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Tue May 29, 2012 4:15 am

I'm looking for a Ghia convertible. The two main items I see as important are the front disc brakes and the independant rear suspension (as opposed to swing axle). What years were those items introduced?
Other items are important to me (real motor, alternator, etc), but I feel they are more easily changed than the brakes and rear end.
thanks,
-Armen

Tue May 29, 2012 5:14 am

IIRC,
Disc brakes - 1967 onward.
IRS - 1969 onward.

Tue May 29, 2012 5:36 am

What country are you from? the figures above are for USA cars. swing axles went on for a fair bit longer in other countries.

Tue May 29, 2012 6:50 am

mlhsquared wrote: IIRC,
Disc brakes - 1967 onward.
IRS - 1969 onward.

The only exception would be AS cars that had IRS starting in 1968.

Tue May 29, 2012 11:37 am

Both excellent and correct observations. He does not say what country, so I took the default. :oops:

Wed May 30, 2012 6:18 am

In OZ swing axle went on and on. I had a German built 69 Ghia swing axle with no Z bar. Yet our beetles had front disk brakes from 68 (and swing axles).
Part of the rich tapestery of different specifications for different markets.

Wed May 30, 2012 6:37 am

I've got a 68, manual w/ IRS. Hmmm...... now that I think of it, Did autostick cars come with a clutch cable tube in the tunnel? My clutch cable is routed wrong, so maybe somebody converted it to a manual. Would there be any other giveaways that would indicate this car had an AS at one time? Other than the badge on the decklid, which isn't there along with no holes.

Wed May 30, 2012 8:40 am

There are a few things that may still be there. The automatic transmission reservoir will be in the engine compartment on the right. If its not there you may still have a "stand" for it towards the rear of the car by the air cleaner stand.

The vac reservoir will be on the left in the fender behind the tar board.

There may also be a control valve on the bulkhead to the left of the engine.

There also may be an extra inline fuse on the engine tin.

Those are probably the most obvious things. Early AS cars (i.e., 1968) probably did not have a clutch tube. They seem to be more common on subsequent years.

Wed May 30, 2012 8:47 am

Here is a picture of how the clutch tube currently sits in this car. Sorry to steal your thread, ArmenA.