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Fri May 15, 2009 12:34 pm

if you have found this in the forums-please see my tool kit gallery pictures! its under 'oldvdub'. often i am asked-what set of tools is correct for my car. almost always i ask them to refer to their owners manual. and make sure it is the correct one by year for your car. in general/for example-if you own a 1964 vehicle you would need a manual with a date of august 1963. this is another topic though! if you don't have one-don't panic-you are on the greatest source for your volkswagen on the web-'the samba'. use the technical portion of the site to find your manual and usually at the back few pages it will list what came with your vehicle. by no means are my picture postings the last word on 'correctness'. what may be lacking in the blurred photo of the manuals i have tried to correct with a look at the 'real deal'-the actual item or items you should be looking for. any properly restored vw should have the manual and tool kit-just the way it left the factory. after that a correct set of keys but i don't want to give you the impression i have an "OCD" thing-just kidding! anyway-my gallery shows the best factory supplied tools i have been able to get my hands on to date. i have studied these tools for close to 40 years now and have been interested in them since my first vw came with the 'freebie tools' in the trunk! always open for corrections-comments-questions! have fun!

Moderator note:
A couple other similar threads (Bus-related)
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=86982
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=220868

Fri May 15, 2009 1:05 pm

Is there any sort of default value range for these kits? I've got this one from a '66 Beetle that I owned, and yes, it had the wood handled reversible screwdriver. I've no idea if it was OG to the car, but it was in the car when I bought it. Anyway, I'm just curious what it's value range would be. Note: All of the tools have been used, and the pouch has suffered greatly.

Fri May 15, 2009 3:17 pm

hi zozo. like anything collectable-its 'condition-condition-condition!' the tool kits in the vw are no different. unfortunately most have been stored in the worst place possible-the lower sections of the vw-under the seat or the lower reaches of the trunk both places where the most water collects and slowest to dry out. more than half the tools i see are near garbage-just a rusted mess. the bags suffer the most-especially the cloth bags found in the early transporters. the tie-strings on most of the bags-cloth or vinyl are frail and rot the first time a rusted piece of metal hits them! completness of a kit is the thing i look for. first it lets me see what came with the car-if i can determine it is somewhat correct anyway. tools can be cleaned up or at least made to look presentable. individually the parts to a kit can cost a small chunk of change. again-here on 'the samba' i see kits move all the time for very fair prices. semi-complete/complete in the 50-250(the older ones the most pricey!). many of the kits are listed and sell so fast-you never know it! it goes without saying-the earlier the kit-the more pieces-the greater its value. the pliers and the screwdrivers(later reverse type) are critical pieces and can easily fetch 20+ apiece. tube socket for the lug and sparkplug tend to be low dollar-these seem to survive-even when thrashed. open-end wrenches value wildly from a few bucks to 35-40. the wood handled screwdrivers are the most in demand and have been reproduced lately to fill the ever-increasing demand-ranging in the 25-35+each=condition again. hub cap pullers-they're always gone and the large looped ones have been reproduced to fill the demand. bottom line-condition. watch the samba ads and compare yours to what moves and at what price-make a listing! finding the right person that needs your vw toolkit has never been easier than here on the samba!

Fri May 15, 2009 6:16 pm

This topic has not been covered but I have been thinking about trying to make a listing of what cars had what at some point.

I usually direct people to the owner's manuals as well but some of them appear to be wrong when it comes to cars that are the cusp of a change in contents versus tool kits found in "original" vehicles.

I looked at your photos and there is another type of spark plug socket. The early ones with the clips are found in 2 styles:
1. Clips as you pictured here:

2. Same style but instead of the clips being clipped in, they are held in with rivets. My '54 Bus toolkit is like that:

I generally agree with your prices except for pliers. Those are super easy to find, although as you said, an excellent condition one should bring good money.

Fri May 15, 2009 6:17 pm

Great info, thanks.

Fri May 15, 2009 11:04 pm

Another post in the Split Bus Forum:
Split Bus Tool Rolls

Fri May 15, 2009 11:08 pm

Here's a '64 Bug toolkit I found last year
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=430319

The seller said it was from his dad's '64 Bug that they had sold years earlier. Original owner.

Sat May 23, 2009 8:48 am

I don't believe that these were ever in a VW tool kit, but they were in one of my buses when I bought it.

Does anyone by chance know what it's from? As you can see, the handle is stored inside, and there's 3 thru-n-thru holes offset at the end to slide the handle through to turn the wrench. The inside has a rubber gasket, presumably to keep from damaging a spark plug.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

Sat May 23, 2009 9:50 am

zozo wrote: I don't believe that these were ever in a VW tool kit, but they were in one of my buses when I bought it.

Does anyone by chance know what it's from? As you can see, the handle is stored inside, and there's 3 thru-n-thru holes offset at the end to slide the handle through to turn the wrench. The inside has a rubber gasket, presumably to keep from damaging a spark plug.

Your thoughts are appreciated.

It's from a mid-'60s Type 3 tool kit.

Sat May 23, 2009 12:40 pm

Type 2 also..

Sat May 23, 2009 2:29 pm

Cool. I guess I'll keep it.

Thanks guys, I was ready to give it away.

Thu Jun 04, 2009 7:39 pm

oldvdub wrote: any properly restored vw should have the manual and tool kit-just the way it left the factory.
I couldn't agree with you more! Tool kits and manuals are way underrated!

But a few comments to your nice collection of tools, and please notice these are just my observations, I am not always right, even though I like to think so.
- The spark plug tool still has the springs rather than the rubber till way up in the 50's... maybe even early 60's?
- The hub cap pull was introduced in january 1960.

Kind regards,
Ken.

Thu Jun 04, 2009 7:47 pm

Here are the four different Tommy Bars for reference:

Thu Jun 04, 2009 7:57 pm

Was there a specific time frame for cloth bags and then a change to the vinyl? Was there any meaning to the cloth that was used? I ask because I have one that looks very similar to the interior fabric found in a split Beetle. I was under the assumption the cloth ones were made out of left over material from the interiors but I got my bag from an old US spec '60 Rag I once owned.
Courtesy of Lenny's website->

My tool bag->

Thu Jun 04, 2009 8:20 pm

That is 1964 Beetle cloth material.

Thu Jun 04, 2009 9:13 pm

House wrote: That is 1964 Beetle cloth material.

So maybe the PO of my '60 got the toolkit from a '64 to put in his car?

Mon Jun 08, 2009 8:01 am

MargaritaVillain Wrote:

Quote: Was there a specific time frame for cloth bags and then a change to the vinyl?

Good Question. I'd like to know too. The factory did do some strange things. A buddy of mine has a '63 that was bought new by his Dad. The car came with the older cloth tool roll dating probably a few years ealier. My '62 came with the vinyl and I know it's original to the car.

Apparently Wolfsburg found a stash of older tool rolls and used them in later cars.

Maybe someone knows the official change over date.

Mon Jun 08, 2009 8:38 am

There is no change over date, nor is there a rhyme or reason, as
they were made out of whatever scraps of material that was available at the time.
Most tool kits are made from material close to the year of the car,
but they don't usually match the car. I think it is kinda fun to search for
tool rolls that match the material of your car...

Are you sure the '63 cloth bag was earlier and not the european '63 cloth material?
That is quite common.

Mon Jun 08, 2009 9:01 am

Quote: Are you sure the '63 cloth bag was earlier and not the european '63 cloth material?
That is quite common

I'll know this. The car was bought from University Volkswagen in January 1963 in Fort Worth, Texas. Car was ruby red and the interior had the gray vinly seat covers. The cloth roll is a plain tan color with no design. That's what came with it. You could be right in that the factory tossed in a roll not meant for the U.S. market.

Mon Jun 08, 2009 10:35 am

Here is some information, including dimensions of Barndoor era tool kits:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=86982&highlight=tool+kit