Need help identifying my front brakes

[Junglebiker]

Can anybody tell me exactly what front brakes I have on this recently acquired VW of mine? The car is a 1968 Type 1 sedan, ball joint front end/swing axle rear, 4 lug wheels. I am not exactly sure where it came from, but it's been here in Papua New Guinea for a long time, it may possibly have been sold new here in country, as VW did have strong presence here back in the 1970's. It may have been imported from Australia, I'm not sure if the VW's sold here back in the day were being shipped straight from Germany or if they were coming from Oz.

Anyway, I had a chat with one of the previous owners of this car when I attempted to buy it from him several years ago (he ended up backing out of the deal) and at the time he told me that the disc front brakes were a rare factory option for the Type 1. So far I have found no proof that discs were ever offered that early on a Beetle, so are these off of some other VW or are they an old aftermarket set or what? I'd like to know exactly what they are so that I can get brake pads for them in the future.

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1969 Aussie market Type 1 sedan. Thanks to the 'Rona, new floors, new heater channels, MOFOCO big valve heads, baja body kit, wheel adapters w/UTV wheels/tires

[retterath]

I am far from an expert in this, so take it for what it's worth. During my own "what on earth do I have here" research, I learned about early type 3 / Ghia calipers, and that's what that looks like to me. Single pin to hold the pads in place.

[Maddel]

[57BLITZ]

I do not know of any disc brake options for Beetles, But I can tell you that the entire front beam, or just the spindles/brake assembly from a Karmann Ghia can be swapped into a beetle . . . I installed one into my 1967 Bug!

You want to get replacement front brake parts to fit a 1968 Karmann Ghia.
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Jesucristo es mi Señor y Salvador!

[Junglebiker]

Thanks, all! That's very helpful. Are the brake lines the same for drums and discs?
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1969 Aussie market Type 1 sedan. Thanks to the 'Rona, new floors, new heater channels, MOFOCO big valve heads, baja body kit, wheel adapters w/UTV wheels/tires

[neil68]

Beetles had 4-bolt front disc brakes in many countries starting in 1967. IIRC, Aussie 1500 Beetles had them.
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Neil.

Der Kleiner Rennwagens
68 Beetle 2332 cc, 204 WHP
12.5 seconds @ 107 mph
Dynojet Test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9B_H3eklAo

[Rome]

In most non-US markets, VW fitted disc brakes to Beetles with the largest engine. For '68 VW offered the 40hp 1200cc (34 PS German DIN rating), the 50hp 1300 (40 PS DIN), and the 53hp 1500 (44 PS DIN). Even though it is quite straightforward to retrofit the front discs from a Karmann Ghia (different spindles, the discs, calipers, backing plates and hoses), it's quite possible that your '68 had those discs factory-fitted if you have the 1500 engine.

The original brake caliper suppliers were either Girling or ATE (Alfred Teves). I don't remember which one is like yours- the single-pin pad design. But that is the style shown in the Bentley official repair manual for '67 thru '69 Type 1 (Ghia).

That VW parts catalog is wonderful! As to your question of front brake hoses, refer to page 496 (section 6-42). Item 1 in the upper diagram are Standard (not Super) Beetle brake hoses. The length for Trommelbremse (drum brakes) are 355mm; those for Scheibenbremse (disc brake) are 330mm.

I don't think I ever found out the official reason why VW never installed front discs on US Beetles as of the '67 model year, since our market always had the most powerful of the engine offerings. Most likely because of keeping the overall cost of the car down.

[Junglebiker]

Unfortunately mine doesn't have the original engine in it--I think that the original was a 1500, but what's in it now is (according to the engine number) a 1300 from 1965, I think. (The original 1500 was pulled out and put into a Manx buggy by one of the previous owners. It doesn't matter much, I have a spare industrial engine of similar vintage that I plan to build up eventually.)

This could very well be a Aussie VW, is there any way to tell from the VIN? The steering is on the right, and as far as I can tell, it always was right hand drive. Given what I know of its history and given what I know about the way people use/maintain cars here, it would make more sense to me if it had discs from the factory.

As long as the brake parts are all the same, I guess it doesn't matter. Thanks for the heads-up on brake line lengths.
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1969 Aussie market Type 1 sedan. Thanks to the 'Rona, new floors, new heater channels, MOFOCO big valve heads, baja body kit, wheel adapters w/UTV wheels/tires

[bnam]

They look similar to the disc brakes on my '71 super which were original to the car.

[Joel]

Every beetle and Super after 68 in oz had factory discs except the povpak 70-74 1300s so if it came from here that's no thing unusual.
If it's an oz built bug it will Australian made glass, some electrics and dulux paint code sticker.

Rome, VW of America was under pressure to keep costs down so they stuck with drums
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Quick little bug, you got a Porsche motor in that?
1974 Germanlook 1303 2.5 Suba-Beetle

[Junglebiker]

[Joel]

Yes they were made here, There was a huge factory in Clayton Melbourne which is still there now with the big VW logo on the roof although it painted white now.
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Quick little bug, you got a Porsche motor in that?
1974 Germanlook 1303 2.5 Suba-Beetle

[hopkin]

Here some Beetle production numbers from around the world, including Australia:

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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)

[Junglebiker]

Interesting--I lived in Peru for 8 years as a kid and I think all 78,000 of those Beetles were in the city of Lima operating as taxis!! Surely 80% of the cars in Lima back in the 1980's were VW Type 1's. It was amazing.
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1969 Aussie market Type 1 sedan. Thanks to the 'Rona, new floors, new heater channels, MOFOCO big valve heads, baja body kit, wheel adapters w/UTV wheels/tires