TheSamba.com :: View topic - M-code plate help

Sun Oct 25, 2009 8:32 pm

molenari wrote: wakka420 wrote: molenari wrote: 181 - chrome hubcabs, headlamp rings and rear view mirrors
Looks like i have to chrome my mirrors. They are a dark beige right now. if i want everything like it was off the line i have to do it...

A standard (European) bus would have had painted rear view mirrors. They are made out of steel that can and will rust (on the contrary to the 'chrome' stainles steel ones, I have only seen the repro chrome ones rust)

A painted rear view mirror is pastel white L90D, unless an M-code or special paint instruction would say otherwise.

So I suppose these painted rear view mirrors are rare in the USA or not? Im not sure. I haven't seen many buses in my area. The ones i have seen have the chrome mirrors. I'm thinking that something happened to my original mirrors and the PO put these new mirrors on straight from germany. Just a thought...

Mon Oct 26, 2009 9:34 am

To all you M-code gurus, decipher this:

Mon Oct 26, 2009 10:38 am

Wow, what is that, the build sheet?
The things that jump out, besides a ton of M codes, is that it's a 1979 P27 Westfalia, VIN 2392104980, with a manual transmission...just what jumps out at me...

Mon Oct 26, 2009 10:56 am

TeamSpatula wrote: Wow, what is that, the build sheet?
The things that jump out, besides a ton of M codes, is that it's a 1979 P27 Westfalia, VIN 2392104980, with a manual transmission...just what jumps out at me...

I've got one of those for my '79 also, I'll have to snap a pic.

Mon Oct 26, 2009 11:10 am

BoatAlert wrote: To all you M-code gurus, decipher this:
(...)

Wow! :shock: It's really great to have the 'Montageanweisung' with your bus! I have seen such a thing twice before. It's quite rare I think.

Now I am also interested in the M-plate of your bus. I would like to compare the 'group code' mentioned on the plate with the codes on the Montageanweisung.

Mon Oct 26, 2009 11:22 am

busdaddy wrote: Quote: Code 705 (1970)
The safety lock option 705 is a special lock for the rear hatch (the rear hatch (not the engine hatch)) the one you access to reach the trunk. On vehicles with 705 the push button has no lock in it, but there is a special cylinder lock beside it. This means the hatch has a bigger hole to fit the lock and the lock unit is bigger. It was fitted on 1970 vehicles but was probably also available before that., and perhaps even after. It is a rare option. It was available to make it harder to brake into the vehicle, when you had expensive equipment in the van for example. The option could also be ordered for the sliding door handle. The lock inside the handle would also have a cylinder lock and the diameter would be bigger.

I thought this was the safety lock, same hole in the hatch but a lock knob on the inside.

Currently I own 2 1970 Westy Campers both have this special lock. It seems to be kind of convenient because I can leave my hatch unlocked from the outside and lock it on the inside for the night. My slider door has a thing like it to that I twist 90 degrees to lock it from the inside.

Mon Oct 26, 2009 11:27 am

59eurobug wrote: molenari wrote:
2211 = 22: VW Microbus, standard version (deluxe was type 24) weird mine has the trim on the window rubber and on the beltline.

Yes, its the M521 that gives the car the chrome trim ("With chrome-trim and sunvizor without mirror")
From model 1973 it is included in the M524.

The real deluxe is a type 24. The most noticeable things about a type 24 are the rubber moldings on the bumper and the jailbars in the rear. But on older models the seat upholstery is also different.

I have actually never seen a type 24 baywindow bus that was originally sold in the USA. I have no idea why VWoA only sold Type 22's and added the chrome trim on all type 22s they sold... always...and that's another strange thing: a regular European type 22 wouldn't have the chrome trim for example.

Mon Oct 26, 2009 12:00 pm

ghiastein wrote: busdaddy wrote: Quote: Code 705 (1970)
The safety lock option 705 is a special lock for the rear hatch (the rear hatch (not the engine hatch)) the one you access to reach the trunk. On vehicles with 705 the push button has no lock in it, but there is a special cylinder lock beside it. This means the hatch has a bigger hole to fit the lock and the lock unit is bigger. It was fitted on 1970 vehicles but was probably also available before that., and perhaps even after. It is a rare option. It was available to make it harder to brake into the vehicle, when you had expensive equipment in the van for example. The option could also be ordered for the sliding door handle. The lock inside the handle would also have a cylinder lock and the diameter would be bigger.

I thought this was the safety lock, same hole in the hatch but a lock knob on the inside.

Currently I own 2 1970 Westy Campers both have this special lock. It seems to be kind of convenient because I can leave my hatch unlocked from the outside and lock it on the inside for the night. My slider door has a thing like it to that I twist 90 degrees to lock it from the inside.

What's the delivery codes on the M plates?

Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:17 pm

busdaddy one of my Buses is

UT - Picked up by first owner at the factory in Germany, meant for US market

I can't remember the other one but I believe it was destined for a US port. I can find the two letters tomorrow if you want.

Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:54 pm

That would be great if you could, the question here seems to be if the bus was for the Euro market (or maybe Euro delivered) because they seem to be rare on US Westy's but fairly common on Euro versions.

Tue Oct 27, 2009 5:09 pm

busdaddy wrote: That would be great if you could, the question here seems to be if the bus was for the Euro market (or maybe Euro delivered) because they seem to be rare on US Westy's but fairly common on Euro versions.

I was finally able to check my other Bus

UK - USA, port: ??? Pennsylvania

I hope that helps

Sat Oct 31, 2009 6:03 am

ghiastein wrote: I was finally able to check my other Bus

UK - USA, port: ??? Pennsylvania

I hope that helps

UK stands for "USA (reserve east)"

I am not sure what it means exactly. I suspect VW had buses in stock. I mean buses that were produced and delivered to the USA without a customer that ordered it first.

It is very likely because:
:arrow: producing and shipping a bus from Germany to the USA takes some time, and as a commercialcompany you don't want customers having to wait.

:arrow: most US buses look alike, the variation in optional extra's and types of buses was limited on the US market. (this on the contrary to West-Germany itself, where it is hard to find 2 buses that are alike. The time between production and first registration in Germany was often 2 weeks)

Sat Oct 31, 2009 6:18 am

As promised here are pics of my 'Montageanweisung' for my '79 RustyBus. It's taped to the original window sticker, and I've never tried to peel them apart, lest I damage either one more.

Sun Nov 01, 2009 5:27 am

I saw this ad in the classifieds section about a 1973 bus with a strange paint combination. The ad says the bus was a special edition for the 1973 World Fair in Spokane Washington. Have any of you heard of this before? The top colour looks like Ravenna Green to me...

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=863841

Sun Nov 01, 2009 6:00 am

molenari wrote: I saw this ad in the classifieds section about a 1973 bus with a strange paint combination. The ad says the bus was a special edition for the 1973 World Fair in Spokane Washington. Have any of you heard of this before? The top colour looks like Ravenna Green to me...

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=863841

Yes, it's a special one year only paint scheme...not sure about the world's fair part of it, but I've seen Buses painted like that before, and there are a few threads on the forum about them. '73 only colors.

Sun Nov 01, 2009 7:49 am

The Wild westerner.

Sun Nov 01, 2009 8:32 am

busdaddy wrote: The Wild westerner.

Wow, thanks! a new world opens up to me. :shock:
I never heard of this special edition, but it sure seems it is all original. I'll post a reply over there!

..but concluding from all the info together there is no proven link to the 1974 Worlds Fair in Spokane.

Mon Nov 02, 2009 12:06 pm

VDubTech wrote: As promised here are pics of my 'Montageanweisung' for my '79 RustyBus. It's taped to the original window sticker, and I've never tried to peel them apart, lest I damage either one more.

Sorry, I didn't reply earlier. I was too focussed on that 1973 Wild Westerner bus mentioned here yesterday :wink:.

These montageanweisungen are really interesting. But what is even more interesting is to compare it to the M-plate in your bus. I guess it looks a bit like this:

92 132 921
... ... ... ... ...
T1F9NP ... ... ... ...
20 4 7191 UN 2218 61

I'm curious: what should be on the dotted lines?
:)

Mon Nov 02, 2009 2:02 pm

Here's my M Code plate....pretty close!!

92 132 921

T1E9NP D01 227 568
20 4 7191 UN 2218 61

The second line is blank and the third line starts with T1E, not T1F.

Thu Nov 05, 2009 7:45 am

VDubTech wrote: Here's my M Code plate....pretty close!!

92 132 921

T1E9NP D01 227 568
20 4 7191 UN 2218 61

The second line is blank and the third line starts with T1E, not T1F.

Thanks!

According to the VW microfilm with group codes the D01 on 1979 models stands for the following M-codes: 012, 067, 102 and 508.

:arrow: According to the M-plate your bus has the following M-codes:
012*: Exhaust emission control installation and speedometer in miles instead of Kilometers
067*: 12 V 54 A battery instead of standard 12 V 45 A battery
102*: Rear window heating
147**: Seven-seater model instead of eight-seater model
157**: Fuel injection engine
227: Detachable headrests for all seats in cabin
508*: One sliding window in sliding door and one in the opposite side panel of the passenger compartment
568: Tinted windows and windshield, with laminated windshield

* = is part of Group code D01 (1979 models)
** = derived from model code 2218 61 in which the '8' means the bus has M147 and the '6' stands for M157.

:arrow: According to the Montageanweisung (="mounting instruction") your bus has more M-codes. They are listed below, in bold are those that are not mentioned on neither the M-plate or microfiche with the group code explanation:

012, 050, 067, 068, 085, 089, 102, 147, 157, 161, 185, 206, 227, 235, 253, 506, 507, 508, 511, 524 and 568.

:idea: I think these missing M-codes should be part of the group code. However, it seems that for late 70ties group codes the microfiche doesn't show all the M-codes that were included in a particular group code. But this is only the case for late 70ties US buses. For other countries the group codes seem to be listed fully.

OK, so this is a lot of technical M-code talk. I hope you get. :wink:
It basically means that I think D01 really stands for the M-codes below:

012, 050, 067, 068, 085, 089, 102, 161, 185, 206, 235, 253, 506, 507, 508, 511 and 524

About the rest of the montageanweisung:
It looks like each line shows a production stage. And this line shows the M-code the workers have to pay attention to.

For example:
Line 9 is about the windows. The words in front of it read "Frontscheibe, Heckscheibe, Seitenscheibe" (windshield, rear window, side windows).
Then the M-codes are listed like: 089 524 568/ 102 524 568/ 507 508 524 568.
All the codes have to do with the windows. The first three codes are for the windshield meaning it is laminated (M089), has a chrome strip around it (M524) and is tinted (M568). The M-codes after the 1st slash relate to the rear window meaning it is one with heating (M102) has a chrome strip around it (M524) and is tinted as well (M568). etc...