Score!

It doesn't happen often, but on rare occasions I've had awesome Isetta parts scores on ebay. I picked up this pair of NOS fuel petcocks for under 20.00 with shipping. Obviously the seller had incorrectly listed these, but I was lucky enough to stumble across them, and pick them up for his minimum bid amount. SCORE!!!

The same seller as the petcocks had also incorrectly listed this pair of pistons which I also picked up for under 20.00 with shipping. SCORE!!!

Another awesome score was this pair of NOS Hella old style headlights complete with new bulbs. These were correctly listed, and I was expecting them to sell for at least 3-4 times what I paid for them. I was stunned what I got them for when the auction ended. SCORE!!!

Or how about a box of Bosch W7AC's for $10.00. SCORE!!!

I also picked up a Bosch NOS regulator awhile back for a much better price than I see used or reconditioned ones selling for. I really needed one of these. SCORE!!!

Eagle Comics - May 17 1957

Focus - March 1955

Bubble Trouble

Isetta - Heater Knob

After making the shift, directional, and dimmers knobs, I've had several request to do the heater knob. Unfortunately both my Isetta's are missing their heaters, so another Isetta owner graciously loaned me a heater knob to copy.

The picture on the left shows an original heater knob next to my reproduction. I'm not sure what the story is with the color of the old knob. They usually matched the color of the shift, dimmer, and directional knobs. The shape of it is correct. Now that I have heater knobs, all I need are 2 of the under seat heater assemblies. The picture on the right shows the complete set of Isetta knobs.

Isetta - Knobs

These are the original dimmer, shift, and directional knobs that are still on my red Isetta. When I was disassembling my white Isetta, my plan was to just clean the grime of the knobs and leave the original patina that the ivory had developed over fifty years. The only problem with that plan was when I unscrewed the knobs, the threads turned to dust, and the shifter knob crumbled into several pieces. I thought about various ways of rescuing the original knobs, but in the end decided to just make new ones.

The first step was to make a jig to hold the knob material through the turning process. The first photo shows facing a piece of delrin on the metal lathe that will become the turning jig. The material I chose to turn the knobs out of is ivory colored Corian. The second photo shows the turning jig mounted on the wood lathe with a Corian blank threaded on.

Since I went through all the trouble of making jigs and templates for these, I've made a few extra sets. If anybody is in need of a quality set of knobs for their Isetta, my email address in in the sidebar menu.

Isetta Brochure - 1956