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what year is it?
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coloradographix
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PostPosted: Mon May 14, 2012 12:21 pm    Post subject: what year is it? Reply with quote

I have a buggy (manx replica, shortened) I bought which is said to be a 65. No numbers on it, no nothing to prove it is a 65. The motor (which was claimed to be original) did come out of a 65 - there were numbers I could research. It does have a L/K front end - no ball joints here. It does have a swing axle for the rear. It has 5 lug drums. I want to be albe to order parts to rebuild the brakes (it has been sitting for a long time) and get her out on the road, but I wnat to order the right thing. Seems that I get option of pre 64, 65-66, and 67 when looking at parts. Without the VIN (as I said, pan is shortened and they welded right over the VIN) how can I figure out what I have? Thanks!
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AlteWagen
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PostPosted: Mon May 14, 2012 12:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Buggies and rails are nightmares to nail down the year on. Many POs build billy buggies and just throw together what ever they find. You will have to take the parts in to the shop and match what you have.

Good luck, especially with the title
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drscope
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PostPosted: Mon May 14, 2012 4:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The link pin front end says 65 or earlier. But like already pointed out, who knows for sure what was used and from what!

So many parts were interchangable that a lot of buggies were built from wrecked sedans. So while one end may be from one year, the other end could be a lot newer or older.

If you pull one of the link pin carriers off, you can get a better idea on the year range by the faces on the trailing arms. Early style was flat while latter had a recess.

Other then that, about the only other way to tell would be from the front transmission mount. 1960 was a one year only mount.

Or maybe from the heater knob and shifter. If it has the heater knob down near the shifter, it would be a 64 or older. If it has 2 heat knobs near the parking brake it's a 65.

And the size and shape of the shifter will also tell you if it still has the original shifter.

But that depends on what was left behind during the buggy build.

What does it say on your title? You may want to make a serial number plate so the title matches the number you rivet to the chassis.
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PostPosted: Tue May 15, 2012 9:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

drscope wrote:
The link pin front end says 65 or earlier. But like already pointed out, who knows for sure what was used and from what!

So many parts were interchangable that a lot of buggies were built from wrecked sedans. So while one end may be from one year, the other end could be a lot newer or older.

If you pull one of the link pin carriers off, you can get a better idea on the year range by the faces on the trailing arms. Early style was flat while latter had a recess.

Other then that, about the only other way to tell would be from the front transmission mount. 1960 was a one year only mount.

Or maybe from the heater knob and shifter. If it has the heater knob down near the shifter, it would be a 64 or older. If it has 2 heat knobs near the parking brake it's a 65.

And the size and shape of the shifter will also tell you if it still has the original shifter.

But that depends on what was left behind during the buggy build.

What does it say on your title? You may want to make a serial number plate so the title matches the number you rivet to the chassis.


All good points, but most buggies dispensed with a heater. However, looking for the heater cable guides may provide the same answer.

Someone handy enough to shorten a chassis is also handy enough to have swapped parts out from various years and make it work, so this could get complicated.

drscope is right to focus on chassis-based dating, since most DMVs go by chassis, not body tags. If you can establish a date based on heater and other features that pin down a year, you will be in business.
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coloradographix
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PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2012 8:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey y'all thanks for the info. Let me shoot some pics of the tunnel near shifter. I can pull anything off and take a look at it - that is not a problem and I should take a look this weekend. there are no heater knobs in it at this time, so I can't give much info on that. Title - none. I do have a title and all vin plates/numbers from another pan I had, but that makes no difference to this build.
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PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2012 10:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd start with the VIN on the tunnel. Unless it was cobbled together with parts laying around a junk yard, it was probably built from whatever the pan is.

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AlteWagen
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PostPosted: Fri May 18, 2012 11:11 am    Post subject: Re: what year is it? Reply with quote

coloradographix wrote:
Without the VIN (as I said, pan is shortened and they welded right over the VIN) how can I figure out what I have? Thanks!


Sounds like a Johnny Cash buggy
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drscope
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PostPosted: Fri May 18, 2012 2:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The deal with the heater knob is this;

Up through 64, they had a heater knob like this on the tunnel near the shifter. So even if the knob has been removed, there should be a hole up there for it or you should see a weld patch where it was removed.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


But if there is no indication that there was ever that style heat knob, then it is probably a 65.

I searched in the gallery and couldn't find a good shot of what I'm looking for, but in 65 they moved the heater controls back next to the parking brake. There was a lever on each side of the parking brake.

So the bracket on the tunnel changed and it got a stud coming out on each side for those heater levers to attach to.

If you look close in this picture from the gallery you will see one of those studs at the very left of the picture.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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coloradographix
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PostPosted: Mon May 21, 2012 8:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Heater controls are next to the parking brake. So far it looks like it MAY not be a cobbled mess. Most everything checks out with regard to the dating. Too bad the VIN was welded over/ground on or I would be in business.
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VOLKSWAGNUT
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PostPosted: Mon May 21, 2012 3:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Heater controls next to the park brake, link/kin pin front axle, and a swing transaxle, most likely nail it as a 1965.
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coloradographix
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PostPosted: Tue May 22, 2012 9:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I said I would post pics, so here they are - tunnel at e-brake, tunnel at shifter and shot of the car as it sits (sith kids crap on it of course). Sorry had to get up with the times on how to upload.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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uglyvw
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PostPosted: Wed May 23, 2012 7:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

those two slots on each side of the ebrake were for the heater control levers, my 64 still has the knob on the side of the tunnel, my guess would be 65
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