Wanted Suggesting CAT consider repo of Mk2 grill surround

The extruded potential is intriguing. If the matching profile can be extruded and arched with longer lengths F&R , then it would be easy for a talented metal worker to trim, fit & finish. Of all the suggestions, this seems to have the most to offer at the moment.
 
Thanks HolyCat, have requested drawings from archive for upper grill trim and anything on washer bottle.
 
If some talented person could CNC a lead mold for a P and N Battery terminal much like a Bullet Mold, I'd buy a set.
 
I agree that this is not a high demand part but here's a crazy idea. I watch the show Bitchin' Rides on Velocity and they build some amazing cars. On a couple of occasions, they have fabricated trim molding from aluminum bar stock. They bend and trim it to fit the body panel and then put the profile on and get it polished and chromed. Attachment would be simple with blind holes drilled and tapped to line up with the holes on the body.
I saw them do this on the trim that runs along the side of and then wraps around and dips across the front of an early VW Micro Bus and like all of their work, it looked flawless.
Obviously it's not stock but if done right, it would be impossible to notice the difference when installed.
Not easy but doable and with minimal tooling.

71+sDm4tZaL._SX268_.jpg
 
Things are changing. I just saw a large ad in the STOC magazine for the vendor. Some have said that if you post a vendor that you could be endorsing them.
I don't think we can be like Angie's list. Clearly when the club had advertising in Tiger Tales it was good for many .

I am and have had VWs and several German cars. The Bus in the picture is nowhere near the complexity of the MK2 arch. Zender made the arches on the 3.0 CSL BMW's and as aftermarket for others but I couldn't get past the rotary of the business. I'd like to go back to SEMA and see if the club could utilize their services and be the member.
 
I was talking about the grill surround, not wheel arches. The arches have to be sheet metal because of how they fit to the body.
 
o2bdriving said:
If some talented person could CNC a lead mold for a P and N Battery terminal much like a Bullet Mold, I'd buy a set.
Click to expand...
It seems that it would not be too difficult to fabricate the molds for both battery cable terminals and cast them. The original ones suffered from battery acid from the original batteries (which also tended to eat up the floor under the plastic battery holder).
 
Sorry Ian,. I thought you were talking about the aluminum trim that had the captive rubber cover. VW cars and our area spawned lots of the Cal Bug or Hawaiian style cars. There were guys making rubber parts here when VW of America gave up. And the story is VW somehow lost their molds too. Torrance has a big rubber VW parts producer.
 
Not the sharpish of images. Andy Bye (Rootes Archive) may have a better / later scan. This finisher was "Purchased Outside"... by whom is unknown.
Hope this maybe of some help.

eyebrow.jpg
 
After seeing the Rootes drawing, particularly the cross section at the upper right, I am now aware of the complexity of this part. The "wing" that extends back into the grill opening is the main obstacle. My suggestion of possibly fabricating these from bar stock now seems much more unlikely. It does appear to be a considerably complex sheet metal exercise.
 
Theorangetiger said:
After seeing the Rootes drawing, particularly the cross section at the upper right, I am now aware of the complexity of this part. The "wing" that extends back into the grill opening is the main obstacle. My suggestion of possibly fabricating these from bar stock now seems much more unlikely. It does appear to be a considerably complex sheet metal exercise.
Click to expand...
Probably the best way to make this would be a 3 dimensional laser scan and then fabrication via CNC end mill... I had a fabricator try to make one along the lines of an original that I supplied. He tried using strip steel, but the curvature of the lower section ended up being too difficult for him to achieve. The upper profile is the same as a Mk1 or Alpine grill molding. It's the part below the center line that is radically different... I'm sure a shop like "Kindig-it" could make the molding either out of bar stock (alloy, tho my choice would be bronze as it chromes better) or out of billet. The original was hollow on the back side and this allows the lower section of the molding to extend in past the front of the body. This represents a problem for either the CNC or bar type material as it would sit flush to the body and extend too far forward to sit flush to the top of the horizontal valance panel..

The only other way to make this would be with some sort of press tooling which would have to be a two-step process. This is because the back of the molding has a (roughly) 90 degree bend to form a channel for the retaining clips... which are the same as those used on the Alpine.

I have found at least two different versions of the MK2 upper molding, some are brass and some are steel... Brass would be much easier to run through a press tool.
 
It helps to have one in your hands. I bet it's also a chore to fit to the car when painted. The loose grille piece I had is out of my hands but there's a local car that's apart which may provide a model if parts can be scanned. The drawing didn't help us with the AC housing build. Mostly cause it was not readily available. Consequently there's a slight difference in the bottom carb flange as described in the email list. As a result that "different" one sits a skosh higher. Usually I screw up in the wrong direction but this time I/we didn't. Not a lot of room and recall a big complaint about the housing was the clearances at the outboard edges and filter height and breathability. How's this measure into grille openings? How about the hand built variations in the cars.
 
Austin Healer said:
Probably the best way to make this would be a 3 dimensional laser scan and then fabrication via CNC end mill... I had a fabricator try to make one along the lines of an original that I supplied. He tried using strip steel, but the curvature of the lower section ended up being too difficult for him to achieve. The upper profile is the same as a Mk1 or Alpine grill molding. It's the part below the center line that is radically different... I'm sure a shop like "Kindig-it" could make the molding either out of bar stock (alloy, tho my choice would be bronze as it chromes better) or out of billet. The original was hollow on the back side and this allows the lower section of the molding to extend in past the front of the body. This represents a problem for either the CNC or bar type material as it would sit flush to the body and extend too far forward to sit flush to the top of the horizontal valance panel.
Click to expand...

I think its too thin walled to be able to be CNC'd. It would end up being impossible to hold while being machined.

The fact that the upper profile is the same as the MK I part presents the possibility of starting with an earlier piece and cutting off the lower half and forming the new deeper lower profile and welding or brazing it on. The new piece is a complex compound curve but if done this way, there would be something to work against.
 
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