I picked up a beetle at the weekend, but it's got me knackered what year it is.
# on the floor is 197826430, but it's not in any of my books.
No plate on the body, but you can see there's only one plate missing.
If it's post compliance there should be two.
Hood release is on the right which says it's Oz built, also explains the rust.
Any clues??
dragbug ·
After 65 (i think) the 3rd number in the floorpan stamping signified the build year.
Which would mean it's a 67.
dragbug ·
Also have a look at the back of the speedo and fuel gauge.
They are stamped by month an year aswell.
ie for june 67 it would read 06 67.
Try these.
Spook ·
Assumming the fuel guage is original, 9/67.
But then, assumption is the mother of all fuck ups!
Bizarre ·
On my 74's if you looked at the letters on the windscreen around the VW symbol there was a dot above one. Counting from the left this was the year.
Fourth letter = 1974
Doeas this work for 60's??
Jay_1965vw ·
blue74l wrote:On my 74's if you looked at the letters on the windscreen around the VW symbol there was a dot above one. Counting from the left this was the year.
Fourth letter = 1974
Doeas this work for 60's??
In theory yes, and the other row of letters has a dot under which is for the month. Should work for other windows as well (how many cars that old would have an original windscreen?!).
vw54 ·
Spook its a 67 does it have sunvisor that swing from the door side
Spook ·
As opposed to the one piece mirror/visor set up? Yes it does.
But it seems to have single speed wipers. Shouldn't it have been 2 speed by that stage?
ratty 63 ·
...nope, two speed wipers were introduced in '68 in Oz. My brother has a well used and abused '67 and his has the visors mounted from the panel above the windscreen (not from the mirror), also 1300 and Deluxe badges on the back...from memory, thats about all that sets it apart from the earlier 60's models. Would have origonally been 6 volt too.
R
Che Castro ·
my 63 and my 59 both have armourplate logos on the windows. Are these non-original or are they the aussie manufacture windows from the factory?
Spook ·
1300-yes, deluxe-no.
The home made 12 volt conversion is a rip snorter!
There's a coil taped behind the speedo as opposed to a resistor.
Amazing how a car owned by a uni student stands out like dogs balls.
Thank you folks. I'll take it as written that it's a '67 & grab the parts accordingly.
theverybigtallman ·
my beetle has a visor/mirror setup - no swing - and a 1200 motor. any guess as to the year?
ratty 63 ·
...any pics - from the description you give anywhere from '58 to '65. What size nose does it have on the back lid? Small nose = up to '63, big nose = 64 on....of course this is assuming that it has the original lid on it!
Also have a look at the windows - this is not always accurate at windows can be broken and replaced quite easily. On the windows you should find a manufacturers marking. Mine (on my '63 bug)say 'ARMOURFLOAT' - above the "M" is a small dot (almost looks like a scratch or chip) - all but one window on my car have this dot above the "M" (the one window that doesn't is a different manufacturer so it must have been replaced - this explains the broken glass I found in the back of the car when I bought it!). As the dot is above the "M" and the "M" is the third letter in the word, then this tells us that the glass in this car is from a 19?3 model (? because I don't know if VW marked the windows like this for all years, but during the '60s they did!
As was mentioned before, also have a look on the back of the speedo and/or fuel gauge - assuming that they haven't been replaced in the past, they should have a date stamp on them telling you which month and year they (the gauges) were made - this will be fairly close to the manufacture date of the car.
Finally, If all else fails, do a search around some of the bigger VW related web sites and see if you can find the chasis number table. I have this table in a book and so far it has been reasonably accurate at finding the year of all the cars I have looked up. I used it to look up the year of my Baja shell because there was no back lid, no glass and no gauges. I know that it was built between '60 and '66 (no semiphores and no mounting points in the panel above the windscreen), but thats all I know. It turns out to be a '65 according to the chassis number table.
Hope this helps!
R 🙂
theverybigtallman ·
umm, speedo says 7.61 and fuel gauge says 1.62
is this accurate for 1200 motor, non rotating sun visor?
not sure if gauges are original
ratty 63 ·
...sounds good so far...
sounds like an early '62 model if the gauges are anything to go by...
any pics?
R 🙂
[Edited on 29-10-2004 by ratty 63]
BenettonVW ·
Spook, sounds like the problem is fixed. But be careful buying parts mate..
The Aussie 67 was different to the US 67, so if you are thinking of importing them, then you can come undone damn fast.. Words of experience with my 66 Beetle(Adam C's), plenty of selling brand new parts I had just bought.. I think their 65 is equal to our 67. eg. Pop-outs and so on.
Just a caution big fella...
ratty 63 ·
Yep - in '64 the rest of the world recieved bigger windows on their bugs - in Oz, we stayed with the same size windows until '68. As mentioned above, the Aussie '67 model is very different to the 'rest-of-the-world' '67 model (our '67 is very similar to our early '60's bugs, only with a few minor changes.
pics won't help much. chopped off the front and took off the guards to make it suitable for off road use
Spook ·
ONYA BRAD!
According to the Mick Motors thing, it's a '67 alright, just got the wrong motor & electrics.........😠
As I said earlier, the inside bonnet release is on the right, so it's definitely Oz built.
Jim, do you really think I'm gunna pay $200 for a car then import parts??
Obviousy it's not just my kids that think I got money dropping out of my arse........:P
57kombi ·
$200 for a beetle, what were you thinking.
I hope you haggled a bit.
And for that much I would expect that it wouldnt need any parts.
Cheers
Dave
Spook ·
It's all there Dave, right down to the dress rims.
It's the iron oxide I don't need.
57kombi ·
When you get to it I can recommend POR15, expensive at about the price of the car for 4 litres , you should only need 1 for a beetle, will keep the pan nice and safe from rust , when you get rid of it first.
Wouldnt restore another vehicle again, I would go the rat look or inother words just get it on the road and use the thing, thats what they were made for.
Post some pics when you have time.