Hiya All,
What do you make of this?
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=488540
Mike,
Bit shy on what's been done to it. Lovely glass bead, polishing & paint job though. Given what we know from various discussions on the old board about rebuild kits for these being NLA for donkeys years, I'd say no way at first glance. I'd have wanted to have been a fly on the wall when the rebuild took place....
Regards
Sean
Hiya Sean,
Yeah, I'm more than just a little suspicious.
I sent the guy an e-mail asking for some details about the "rebuild". Specifically, I asked whether he had used new valves, seals and diaphragms. Haven't heard back from him yet. I'll pass along anything I get back.
Well, if looks count [and they don't]
they look brand New....
really well done [as Sean said]
they could have sold them as NOS>>>
they had many NOS parts for sale too...
Lee
For that price it'd better have new internals. Hey even I can polish the body; what's important is what happens when you take it all for a drive.
Speaking of which...I actually will be spiffying up my CV real soon now. Any words of caution before I go spreading out the parts all over my workbench top?
Hiya All,
So..........an update on this post.
I have contacted the sellers twice and have received a reply from one which stated that he was not the person responsible for the control valve. His partner "rebuilt" it and he would have his partner contact me. Right. So far I have yet to hear from the partner.
Inasmuch as the necessary internals for rebuilding a control valve are not obtainable (at least by any semi-conventional means), I'm betting that this "rebuilt" control valve is nothing more than a CV which has been polished on the outside. In any event, $250 (even if the thing WAS rebuilt) is way too much for a control valve. I just purchased an NOS control valve for $39.45US. More about that later!
Mike,
NOS for 39.45?...bargain!!! I think the "arched eyebrow of skepticism" would be a permanent facial feature by now if the "restorer" isn't fessing up....
Achilles,
I got plenty of tips from what I learned pulling a rubbish one apart. Pity that post from the old board isn't around.
If you haven't got a spare then don't do this :
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e210/ctefeh/CVstart.jpg)
If you decide to do less, then don't seperate the upper and lower halves from each other. Just wrestle with the other stuff....
Volkenstein
Sean,
the only thing I do with control valves, apart from painting them...
is to turn the 3 rubber mounts upside down so they don't sag... ;D
and Mike,
at todays prices the Control Valve NOS should have been $395-00
I think they made a mistake.... :D ;D
You're still the Luckiest Autostick owner that i know....
Lee
Hiya All,
I mentioned earlier that I had found and purchased an NOS Control Valve. Here's the beast.........
(http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa85/Bookwus1/Bug/IMG_0736.jpg)
I located this on The Samba. The fellow who was selling this is well versed in VW parts in general but professed little knowledge of AutoStick related parts. He had it up for sale at $50US, but that included shipping, so my actual purchase price (minus shipping of $10.55) came out to $39.45.
He had it advertised as "NOS ?". So, when buying it I was taking a bit of a chance. He had purchased this part in a lot of other parts he knew were NOS, so he figured that this CV was also NOS. I asked as few questions about wear marks at the mounting holes and accumulated dirt and grime. Since he gave all the right answers I decided to take a chance on it.
When I got it I noticed that it appeared only to have "skin corrosion" typical of a part which has sat on a shelf for a long time. Check out how the small brass vacuum has completely browned out. No hose marks on it at all. And did you notice the factory caps on the vacuum ports? But the only way I'd know for sure if it was really NOS was to take it apart and take a look at the valve discs. When I did that I was pleased to see that the reduction valve disc was pristine. Just like the day it was made. And the springs were shiny and the rubber supple.
FWIW, there's a guy on e-Bay who is/was advertising an NOS Control Valve. This one also has the valve port caps and is in the box. He failed to sell it (bids didn't meet his reserve) the first time around. IIRC, the high bid was $49US.
I guess this all just goes to prove that there are better buys out there than so-called rebuilt Control Valves for $250.
So Mike,
What color are You going to paint it??? ;D ;D
Silver or green ??
or Red or Orange??
Lee
Hiya Lee,
LOL....................I just don't have your sense of color coordination.
But I am lucky!
Hey all, Just a quick bit of info reguarding the control valve mounts. I don't know if the originals are available but the air cleaner mounting bushings on a 80's model mercedes diesel fit just fine and are readily available. Two metal studs with rubber in between, a little fatter in diameter than the OG but nearly identical.
Hiya green,
Whoa! Great little piece of information there. How'd you find that out?
Hey Book, I owned a diesel wagon for about 12 years and the air cleaners are notorious for breaking those mounts. I had a few extra in my tool box when I got my ghia with two sagging and 1 broken mount. Took the broken one off and realized the benz mount would work fine. I have bought them for as little as 1.75 each but the dealer wants about 4.00 each for them.
Shame on me for asking but are aftermarket Benz parts readily available?
Yes aftermarket is available for a lot of parts. However if you want to replace these once.... Buy german.
Well. Mike,
I found a photo of mine unpainted...
and I'm sure they look better painted.... ;D ;D
checkout where the electronic ignition box is located...
makes adjusting the control valve.... virtually impossible... ;D ;D
Oh well. thats progress..... :D :D
Lee
Hiya Lee,
OK........so I want to know..........why'd you go with green for the Control Valve? My color challenged sensibilities want to know.
Hi Mike,
Well, I painted the ATF dipstick Cap green first...
then the Control valve , so they would be color coded....
the two pipes coming out the ATF pump were also green
but are red at the moment....
I'll have to change that.... ;D ;D :D
I must confess that I have painted other bits green..
but now they are the only two items green....
cheers
Lee
http://community.webshots.com/user/vw68autobug
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Hiya All,
Just thought I'd update this topic a bit with an advisory warning.
The guys resposible for this ad..........http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=488540 never did return my requests for information. They are still hawking this control valve over at the Samba. They want $250 for a "rebuilt" control valve that cannot possibly be rebuilt in the sense we commonly use that word. I've a feeling that all they did was to polish up the outside and peddle it. Do be aware that almost any old control valve will likely be functional - even the cruddy and dirty ones. Buy one of those for about $35 or $40 and clean it up yourself. Save over $200 in the meantime!
Well Mike,
I've cleaned up two of them....
so I've saved $400 lol... ;D ;D :D
I've bought 2 control valves and the gearbox etc was thrown in.. ;D ;D :D
one even came with the axles complete...
but so far Mike, I still think You got the bargain of the year... ;D
Lee