For: Volkswagen Thing Convertible Top and Accessories
Description:
Catch, Top Latch, Left or Right. Volkswagen THING (VW) 1973-1974.
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$119.00

Part #: 181-385-THING
1973-74 Volkswagen (VW) Thing Convertible Tops

We offer Volkswagen Thing convertible tops in Haartz pinpoint vinyl, Haartz Stayfast canvas, German Sonnenland Canvas, and Camouflage Vinyl.

About the Fabrics:

Haartz Pinpoint Vinyl: design is original to most American cars from the fifties to the nineties. Pinpoint refers to the little dots or pips that you see if you look closely at the vinyl surface. European cars, such as the old Beetles and others also used pinpoint vinyl as the topping fabric.

Haartz Stayfast Canvas has a canvas outer layer and a preshrunk cotton inner layer. The two are bonded with and separated by a butyl rubber core. It is this core that makes the fabric last a very long time, with both better static and dynamic wear ratings than vinyl toppings. Haartz Stayfast is the American substitute for the German canvases used in Mercedes, Porsche, BMW, some models of Mustang and Lebaron and others. Canvas is widely regarded as "richer looking" than vinyl. It is a little harder to clean. The inside of the top is pre-shrunk cotton. The inner lining is usually black.

German Sonnenland Canvas is the original German made canvas used in many Mercedes, Porsche, BMW and other convertibles. It's general construction is very similar to the other two canvases. It is hard to tell the surfaces apart among the three. But the manufacturing specifications make this the longest lasting top. There is an approximate twenty percent greater wear rating for Sonnenland than for Haartz Stayfast. Some of this is due to the abrasion resistance of the exterior canvas. This is a factor in certain tops where the framework design tends to produce friction between the top's surface and the car's hardware. (It is a well known 'trade secret' that the Haartz Division of Glen Raven Mills purchased the Sonnenland factory.)

The top installation can often utilize the existing side curtains.
Curtains are therefore sold separately from the top.

The curtains are a set of all four with the front wind wings with
velcro for attachment. You must retain and re-use the original metal frames. The Volkswagen THING is also popularly known in the United Kingdom as the Trekker,
and in Mexico as the Safari.