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 BeigeSav1969
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| posted on November 24th, 2014 at 12:01 PM |
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VIN No.
Finally decided to check the VIN on my wife's beetle only to discover what I thought was a 69 is actually a 68.
Am I reading this correctly - 118765326?
There is also a number stamped behind the spare tyre but it is only 7 digits, what does this number represent?
I'm gonna have to change my user name
Thanks Ryan
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Joel
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| posted on November 24th, 2014 at 04:38 PM |
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Some times cars were built very late in the year but by the time finsihed assembly complied and sold it was in to the following year.
Mine is like that, its a 75 on paper according to VW but its built in late 74 as 74 spec with a 74 chassis number.
68 was a transitional year as they had to be imported for the first part of the year while the factory was shut down and retooled for fatchick
production to commence.
Yours has a pretty high chassis number for that year so would have been fairly late.
There is a few 68 only things some people know to look for, they had the early style speedo but with a fuel gauge, the fuel door didnt have a cable
release and they still had the early style shark gill heater outlets instead of the 69 onwards plastic ones and no hazard switch next to the ashtray.
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AA003
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| posted on November 24th, 2014 at 08:18 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by JoelMine is like that, its a 75 on paper according to VW but its built in late 74 as 74 spec with a 74 chassis number.
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Why is yours a '75?
I read it on samba, so it must be correct.
Sometimes Volkswagen dealers sell spare parts. Amazing isn't it!
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BeigeSav1969
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| posted on November 24th, 2014 at 08:34 PM |
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Thanks Joel, looks like it's a 68 as it has a few of the traits you mentioned. No cable release for the fuel door, steel grill heater outlets and no
hazard switch.
I'd read somewhere that only the Australian built models had the hazzard switch, were all 69 beetles here in Aus made in Aus or was there a mix of
import and Australian built?
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Phil74Camper
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| posted on November 25th, 2014 at 06:51 AM |
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The manual 1500 Beetles were CKD assembled, but the semi-autos were fully imported.
Hazard flashers were fitted from 1969 but I don't know from exactly when. The Australian factory usually incorporated 'newer model' improvements in
the early months of the year (Feb-Mar-Apr) after returning from the Xmas holidays. But first they would use up the stocks of last year's parts before
using the newer parts that arrived in crates from Germany.
Ryan your chassis would have been stamped in Germany and shipped out to Australia as part of the CKD parts crates. In 1968-69 the Melbourne factory
was transitioning bcak to assembly, and also assembling Nissans, Volvos and Mercedes trucks. VWs at that time took up around 60% of the assembly work,
but VW sales had slumped by half from the highs of 1963-64 and there were lots of unsold VWs in yards and dealerships. Your chassis could have sat
around in Melbourne for months before it was assembled - maybe even into 1969.
There are mm/yy date stamps on your wheel centres, and one on the back of the speedo. These may give you a more recent date, after which your car
would have been assembled.
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BeigeSav1969
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| posted on November 25th, 2014 at 12:36 PM |
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Thanks Phil, I checked the back of the speedo and from what I could read it looked to be stamped 68. I checked the original papers and it was
purchased in March 69 so every likely hood it was built in 68 but it has always been registered as a 69.
Couldn't see any date stamps on the wheels but my eyes are crap. Thanks for all the info fellas, very helpful as always.
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AA003
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| posted on November 25th, 2014 at 12:50 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by Phil74Camper
chassis would have been stamped in Germany and shipped out to Australia as part of the CKD parts crates.
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Were they stamped in Germany or Australia?
If they were stamped in Germany the model changes (eg seat runners) would be the same here as in Germany according to VIN.
I read it on samba, so it must be correct.
Sometimes Volkswagen dealers sell spare parts. Amazing isn't it!
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Phil74Camper
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| posted on November 25th, 2014 at 01:59 PM |
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Do you mean stamping (pressing) of the whole panels, or just the stamping of the numbers? The former - no, VWA removed all the presses in 1968 and
couldn't stamp or cut sheet metal parts after that. The Melbourne factory was just a big assembly shop.
But I don't know if they still had the capacity to stamp numbers on blank German chassis - and if so, whether they did. But since they were 118....
numbers and not 198.... I suspect the chassis numbers were stamped in Germany too, like the body numbers were.
If the numbers were stamped here, how would they have arranged to prevent duplicates with numbers used in Germany?
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AA003
A.k.a.: Phill
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| posted on November 25th, 2014 at 04:10 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by Phil74Camper
If the numbers were stamped here, how would they have arranged to prevent duplicates with numbers used in Germany?
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Numbers allocated monthly by Wolfsburg.
If they were stamped in Germany, Australia would have had the same changes according to VIN to at least the floorpan. Read Joel's excellent article
about Superbugs.
Food for thought.
I read it on samba, so it must be correct.
Sometimes Volkswagen dealers sell spare parts. Amazing isn't it!
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