Not a week goes by here at 1967beetle.com without someone sending photos of their vintage pride and joy, fresh from bodywork and paint. More times than not, their car has an aftermarket front fender. If you didn’t know, the ’67 Beetle front fenders (German) are another one of those fantastic one year only items. If you look at the vintage market, you’ll see plenty of folks claiming, “high end restoration.” However, (sadly) people often use cheap parts for max profit. The power is being able to tell the difference. I’d like to explain how can you tell if you’re dealing with genuine German VW metal. Let’s discuss below, with photos to help illustrate how simple the difference really is. I’d love to know how many readers actually go outside and look at their cars after reading this.

Turn signal holes
This is by far one of the easiest ways to distinguish the real deal from aftermarket. On the right we have a genuine German VW fender. If you remove your top turn signal assembly, the hole punched should be round. On the top of the hole, if you looked close enough you’d also see that the fender is stamped with a VW logo mark. Over time, these are often worn away. However, they are there from the factory. Also, the metal of German fenders is much thicker. On the left, we have an aftermarket fender with a goofy oblong hole. Why the folks making these did not use proper tooling to produce something that matches an OE fender is beyond me.

(Photo and video by our good friend Chris Vallone of Classic VW Bugs)

When my friends and I decide to take a caravan cruise in our vintage Volkswagens, each person receives a memo outlining the cruise and the obligations of each participant. Preparations begin well in advance of the cruise date so that there will be no need for last minute attempts to ready the cars.

Choice of a destination is an important factor, of course and will make or break a cruise. It may take some research to find a suitable destination. Make the destination something which will peak interest. Sometimes it can involve a learning experience. Other destinations will be purely for the please of the outing and company of other like-minded Volkswagen enthusiasts.

Don’t wait until the last minute to begin researching a destination. Once one has been chosen, it’s time to make contact (in most cases) with the responsible party at the destination. This could be a restaurant, a shop, a visitors’ site or other location. Usually, those in charge at the destination need advance notification as to time and numbers. Be sure to stay in touch so that reservations, for instance, aren’t cancelled for lack of communication.

We’ve found that from 12 to 15 cars makes a nice, manageable caravan. Fewer cars, and the cruise begins to lose its appeal. The more cars in the caravan, the more cumbersome it becomes. And, unless the cruise is entirely on country roads, having too many cars can become dangerous!

Many of us do not drive our cars consistently enough to remember when or what we last noticed about our car’s performance while driving. So, it’s a good time to do an intimate interview with your VW Baby! Collect supplies as directed in the instructions and think of any other personal supplies which you might need. Then pack them into the vehicle so that you will know exactly where they are when the time comes to use them.

Once your car is ready and necessary supplies are in hand, take time to study the route. Don’t plan to just follow the car ahead…you may become separated from the caravan by traffic or by a traffic signal light. Know the route.

We place someone at the head of the caravan and someone at the tail of the caravan who is knowledgeable and experienced. Everyone should have an identical, alphabetized cell phone list of the caravan participants. A simple call to the leader can be made, if need be, and the caravan can pull over in order for cars to catch up or in order to assist a stranded participant.

We choose routes which will avoid major roadways where traffic might be congested. Congested traffic quickly can ruin a cruise by splitting everyone up, or worse—by causing an accident.

Over time, I have had a great many people to talk to me about services rendered at various mechanic shops. I think that we can all agree that none of us has been 100% satisfied 100% of the time at any shop. Mechanicing is an inexact “science”. This accounts for a lot of the problems—whether real or perceived. Also, parts’ quality varies constantly. That’s one thing that we CAN guarantee.

Mechanics make a profit by being able to diagnose a problem and solve it under time constraints. An experienced mechanic usually can tell how long a common job will take. If not, he may have a “book” that can tell him, at a glance, how much time a specific job will take. If he can do the job more quickly, he makes more money. If the job takes longer, he loses money (time is money). He has a set amount which he charges for each hour’s labor.

Mechanics also usually obtain parts at a discount from the warehouses and parts houses—especially from those with whom they do a lot of business. They do not pass this discount to the customer—they make a little on the deal.

This article was submitted by reader and ’67 enthusiast Ron Waller. Thank you very much for your contributions to 1967beetle.com.

I looked all over, and found many articles about where to place jack stands after you’ve lifted the car. But I could not find anything about raising the rear of the car with a floor jack.

I wanted to adjust the clutch and drain the transmission oil while I was under there. Following this article are couple of thoughts that definitely will help with those tasks too.