Columns continued

Sorry, thought it best to move this back up past the Yahoo hacking
junk... Thanks for the info Gerard; I had no idea that NZ and US
model Beetles were that different. I don't know if the one I drove
had front discs (still felt stiff & a bit slow on braking), but
those and the collapsing column would make me feel a lil more secure
behind the wheel.

I found out last night though that the other buyer is sending a bank
draft for the '69; I did ask the seller to keep me posted on whether
the money arrives or not. We'll see. I took a look at that other
white '69 on Trademe, but think it may have gone too, so I'll check
this morning. Also someone up the road has a rough but nice '60 that
I could offer on, if I'm feeling brave...

Sam F.

PS: 'Perseverance furthers' always stuck in my mind too - heard it in
Muirs Idiot book of all places (supposedly via the I Ching)

Gerard wrote:
>
> Sam
>
> Ah well, perseverance furthers!! Now, about the collapsible column,
> we got them starting in '68. Easiest way to recognise them is to
> look under the dash at the clamp (just below speedo area).
> Collapsible column models have a much meatier looking clamp than the
> earlier models (I just happen to have one of each sitting
> around...), and the steering wheel is pretty much the same. You
> should know that our models and the models sold in the states differ
> in a lot of details- we got the so-called export model, which meant
> we got niceties such as disk brakes and missed out on that plastic
> dash pad around that time. The collapsible column is just an
> expanded metal tube at the bottom of the column, along with
> plastic(?) fittings securing the column to the underside of the
> dash. Idea of these was they would be a weak link that would shear
> in the event of the driver impacting the wheel. So there you have
> it, not something I've ever worried about to be honest, but hope it
> helps the deliberations!
>
> cheers
>
> Gerard
>
>
> samf wrote:
>>
>>
>> Hi Gerard! The '69 I was checking out definitely didn't have the
>> collapsible column, unless they'd somehow retrofitted the old wheel
>> onto the new column. (I wish there was an easy way to do that...)
>>
>> As for the Beetle itself, the owner has been continuously out or on
>> the 'Net when I call, and he won't reply to my emails. I'll try
>> again soon I guess. Also I'm waiting for Philip from the Oval
>> Registry to give me some more info; brian-in-nz passed on an email
>> addy and a contact number a little while back. I'll post back as
>> soon as I know anything new.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Sam F.
>>
>> Gerard wrote:
>>>
>>> Sam
>>>
>>> Pretty sure the NZ model '69 had the collapsible column- another
>>> reason to buy it!!! How are the negotiations going?
>>>
>>> cheers
>>>
>>> Gerard
>>>
>>>
>>> Craig T wrote:
>>>>
>>>> samf wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Has anyone here owned a Beetle/type 3 with the late-model
>>>> collapsible
>>>>> steering column? I'm just wondering in what year these were
>>>>> introduced, and how hard it is to fit them to earlier model cars (if
>>>>> anyone has tried that either). And finally, is it worth the
>>>>> bother??
>>>>>
>>>>> Sam F.
>>>>>
>>>> I have done this to my 57 on a 70 chassis. The early wheel would
>>> not
>>>> mount to the late column, but I was not concerned with that. The
>>>> worst part is securing the column inside the car. I had a couple
>>>> parts cars lying around at the time and just removed the parts from
>>>> the late model and adapted them to the early car body. (drill a
>>>> couple holes, etc) It was a fairly easy thing to do. I am not
>>>> entirely sure when they started the collapsable column...69? I could
>>>> look that up easy enough, but I am running out of time. Craig
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>