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Tue Nov 04, 2014 8:36 pm

I just bought this 1964 Beetle from the original owner's family. Original owner bought it new in '64 at a dealer in Atlanta, Ga and then took it home to Inman, SC. He passed away in 2011 and his son acquired the car, but didn't change the title until 2013. I bought it 2 weeks ago. The car was repainted in the '80s what looks to be a shade or two off from the original color. From the picture of the dash, can someone tell what the original color is? (Sea foam green or Bahama Blue), I don't know. I even have the original window sticker!
Looking forward to learning and working on this VW!

VIN 6188998
Engine 8439070

I have never owned a pre '65 Beetle and do not know about the heater with just the knob to turn and not the 2 levers on either side of the parking brake, can someone explain how this knob works? Turning one way turns the heat on and turn the other way turns the heat off?
Thanks for your help!

Tue Nov 04, 2014 9:21 pm

It appears to be Bahama Blue L519. http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/colors/64l519.htm

The color underneath looks like it could be Pearl White L87. http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/colors/64l87.htm

Tue Nov 04, 2014 10:27 pm

Nice! Though not technically my first Beetle, my first longterm driver Beetle was a 64...still have it.

Hard to say...on my screen the color under the repaint on the dash looks like either L519 Bahama Blue or L289 Blue-white. Looking at the chips on this site, I lean towards L289.

Yes, you turn the heater knob counter-clockwise to turn the heater on and clockwise to turn it off.

Here's a link to the owners manual in the technical section: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/manualsbug64.php

Looks like a great car!

Wed Nov 05, 2014 7:13 am

All I can say is WOW!. Clean her up and put her back to Origional. Perfect restore project. Always look under the hood behind the wiring for origional color. I think it was a L289 Blue-white from the key area.

Wed Nov 05, 2014 7:27 am

tb03830 wrote: All I can say is WOW!. Clean her up and put her back to Origional. Perfect restore project. Always look under the hood behind the wiring for origional color. I think it was a L289 Blue-white from the key area.

L289 Blue-White wasn't a stock color for 1964 was it? Wasn't L289 Blue-White a trim color?

Wed Nov 05, 2014 7:37 am

Not sure of trim colors and such. I was comparing colors only. What colors were produced in 1964. I have no idea.

Wed Nov 05, 2014 7:44 am

tb03830 wrote: Not sure of trim colors and such. I was comparing colors only. What colors were produced in 1964. I have no idea.

I don't know if these colors were only for US Beetles.

Sedan and Convertible

L41 Black
L87 Pearl White
L360 Sea Blue
L456 Ruby Red
L469 Anthracite
L518 Java Green
L519 Bahama Blue
L572 Panama Beige

Convertible Only

L1009 Yukon Yellow
L1018 Brunswick Blue
L54 Poppy Red

Wed Nov 05, 2014 10:03 am

shortride wrote:
L289 Blue-White wasn't a stock color for 1964 was it? Wasn't L289 Blue-White a trim color?

My bad…was just looking through the color chips section last night and didn't pay attention to the specs. Though that paint on the dash does still look like L289 when compared to the highly subjective online swatch, I would guess that the original color would be Bahama blue then…especially when compared to other photos. Couple examples from the gallery:

Wed Nov 05, 2014 10:14 am

vwsonmybrain wrote: shortride wrote:
L289 Blue-White wasn't a stock color for 1964 was it? Wasn't L289 Blue-White a trim color?

My bad…was just looking through the color chips section last night and didn't pay attention to the specs. Though that paint on the dash does still look like L289 when compared to the highly subjective online swatch, I would guess that the original color would be Bahama blue then…especially when compared to other photos. Couple examples from the gallery:

Lighting and photo quality can easily fool someone.

Wed Nov 05, 2014 11:56 am

shortride wrote: It appears to be Bahama Blue L519. http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/colors/64l519.htm

The color underneath looks like it could be Pearl White L87. http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/colors/64l87.htm

Thanks

Wed Nov 05, 2014 11:56 am

vwsonmybrain wrote: Nice! Though not technically my first Beetle, my first longterm driver Beetle was a 64...still have it.

Hard to say...on my screen the color under the repaint on the dash looks like either L519 Bahama Blue or L289 Blue-white. Looking at the chips on this site, I lean towards L289.

Yes, you turn the heater knob counter-clockwise to turn the heater on and clockwise to turn it off.

Here's a link to the owners manual in the technical section: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/manualsbug64.php

Looks like a great car!

Thanks! Appreciate the link to the manual!!!

Wed Nov 05, 2014 12:02 pm

The back side of the glove box is the original color. I plan on taking it to a local VW expert to check his paint swatches to compare.

Thanks for the replies!

I want to put white walls on it, one reason is that they came on the car from reading the window sticker and they just look cool!

White walls or portawalls?

The tire size on the car now is 185/65/15, is that the stock size tire from the factory?

Thanks for y'alls help!

Wed Nov 05, 2014 12:17 pm

v_dub_ya wrote: The back side of the glove box is the original color. I plan on taking it to a local VW expert to check his paint swatches to compare.

Thanks for the replies!

I want to put white walls on it, one reason is that they came on the car from reading the window sticker and they just look cool!

White walls or portawalls?

The tire size on the car now is 185/65/15, is that the stock size tire from the factory?

Thanks for y'alls help!

Wise choice on the WW tires.

Before

After

Fri Nov 14, 2014 3:39 pm

After going through this after my first oil change:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=611709

The car does not smoke, it does not lose power while driving, does not make any weird noises....?????

I am going to do a compression test tomorrow and that should tell me if one of the cylinders is dying.

But from the way it runs, it does not feel like there is a problem. Local VW shop told me it could have happen prior to me owning it, who knows.

We will see what the results are tomorrow...

On a positive note:

Ordered a roof rack yesterday!

Fri Nov 14, 2014 4:14 pm

It sure looks like part of an oil ring . . . and the piece to the top/right looks like a chunk of piston!

Fri Nov 14, 2014 4:45 pm

Nice to see a good looking 64 I just got my 64 but more of a project then yours lol I was wondering if you won't mind taking pics of the wiring, and the dash if you have time this is my first vw so I don't know we're anything is

Fri Nov 14, 2014 5:50 pm

v_dub_ya wrote:

The tire size on the car now is 185/65/15, is that the stock size tire from the factory?

Thanks for y'alls help!

The original tyre size for the 4 inch rims is 5.60x15 cross plies. The nearest metric/radial size in the day was 155SR15 (SR was about 82 profile).

The normal "stock" tyre these days is 165/80/15 (also fits the 4.5 inch rims on later bugs).

185 width is just about the limit for a 4 inch rim, it would look more "stock" with the 165s.

Fri Nov 14, 2014 6:47 pm

57BLITZ wrote: It sure looks like part of an oil ring . . . and the piece to the top/right looks like a chunk of piston!

That's exactly what is, you can see the 'landing' for the piston ring.

Fri Nov 14, 2014 6:51 pm

Aussiebug wrote: v_dub_ya wrote:

The tire size on the car now is 185/65/15, is that the stock size tire from the factory?

Thanks for y'alls help!

The original tyre size for the 4 inch rims is 5.60x15 cross plies. The nearest metric/radial size in the day was 155SR15 (SR was about 82 profile).

The normal "stock" tyre these days is 165/80/15 (also fits the 4.5 inch rims on later bugs).

185 width is just about the limit for a 4 inch rim, it would look more "stock" with the 165s.

Thank you so much for this info!

I'd like to put fat white walls on it, but might have to do porta walls, because true white walls are not cheap.

Thanks again 8) 8)

Sat Nov 15, 2014 8:27 am

My right tail light would flicker when driving. I took it apart last night and found some exposed wire where the factory loom ends. My guess is that it was touching the fender and grounding itself out. I put some electrical tape on it and hopefully that will solve the problem.