of them w/ warm water and a soft towel.. improved alittle bit.. can anything else be done? or am i screwed?

I think this was K-mann's posted suggestion at The Samba:
http://www.meguiars.com/?clear-plastic- ... ner-Polish
Worth a try....

I had 4 old original side curtains that were severely yellowed and hazed. I used the Meguiar plastic cleaner and polisher and brought two of the windows back from the dead. One was too far gone to help. But the fourth was improved greatly but the stuff did not fix it completely. It improved them all and it cost under $20 including shipping for the entire kit. I love the Meguiar family of products and have solved countless automotive and other issues with them.

hmm.. ill give it a whirl.. they're PERFECT! but they have cardboard marks.. THANK!

I have been researching what 21st century clear plastic is currently used to repair windows on hihg dollar cars. The product that I have found that is most commonly used is called Ultrasheild...

http://www.polyone.com/bizunit/films/fi ... ldcare.asp

I purchased a set of four from the VW dealer 23 years ago in 1983.
The fronts were $198 and the rears were $150.
I use them 4-5 times a year and keep them in the original "case" that came with the car.
They've held up very well; still nearly perfect.
Regards, Mondshine

SWEET!!! im expecting pictures!

Years ago when I had my Thing I repaired the side curtains using acrylic plastic (plexiglas) from a hardware store. I cut out the original vinyl and then opened up the seam where the vinyl had been with a box knife. I cut the acrylic to fit and inserted it into the seam. I then used a small bit and drilled through the holes left by the original stitching and sewed the acrylic in using waxed nylon thread. I owned the car for an additional ten years or so and never had any complaints,k plus I saw the car many years after I traded it and they were still there.

If I were to do it again I would use polycarbonate instead of acrylic.

are you from ky by any chance?