'68 Aussie CKD salvage

So,..

We picked up our '62 bug a few weeks ago from Matt.

So,.. we dragged our other bug out of storage and swapped them over.

It's a '68, apparently a fully imported one.
EDIT - It is actually a Aussie CKD

Our hope is to have this as our daily.

First step was to let Matt have a poke about it and see if it was worth saving.

Things to do.

1 - Sort Body.
2 - Engine? - hmmm,..
3 - Gearbox? - There's one in it, don't know condition.
3 - Wheels? - Probably stock black and whites.
4 - Interior? - Stock
5 - Wish list - A/C - perhaps/ maybe/ one day.

Cool, got a name for it yet?

Not yet,.. That's Emily's job.

Yes, she's a German built 1968 model. Being out in the weather for many years, the elements took thier toll. Essentially a very sound beetle, the rust is isolated and repairable, a few dents to knock out, and a front ender to pull out, but.....a very clean original bug...sweet.

Repairs started today.....a few pics

She is lovely, and has that old bug smell. Very tidy interior, and those doors close so nice.

She is going to be a ripper! The Valiant radio although not model correct looks really bloody cool in the dash! 👍

A bit of history in the search.

Whilst on holiday in Canberra we went to look at another 1500 bug, but it turned out to be more than we wanted to spend and in very rough shape body wise. So on a whim we visited Nicks farm.
It was a sad place.
100's of vw's there.
Overwhelming infact.
Our car was away from the other bugs and was hiding amongst a bunch of Kombi's up on top of the hill.

It must have been there for along time judging by the amount of forest growing on it.

At first we walked away, but I went back at a later date to get it because there is something about it that we liked.

It has that old original car feel and is complete except for the engine lid, left front guard and 3 of it's original wheels, which is a great shame.

Despite this we thought it had many other redeeming features, and perhaps he deserved to have another chance of life.

We think once complete it will be just what we like.

It was nice to hear that Matt didn't think it was a total basket case when he saw it.🙂

We hope that you will all enjoy following the progress of giving new life to this forgotten bug.

Where is this place you got the bug? It looks quite original
Are there many other good bugs there, are they for sale?

MISS VDUB wrote:She is lovely, and has that old bug smell. Very tidy interior, and those doors close so nice.

She is going to be a ripper! The Valiant radio although not model correct looks really bloody cool in the dash! 👍

Thanks for your kind words Ash.

It is such a nice feeling to be started on it.

69bug wrote:Where is this place you got the bug? It looks quite original
Are there many other good bugs there, are they for sale?

Bungendore,.. Just outside of canberra.
http://www.volkspartsaustralia.com/
Guys name is Nick, call mobile only I never had a reply via email.
Yes everything was for sale.
I don't know if he still operates.
I've heard that the crusher has been through there. I don't know how much is left.
I was there October 2010.
Most cars had parts missing as he was running as a business.
Most cars very rusty or accident damaged.
You have to search to find savable ones.
Allow plenty of time,.. long pants and gloves a must as snakes and spiders abound.

Some more progress today, heater channel closed up and inner guard partially repaired.

Your 1500 looks in good nick and the interior seems well preserved and complete, hope it goes well !

annosL wrote:Your 1500 looks in good nick and the interior seems well preserved and complete, hope it goes well !

Thanks. We hope it goes well too.

Thanks for posting the pictures of progress Matt.

Looking great.👍

👍 good stuff n it will get there 🙂

A bit more progress today, Lh inner front guard completed, and a little more investigation









Rust in the spare tyre well

Hmm,.. Rust,.. I hate that stuff! 😠

and for anyone else following this.

I think the rust in the pan is from sitting,.. as the rest of the pans appear solid.
The angle of it's resting place was such that any water that got inside would have collected there in the left front corner. When I found it the door had been left open, and probably had been that way for a long time as it was very stiff to close.
Why do people do that.

The front spare wheel well is from a bad repair after a front ender sometime in it's life.🙁
Where the front apron attaches to the body was not sealed so water could enter into the well.

Correction see below,.. the front apron was not attached to the rest of car, so the water could get in.😂😂

Oh well,.. never fear Mr Berry is on the case.😉

Oh,.. and,.. I found the remains of the last rego sticker.
Last rego expired in 1997 in Victoria.
So it probably sat there until Oct 2010 when I grabbed it.
Lucky car!
Sometimes I really do question my sanity. 🤪

You mean here Carl. Bad repairs....unfortunately the norm for Aussie panel repair shops

Here's the ill fitting front apron/inner guard an inch or so short !!!! Gotta love 'she'll be right mate' 😉




We've found that during the past panel work, some of the panels were fitted and then the paint put on, so some areas where the guards bolt on and the paint had been removed for prepping the repair were guite rusty!! Bare sheet metal doesn't age that well. Luckily Carl and Emily rescued it in time.

Oh dear,.. ^^^^that really looks ____!

Hard not to have that 'sinking feeling'.

Oh well, once started must see it to the end.🙂

Found some photo's of my old bug to help keep the faith,.. and remind myself that I've been here before.

Workshop look familiar Matt?

We will not be selling this one ever.😍

Ahh yes mate, the old Volksrestore panel shop, my guess circa 1996/7. Just spoke to Simon last night and we reminised(sp) about your old bug (he's loaned me a portapower for the front of your new bug 🙂 ). She came up very nicely as we do know.

EDIT: Just noticed the Calender on the wall. Can you lift the date???😂😂. It's funny, I still have a current Wurth calender in the panel section.

Look forward to seeing your progress just took my 69 for an early morning drive and meet up with some other AVD, great experience

Paulc1964au wrote:Look forward to seeing your progress just took my 69 for an early morning drive and meet up with some other AVD, great experience

Thanks Paul. We look forward to driving it also.

matberry wrote:Ahh yes mate, the old Volksrestore panel shop, my guess circa 1996/7. Just spoke to Simon last night and we reminised(sp) about your old bug (he's loaned me a portapower for the front of your new bug 🙂 ). She came up very nicely as we do know.

EDIT: Just noticed the Calender on the wall. Can you lift the date???😂😂. It's funny, I still have a current Wurth calender in the panel section.

Yes,.. if it ever turned up, I'd have to steal the cash from somewhere and buy it back.
Then I'd have one bug restored by Mr Simon Berry and then this one restored by Mr Mathew Berry,.. how sweet would that be.😀
My very own Berry brothers bug build off.😂

I hope Simon isn't too mad at me for selling it, I know he put a lot of effort into that car, it was a silly thing to sell it, should have just stuck it in the shed. I won't be making that mistake again.

Yep if only we new what we no now! Wouldn't i've sold my first kombi 😢. Oh well least were having another go and making up for those past mistakes

toomanybugs wrote:I hope Simon isn't too mad at me for selling it, I know he put a lot of effort into that car, it was a silly thing to sell it, should have just stuck it in the shed. I won't be making that mistake again.

His comment wa something like....what ? Carl sold it? Why did he do that???????

matberry wrote:

toomanybugs wrote:I hope Simon isn't too mad at me for selling it, I know he put a lot of effort into that car, it was a silly thing to sell it, should have just stuck it in the shed. I won't be making that mistake again.

His comment wa something like....what ? Carl sold it? Why did he do that???????

Young and dumb I'm afraid Matt. Dooh!!!

As Tarin has said....we're all guilty

Started the rust repairs required at the LH rear 1/4 panel and rear of heater channel.

Cutting out the offending area's looked like this.



Inside the sill was very good except for this last8" or so, with most of the original primer still in good condition.



There was some rust on the top of the heater channel, so that will need patching prior to repairing the 1/4 panel, so the lower 1/4 was fully removed for this repair, fortunately as there was definately rust lurking, even where the outer panel looked good.




New repair patch fabbed




Midway through closing up the sill...metal treatment underway




This is the repair panel fabricated for the lower sill rear patch. The shape was formed by making a wooden former and working the panel

Looking good. (The repair🙂, not the amount of rust.🙁)

Thanks for the pics, love your work.👍🙂

Looking great Matt.

It's always a bigger job than it looks eh!

Nice safety boots!!! (In the first pic above^^^^)

Don't hurt yourself on our bucket of bolts please.

Hot spark down the shoe, ouch!!! 😂

Saftey boots are the panel beaters.... 😉

Left hand rear 1/4 weldng nearly finished

What's Bilbo Baggins doing sticking his head in the picture 😀

Repair work is nice.

vassy66T1 wrote:What's Bilbo Baggins doing sticking his head in the picture 😀

Repair work is nice.

Ha ha , since your asking.... he was checking the work at the end of the day 🙂

matberry wrote:

vassy66T1 wrote:What's Bilbo Baggins doing sticking his head in the picture 😀

Repair work is nice.

Ha ha , since your asking.... he was checking the work at the end of the day 🙂

I thought he was the night time guard dog.

Are you going to stick with the original colour? Is it close to pastel blue which was on Aus bugs in 71? Great work so far, keep the updates and pics coming,
Cheers

This weeks progress......

Rear 1/4 panel welding has been finished, the lower corners of the panel were fabricated by hand, extra detail for the drain makes the job look factory. We had a crazy humid day yesterday and the bare metal went surface rusty, this and the other repaired areas will get acid wash and prepped for etch prime next. 🙂 Then onto the prior repaired accident damage in the front.




Right hand front 1/4 panel

from this




to this






to this

Hey Matt, do you cut the section out then fab the patch to suit or make the patch then trim the rusty area as needed?

Hi mate, i cut first as often you expose more cancer underneath the panel. Final repair patch is determined as I go.

DubbyDo wrote:Are you going to stick with the original colour? Is it close to pastel blue which was on Aus bugs in 71? Great work so far, keep the updates and pics coming,
Cheers

Yes, because we are not going to repaint the car.

The colour of this one is Zenith Blue. It is a fully imported German car. I'm not sure how it compares to the 71's, maybe same paint code but different name,..
I'm sure if you posted the question in the paint and panel section someone would be able to answer it.

Repaired areas will be blended in to the original paint as most of the car is original paint.


and,..

Yes, thanks Matt for the update.

Did you find any more rust in the drivers side channel when the running board came off?

Carl and Emily wrote:Did you find any more rust in the drivers side channel when the running board came off?

👍 👍 All good so far Carl. 🙂

So after completing all the rust holes in the body, it was time to tackle the spare tyre well and prior accident damage to the front. The replacement apron was fitted over the top of the damage with reminants of the old panel underneath. Rust in the area is mainly due to the repairer not painting the repairs properly. The body was around 50mm short fwd of the beam and there was nearly 20hours of pulling stretching, beating and pulling, some more beating, pulling and stretching etc..etc....you get the idea.

Some before and during pics

and the car is saying,..

" Thank you for giving me corrective surgery for my broken nose."

😍 it!

Carl and Emily wrote:

DubbyDo wrote:Are you going to stick with the original colour? Is it close to pastel blue which was on Aus bugs in 71? Great work so far, keep the updates and pics coming,
Cheers

Yes, because we are not going to repaint the car.

The colour of this one is Zenith Blue. It is a fully imported German car. I'm not sure how it compares to the 71's, maybe same paint code but different name,..
I'm sure if you posted the question in the paint and panel section someone would be able to answer it.

Pastel Blue and Zenith Blue are slightly similar but Zenith has a more of a grey shade to it compared to Pastel.

very nice repair work thanks for posting

Coming along nicely! Glad to see you are keeping the OG paint

66doubledoor wrote:very nice repair work thanks for posting

Thanks must go to Matt and Max.

BlackBug wrote:Coming along nicely! Glad to see you are keeping the OG paint

Thanks Blackbug.

Yes! We like the old, original, worn look too.🤪

We feel this car is just on the edge of being able to retain it's original feel, and not the restored look. If you know what I mean.

Don't get me wrong,.. a fully restored car is a lovely sight to see.

But that's not for this car,.... at the moment.😂

Joel wrote:

Carl and Emily wrote:

DubbyDo wrote:Are you going to stick with the original colour? Is it close to pastel blue which was on Aus bugs in 71? Great work so far, keep the updates and pics coming,
Cheers

Yes, because we are not going to repaint the car.

The colour of this one is Zenith Blue. It is a fully imported German car. I'm not sure how it compares to the 71's,

maybe same paint code but different name,..
I'm sure if you posted the question in the paint and panel section someone would be able to answer it.

Pastel Blue and Zenith Blue are slightly similar but Zenith has a more of a grey shade to it compared to Pastel.

There you go Dubbydo,..

Thanks Joel for sharing your knowledge.

It will be interesting to see how our car comes up after a cut and polish.

Thanks Joel. I think Zenith Blue looks a helluva lot better than the Pastel Blue which I have, maybe because the only cut and polish that will bring it back needs to be done by a grinder😂😂
Looking forward to seeing how yours looks after its been polished Carl. Have a great weekend
Cheers,
Dave

Update pics....

the rust repairs have been prepped and painted with a zinc rich primer to seal them from the elements








Upon removal of the rh rear guard, the last nest of evil has been un-covered, again purely 'caused' by poor workmanship during past panel repairs but nothing a bit of elbow grease won't fix

Nice work Matt, you've given me some inspiration to tackle the rusty holes I'm finding in my '62. I have very bad panel damage to the rear quarter panel, under the side window down to the sill - how would you approach that?

Carl - thanks for the heads up, I'll enjoy following this post. 🙂

Some more progress this week, the rh rear guard mounting area patches have been plated and while the hole was there, it gave access to the rh C pillar that had a decent dent from a fork lift or something. You can just make out the dent in the first pic. It doesn't look like much, but was a good 25mm deep and streched the panel somewhat. Max the panel guru has metal finished the area to require very little filler.

OMG!!

Fantastic work!!!

I wish I had those skills.

Thank you to you both.

It's so nice to see 'old school' work manship.

Thanks Carl, still some smaller holes to finish and this area will also be completed. I have a new spare tyre well floor coming to get the front back together. The skills shown are all Max's, he's extremely good. All day tap tap tap, bang bang tap tap, and 'hey presto' metal finish..... 👍 Sweet as.

He is working on other jobs of his own (elsewhere). Presently a 'Getz', he can't believe the Volksie metal.....Oh so very different to the alfoil that today's cheapy's are made from. 👍

Emily and I went to visit our car today.

We gave the 'guard dog' (Bilbo) a good scratch.🙂

and met Max for the first time. 🙂

It's getting there our old bucket, lucky car it is.

It's a little sad to see that most of the rust issues were caused by lazy panel work in the past. I guess the real culprit of bad panel work is insurance companies not paying the panel shops enough to do the job properly.

But all is in hand, and this journey of bringing something back from the dead is what we really enjoy.
I do it in my my daily work in restoring old houses, and I just so wish I had these skills in this world of cars.
Maybe one day if the opportunity came up I might do a career change. What a nice dream that is.

We hope you are all enjoying reading this journey of our humble every day bug.

And finally.

Today is a birthday of a good friend to our car. He is turning '28' today. So Happy Birthday!! and hope you have a nice evening with your family.😉

Peace and happiness to all.

Those are quality repairs Matt. If I was up your way, I'd have my car at your place in a flash!

Good to see you guy's yesterday and show our progress, your '68 is coming along nicely, she's a lovely solid car that's for sure. Thanks for the birthday wishes too 🙂.

Thanks too, cam070, the panel prowess is Max, he is an ex hot-rodder/panel guru that really knows his stuff. A pleasure and asset to have in my workshop. 👍

Great work ... I know the feeling of restoring a car ........ good luck! 👍👍👍

Well, back to the front apron........

After being pulled the apron and the badly rusted panels were cut out by drilling the spot welds




more work straightening the side panels




Here is the new panel ready for installation




during installation








The front apron needed some repair and straightening before installation






Fitted

Coming along nicely. Wish I had seen some of the rust repairs before I started mine. Would have saved me some stress as to shaping the repars etc.

What can we say other than,... thank YOU!!! again, and again, and again.🙂

Thanks Carl, a little more done today too. I'll take some more pics

Photobucket now happy to take my uploads so here's the next set of up date pics.

With the front apron fitted, there were a few detail repairs required in the rh rear wheel arch and rh front around the fuel filler. The rear then got primed







Then the body work recieved a skim of filler to fine tune the steel work




On to the front 1/4 panel






And now primed

nice work and lovely car

What colour is it going to end up??

She's not a respray, just repairing the damaged and corroded area's and blending paint.

Looking great!

Thank you yet again.

Have a blast at warrick Matt.

A quick update of pics

My last update was missing a few pics to be true to the time frame due to issues uploading to photobucket. I'll post up the latest but consequently the order is a little over the shop






Before (well actually after some cutting and pulling)




After

wow great work!

Thanks guy's, the credit really goes to Max my panel guru.

So,..

With the end of the body work in sight I thought it appropriate to post alittle word about the one that didn't make the cut.

Take your hats off people and bow your head.

It's probably still there, and has probably sunk alittle deeper into the dirt. 😢

You may have read in one of the first posts in this thread that on our holiday down south. ( or north, or east, or west for you depending on where you live.🤪)
Canberra
We went to look at a bug.

Looks better than ours right?

But actually it is in worse condition rust wise than ours. (rust in the door pillars.)

The floors are pushed upwards,

Damaged rear. Dents in passenger side.

What we did like about it was that it has a red interior which I haven't seen alot in a 1500 bug. And is nice and original.

Anyway, Enjoy your volkies people. Look after them, keep them out of the weather. They are falling off the perch faster than we realise.

but of course if you are looking for a 1500 bug project here's an option for you, go for it.

2 really is our limit.

It's a shame the previous owner didn't see fit to keep this one alive.

Time to go for a drive in our 62.👍

So Matt,..

Has anything happened with blue 2?

I know you've be busy with a certain blue car of your own.👍

Hi Carl, I hear you loud and clear, presently Blue 2 is in a holding pattern due to space restrictions on the runway. Max has been kept busy on the '60 ragtop, and we have a few type 2's that have crash landed into the runway (workshop). We are hoping to split body and pan as soon as we have some room. 🙂

Fine with us Matt.

Just curious that is all.

As you know no rush.

Just when you feel so inclined. 😁

We have a volksie to drive so we are fine.😉

Look after those pour souls who only have one and need their vw back asap.😂

Sounds like we need to have a chat (when the time comes.) if you've decided to go down the split body and pan route. i.e. what else to do when they are apart. hmm,..

wow great stuff!

Big movement forward during the last few weeks.

The decision was made to split the pan and body.

Once repairs have been completed pan will be sent off to powder coat in the factory colour.

Then the process of putting this bucket of bolts back together can begin.

I've been doing a little of the cleaning and prep myself.

I don't think Matt and Max believe me when I say I find it quite satisfying, and actually quite enjoy it.🤪

Grease, dirt and grime, wire wheeling, body seal goop,etc,.. fantastic!!

👍

Keep at it. 🙂

Thanks for the update pics Carl. Here's some more. The first one is showing the repairs to the passenger door. A few bubbles in the paint can become quite a bit of the panel being replaced once properly investigated.











We cut out any thinning metal and visually check inside the panel in all the nooks and crannies.







Thanks Carl for your help knocking up the set of stands for the body on parting day.



And as usual, there's always a surprise, a sneaky hole in the heater channel that was directly under the pan seal will need repair.

So the last welding jobs are near completion.

The pan has rust in the LH floor and inside the tunnel the clutch tube was broken away from it's mountings and snapped in two pieces in the centre, all of which needed repair.

here's the broken clutch tube at the rear




and at the front




and in the centre, snapped and no longer mounted




Here is the centre repaired and remounted



and front and rear clutch tube repaired







Then the access holes got repaired




So the LH pan 1/2 ended up being rusty and requiring replacement



spot welds drilled and pan removed







weld through primed prior to welding




New pan 1/2 installed

Looks great!
Whereabouts do you source your pan halves?

Cheers,

Ben.

Hi Ben, I was blown away by that pan 1/2. It's quality is so good, you could mistake it for original VW. I try for the best available and when I don't know better, ie. used myself, I go to the guy's who do know, straight to Vintage. Not cheap, but you get what you pay for, and proof was during the installation, brilliant!

Yeah it looks great!

Thanks.

I have found it easier & quicker to remove the pans halves by cutting close to the spline edge and removing the rest with an air chisel and grinding the spot welds back to flat.👍
My2c

Any update pics Matt?

No pics yet Carl, been back onto it this week. The OG paint has been colour sanded and buffed and has come up a treat. Pan and suspension components have returned from the powder coaters too, it's looking great in the charcoal, just like the OG colour 🙂. I'll get some pics posted soon.

ps. Engine bay looks like new, og tar boards have tidied up sweet

So,...
A little update.

Wagged work for a morning this week and went and saw Matt.
It's getting very close to putting colour on the repairs.
Rather than simply getting the paint made to code. The new paint will be colour matched to what the car actually is now.

So to do that it had to be cleaned up.

Very difficult to photograph, and looks so nice in person, but you get the idea where this is going.

Mmmm,.. shinny.

It was a nice sight to see our little bucket of bolts surrounded by some high class machines. Matts awesome blue to the front , and a certain yellow bug to the side. (I know who you are mr yellow bug owner,.. I bought my very first bug from you way back in the beginning of time, if you are on here how about a thread on it? I like it, and am sure others on here would appreciate it too.)

The pan also has returned from the powder coater.
Pics of that once it comes out from where it is stored.


Hope you enjoy.

Nice update Carl, thanks. I'm glad you like the way the paint has come up. your right tho, hard to get the finish in a pic.

Yes Matt, may I suggest a light stage for photography when Berry Motorsports Headquarters expands.😁

When not in use you can park bluey in there under lights 24/7 with a nice big glass wall from the workshop.

Mmm,.. dream on.😂

^^ me like alot 😍😍

Well to bring you up to date, all rust repairs have been completed, all the panels have been resurected yet we've retained as much original paint and patina but metal prepped and painted underneath and the edges where the surface rust had become a little more 🙂

How nice is this

paint has been sympatheticly repaired....if you can do that........

matberry wrote:How nice is this

See post by Matt two up that way^^^^^

So does this indicate that this is actually a CKD car?

Does anyone have chassis number lists of what were German imports and what were CKD's?

These are the two numbers on the car.

Stamped in spare wheel well.
114 3449

stamped on tunnel under rear seat.
118 570 662

Pictures will be soon.

But a teaser is that it will soon be back in one piece, with all the body work completed.. which is great,.. a really momentous occasion I feel.
I am just waiting on the call from Matt saying,..
"Please come and remove your vehicle from my work place."
(That's the printable version.)😂

But the bad news is that it will be coming back to me for a bit of hibernation in the shed, the original plan was to drive it home.
The problem is that we have bought a new house. (If you can call it a house,.. it's a derelict piece of crap.)
So funds in the short term will have to be directed to that
and the bridging loan to cover where we are now to when we can get the new place liveable and our current place sold.
On top of my regular work.🤪

The upside is that part of the 1st stage of renovations is a new garage, and will be big enough to have the car where I live so I can just go and do an hours work on it as time permits.

Hopefully it will also have a spot for our '62. That would be really nice.

So,.. pictures to come when I pick it up.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Wow! Your car must be very close to mine.

My numbers are 1143642 and 118570727. So 65 cars apart - so made on the same day methinks! Well maybe the chassis was.😊

I believe mine was made about 14th March 1968 and was a German import. My dad bought it on 31/10/1968 from the House of David in North Ryde NSW.

Pan and body will become one TODAY......pics to follow

OK, it's late, but I did promise so here is a catch-up photo bomb of updates. Since Photobucket have come to thier senses and added storage for free, we're back to them for better pic management. 🙂

As the year comes to a close, so does the first chapter in the preservation of this 1500.

Body work is complete.

The plan was 'preservation' and 'longevity'.

We've kept the original paint where possible. However underneath it's almost like new.

A heck of a lot of work has gone into the stuff you don't see to hopefully ensure this lasts.

Thank you Matt and Max for your hard work.

Brought it home to the shed yesterday for some hibernation time with it's mates.

Safe travels everyone over the holiday season.

Look forward to the next meet in the New year.

and more.

Great photos, and informative for someone like me with a similar car. Good luck with the rest of it, looks like its going to be a neat car when it's finished.
The paint job keeps some of the Beetle's original character.
All the best, and safe travels to you and yours, Rob.

looking good, just wondering, what are the extra levers for next to the handbrake?

DungBeetle wrote:looking good, just wondering, what are the extra levers for next to the handbrake?

Heater controls.

spearsy wrote:

DungBeetle wrote:looking good, just wondering, what are the extra levers for next to the handbrake?

Heater controls.

Yes, on your car Dungbeetle you should have a knob near the gear stick.

DungBeetle wrote:looking good, just wondering, what are the extra levers for next to the handbrake?

front and rear missiles, and NOS 😂

Craig Torrens wrote:

DungBeetle wrote:looking good, just wondering, what are the extra levers for next to the handbrake?

front and rear missiles, and NOS 😂

and revolving number plates

Very cool approach.
I love your dedication to the old girl (car that is) 😊

Carl and Emily wrote:

spearsy wrote:

DungBeetle wrote:looking good, just wondering, what are the extra levers for next to the handbrake?

Heater controls.

Yes, on your car Dungbeetle you should have a knob near the gear stick.

That I do, however it's not hooked up to anything, but that will be sorted soon.

However a set of those levers would definitely be handy for solving another problem I have been trying to get my head around 😀

another part for the wish list lol.

viiking wrote:Wow! Your car must be very close to mine.

My numbers are 1143642 and 118570727. So 65 cars apart - so made on the same day methinks! Well maybe the chassis was.😊

I believe mine was made about 14th March 1968 and was a German import. My dad bought it on 31/10/1968 from the House of David in North Ryde NSW.

That's very cool.

However, I've been told more than likely mine is a CKD one of the main indications being the body number tag being welded in where the washer bottle sits. ^^^^ see pic above
I was told the fully imported ones had the number riveted next to the bonnet catch. Mine has the two holes in the front apron where this would go. But also it is likely that my front apron is not the original because of its previous front ender.

What do you think?? I love working out this kind of stuff.

Is yours a semi auto? That would make it a fully imported one.

oldskoolguy wrote:Great photos, and informative for someone like me with a similar car. Good luck with the rest of it, looks like its going to be a neat car when it's finished.
The paint job keeps some of the Beetle's original character.
All the best, and safe travels to you and yours, Rob.

Thanks Rob,

We're trying to save as much as possible.

We've gone the opposite to most.
All the stuff you don't see has had all the work as far as rust treatment, and prevention.

Wheel arches etc,.. look mint.

Safe travels to you as well.

vassy66T1 wrote:Very cool approach.
I love your dedication to the old girl (car that is) 😊

Thanks Marcus.
It's true I am dedicated to my car AND my girl.😂
We really look forward to it being finished one day.
Hope you and the family have a nice break.

and,..

Merry Christmas to all.
This will be my last post on this build as it takes a break for a while.

Carl and Emily wrote:

viiking wrote:Wow! Your car must be very close to mine.

My numbers are 1143642 and 118570727. So 65 cars apart - so made on the same day methinks! Well maybe the chassis was.😊

I believe mine was made about 14th March 1968 and was a German import. My dad bought it on 31/10/1968 from the House of David in North Ryde NSW.

That's very cool.

However, I've been told more than likely mine is a CKD one of the main indications being the body number tag being welded in where the washer bottle sits. ^^^^ see pic above
I was told the fully imported ones had the number riveted next to the bonnet catch. Mine has the two holes in the front apron where this would go. But also it is likely that my front apron is not the original because of its previous front ender.

What do you think?? I love working out this kind of stuff.

Is yours a semi auto? That would make it a fully imported one.

No mine is a manual. I have had this discussion elsewhere on this forum whether this is a CKD vs fully imported. Mine has Sekurit windows, not Australian ones, a German starter motor, generator etc. That is not a definitive answer as many of the parts were used up in CKD kits, but after pulling it all apart, I cannot find anything that is not German.

Regarding the placement of the plate, mine is near the bottle too. I also know of a 70 Australian beetle which has a plate number with the prefix 114A----meanng Australia (?) so I guess that was done for later models.

I don't particularly care if it a CKD or a German one. I'd just like to know for certain.

The only modifications I know that the car has is that the supplied LAP belts were replaced by lap/sash belts with a central cassette type tongue stalk by the dealer in about January 1969 to comply with the new NSW seat belt laws. In addition the oil filled air filter was replaced again by VWA by a dry paper element and VW kindly installed rust seeds in every possible part of the body.😊

viiking wrote:

Carl and Emily wrote:

viiking wrote:Wow! Your car must be very close to mine.

My numbers are 1143642 and 118570727. So 65 cars apart - so made on the same day methinks! Well maybe the chassis was.😊

I believe mine was made about 14th March 1968 and was a German import. My dad bought it on 31/10/1968 from the House of David in North Ryde NSW.

That's very cool.

However, I've been told more than likely mine is a CKD one of the main indications being the body number tag being welded in where the washer bottle sits. ^^^^ see pic above
I was told the fully imported ones had the number riveted next to the bonnet catch. Mine has the two holes in the front apron where this would go. But also it is likely that my front apron is not the original because of its previous front ender.

What do you think?? I love working out this kind of stuff.

Is yours a semi auto? That would make it a fully imported one.

No mine is a manual. I have had this discussion elsewhere on this forum whether this is a CKD vs fully imported. Mine has Sekurit windows, not Australian ones, a German starter motor, generator etc. That is not a definitive answer as many of the parts were used up in CKD kits, but after pulling it all apart, I cannot find anything that is not German.

Regarding the placement of the plate, mine is near the bottle too. I also know of a 70 Australian beetle which has a plate number with the prefix 114A----meanng Australia (?) so I guess that was done for later models.

I don't particularly care if it a CKD or a German one. I'd just like to know for certain.

The only modifications I know that the car has is that the supplied LAP belts were replaced by lap/sash belts with a central cassette type tongue stalk by the dealer in about January 1969 to comply with the new NSW seat belt laws. In addition the oil filled air filter was replaced again by VWA by a dry paper element and VW kindly installed rust seeds in every possible part of the body.😊

Yes, me too,.. I don't care if it is German or CKD,.. but I also would like know which. I love this detective and historical fact finding.

I'm fairly sure mine has Sekurit glass. I will check when at the shed next.

However, I was told the first CKD's were made with all German parts.

Mine has Sash only type belts. (Will be installing new lap/sash belts.) We will keep the old ones for historical purposes.

The CKD stamped parts in the top photo above is interesting.
Have you had yours apart this far?

It's very nice to know of a car made only 65 cars apart from ours.

Our car was last registered in Vic,.. it came from Canberra wreckers. I don't have any other history of it.

What are 'rust seeds'?

Marry Christmas Carl. You have Sekurit glass. I believe it's because the '68 was so different to our previous model in Oz that the CKD used all German parts until production got underway of the Australian components.
I think the rust seeds are what has started his rust and grown into something more substantial

matberry wrote:I think the rust seeds are what has started his rust and grown into something more substantial

Ha Ha, before I went searching for your car viiking I thought it was some sort of rust prevention device,.. and had images in my head of a lovely one owner rust 'free' car. I'm a positive thinking kind of person mostly.😵
Egg on my face,. again.😂
Viiking, I really hope you get the car finished one day. I love the history you have with it.
My fathers one-tonner that he bought new is now my work car,.. I will never sell it.
I'm trying to convince Matt that it would be ok for him to do some preservation work on a non vw.
I have not succeeded,…. yet!!!🙅

Viiking, I found the conversation you spoke about RE build dates, fully imported versus CKD.

Here is a link for anyone else following this.http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=102290&page=1#pid959221

Until proven otherwise I agree with Matt that mine is a CKD using almost all German parts.

I think the CKD stamped part in matts post top of page above^^^^^is the final link for me with my car. Of course mine may have been replacement parts as the history of my car is largely unknown.

I think we need someone else with a 68 who has had there's apart as much a mine with a known history to step in with what they found.

Another variable as I understand it, for early 68 manual CKD versus import debate is it depends on the colour of the car.

Hmm,. and so it continues.

I did a lot of work on this car as a pimply faced youth and never saw any parts with CKD or the like.

I now have the car in total pieces except for the gearbox. If there are any parts with CKD written on them, I haven't seen any.

Does anyone know where else these sorts of CKD labels may be?

OH…and I made an error about the seat belts a few posts up. Mine too had SASH only belts not LAP as I indicated. It is surprising that yours are still original as we were basically told that we MUST change them when the new rule came into place.

I wonder if any other 68 owners have that same centre cassette tongue mechanism that I have fitted.

viiking wrote:I wonder if any other 68 owners have that same centre cassette tongue mechanism that I have fitted.

I have one on my 69 - I believe it may be fully imported.

matberry wrote:

There's all the proof you need it's an Aussie 68 not an import.
German built don;t have production plate there, its riveted to the apron next to the bonnet latch unlike spot welded in the wheel well like Aus assmbled.

viiking wrote:Regarding the placement of the plate, mine is near the bottle too. I also know of a 70 Australian beetle which has a plate number with the prefix 114A----meanng Australia (?) so I guess that was done for later models.

All the Aus assembled beam bugs had that 114 plate spot welded there.
Here it is on my 74 1300
114 just dictates the bug type, which is most likely RHD sedan, ball joint and swingaxle.

The rivet holes where the german plate went got covered up by the washer bottle pressure stickers.

There you go, case closed.

So of course the next addition to my museum should be a early '68 fully imported manual 1500. 😵‍💫

Just kidding!!!

but of course it would be to compare for historical purposes.🤪

It a very important job.😂

Thinking about it,.. has anybody actually seen or have a early '68 MANUAL 1500???
Do they actually exist?

My German built 1500...........has spot welded 114 plate.

This car has full documentation including original purchase paperwork, warranty book etc etc........all numbers match. Car was a one owner before I bought it. 😎

Case not closed 😂😂

Craig if it's just the made in germany that makes you say that don't be fooled, all the Aus assembled CKD 1500s said that on the plate till early 70 when motor producers took over.

They may have been "made in Germany" but they were still assembled here, especially by mid 69 when yours rolled out.

Oh those cheeky Germans 😁

phew,..
thanks Joel,..
for a moment there I thought I was going to have change the topic title again.😂

Have you ever seen an early fully imported '68 manual 1500?
Do they actually exist?

A good mate of mine has owned one for 20 years now, he may chime in,

We've never been able to work out for sure if its an import or not.
It was first registrered in November 68 so may be a bit late.

Its a very high mileage car (over 600,000miles/1million KMs) and has had a lot of parts changed, the glass is mismatched so cant go on that, but the original interior in it was a colour we have only ever seen in one other 68 beetle which was a semi auto so it could possibly be an import

TheSamba dates it's vin as being March 1968 but we were always a fair bit behind German production.

Looks like mine is an Oz built 68 manual 1500... It's got the body number tag in washer bottle housing. It was originally the light blue of yours Carl, but had the blue vinyl interior. It's still got the original number plates, hasn't been unreg in 45 years & first reg 28/11/1968.
It's chassis number is 118765xxx so it's later than yours...
It's good to know, but makes no difference to me though... As Joel said its lasted this long... And well over a million k's...

I'll get the Southern Cross sticker for the back window now... 😂