Well, it's not exactly new, 1952, and not exactly VW, but I hope you will forgive me. My uncle had been laghing at it at his mates house one day when I happened to say I was chasing a split screen. Needless to say, it's on its way to Perth from Melbourne as we speak.

That is fantastic!!
Welcome aboard, and congrats on the great score!

Have a troll of old posts, there are a few other Tempo owners about, and some info in old posts about them. They are a facinating beast!
You'll have to post some details about yours when you find out!
Cheers,
Richard

that looks like a horse float van good old bus

That is the coolest thing i ever did see !!!!!!!!!

That is the same car as 65notch looked at inheriting. I chated with some of Davids family (previous owner, deceased last year) and they said someone was looking at it but had decided it was too much work.

They were probably right.

so is it a horse float ??? or just a van ??

nag damn it i can't see pics!!!

boo to being at work!!

Thats the one, X-ray machine is gone but the box is still in reasonable nic.

Radioactive matador...

THATS FLIPPIN AWESOME

Here's a youtube link of me and my uncle starting it. It took 4 days to get it to go and redo the brakes. I've been waiting another 2 weeks to get the gears to select 1st and 2nd. It's stopped blowing smoke since this video.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdCwAqRr6_o 

Quote:

Originally posted by bajachris88 Radioactive matador... THATS FLIPPIN AWESOME

Thats so typical of an old vw engine to fire right up after decades sitting
ive bought a few old barn find vws that have done the same thing

did u change the oil or anything b4 starting it?

how they ever moved with 25hp 1100 ill never know
be even worse than splittys of the same era

that would make one cool camper

They are front wheel drive aren't they??

and the noise inside the cabin [with the engine]

would have to send You deaf...

Ear plugs sold with every Matador.....

that has an extended chassis?? it looks a bit long...

but looks in good condition for a 1952 vehicle...

Lee

My uncle wouldn't let me change the oil because it looked really clean on the dipstick. Needless to say thats going to be the first job when it gets to Perth. Changed plugs and leads because they were all broken. And fuel lines, because they were rotten/ rusted.

Yep front wheel drive, funny ZF gearbox in it with stumpy axles and massive CVish joints. I used to have an 1835 beetle with straight through pipes on it, the noise wont be much different.

The Matador had a really stumpy chassis, most of them had extended chassis on them, usually wood but i think mine has two chunks of steel though.


This is what the chassis look like
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gduMfVk3-0E 

Anybody ever seen a Van Matador? I knew somebody who cut one up, I was too late.

So has this one got the Vw motor or the Matador motor

They were a little different, the engine number was not a VW one, it was stamped somewhere wierd, I'm don't think there was much else different, other than exhaust and fan shroud on the inhale side of the fan. The dizzy cap had leads hanging ot the side, I think that may be Matador specific. But I've never seen a 52 beetle engine so I wouldn't know.
Oh, the head studs are the same as 356 ones with allen key heads or something (thats what the local guy with 6 old Matador parts tells me)

I think IN2VWS seems to be very knowledgable about these things. Maybe he can shed some light on it.

I couldn't find the engine number where the beetle one hides, and i have the correct dizzy and shroud so i'm pretty sure it is original. It also sounds like it has 5.8:1 compression.

Early 36hp had the allen style head nuts, pre 55 I think.

the side exit dizzy caps were used in that era

the axels use universal joints not CVs
i had a good look at that one that was at valla a few years back

Yeah, the old Tempo dealer in Perth has a 1951/52 manual with both VW and ZF gearbox diagrams and figures. I thinkk the ZF became more or less standard toward the end of the model run. Even they used to shit themselves though, so you could get an extension for the gearbox filler which made it hold more oil and last a lot longer. I think I have found an extension piece :-)