I wrote most of the book 'Knowing Australian Volkswagens' published in 1994 - really it's pretty crap book by today's standards. The Davies' book is much better than mine! Rather than try to put out a new edition, I put together the on-line Australian history instead:
http://www.clubvw.org.au/history/history.html
As a background, the Australian factory began assembling German CKD kits from June 1954. Local content was added over the years, starting with batteries and tyres, paint, glass, trim etc. By 1957 over 50% was locally made, and from 1959 the first metal panels were stamped in Melbourne. In 1964 VW Australia started building a foundry to make engine and gearbox parts. The aim was 95% but they never reached that - local content topped out at about 80% for the '67 model. The whole thing was canned in '68 and the factory went back to assembling German kits - all the presses and body jigs were sold off.
The Aussie '63 is still pretty close to the the German version, with only detail differences as you have found. Really it's only the Aussie '65-'66'67s that are radically different (ie older) than German Beetles.
My data says that the 1963 chassis number block ended with 5677118 but so that does seem to place yours some time at the start of 1963. However the way it worked here was that the Australian factory was assigned a 'block' of numbers to use that did not conflict with Wolfsburg's run. While the Samba assigns your number to January 1963, and Wolfsburg's certificate to February 1963, that doesn't mean that that's when it was stamped in Melbourne. I would think two or three months later, perhaps as many as six months later, is more like it. In fact your warranty book says it was bought in October 1963, probably not long after it was made. VWs were in big demand in 1963 (sales peaked in 1964) so they didn't sit in dealer yards long. After '65, however, sales slumped and cars could often sit in yards for six months after they were built. To get a better idea of when your VW was made, look for some factory date stamps. Have a look at the back of the speedo. Look at the wheel centres of all five wheels. Unscrew the chrome front blinker covers and look underneath.
The 'block' of chassis numbers assigned to the Australian factory is the reason why official 'certificates' for Australian cars are not accurate. Aussie VWs were not sent to Fiji; it's only that Wofsburg's archives today have no record of what numbers were used in Melbourne, so they default to 'export Fiji' for whatever reason. And with no details of paint/trim colours. As far as I know, Australian production records no longer exist, they were thrown out years ago, perhaps as long ago as 1968 when production ended. And certainly there was a cleanout/throw-out when Nissan bought the factory in 1976.
We all know that Wolfsburg uses the August-July model year build, but as Joel says that doesn't apply to Australian cars. Generally the 'updated' model appeared the following February or March down here.
Yes the '63s were not supposed to have a Wolfsburg crest, but the Australian factory would have used up their stock of old parts first. Likewise there are many Aussie '64s that still have the narrow rear number plate light. It simply took longer to change down here.
VDO did set up an Australian factory (in Melbourne) to supply the VW factory, and I would think your speedo would say 'VDO Australia'. The fuel gauge is made to Australian specs but imported from Germany. Later ones were made here.
Joel I'm pretty sure that the Melbourne engine assembly shop didn't come on line until 1965 or 1966. Even then most of the parts still came from Germany. Early exchange engines were shipped out complete from Kassel (with old Aussie motors shipped back there) and only the later 1300 motors were assembled here. After 1968 all motors came from Germany.
