having a dilema at the mo

my bug came with the towel rails fitted in pic below but ive been seeking some original bumpers for a while which hopefully i should pick up at dubfreeze
before i bgt car it had original bumpers on but he changed them...:cry:

what looks best???(standard bumpers are an old pic so not sure how nice the set ive sourced will be)

now...


before...


what should i do???

---

I had the same thing - repro towel rails. I took them off, along with the full complement of gravel guards and eyebrows. I´m not a fan.

---

Yeah change to euro spec! Towel rails are the devils washing line!:wink:


So that was your car! :wink: I spent a good deal of time looking around it at Lavenham! Lovely!:d :beer:

---

just like the bling!

---

Word to ya Mamma, homie.8)

---

thanks!

i think its important to put a face with a car etc

---

go for originals, nice colour, is that mango?

Originals.

Towel rails are OK,but unless the body work has the holes for the support bars,they are only ever going to be an add on.

yep its mango,totally timewarp and a joy to drive!

will put a pic up at weekend of what other bumpers look like,am told bumpers are from a 61 and overiders are oe...

we will see...

---

Hey there,

I think if the car is European then stick to the Euro look, although i do love the extra chrome of the towel rails!

Lovely car by the way. 🙂

I like both. I had original towel rails on my, (now Steve Rutter's) '59 Beetle and I thought they looked great. I found the "bling" effect of that extra chrome quite spectacular but being true to the car's history I never considered anything else.

By that token, if it's a Euro car it should have Euro bumpers.

---

overriders are here!!!

bumpers 2mrw!

then we will see...

---

had a trial fit ydy and it just isnt me,staying with the devils washing line....:roll:

just didnt look right



if anybody is interested let me know

---

Are they original VW bumpers (the new Euro ones with overriders)? 🙂

so i was told,very heavy although no vw stamp on them?(already sold them though!)

overriders are all stamped vw and available

---

I like both types but I agree, without support holes in your wings they will never be 'exactly right' ( if you were that bothered though)

The only thing I would point out is that if your towel rails are the cheap ones? ( ie not the high quality repro US type that WW sell which end up costing 1k pair landed) they will start to rust very soon, inside a year! and you will be back to this same dilemma again very soon! (And the stainless US spec repro's made in Vietnam ( or wherever) are very wrong in a number of ways too)

If those over riders are og and good, dont sell them! You will regret it. They are getting really hard to find and originals are far better fit and quality than any repros you will ever find. I have a pair of stainless blades that I bought from Heritage when they first started selling ss, but with mint genuine over riders and it is the perfect mix of old and new
( they are in my garage not on a car at the moment mind you)
So in future the blades are not a problem to buy again, but the over riders currently are, a nos over rider or absolutely mint rustfree used is now worth £40-50 each! a rechromed original can be bought from KK for £40 each. There IS demand for these now.

Just my usual confusing addition to the topic :lol:

PS. NOTE TO EVERYONE, NEVER throw away your probably surface rusty original black reinforcing brackets and replace with new crappy repro's!! None of the repros fit properly! Restore your originals and re-use! nos are at worth £10 each now and you need 8, so you do the maths :wink:

---

:shock: Blimey,that's crazy money.

maybe I guessed slightly over, but I was going to buy a set 9 years ago and even back then it worked out at that because WW airfreight, and now with the $ strong we are back at that again as the bumpers are $359 + $419 + $airfrieght costs, but they do come in lovely cloth bags :d , and when I saw them in USA in 2001 they really were super quality and the towel rails were the right shape which the gsf & Vietnamese type never have been. That was a long time ago though so they might have improved.

Genuine mint used front euro blades are now getting more valuable and hard to find perfect too.

TIP NO 2! :lol: NO seriously!

Dont throw away your original chrome dome headed bumper bolts either! repros are rubbish by comparison to og when you look up close, poor chrome.
Again, typical parts that people toss away and fit new without inspecting them properly! Its only because we have lots that I have gone through them all for comparisons as I am surprised how many people O gets wanting to buy good used brackets and bolts for quality restoration jobs.

---

Agree 100% Anna.
Restore Originals.
But chrome plating is now a scary price.
I paid £500 for two grooved bumpers and eight interior handles(it's a cab.)
Beautiful job.
The guy said strict health and safety at work rules meant added expense passed on to the customer.Something about playing with acid:lol:

Hi George,

500£ is not to bad ! The handles are a diffecult job !!
I payed a year ago for 2 complete Karmann ghia bumpers (American style) 1275 euro(1140£)
Perfect job, but very expencive, but the customer wanted perfect original bumpers !
He has them now !
Christian told me that he know a guy in Poland that is working for good prices and delivering perfect parts ! I have seen hubcabs done by the Polisch guy, realy nice !

Guido

---