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First Opinions on this '56 Oval
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type1vwjapan
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 7:34 pm    Post subject: First Opinions on this '56 Oval Reply with quote

Hi,

I'm in Japan, so there's a bit of a shortage of ovals over here.

However, this one seems very nice!

http://www.goo-net.com/usedcar/spread/goo/13/700040286930150225001.html

I know the page is all in Japanese, but I would love it if you guys could let me know what you think of this car from the pictures. There is about 40 pictures. If you click the arrow to the right, you can see 20 additional pictures.

I am wanting a car as close to stock as possible, without loosing practicality and reliability since this car WILL BE MY DAILY DRIVER. No, I can't use two cars in Japan, way too expensive! Wish I could use a later car for my daily and an early for my fun car. nope. but thanks for the thought.

The mods / changes I've noticed so far is the single port 1600cc (that's fine with me, but I definitely plan on replacing that cheap air cleaner with an oil bath unit), the wheels, and the shifter.


However, I thought I’d leave it to the experts to let me know what else you spot.

I noticed that the door alignment seems great for a 60 year old car, but looks just a tad off in the pictures. But heck, so is the driver’s door in my much newer 2000 Mexican beetle. Seems like a normal thing with these cars that actually get used.

I also noticed that it has both “H” aprons, so I’m hoping that they’ve never been replaced. I’ve heard that if the aprons have been replaced it indicates that there was so type of damage at one point, even if it was just a fender bender. My local air cooled tech said these aprons shouldn’t be touched and usually aren’t prone to rust if the car was maintained well.

He even showed me that there is a way to tell if the aprons have been replaced by finding the original spot weld from the VW factory that is usually hard to replicate by most people doing body work. Very cool!

I need your all’s input on the front fenders. I can usually tell the difference between the 57 and earlier fenders, but I can’t with this car. Please help! Are they the correct fenders, or are they later fenders? I think the black color makes it hard to tell from just the pictures.

Also, what about the tail lights? They look like oval lights.

I thought the interior looked pristine. To be honest, I haven’t really cared for some of the red interior I’ve seen in other ovals. Looked kind of greasy, worn out, and tacky. But, looks pretty nice in this car. The trick will be to keep it looking that nice.

Does the radio look original? Should be a Motorola unit if I’m not mistaken.

What I’ve noticed about the engine so far is that for some reason it looks like the oil breather hose is not hooked up. It also appears that the coil has been moved from its stock location, which might make putting an oil bath cleaner on difficult if it’s not moved. Might just keep that cleaner on, who knows.

I also saw that the volatage regulator is in the engine bay since the earlier cars had a generator. Guess they didn’t want to put it under the back seat.

Can you all spot exactly what type of dizzy and carb this car has going on? Seems like it’s an SVDA dizzy with a 30 PICT series carb, which is a plus from the 009 and 34-pict setup.

Last, do you suspect that is a fuel gauge to left of the steering wheel and down a bit? Some type of gauge, so I’m assuming it’s a gas gauge.

I’m going to see this car in person as soon as I can, and will try to take a lot of good pics of it. I will of course check the areas that are prone to rust.

Anything else you can tell me to check or know about these oval cars? Thanks in advance!!!

I will really appreciate any help I can get on this decision.
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type1vwjapan
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 7:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

also, seems to be missing the wolfsburg badge from the front hood. I actually have one of these though, so not a biggie.

the passenger mirror was an addon on too, but a bonus for me since I think it's kind of important to have a passenger side mirror.
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type1vwjapan
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 7:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

is the popes nose correct?

also, has no spare tire.
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Rathguten
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 8:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The car looks nice overall. The front apron appears to have been replaced and the sheet metal around the MC/spare tire area looks like it's been worked on. It's also missing the deck lid seal retaining strip. There other things too, but these pose a problem as correcting them will involve welding, body work and paint.
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thebucket
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 8:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What's the price? That's important info when looking at the pics. The taillights are correct, but mounted way too high, on what I suspect to be aftermarket rear fenders. The radio faceplate looks late. The paint looks a little aged, but not bad. On first glance the front fenders looked fine. But the more pics I see they seem suspect. Something just seems off, like the shape isn't as crisp, and the bullet assemblies look thrown on. Now it may just be the pics, and a crappy set of seals, or later fenders "put together". The front hood is later too. You can tell by looking at how the emblem is mounted from the underside.
When you go to view the car take pics of the the spare tire well. And front and rear bumper brackets. Fake fenders front and back on an oval could be, someone updated it years ago. Or it was smacked. Add on the wrong hood and you need to look at it's been hit.
Based on the pics alone it seems like a decent driver. But I'd cap it at 10-12.
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type1vwjapan
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 10:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

the price is a little high, but that is taking into account the shipping to Japan, import fees, etc. that you always see on import cars over here.

all adds up to about 10k fast. so yes, this is about a 10-12k dollar car minus all of those other fees.

how can you tell the front area was worked on in the pics? just curious.

doesnt it also look like its been lowered?

not too sure about this car anymore... Crying or Very sad its not exactly close, would take a few hours to go see. not sure what the heck to do now.

one thing though is that in Japan cars have to undergo mandatory, throrough inspections every 2 years. these are very costly, but ensure there are not beaters or damaged cars driving around. this car is also being sold by a reputable classic vw shop, so maybe its not that bad of a car actually. maybe someone was just cutting corners a little on the restoration.

my wife called the shop for me today and is going to fill me in on the details this evening. will definitely report back.
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type1vwjapan
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 26, 2015 10:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

found this one too, its a bit further away, but it looks very original!! even still 6V! has the 1200cc too. it bet this one is pricey, waiting on the price....

http://www.goo-net.com/usedcar/spread/goo/15/700060083430140831004.html
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thebucket
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 27, 2015 12:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The black oval is lowered. The blue 54-55 has later model front blinkers and taillights. Should just have no fender blinkers and heart taillights mounted a little lower. Though its not uncommon to see that update, as the og pieces combined with 6 volts, were thought to be insuficent as time progressed. On the positive if you want a more stock and desirable oval go with the blue one. I'm saying this based only on pics though. More pics would be good, of under the fenders, spare tire well, etc.

If at all possible find out when a oval you are looking at was imported. I know their was a big trend of importing VW's from the US in the early 90's. Many of the cars restored then are vastly different in accuracy and quality. 20 years ago you couldn't buy the most accurate nor highest quality reproduction parts. Nor were there sites like thesamba around p to search out era correct parts either. So cars were restored to different standards than what you see today.

Paul
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thebucket
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 27, 2015 1:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The black car may be a nice driver btw. It looks nice enough. And if you decide to go for it, you'll be in a better bargaining position. Any car you post up will get nit picked. Eventually you'll fjnd one you are willing to live with or fix.
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0nebadbug
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 27, 2015 10:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

type1vwjapan wrote:
how can you tell the front area was worked on in the pics? just curious.

The front apron should show 4 fingers pressed in the apron, I only see 2 showing... it should look like this...

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


Also, front fenders... They are later model, maybe re-pops, as the more pronounced dimple at the bottom of the front fenders found on ovals are not present... you can see it in their pics, #12, easily...

And should look like this at the bottom
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


And as far as how to tell the car has been lowered? You can see easily the distance between the front tire & front fenders lip. Also from picture #9 it also shows being slightly narrowed up front as well.

And for the gasket channel being missing from the rear trunk lid usually means that it was removed for one reason, which more times than not that the rear apron was also replaced... And the same applies for the rear fenders, to know if they are original or later you would need to look and see if the pressed dimples between the mounting bolts are present...

And while yeah, the rear lights are installed above stock height? Sometimes this is not a bad thing being higher than stock just for the simple reason that it is easier & safer for people driving behind you!

On my car I wish I would have put them up higher, you have no idea how many times I've almost been driven over because of their stock location, heck even new tiny cars behind me can't see them clearly, especially in the day... And I also gave up using semaphores around town, they just confuse the crap outta everyone!

Also, rear plate light? Looks like it is a later cast style nose modified to fit, I this did on mine until I found the correct one, no biggie to swap over...

Not trying to pick it apart just trying to help you bring up points to light with them if you decide to go and play ball with them...

It's not a terrible looking ride though IMO anyway...
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