Looking outside the window we realize that summer has left for a holiday elsewhere, the days are getting shorter and wetter, the forests are coloring brown & yellow and the skies have turned grey…

Yep fall’s here. Although this year the show season has taken a hit and we’ve already driven our beloved classics far less than what we’re used to, it’s also time to look ahead and prep for a long winter – one, considering the circumstances, we may spend almost permanently in our man-cave.

Well, let us help you with a couple of real cool add-ons this week to our ever growing BBT program.

The first as a result of a two year long development. A perfect mix that came together, like the perfect storm, but here in a positive way.

It all started with some people that understood each other. The old German manufacturer didn’t want to produce anymore, but was willing to help with a new development. A factory we want to use for a dashboard production seemed to be better in making a fuel tap. And finally we could trace an old German manufacturer for the filters. A perfect puzzle felt together. We save you the story of the packaging….:)

A couple of hundred emails and at least as much telephone calls, a factory visit and some more talking later we get this stunning result.
That this was a very special way to produce a new part is the least you can say.

But with combined forces we went through all development issues and are extremely proud we can deliver a product so close to original that it will fit perfectly every car Volkswagen up to 1955.

Two models to choose from with a 6 or 8mm outlet, exactly like original.

Normally 25hp is 8mm, but with many conversions over the years it’s better to check the metal fuel line through your chassis first when you have a beetle, or the inlet of your fuel pump when you want it for a bus, and order accordingly.

Both models come with a filter in the filter housing below and a top filter over the two upright tubes.
Original had only the filter below, but we thought it was better to supply both, as you can’t filter enough…:) Both filters are with copper gaze, exactly as original.

Final assembly of the product is done in house, so we can call it made in Belgium with necessary pride…
Every single fuel tap comes in its own custom made box for safe transport and easy handling.

They’re in stock now, ready for delivery, get yours….

0492-112 Fuel tap -03/55 (8mm)

0492-113 Fuel tap -03/55 (6mm)

Something we had a long time on the list as well were these starter circles, or flywheel gears however you want to call them.
Easy to replace the broken, rotten or bad teeth on your flywheel to let your starter motor turn around your engine superbly.

On one of our trips we found (by strict coincidence) a factory that made ONLY flywheel rings for mainly lower production new trucks.
A simple question if they could make them for VW the old owner start laughing and dragged us to his tooling shelves, where he had the tooling’s still around from the day he produced still for nobody less than Volkswagen themselves!

We came to an agreement pretty fast and after a full inspection of the production circle (what was very impressive at least) we placed our first order.
Some samples have been carried home right away in our luggage and have been tested on hardness and strength with better as original test results.

The 109 teeth fit all flywheels from the 6 volt configuration including 25 and 30 DIN Hp (that’s 36SAE for our American friends) with the larger diameter starter motor. 130 teeth are used on later 6Volt engines (1967 and up) and all 12 volt starter engines. Always count your teeth before ordering.

Very easy to replace on a lath. Turn your old teeth down till 0.3mm less as the inner diameter of our flywheel gears.  Put your flywheel in the fridge and heathen up your flywheel gear in an oven or on a cooking plate. Slide the two together en let cool down. This is what they call an assembly with a pre-tension of 0.30mm what every machine shop should be able to perform. Otherwise ship your flywheel to BBT and we’ll do it for you.

Now you can make  early flywheels with 130 teeth to accept modern 12volt starters. But always check you use the right starter bushing.
This will be the end of overpriced flywheels for early cars. We have both models now ready on our shelves for immediate delivery.

1568-109 Flywheel gear ring 109t – 6volt

1568-130 Flywheel gear ring 130t – 12volt

A little picture from the factory making these flywheels gears. They make nothing else than flywheel gears…

As an innocent victim of the Corona crisis this little rubber was not available for quite some time. On top of Corona the factory needed a certain volume to start again the production, we discussed thouroughly and finally agreed. Old tools have been taken from the back of the warehouse and cleaned up. A new production started.

With some pride we can present today,that  we have these pedal rod rubber for your bus back in stock!

0289-05 Seal pedal rod to floor Bus 08/59-07/79

With all the above, the Corona pandemic is getting worse again, winter is coming and your bus might  need it as such it may well be time to grab the bull by the horns and sort out that long overdue job – your steering situation…..:)

As you might be aware, BBT stepped up in the need for good quality worm replacements for the early bay owners and delivered this top quality steering worm copied directly from a NOS example. The worm comes already assembled with clips, bearings & the top/bottom racers.

1368-270 – Steering box Worm – Type2 08/67-07/72

We also stock the peg and both seals, should you want to get stuck in, we’ve got what you need!

Please don’t forget, changing the worm & peg in your steering box is no guarantee to get the ‘play’ out of your steering situation, to eliminate all play it’s crucial you inspect and potentially replace the centre steering pin & bushes (Check our exploded views) as well as all tie rod ends. Especially the latter are prone to wear out quickly depending on your vehicle’s setup and driving behaviour.

Lastly, the drag link (this is the tie rod connecting the idler arm to the pitman arm) is often ignored in this process and also has 2 tie-rod ends which should be inspected when you’re in the process of renewing everything.

Another item we’d like to put in the spot lights this week is also a part of the steering range, however, this is for the early beetles. The nut to hold your beetle steering wheel in place, perfect when you didn’t manage to get the old nut off and you sort of trashed with a hammer and blowtorch.. a perfect reproduction is available now…

1370-009 – Steering wheel nut – Type 1 -59

In case your looking for the same nut but for a later model beetle then please use # 1370-01 – 08/59-07/73 (also for type 2, 3 & 181) or # 1370-015 for type 1 08/73- (also Type 2 & 181).

Did you know BBT has various Charts, Diagrams and Exploded views on their website?

Just visit our website, hover over “catalogue’ in the header and you will see the full menu.

At the bottom right you find our charts and at the bottom left you find our exploded views.

As usual if you can’t find what you’re looking for or need a particular part you can call us on +32 (0)3 633 22 22 or email info@BBT4VW.com

BBT News team wishes you a wonderful and relaxing fall weekend!

We stepped up and took one of our random production fenders from our stocks and compared with an all original fender, on an all original split window beetle!

Read the full story on a 21 page test report here below…

Read the full test report HERE

For some time now we help small projects that helps the VW community.

One of these projects is rubber mats for early Karmann Ghia’s.

Just check https://lowlightwerks.com to meet Luis and get all information about the early Karmann Ghia rubber floormats.

Low Light Works is a single man operation with an incredible knowledge producing rubber mats in small series.

Luis is a hell of a guy and make rubber mats hardly to reconise from original.

Some impressions…..

For all further information, price, shipping etc You contact Luis over https://lowlightwerks.com or on Luis@lowlightwerks.comn and tell him Bob from BBT send you….:)