Official Mexican / Brazilian Beetles - All years

hopkin · Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 3:33 pm Post subject:

We get a wide range of temperatures here (the 'high' was actually about 38C (100F) that day, the sun was shining on the thermometer):

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

bandi · Posted: Thu Jan 08, 2015 6:18 pm Post subject:

I will admit, I've been slacking on spending time in the garage on the '83 the past couple nights for the very same reason!
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'60 Canadian Standard, '64 Bug, another '64 Bug, '66 Bug, '69 Sunroof Bug, '69 GT3 Bug, '71 Super, '72 Super, '73 Canadian Custom, '74 Love Bug, '83 Mexi Bug, '85 Cabrio, '94 Mexi Bug, '99 New Beetle, '02 New Beetle Turbo S, '03 New Beetle VR6. And some Fieros.

hopkin · Posted: Fri Jan 30, 2015 6:21 am Post subject:

I scanned copies of my German language owner's manual and service manual that came with my car and sent them to Everett. He has posted them with the other manuals under the technical section.

These were published by the original German importer of my car, that is they are not VW publications but a faithful reproduction. The owner's manual shows a few thing's unique to the importer's version of the car, the roof, placement of the ID tag and rear fog light.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/1996_beetle_mexico_german.php
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1971 Super Beetle (past)
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1974 SunBug (past)
1972 914 (past)
1991 Honda Civic (Original Owner)
1996 'Open Air' Mexican Beetle (current)
2015 Golf (current)
2017 Dune Edition (daughter's car)

hopkin · Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2015 8:59 am Post subject:

My car in the garage as seen on Google Maps:

I'm getting bored waiting for this winter Twisted Evil

to end!
_________________
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1974 SunBug (past)
1972 914 (past)
1991 Honda Civic (Original Owner)
1996 'Open Air' Mexican Beetle (current)
2015 Golf (current)
2017 Dune Edition (daughter's car)

hopkin · Posted: Wed Feb 04, 2015 1:57 pm Post subject:

Heavy fluffy snow today, took this picture after the car was out for a few minutes:

_________________
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1974 SunBug (past)
1972 914 (past)
1991 Honda Civic (Original Owner)
1996 'Open Air' Mexican Beetle (current)
2015 Golf (current)
2017 Dune Edition (daughter's car)

namor18 · Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2015 6:17 pm Post subject:

My 1975 Brazilian Bug (daily driver) Very Happy

GArBa · Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2015 9:21 am Post subject:

that's one good looking bug! we need more fuscas in this thread Cool

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cars:
'97 type 1 1600i
~~'14 type AA Seat Mii~~ (sadly dead after 270.000 km)
'22 type C1 T-Cross
'23 type AC3 Hyundai I10 (VW no longer makes small cars!)
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moped:
'82 Benelli Magnum 3v

wellcraft · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 4:03 pm Post subject:

hopkin · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 4:59 pm Post subject:

wellcraft · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2015 5:02 pm Post subject:

Those floor mats are nice, I should try to get a set, plus the emblem.

Gerrelt · Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 2:30 pm Post subject:

I am using the body of my Mexican beetle to save another (original dutch) beetle. It will be a mexican body on a german floorpan.
Yesterday was the day of the joining of the two, I've made a timelapse video:

Link

I want to drive it this year, and this was a big step! Cool

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hopkin · Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2015 4:53 pm Post subject:

You work fast Laughing

Great job!

Are you keeping the Mexican Beetle seats, or the German ones?

I assume you're keeping the 1600i, are there any mods to the German floor pan that you need to make for the fuel pump and fuel lines, anything else unexpected that you came across?

You will have the only Dutch Beetle with the roll-top Very Happy

_________________
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1974 SunBug (past)
1972 914 (past)
1991 Honda Civic (Original Owner)
1996 'Open Air' Mexican Beetle (current)
2015 Golf (current)
2017 Dune Edition (daughter's car)

Gerrelt · Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2015 5:22 am Post subject:

Thanks Hopkin,

I am keeping the mexican beetle seats, they are quite comfortable, better then the german ones with springs.

The floorpans from the mexican chassis were reasonably good, it only had rust holes around the jacking points.
So I removed them from the mexican chassis and welded them into the german chassis.
This also meant I could keep the mexican beetle seat rails, the bracket that holds the CPU and the little threaded welded in bolts that hold the floor mats.
I removed the jacking points completely and welded the holes.
I think the VW beetle jacking points are a really bad design, kind of an afterthought. They are weak and cause rust.

The other thing I had to transfer were the little bracket that hold the reverse light connector, and the bracket that holds the fuel pump. That last one I didn't weld to the german chassis, but I bolted it down. That way I can change it to another type of pump, if it breaks.

I intent to run the two fuel lines under the heater channels, instead of through the tunnel. Routing them through the tunnel is a bit too complicated.

Another thing I encountered was the length of the shifting rod, the one in the mexican beetle was shorter then the one in the german chassis, so I had to use the german one.
The shifter is closer to the driver on the mexican chassis.

The same goes for the handbrake cables. The handbrake is also furter back on the mexican chassis. So I couldn't use the mexican handbrake cables, they are too short.

The rest all fitted without problems, I was surprised how well the german chassis fitted under the mexican body. There's 24 years between them, but it fits perfectly.

I am going to use the 1600i too. I plan to replace the catalytic converter with a normal muffler, and I want to install cooling flaps.

I am not the only one with a roll-top in the Netherlands, but there aren't many of them. I know of two that are projects, and there are others too. But there aren't many of them. I'd be surprised if it reaches 20 cars.

Greetings,
Gerrelt.
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hopkin · Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2015 2:49 pm Post subject:

Gerrelt:

Thanks for the write up on the differences you encountered doing the pan swap.

I wasn't aware of the shifter rod length difference (and E-brake cables). Does that mean the gear shift will now be slightly more forward with the German pan?

One related question, were the heater cables shorter on the Mexican frame as well?

Do you have annual emissions checks in the Netherlands, will removing the catalytic converter be a problem? Antonio sells a 'Sport' muffler (no catalytic converter) that fits on without modification. The Samba user Type1Japan has removed his exhaust and put on a older style. I think he had problems fitting it for some reason, there is a thread on it.
_________________
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1974 SunBug (past)
1972 914 (past)
1991 Honda Civic (Original Owner)
1996 'Open Air' Mexican Beetle (current)
2015 Golf (current)
2017 Dune Edition (daughter's car)

wellcraft · Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2015 2:53 pm Post subject:

I think mine doesn't have a catalytic converter and I haven't seen it and it definitely doesn't look stock plus the sound is amazing, it sounds like the porsche 911 my dad owned.

Gerrelt · Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2015 5:17 am Post subject:

hopkin · Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 8:41 pm Post subject:

Gerrelt:

I had thrown around the idea of reinforcing the chassis of my roll top with a pair of these reinforcement rails from Wolfsburg West:

http://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=151801131BGR

With the cutaway of so much roof material, I would think that the structure of our cars has been weakened to some degree and the addition of these rails would help somewhat.

I haven't noticed any body flexing (even on bumpy roads) or anything, just thinking ahead. Other than cost, I can't think of any negative reasons.

The link I posted fits the up to '70 convertibles (ie not the Super Beetles), so they should fit without a problem.

Any thoughts?
_________________
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1974 SunBug (past)
1972 914 (past)
1991 Honda Civic (Original Owner)
1996 'Open Air' Mexican Beetle (current)
2015 Golf (current)
2017 Dune Edition (daughter's car)

hopkin · Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2015 10:53 am Post subject:

I scored a 1995 Mexican Beetle sales brochure for 99 cents. I've been looking for a 1996 one, but this is close enough (for now Very Happy

).

This brochure is mistakenly listed as the 1996 brochure on mexibeetle.tripod.com Sad

I can see how the red year numbering on the brochure can easily be mistaken for 1996, but the '96s didn't have the chrome detailing (that I know of).
_________________
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1974 SunBug (past)
1972 914 (past)
1991 Honda Civic (Original Owner)
1996 'Open Air' Mexican Beetle (current)
2015 Golf (current)
2017 Dune Edition (daughter's car)

Gerrelt · Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2015 11:54 am Post subject:

Nice brochure!

Regarding body flexing and reinforcement rails: I don't think it needs it. The strength is not in the sheetmeetal of the roof, but in the side arches.
I've had the body supported (without floorpan) up on two pieces of wood, one in the front, roughly under the A pillar, and one in the back roughly between the B pillar and the C pillar. You can see it in the video.
I've opened and closed the doors many times while it was supported like that. They opened and closed without problems.

The only problem I can imagine is the top of the sides of the car moving inwards or outwords, but at the front this is impossible because of the windshield frame.
In the back it would probably be stronger with the rear window frame in place, but don't forget the rear parcel shelf is at that same position and it is raised a bit, which gives extra strength.
Also the convertible reinforcement rails will only strengthen the car length-wise, which will not prevent side movement. On a convertible, you're missing the top arches, and then those reinforcements make sense.

Ohw, I've thought off another difference between the german and the mexican pan. The right front brake hard line for the mexican floorpan is longer then the one for the german floorpan. This is because it has to be led around the fuel pump. I am talking about the line that comes from the master cilinder.
This means a standard hard brake line kit doesn't entirely fit when it comes to that line.
I did use the "german" version of that hard line, but I routed it over the fuel pump instead of next to it. In my case that's not a problem, because I now have the bracket bolted down. I can unbolt it and slide it away.
But if you have the original welded bracket, routing it this way will make replacing the fuel pump more difficult.
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hopkin · Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2015 7:56 pm Post subject:

I received these photos today taken by the previous owner of my car. They were taken in 2010 when she dropped it off at Chuggaboom (car dealer in the UK), where I bought it.

She is the second owner of the car, having bought it in Germany from a Major in the British Armed forces that was stationed in Germany. The Major (I have his name as well) bought the car new in Feb 1997. She imported the car to the UK in 2002.
(The original registration date of Feb 1997, even though it was in Germany, is the reason the UK plate has a 'P' registration, instead of an 'N' registration).

Chuggaboom had the car for two years before I purchased it and brought it to Canada in 2012.

I had located the PO in January and sent her some recent photos, she was quite excited as she loved the car. She has moved to the US and couldn't import the car so she reluctantly left it in the UK.

_________________
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1974 SunBug (past)
1972 914 (past)
1991 Honda Civic (Original Owner)
1996 'Open Air' Mexican Beetle (current)
2015 Golf (current)
2017 Dune Edition (daughter's car)


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Official Mexican / Brazilian Beetles - All years
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