Vintage VW Parts

Hippy Halloween

kevin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:34:36 +0000

While browsing for an appropriate VW Halloween themed photo to illustrate our post I came across this “I want one” accessory.. Well, it IS kinda “orangey, pumpkin’ish”.

Happy Halloween, more busbones parts and bits are being added as I type.

Happy 5th of Juy

kevin — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:01:59 +0000

Our shopping cart-check out features are now -mostly- functional for those of you who’ve patiently waited, emailed and waited some more to be able to purchase our vintage VW parts. Sorry for the delay but, we really weren’t anticipating such an onslaught of VW folk nor, that so many of you want heavy or fragile stuff shipped overseas. All purchases will be confirmed manually by us via emails so make sure you’ve registered here on busbones using an email address you actually read.
All European, Latin America and Pacific Rim folks who order parts will get a confirmation email from us that will include shipping costs and carrier options for your particular location. Recently, we’ve gotten a few orders from US Military stationed outside the US. IF you’re stationed near a Military base, please send your base info as we’ve limited capabilities to ship to local bases which -may- be able to freight your parts to you for significantly lower fees than conventional UPS/Fed-X or USPS.

Summer’s right around the corner

kevin — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:10:37 +0000

Nate, our inhouse 12 year old busboner is counting down to the end of his 5th grade school year, 27 days left till Summer vacation and he couldn’t be any more excited to get back to work in the Parts Bin.

Though we’ve not had the opportunity over the last few weeks to work much adding inventory to our “VW partsbin” we -have- reached a minor milestone in the future additions soon be added to the site. We’ve NOW got room to move around and bring in much of our VW parts, bits and bobs from storage, warehouse, closets and rolling storage out in the field and actually spread out and sort the variety of VW Bus, Beetle and Karmann Ghia parts we’ve had stashed for the last 10years.
Might not sound like a lot but it should (along with Nate being able to devote -many more- hours each day) make the gap between inventorying and adding VW parts to the website much shorter.

Upcoming VW Part Listings

admin — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:27:16 +0000

We’ve added a new section to the website where you can browse Vintage VW parts -before- we get the chance to list and inventory them. We’ve done this for a couple of reasons. 1. We get lots of requests for VW parts that aren’t listed yet and 2. It makes things easier for us when adding each new VW part item to our VW Parts Bin.
I’ve a new appreciation for online retailers, especially the ones with large inventories. It’s quite a task to grow an online inventory when one has to: 1- find the part, 2-inspect and rate the condition, 3-photograph the part, 4-research the part description and manufacturer part number and then.. upload images, create and edit the listing, categorize and finally, publish the item.
My best time so far to find, photograph, research and list an item is twelve minutes. Nate (my 12 year old) has me beat with ten minutes start to finish. Kids!
During our learning curve we’ve realized how difficult it is to put together a listing without visual reference nearby (having the actual part in our hand) but, that’s not been so easy as our garage is on the periphery of our networks’ wi-fi range, making image uploads tedious and time consuming so.. Nate came up with the idea of putting the upcoming parts images online -before- we actually create the listing, upload the images from our memory cards via the `puter inside our house and then edit the listings from the laptop out in the garage.
So far it’s working much better than the old way. Now, to figure out how to organize so we can find the parts when needed. Currently, it’s not too bad as we’ve only got 100 or so items actually listed and online but… There’s thousands (literally) of VW parts stuffed into every nook and cranny, inside bussi and even hanging from the loft.
We’ll keep you posted on the progress, until then feel free to browse on upcoming listings here.

VW Beetle Parts Bin slueth-week1

kevin — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:48:15 +0000

For our first weekly “VW Treasure Hunt” we thought we’d make it fairly easy so we’ve published a couple of images of the “Mystery VW part”.

To entice those hard-core Googlers we’ve even included the VW Part Number (vw part#117.877.433.4) which should aid you folks in identifying our quizzical bit. So, The first person to Identify and Describe our VW Treasure Hunt item gets props and.. $10bucks off on any purchase from our busbones VW Parts Bin.

Speak Up

To participate in our treasure hunt you simply need to respond/comment to this post. You’ll find our comments form at the bottom but, you’ll need to be logged in to use it. If you’ve not registered on busbones.com yet, take a second and join. It’s free, easy and we’ll never sell/trade/barter or give away any member info, promise.. We hate spam too!

And the Winner is..

Thanks to all those who entered, the suggestions and descriptions were all over the board. Many of you mentioned you couldn’t Google it (no returns) and, I’m afraid I pitched a small curve ball there. If you were to Google by typing in the part number (without the periods, e.g. 117877433) you’d have gotten 160+ references to “SUNROOF HANDLE FINGER PLATE - Sliding roof and headliner - Bay Window 1968-79″

Congratulations to Ron White of New Mexico for his description above.

Next weeks Treasure Hunt won’t be as easy but, we’ think you’ll enjoy trying to guess. Remember, if you haven’t registered yet here on Busbones, you’ll need to if you want to participate.

Busbones VW Parts Treasure Hunt

kevin — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:27:28 +0000

Often lately I’ve caught myself feeling downright “VW ignunt” trying to remember and id certain VW parts from our older busbones inventory.

Granted, it’s been almost 10 years since I’ve looked at, much less thought about VW’s and the almost infinite variety of VW parts and VW accessories that were available for Bugs, Buses and Ghias back in the 50’s and 60’s but, damnit.. I need help and/or a refresher course in parts identification!

So, in the spirit of a VW treasure hunt we’ve created a new, ongoing column on our blog called; you guessed it, “Parts Bin Sleuth”. Periodically we’ll post a photo or two of a particular VW part and the first busbones blog reader to positively ID it will receive high praise from us, peer kudos and… A gift certificate for 10% off ANYTHING in our VW parts bin.

You can participate in a couple of ways: 1. Reply (as a comment to the “parts bin sleuth”) to the post on our website, or, 2. Subscribe to our feed and get each weeks “parts bin sleuth” delivered to your feedreader when they publish. Either is a great way to get the scoop on each weeks VW treasure hunt challenge.

Our first parts bin sleuth should post later today, let the hunt begin!

Back to the future, past

admin — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:17:51 +0000

As mentioned yesterday we’re reloading our inventory and adding categories (hence the no “add to cart” or checkout) over the next few days so, enjoy browse mode and pencil in your wish lists. We’ll be live again soon.

We’re adding parts as fast as possible but, as there’s thousands of Vintage VW parts and goodies to photograph, catalog, research, dig up parts numbers on, grade and add to our db so, that might take a bit longer than anticipated.

In the interim, we’ve added a new “Parts Request” form for folks looking for something specific here and in our parts bin and unable to find it in our existing inventory. If you’re interested in a particular VW part we do have listed but, have questions about it, go to that product and click “Ask a question about this product” and we’ll respond as soon as possible.

Parts Bin Browse mode

kevin — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:02:01 +0000

For the next week or so we’re going to keep the Parts Bin “Check out” process turned off while we add more inventory and improve our shipping capabilities. Feel free to browse the inventory until then. If you’re interested in purchasing a particular VW part or VW accessory currently listed use the “Ask a question about this product” form and we’ll respond in a timely manner.

Easier PartsBin navigation

kevin — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 08:58:49 +0000

We’ve just finished up our improved search function which now returns better descriptions AND partsbin inventory thumbnails in the results.

Quite a few VW folks over the last week have emailed us looking for specific VW parts (VW bus folks sure like safari windows, eh?) so, we’re making it easier to “request” a part from us.

Better Search better results

In addition to our improved internal search engine we’re adding a new - “Request a VW part” form which you can fill out and send directly to our partsbin staff who’ll scour our shelves and VW parts inventory lists, looking for that elusive bit you’ve just got to have. If we’ve got it we’ll send you an email with price, quantity and estimated shipping charges. If we don’t (and you want us to) we’ll add you to our “VW wanted” email list and, if the VW part shows up you’ll be the first in line to snatch it when it becomes available.

Five bucks off.

kevin — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:12:17 +0000

Through the month of March we’re offering all new customers 5.00 off any item in our Parts Bin. Use the coupon code abe5off during your checkout to $ave a quick Lincoln on your busbones purchase.