Advise on restoring this Split

[Rome]

This certainly is a mishmosh car. Many later parts added to keep it on the road. Typical of Europe in the '60's and '70's when originality was not important. Seems amazing that the split even exists in your country.

You have the wide-track rear axle from a '67 Beetle, as well as the ribbed brake drums that were on the last US-spec 5-bolt cars. I don't think that the ribbed drums were utilized on the '65 Beetle which was the last year of the kingpin front end. If the front axle has ball joints at the trailing arms instead of kingpins, then the whole front axle mount has been spliced onto the '50 pan.

The wheels on it are also from '66 or '67 Beetle (would've been two-tone cream and black originally), or 1966 only Ghia (painted all black because Ghias had the chrome trim rings).

You can mount 16" wheels onto those drums, and when the hubcaps are on, nobody will notice the later drums; but some people will pick up on the fact that the rear wheels are so close to the fender edges; meaning the wide rear axle.

My suggestion is to straighten the right taillight, remove the black paint from the bumpers and the headlight rims, hammer out the dents, polish the paint, do what you want with the wheels, and drive it. Treat the surface rust on the hood and other places with a rust converter, sand the metal, spray paint it with self-etching primer, then spray paint with a semi-gloss black. At least then the paint will look "matched" from 30' away, instead of the glaring rust spots you can see from 50' away.

The steering wheel appears to be a 1964 or 1965, along with the horn bar. This steering wheel (and most likely the steering column) has finer splines than the one from 1950, so that a split-window era steering wheel will not fit onto the column.

I know you are in the New York City area many times, since I've seen you at some of the VW meets in CT as well at ClassicVWBugs' open houses in Congers NY. Even though you might find split window parts closer to Egypt in Europe, their prices might be much higher. Try to make a small list of '50 parts such as bumpers or taillamps; price them out in Europe and compare them to USA prices. If US prices are cheaper, then consider bringing them back to Egypt with you.

[usariemen]

[Ghia 1966]

I started the journey ordered the certificated from the vw museum to find out more about the car! I tend to believe it is a deluxe as many signs and parts in the car suggest so and will act accordingly!
Intend to restore it and keep it as a driver as is right now! Trying to save $$$ as much as I can since parts and labour is soooooooo high indeed
Trying to get parts and for some reason couldn't find anyone with lots of parts other than kaefer nostalgie
Any help regarding wrong or missing parts with best prices available would b just great
Thanks
_________________
- Split De luxe 1950
- Oval Ragtop 1956
- Karmann Ghia 1966 Convertible
- Bug 1970 Convertible

[Rome]

Have you treated this old veteran to a good wash and thorough cleanup yet?

Try finding vintage Beetle owners in your country to find out where they are getting their parts- here's one-

https://www.facebook.com/pages/VW-Beetle-Fans-Club-Egypt/207279639321712

Don't worry about the correctness of the lights, especially if you have the other headlights with the chrome rings. You can disassemble the units, clean them up with silver spray paint.

Even though your taillamps are for '55 thru '61 Beetles, keep them on for now if they work.

I'd strongly recommend adding small amber-colored turn signal lamps to the rear, instead of relying on the blinkers in the "snowflake" taillamps. When I had my Zwitter 20 years ago I bought some used motorcycle blinkers cheap (like $20 for two, off a 1970's Japanese bike) and mounted them on a simple bracket on the bumper guard bolts. If you have a junkyard outside of your city I'm sure you can find something suitable cheaply in the motorcycle section. Such lights help making your car much more visible from the rear in traffic.

Like these- http://www.hvccycle.com/images/turn2.jpg

You can also try to find '67 Beetle reverse lamps, and paint the lens orange using transparent car model spray paint, then mount them using these same brackets on the inner bolt for the bumper support bar on the bumper. But these will be much more expensive than the chromed used motorcycle blinkers. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1491534

Have you tried removing the black paint from the bumpers to see if the chrome beneath the paint is still solid? Even if it isn't, you could paint the bumpers a chrome silver or even light grey with spray paint after the usual surface prep. That would make it look more like a "Standard".

15" "smoothie" wheels painted in two-tone (like i mentioned before, cream inner section, and black outer rim section; spray paint is OK) will be the quickest way to make the car look older.

If you have access to a body restoration shop which does welding, they can cut a section of a junked VW fender lip into a "D" shape and fit it to each of your rear apron exhaust cutouts to fill them in, since the two cutouts do not belong on a split. They can straighten the rear apron using hammer + dolly, apply some filler, and then you can use the same spray paint as on the front hood to match the dull finish of the rest of the car. You'll need a different muffler for your engine on which the pipe goes beneath the apron edge.

20 years ago I bought replacement door panels from JC Whitney for my Zwitter when they were on sale. I got those with the elastic map pockets in them and they cost less than $50 at the time. They looked good even though they were not correct at all, but made a big improvement on the interior. You can also get some cheap slip-on vinyl seat covers from several suppliers in a color you like, and get a matching color for the door panels.

Consider getting a light-colored headliner to brighten up the inside. A cream-colored cloth one would work well; you can get those from several suppliers in the USA such as Wolfsburg West.

Will you replace all rubber brake hoses, inspect the brake shoes and drums for wear before you take your first drive?

Are you considering to add sturdy mounting points for safety belts?

[Ghia 1966]

R those bumpers correct for split 1950?! So I could restore them and just buy the overriders ?! Or should I buy a complete bumper?!
_________________
- Split De luxe 1950
- Oval Ragtop 1956
- Karmann Ghia 1966 Convertible
- Bug 1970 Convertible

[franklinunes]

[Ghia 1966]

Just got the certificate!
Indeed it is a deluxe

What Is everage brown?! What color is this exactly?! Couldn't find it in the charter?

What is 11C?

What is M 04?!
_________________
- Split De luxe 1950
- Oval Ragtop 1956
- Karmann Ghia 1966 Convertible
- Bug 1970 Convertible

[bally]

Interesting! Kristian has posted a list that includes mittelbraun L78 here: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=139342 but most people feel mittelbraun is L70.

It might be worth going back to them and asking for clarification that L78 Everage Brown is correct - it doesn't seem to appear in any of the archives I have looked at.

Good luck,

Dave

[Ghia 1966]

[volksfahrer]

M codes...
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/mcodest2.php

[Ghia 1966]

[bally]

M005 is for a Saxomat Semi Automatic Transmission wjhich came in much later than your split was built so that will be a mystery - I guess we'll never know what the three accessories your car came with were. 11c refers to a deluxe export model I guess - 11G is a sunroof split, 11A a standard, 14A Hebmuller, 15A Karmann Kabriolet.

Dave

[Ghia 1966]

[Rome]

If "mittel" (middle) represents "average", than a typical German would pronounce average as "efferetch".

[Grant Reiling]

[Rome]

Hi, Grant! "Mittelbraun" can also mean "medium brown", vs. light brown (hellbraun) or dark brown (dunkelbraun). "Average" is actually "Durchschnitt" (precisely, "through cut") but that would not sound as well as medium brown.

My late '50's Glasurit paint chip manual (leftover from my dad during his time at VW as a field service engineer) shows L70 as "mittelbraun, medium brown". Unfortunately it does not show a brown for L78. Strangely enough, it calls L78 stratos silver metallic! But we know that this attractive color would be L227 by most sources.

So in my opinion, the BC's "Everage brown" is a glaring misspelling based on a not optimal translation. The research may have been conducted by a young intern who did not bother checking existing records for the correct English color name. It's a shame that this document now lends some "authority" to this peculiar color name; a stake in the ground to perpetuate future referencing.

I was also poking slight fun at Germans (we have alot here in the office) as to how they would typically pronounce the word "average". Just like many mispronounce "Cadillac" and even "Buick".

Are you enjoying your '52 as much as possible?

[Grant Reiling]

[Ghia 1966]

[Rome]

Unless you find somebody to write to the Stiftung AutoMuseum in German and point out the inconsistencies with the word "everage/average", most likely they will not understand your issue. Dr. B. Wiersch, who co-signed the BC, is a highly educated man, the head of the Museum; and should not have allowed this translation/spelling oversight with your second inquiry. Or just send my comments above and see what the Museum's reaction is.

To see what L70 medium brown looks like, check here-
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/paintcodestype1.php

When you click on the "camera" icon, this photo comes up from theSamba gallery-

[Martin Southwell]

Nobody seems to have picked up, or at least mentioned, that the M 010 code relates to an engine compartment Dust Filter, something much needed in sandy Egypt! I remember that in Luxor, the old Peugot taxis didn't have windscreen wipers, as they never need them!

Having been to Eygpt a few year ago, I'm amazed that this car has survived, so is deserving of sprucing up. Are you able to get 15" wheels in Egypt? Are you able to ship from the UK if we can get some sorted out?