Melburg Luft

I'm looking for one of these suckers to go on my Feb 54 36hp.

Anyone got one? Will offer plenty of $$, or swap for assorted 54 bits (ribbed handles, hearts etc)

Thanks,
Simon

Everett has one!!! If anyone else gets in before me, I will strike them from my Christmas card list

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/ ... ?id=944967

In the highly unlikely event that I manage to score it - what is the best way to tackle the faded badge? Do you just leave it, or how do you repaint it without making a mess of it?

send the whole thing direct to Glenn Ring for restoration. search samba or google

I got it!! It is now on it's way to Vintage Werks for some much needed attention.
(I had Ed looking for me, so it was only fair to get him to restore it for me.)

I was stunned when it arrived.
This is how it looked to start with...
.

This is how it looks now...


It looks even better in the flesh, and the advance curve results which shows it even works! I cannot recommend Ed Fall highly enough. He turned it around in 2 days. I was dreading how to tackle that badge - but he managed to clean it up really well.

Looks great.
I cleaned up a few of mine recently. This one was in similar condition to yours.

Shouldn't a 383 have wire clamps (j/k)

That looks like a nice body - shame some gorilla has butchered the screw heads in the 2nd & 3rd piks (unless it was you - in which case they only have almost imperceptible surface marks.)

john, where are you getting your washers and shims from? if i can get them here in australia rather than o/s i'd be pleased.

I haven't replaced the screws or washers yet, they were the ones that were on the dizzy when I found it, same with the clips. Being a 1951 distributor, I thought it would have wire clips too. Maybe they were replaced at some time.

The wire clips vs steel bands was subject to some heated discussion on TheSamba. I have a lot of respect for the opinions of peope like John Henry, Gary Constantine (Brezelwerks), Ed Fall (VintageWerks) and Glenn Ring - but when they have divergent opinions then I have no idea what to believe.

Sounds like only steel bands were used until Zwitters, then either could be used until late 55 / early 56, then steel bands only from then on.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=373409

I have some with band and some with wire clips, I was of the opinion that the ones with bands had replace the original wire clips but who knows?

I took mine off a 1951 engine, and everything else was pretty original on the engine, tinware etc. Even the clutch plate was stamped 1951.

Look at a 1951 owners manual........no arguments.

a book i got recently (thanks volumex) has several exploded / parts diagrams for early distributors and at least one (either the BR3 or 383) shows both the normal strap clips plus mounts and the wire clips with their mounts.

and just to be an ass john, as you know the pictures in the owners manuals were often earlier pictures doctored to be "up to date" hence aren't good reference pics.

whatnow wrote:and just to be an ass john, as you know the pictures in the owners manuals were often earlier pictures doctored to be "up to date" hence aren't good reference pics.

Generally, I would agree with you, however in this case I disagree.

1950/51 owners manuals were the first VW manuals to contain photos, so they were current at the time. Prior to 1950, the VW owners manuals were artists drawings. If you look at the manuals through the early years, the pics of the distributor were new photos, not doctored pics.
Here are some examples:

Top right pic is from a January 1951 manual
Top left pic is from a September 1952 manual (Zwitter)
Bottom pic is a January 1954 manual.

IN2VWS 1 ... whatnow 0

i wish they were accurate for later years.

btw nice work on both dist's gentlemen.

as an aside have you tried gun blau to reblack the clips? i bought some but haven't tried it yet.

I haven't tried that yet.
My clips were rusty as fcuk. So I put them in my wet sand blaster and blasted them with just wasser pressuer and glass beads (no compressed luft). This is a more gentle blast. It took most of the rust off. I saw in the pic there is still some on there, so I will re-do it. Its funny how my eyes don't pic up small bits of rust like that until I see it close-up in a pic.

John

f@#k i love this nerd shit good work fellas attention to detail is awesome great knowledge again john.

Did some more blasting today.
I received another set of Maicos in the mail last week. Here is a before and after shot.
Under the rust and crap, the Maico had some sort of coating which the blasting left intact. If I increase the luft pressure, the wet blaster will strip this also.

just awesome!

love those discs. classic speed