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<x-charset iso-8859-1>Keith and John: This is the first chance I had to read your article. EXCELLENT. EXCELLENT. EXCELLENT. Thank you. You've answered tons of my questions that I've wondered but haven't asked or even considered. Jason 68 Notch ----- Original Message ----- From: "Keith Park" <topnotch@nycap.rr.com> To: <type3@vwtype3.org> Sent: Friday, November 16, 2001 6:34 PM Subject: [T3] The safety FAQ > While were talking safety and seatbelts... I thought Id post the safety FAQ. > Our old cars arent as safe as many of the modern ones so its really a good > idea to wear our seatbelts and make sure they are in good shape! > > Keith > > Safety and your T3 > A guide as to what to consider when choosing a year or particular car. > > By Keith Park with the help of John Jaranson. > > This article is written to familiarize you with the safety upgrades of the > T3 US spec cars and some things that can ether be upgraded on the earlier > cars or avoided during a restoration. In other foreign markets the same > rules apply but the year of introduction of safety equipment may be > different and some may never have been implemented. > What year did the T3 become a safe car? Well. compared to today's US spec > cars never but in general with the cars of their day a general rule is 1968 > for the US spec cars. > Why this year? Well, 3 things really, first off the fuel filler neck, it was > moved to the RF fender and attached to the tank with a flexible hose so in > an accident it will bend and not break. The earlier design at the front of > the Tank was REALLY boneheaded as with no flex strip it will tear from the > tank during a moderate front end collision and easily if you rear-end a > high-bumpered vehicle. You will probably then burn to death unless you can > get out quickly. Secondly in 68 the US got the safety collapse steering > column, without it a moderate to severe front-end collision resulted in your > face being permanently and perhaps fatally altered by the steering column. > Lastly. the high-back seats. Whiplash is greatly reduced by supporting the > head. > Early cars can be fitted with late seats as a direct swap. Steering > columns can be retrofitted too with some changes in the wiring and some loss > of original look. The fuel tank will swap out but requires putting a late > RF fender on the car and cutting a hole in the inner fender well for the > filler neck. Some early cars already have the stamping for this hole. > Seat belts! There were mounts for the 3 point front and rear belts as far > back as 65 at least and if they are not in your car this is the first > upgrade you should do. Inertia reel belts came out in 72 and are an easy > bolt in to the early cars and much easier to use and use properly than any > of the early belts. This makes for a very desireable conversion. > Lastly, never retrofit belts by bolting to anything else but the factory > mounts and make sure they're in good condition. Anything else hasn't been > crash tested and such and makes for some dangerous possibilities. > Other safety features as they were introduced. Not much happened till 66 > when the disk brakes came out on the front end. This improved stopping > ability notably. They can be swapped to early cars by changing out the > spindles and everything on them as well as the master cylinder. In 67 the > Dual circuit brakes came out. BIG plus for safety. Now you don't lose all > your brakes if there is a hydraulic leak somewhere. They can be retrofitted > to early cars by changing the master cylinder, using a 67 fluid reservoir, > and upgrading to disk brakes. 67 saw hazard lamps installed. 68 saw the > above mentioned improvements and a front bumper brace bar which added > rigidity. The automatics this year also received the new IRS rear > suspension and 69 it was introduced on the standards. This made for much > safer handling characteristics and less oversteer. 1970 introduced the > redesign with much stronger bumpers and a sturdier front end and body > assembly. Stiffening plates were added to the inner fender wells in front > (most of which have rusted off by now) and an extra layer of metal to the > door pillars and rockers. 72 got the new steering wheel and column which > has better collapsing features and starting in May of 1972 new front seats. > These seats had a new front mount and strengthened pan that prevented them > from tearing out of their tracks in a rear-end collision, a rather important > feature. The unfortunate part is they are not swapable with the early ones > and the mounts are too different to modify. The newer seats, while more > comfortable, are of poorer quality and tended to deteriorate faster. 1973 > got the side impact protection in the doors so if your upgrading your > earlier car you may want to consider these. They are bolt on back to 66 on > the Square and Fast and 70 in the Notch but the inner door panel and armrest > mounts differ from the earlier cars. > With this all said there are other things to consider. Outside of > structural rust the things to avoid list contains the fiberglass pans. > There are NO suitable replacement fiberglass pan sections on the market that > can hold the seat mounts of the 5/72 and later T3 3 point seats firmly > enough to survive even a minor rear end collision. You will be ejected > backward and into the roof, not good! Earlier cars must be carefully > examined for rigidity of the runners that mount the seat. Chances are that > if your fitting new pan halves that the outer seat rail is no longer > structurally sound as the rocker is probably rusted too. Carefully check > this. > Fiberglass bumpers, not so much the early ones as they were so flimsy as > steel anyway but the late ones with the reinforcement. A fiberglass > replacement, especially if the stiffener bar is left out, will have some > reduction on impact absorption. > Safety glass, make sure your car has it. Its Illegal not to in the US as we > 've had laminated windshields since the 30's but a few might have slipped in > with the gray market cars. It's marked on the windshield. > Aftermarket seats, if they are just bolted in to a flat portion of the pan, > be it fiberglass or steel they will rip out on impact. Make sure any > aftermarket seat uses the factory mounts or the system has been really > engineered properly or you'll come loose in an accident. > Lowered cars, this seriously affects high-speed stability if not done right > and 99% of them aren't. You lose your caster and emergency maneuvers on the > highway are no longer possible. Skinney, low profile tires also make > handling dangerous and stopping ability greatly reduced. Be prepared to be > Sued or not covered by your insurance in the US if these type of > modifications are discovered after an accident. This is starting to become > an issue. > Full-length rag tops. Yea these are a blast in the summer but they should > really have a roll bar to go with them. The real support in rollover comes > from > the a,b,c, and d pillars and there connection to the upper rails(front to > back) and the front and rear header, however there are several stiffening > bars screwed into the sides of the roof that run across the roof to provide > support and protect you in the case of a rollover or partial rollover, > especially in a Squareback, you lose these with the full length rag and the > side windows and windshield will fold over more easily. > The rag tops do reduce safety in a couple of other areas too. One is > occupant > retention in a rollover. It would be far easier for an unbelted occupant to > be ejected from the vehicle in a rollover, especially if the top is open. > You are also more likely to get intrusion into the passenger compartment > from things like branches, fire hydrants, stumps, rocks, etc. in a roll > over. > The full-length rag top will also reduce the overall body stiffness of the > vehicle which will add to additional stress on joints and poorer handling. > > How do you use your car? Is it a daily commute vehicle for you in > Washington DC traffic or do you just go to the store on Sunday in a quiet > Vermont town? Are you an experienced driver or just starting out? If you > have little exposure to risk then there is little to worry about driving > even the early cars in stock form. However. if your 16 year old son is > commuting to work daily in Washington DC traffic in his 62 Squareback with > the fiberglass panhalves and a full length rag then he should really be > blasting "Suicidal Tendencies" from the stereo as well. > > Another last thing that we should carry in ALL our cars is a fire > extinguisher, this can prevent a little mishap from becoming a total loss. > OR it can save someone else's car or LIFE when you stumble into an accident > on the road. > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------- > Too much? Digest! mailto:type3-d-request@vwtype3.org Subj=subscribe > > </x-charset>