Isetta - Steering Damper

From what I've heard, not all Isetta's were equipped with steering dampers. Fortunately for me, both my Isetta's did have steering dampers. If you don't have a steering damper, and are wanting to add one, hopefully this photo will give you an idea of the placement of the brackets on the frame and tie rod. My replacement steering damper came from a VW parts dealer called CIP1. the part number is VWC-211-425-021-A. They are currently priced at 35.95.

Original Boge GmbH steering damper. Boge part number ATP 22-165-01

Isetta Decoke - Motorcycle Mechanics, July 1961

Isetta - Tires

Most (not all) German made Isetta's rolled out of the factory wearing Metzeler tires. The British made Isetta's typically were fitted with Dunlops. Both of the German built Isetta's I'm restoring have (had) Metzelers. The rear Metzelers have a pretty aggressive knobby tread pattern, while the fronts have a less aggressive tread pattern. The tread on my original tires really isn't that bad, but the tires are severely cracking and need to be replaced. I have to say that there is not a very big selection of 10" tires available in the United States.

Ever since Kumho quit making their 145R10 radial tires, 10" tires have been getting harder to find and more expensive. A couple of years ago I paid $27.00 each for Kumho's from TireRack.com. The least expensive radial tire I've been able to find recently are Falkens (made in Japan) from Coker Tire which sell for $53.00 each. If you're planning on running radial tires on your Isetta, due to their wider profile, you might also want to consider using the wheel spacers that I mentioned in a previous post on your front hubs. Isetta's originally came with bias tires, so if you're wanting to use bias tires, Coker also sells BF Goodrich bias tires available in whitewall or blackwall. The BF Goodrich 480-10 bias whitewalls run $117.00 each. The blackwalls run $102.00 each. Coker also sells the correct bent stem 10" inner tubes for $13.95 each.

Falken 145R10 Radial Tire

BF Goodrich 480-10 Whitewall Bias Tire

BF Goodrich 480-10 Blackwall Bias Tire

480-10 Bent Stem Tube

Hey Bibendum, where's Isetta on that list of small cars?

Hobby - July 1955

Vintage Isetta Photos - W M 521

Isetta - Decal Set

Available from - Isetta Classics

Isetta - Steering Wheel

The pivoting steering wheel attached to a single front opening door is probably one of the Isetta's most unique design features.

I believe that most Isetta steering wheels were an off white / almond color from the factory. It would have matched the color of the directional and dimmer switch housings. On most of the unrestored Isetta's that I have seen, the paint is worn through in spots revealing the black rubber rim of the steering wheel. I'm guessing that's why the previous owner of my Isetta's painted over the original almond color with black.

I wanted to restore my steering wheels back to the original color. Bruce Fullerton has an excellent step by step article for restoring steering wheels on his Isetta Tech website: http://isettatech.com/RestorationText.html#S

I really hate using paint strippers so I thought I'd do a little experiment in the bead blaster. I don't recommend it. Bead blasting easily pits the rubber once you've broke through the outer paint. I also don't recommend sanding. Any grit that is coarse enough to cut through the paint leaves deep scratches in the rubber that will require lots of fill work and fine sanding. As much as I hate using it, paint stripper is the way to go. Bruce mentions using JB Weld epoxy for filling cracks. Another suitable epoxy for filling cracks would be PC-7.

I used RustOleum Almond Appliance Epoxy for painting my steering wheel and the dimmer and directional housings.

One other small change I made was to not paint the cast aluminum steering wheel hub. Instead I masked it off, and lightly polished it after painting.

I bead blasted the steering column and steering guide and painted them the original silver / grey aluminum color. I also replaced the nylon bearings in the steering guide, the brass contact ring for the horn, the sliding contact brush for the horn, and the plastic piece that fits under the dimmer and directional housings on the steering guide. All the replacement parts for the steering column came from Isetta's R Us.

Restored steering wheel and column.