My mom recently bought a 66 bug, and pretty much as soon as she got it home both of the restoration door handles the previous owner put on seem to have failed so it is locked and cant be opened. Does anyone have any suggestions of what do to to get it open? I know some message boards dont allow posts like this for any reason, but if its ok maybe someone could just e-mail me with a reply rather than posting it?
Old car = coat hanger down the side glass. The lock and latch should be controlled by steel rods that are easily pulled. Call AAA (or whoever) if you want a pro to do it (and with coated tools so no scratches).
Packing tape folded in half slide between window frame and b pillar, hook over knob and pull upwards until it releases.
Or call local Sheriff to use lockpick set
If I recall correctly, a '66 bug will not have lock buttons on the window sill, they are integrated with the inside door pull. These will be tough to get to with a coat hanger.
Are the vent window levers fully engaged so that the lock button has popped out? If not, you may be able to push them forward with a coat hanger.
If the outside handles are already broken, can you sacrifice the remains and get to the release lever there?
Ultimately it isn't worth mucking up the paint or door seals to save the cost of a locksmith.
Probably just going to call a locksmith. Does anyone know a source for reasonable (as in not restoration garbage) door handles?
Definitely not VWvortex.....
I'd check to just make sure that the linkage is all hooked up first, and the actual latch is functioning properly before looking for different ones
This is not an actual helpful suggestion, but is there a team of Kia test engineers anywhere close to the vehicle? Link
It cracks me up to hear people not wanting to damage the door seals or glass on a bug. VERY different from when I drove mine in high school and absolutely nobody cared about an old bug. I used to lock my keys inside my beetle so I wouldnt lose them during baseball practice. All I did was put an L bend on the very end of the antenna. I would unscrew the antenna, fish it down between the glass and the gasket on the outside of the door, pull up, and shazam I was in the car. I never had any damage to the car and conservatively I would estimate I did that 1000+ times over the years.
As for the replacement door handles the only real option you have is to buy original 64-66 German used handles from Samba or a local hoarder and then have them re-keyed and re-plated. ALL of the reproduction parts are absolute crap.
It actually looks like the original door handles (and another broken set of replacements) were in the box of junk that came with the car, so hopefully they still work ok. Still have to figure out how to get the doors open, although probably just calling someone to do it is easiest.
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