[T3] Looking for sunroof for '71 fastback

[Jim Adney]

On 7 Sep 2013 at 14:25, Phil Hof wrote:

> I also see a local roof section in the Samba classifieds.  Is there a
> difference among years?  I think the ones I am seeing are for older
> models.  Mine is a '71.  The ads have a section without the slider
> panel, and another ad for the slider panel. 

I don't have any first hand experience with this, so I tried to 
research it thru the parts lists. That turns out to be a bit of a 
nightmare because of the model designation overlap between Notches 
and Fastys. (WHY THE HELL DID VW DO THIS!!!!) A '71 Fasty with 
sunroof would have been a model 313, but so would several years of 
early Notches....

>From the parts lists a few things become clear:

All Fastys have the same roof shape, but there was some minor change 
in the weatherstripping at the start of '71. So if you get a complete 
set of parts from SOME year, it should fit and work. It would be 
useful to know exactly what year you end up with.

I don't find the water catch tray that is welded under the roof 
anywhere, so I'm guessing that it only came as part of the roof.

I can't figure out the water drains and where they go at all. We know 
that there are 4 drains and the parts list calls out 4 drain hoses, 
but I'm unable to find the rear steel tube that rusts out in the 
Fasty C pillar. I would do those with some appropriate HDPE tubing 
instead anyway. The parts list calls out 4 water drain hoses to be 
cut down to 130 mm, so that may give you an idea of how VW did it. 
There were also rubber drain valves at the bottom of each hose, but I 
have no idea what those looked like, and you can probably do without 
them, especially if you use HDPE tubing instead of steel.

All the working parts, steel panel, guide tracks, cables, etc, from 
all models seem to be the same, so I'm GUESSING that the water catch 
tray was the same for all models (in the same year.) So you could 
probably graft in that portion of a Notch or Squareback roof section 
and it would fit.

As for going for parts that are 35 miles away: Go for it. No one here 
would ever blame you. For a part this big, local is a BIG plus, and 
being able to go and see the parts means that you might also pick up 
some associated parts that the owner didn't think of, like the 
headliner, headliner bows and clips, water drain hoses and valves.  

Good luck with your project, and keep us posted on your progress. A 
Samba thread on this would be great to watch.

BTW, for people with sunroofs, I have a large coil of flexible cable, 
like that used in speedo cables. It's ideal for cleaning out water 
drain tubes, including those in sunroofs and the air vents in front 
of the windshield. I can sell it by the foot if anyone wants some.  

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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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