Sliding Door U-Bracket - Difference Between Early and Late?

cunning plan · Apr 7, 2015

Does anyone know what the difference between Early and Late Bay U-Brackets for the sliding door mechanism is?

The usual parts suppliers have them listed as '68-'75 and '75-'79, so they are obviously different. :?

I have a couple here and I want to make sure I have the correctly identified. :|

:sign0009:

vwed · Apr 7, 2015

You may find the last posting in this topic of interest:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=492528&highlight=sliding+hinge" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Note the final comment that any complete hinge unit will fit any Bus, but the individual parts are not always interchangeable.

cunning plan · Apr 8, 2015

vwed said:
You may find the last posting in this topic of interest:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=492528&highlight=sliding+hinge" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Note the final comment that any complete hinge unit will fit any Bus, but the individual parts are not always interchangeable.

Much appreciated, thanks!

vw76westy on TheSamba.com said:
the early style has copper colored spacer's/washer where the u
meets the rest of the mechanical part (on both sides)
there is also a o-ring looking piece where the copper spacer is
these spacer's make the U a 1/4 of an inch taller than the U on a late bus

the late bus slidder does not have o-ring or the copper washer
this makes the U a 1/4 of an inch shorter than a U from a early slidder

somewhere inbetween these 2 styles i have come accross slidder's
that have the copper spacer but no measured space for the 0-ring
& the measurement's of the whole thing go back & forth
between the sizes of a early & a late slidder but dont fit either
1 in the end......

So, if I have read that correctly (admittedly, I have had to read through it several times to understand what the chap is saying because of the way he has written it), I think he is saying that the U-Bracket itself does not change in size, instead the two mechanism parts either-side of the U-Bracket are the parts which change the size of the U-Bracket. The Early Bus mechanisms have a copper washer and spacer which makes them longer and the Late Bus do not which makes them shorter.

... I think. :? :|

vwed · Apr 8, 2015

I've had a look at my Type 2 microfiches and the U piece part number changes in '75 which would suggest that there is indeed a difference between early and late. So I rooted around my various hinge assemblies and took the below photo. The complete unit on the left is a '75 onwards one. Up against it is a U piece that must be an early one as the dimension is different. What is harder to see in the photo is that the "depth" of the U is greater in the later one. I agree the samba posting is a bit confusing and would benefit from photos. The main point I got from it was that any complete hinge mechanism would fit any Bus but caution is needed when swapping around individual components.

vwed · Apr 8, 2015

Dimensions of early U piece:

cunning plan · Apr 8, 2015

vwed said:
The main point I got from it was that any complete hinge mechanism would fit any Bus but caution is needed when swapping around individual components.

Okay, so for anyone else reading this for help, we think the guidelines are:

The slider hinge mechanism and U bracket are different depending on model year (Early up to '75 / Late '75>).

If you just want a simple swap, buy the correct parts for the year you already have, so if you have an early mechanism, buy an early U bracket.

However, you can make any hinge mechanism work with any U bracket if you choose the correct parts from different years to mix together.

arty0009:

vwed said:
Dimensions of early U piece:

Perfect!!! Thank you for taking the time to take pictures.

I have just measured and that has confirmed that the two spares I have are indeed Early 'U-brackets'! :mrgreen: