TheSamba.com :: View topic - Official Mexican / Brazilian Beetles

Wed Nov 18, 2020 2:56 pm

David Grason wrote: ...

I am very embarrassed and quite sheepish to ask this...but can someone tell me what exactly is an "ACD" engine?

Don't be embarrassed asking questions on this thread! (I know I've asked a few).

The ACD engine is the fuel injected engine used the Mexican Beetles produced from 1993 to the end of production in 2004. These have an ECU and electric fuel pump.

Wed Nov 18, 2020 5:06 pm

Modellbauer wrote: This is my first time finding this site and it was great to see the Beetle open-air sliding roof image posted Nov. 10

I worked on the original prototype concept and production tooling in the early 1990's at Gaffoglio Family MetalCrafters in California. It was a very talented company that built dozens of concept cars over the years for many major manufacturers for annual auto shows. They also built convertible prototypes for ASC, including folding hardtops.

After development of the Beetle's open-air sliding roof package, we built and shipped the first 100 units to a dealership group in Mexico for assembly there, though I believe the order ultimately called for 500 units.

Great product, great company, and great experience!

Sorry for the off topic post, but I saw you mentioned ASC and working on prototype cars in the early 90s. I used to be into Buick Reattas, owned a coupe and convertible, and I know the convertibles were done by ASC. Did you happen to work on that project?

Thu Nov 19, 2020 2:04 pm

Modellbauer wrote:

I worked on the original prototype concept and production tooling in the early 1990's at Gaffoglio Family MetalCrafters in California.

This is something to be proud of. It's a great design.

Sun Nov 22, 2020 2:04 pm

I got a stone chip on one of my H4 headlight lens last week and I was lucky enough to quickly score these brand new Hella H4 lights for a MKII Golf.

The framework around the lens is different than the one on the Beetles:

It doesn't look like the lens separates from the housing with the screw mounts, has anyone taken these apart before. The three mounting/aiming screws in the new lights are in different locations than the Beetle housing. I see different holes in the Beetle housing, I wonder if they line up??

The new lens are brand new Hella including the extra light for dusk/dawn driving (can be seen from the reverse view). Also these are proper for LHD cars, I had never changed the lights since my car was in the UK (notice the triangle on the lens is reversed [for focusing the light]).

Sun Nov 22, 2020 8:30 pm

hopkin wrote: It fits into the brackets without any problem, however the grooves are slightly higher on the new battery.
I have got to be the densest person on the forum. I still can't tell how that aft/back bracket fits into the battery without punching a hole in it. Do I detect a slot in the picture?

Sun Nov 22, 2020 8:59 pm

aquavette wrote: Can a mechanical fuel pump be used on an ACD engine after removing the block off plate? (Currently has a PICT 34 carb with an 009 dist, but still uses an aftermarket electric pump under gas tank.)

Just curious if possible, and how to go about it.

Anyone?

Sun Nov 22, 2020 9:03 pm

mildensteve wrote: hopkin wrote: It fits into the brackets without any problem, however the grooves are slightly higher on the new battery.
I have got to be the densest person on the forum. I still can't tell how that aft/back bracket fits into the battery without punching a hole in it. Do I detect a slot in the picture?

The 'notch' in the battery base slides under the bracket:

Sun Nov 22, 2020 11:34 pm

hopkin wrote: I got a stone chip on one of my H4 headlight lens last week and I was lucky enough to quickly score these brand new Hella H4 lights for a MKII Golf.

these are the kind of lights you need:

https://www.mecatechnic.com/fr-FR/phare-h4-origine-hella-pour-cox-combi-74_VA17150.htm

From the pics in the link you can see how the sealed lens-reflector assembly mounts to the frame, personally I don't think your golf lights will work with the (RHD) frames you have, but I've never tried myself.

Mon Nov 23, 2020 10:36 am

Ok new to this so sorry for any dumb questions.
I have bought a 1979 1300cc Brazilian beetle as I currently live in Brazil and am in the process of taking it apart to do a complete restoration as a fun project with my son.
this is my first beetle reno but so far so good.
So I'm looking for the best place to get a downloadable workshop manual in English, I know they probably don't exist for this year due to the Brazilian factor but something close would do.
also if anyone knows of any other online resources for the Brazilian beetles that would be great
thanks

Mon Nov 23, 2020 11:40 pm

I've seen pictures of the official brazilian workshop manuals but I've never seen one in pdf. The closest thing I know to what you need is the book "Conheça seu Volkswagen" (sort of a more in-depth owners' manual aimed to DIY inclined owners), you can download an edition that covers your bug at the following link:

https://manuaisdoproprietario.blogspot.com/2020/02/livro-conheca-seu-volkswagen-20-edicao.html

unfortunately all of this is only available in portuguese, but if you know any latin language it should not be too difficult to read.

Tue Nov 24, 2020 5:33 am

thanks, I have a copy of"Conheça seu Volkswagen" but it only covers up 1966 what I'm looking for is the best place to get something like a Haynes manual online but just need a site I can trust to download.

Tue Nov 24, 2020 6:28 am

1979 brazilian beetle wrote: thanks, I have a copy of"Conheça seu Volkswagen" but it only covers up 1966

the one in my link is the 20th edition, it should cover your model year. You should give a try to mercadolivre, the VW do Brasil official issues were titled "manual de reparaçoes fusca". I don't think there is an English book on the subject unfortunately.

Tue Nov 24, 2020 9:50 am

1979 brazilian beetle wrote:

I came and touched your car when no one was looking. :lol:

GArBa wrote:
unfortunately all of this is only available in portuguese, but if you know any latin language it should not be too difficult to read.

This is very true. I speak neither Portuguese or Italian but I am quite proficient in Spanish. It is amazing how often I can understand simple sentences in Portuguese and Italian. When I read anything in these two languages, I can take the time to decipher it and I get it right more often that you would believe.

Sat Nov 28, 2020 3:31 pm

On the headlamps, if they don't fit your factory mounting bracket then the U.S headlamp housing (141-941-041) should work out. I just bought mine as bare headlamps, and they fit the U.S buckets just fine. Good used ones tend to be of better quality than the Chinese copies.

Sat Nov 28, 2020 7:55 pm

David Grason wrote: Sotobaggins wrote: David Grason can you check to see if possible for a caribe aka Rabbit/Golf or would that be different?

A Caribe would be no different. These gals at the Kentucky DMV didn't say anything about cars needing to be 25 or so years old. But please bear in mind with this Covid thing, it isn't going to be any time soon before I get another chance to travel down there. Go to your favorite search engine and type in "Se vende Caribe."

radstude wrote: I had a friend buy a Bug down there, then hired a Mexican resident to drive it across the border. He had no problems at all.

EXACTLY! That's what I've been thinking. In fact, I'm thinking I can drive the car across myself. The people at the border won't keep me out of my own country and they surely can't fault me for driving my own car, even if it does have a Jalisco tag on it. I would have the Mexican title and registration on it with me.

I've even checked with my insurance - State Farm. They will extend my current coverage on my US vehicle to the car I've bought for 14 days. ...even if it is in Mexico. (yeah, i talked to my agent about this too) I've been with State Farm for some 40 years. They've always been good to me.

I have imported 2 cars from mexico by driving them in. One, I didn't go through customs, I just told the border guard that I lived in Mexico for the winter (true) and I was just going to the US for a short time. ( less true) and got in and still run the car with my a Mexican plates and reg, Classic insurance through Haggarty. If you know the people who check cars for registration in KY, you could do that since they will not ask you for any customs release form. you could also have a Mexican national drive it across (After the covid 19 goes away) and then driv it from the border to KY and register it. That way you could buy a 1997 0r newer car. If buying a 1996 (i assume it will be 2021 when you do this) just get 2 forms online, one customs and one EPS, fill them out and hand them to a border guard. Enter through the Columbia crossing, not any other in Laredo. I entered at Bridge 2 in Laredo and they don't do personal imports there so I drove in Texas from Laredo to Colombia, left the US and turned around to import it. Gave the forms plus the Fractura signed over to me and waited half an hour and received my customs clearance paper and off I went, no import duty. Mexico does not have titles, you must get the original invoice (fractura) which gets signed from owner to owner. Each owner can register the car, but the fractura remains and will show chain of ownership from new. Just make sure your Bug is in tip top condition before setting out from Guadalajara as it's a long trip over some high mountains.

Sat Nov 28, 2020 9:30 pm

alikatcraig wrote: On the headlamps, if they don't fit your factory mounting bracket then the U.S headlamp housing (141-941-041) should work out. I just bought mine as bare headlamps, and they fit the U.S buckets just fine. Good used ones tend to be of better quality than the Chinese copies.

Thanks, those MK II headlights that I bought will not work as the back of them will not mount to the bracket needed for my car. I'm going to order some new Hella H4 with parking (city) lights from either Paruzzi or Mecatechnic as the ones available in North America do not have the parking light.

I've pulled the headlights and I think I'll be doing some cleanup of the wiring.

The importer of my car (to Germany when new) spliced in the parking light and used cheap terminals for it. I'm going to clean the wiring up by using better terminals and soldering everything:

The ground for the parking light is spliced into the ground for the main bulb:

After pulling the headlights I found some debris (mostly dead bugs):

I'm lucky the headlight buckets aren't rotted out. I cleaned the debris and drainage tube on both sides:

For my North American friends, here's a couple pictures that show the parking (city) light and how its mounted in the H4 assembly:

Here's my car waiting for my new lights (which, after 8 years will finally be pointing the correct way :) ):

Sun Nov 29, 2020 12:58 pm

You have the same set-up I had. I'd suggest using a male "Y" connector to replace the scotch-blue thingy. I went that way on mine because it's simpler than soldering and it can be reversed.

Sun Nov 29, 2020 2:20 pm

VicMitch wrote: I have imported 2 cars from mexico by driving them in. One, I didn't go through customs, I just told the border guard that I lived in Mexico for the winter (true) and I was just going to the US for a short time. ( less true) and got in and still run the car with my a Mexican plates and reg, Classic insurance through Haggarty. If you know the people who check cars for registration in KY, you could do that since they will not ask you for any customs release form.

I KNEW IT! I’ve been certain for a very long time that this would be nowhere as difficult as many so-called experts have been saying.

VicMitch wrote: you could also have a Mexican national drive it across (After the covid 19 goes away) and then driv it from the border to KY and register it. That way you could buy a 1997 0r newer car. If buying a 1996 (i assume it will be 2021 when you do this) just get 2 forms online, one customs and one EPS, fill them out and hand them to a border guard.

I said that I had friends near Guadalajara but they are Americans, not Mexican nationals. As I understand it, a Mexican citizen has to put up a largish deposit with the government to ensure that s/he will return. That’s why the vast majority of undocumented Mexicans that are already here in the states, had to come in illegally. They couldn’t afford the security deposits.

So, let me ask, if I am going to bring the car across myself, I shouldn’t need to fill out extra forms obtained online....right?

VicMitch wrote: Enter through the Columbia crossing, not any other in Laredo. I entered at Bridge 2 in Laredo and they don't do personal imports there so I drove in Texas from Laredo to Colombia, left the US and turned around to import it. Gave the forms plus the Fractura signed over to me and waited half an hour and received my customs clearance paper and off I went, no import duty.

You’re sort of losing me here. I’ve also only ever crossed at bridge 2. I am not familiar with any of the other crossings. I guess if I could get that far, they would explain what I needed to provide for them. What do you think?

VicMitch wrote: Mexico does not have titles, you must get the original invoice (fractura) which gets signed from owner to owner. Each owner can register the car, but the fractura remains and will show chain of ownership from new.

Just make sure your Bug is in tip top condition before setting out from Guadalajara as it's a long trip over some high mountains.

Oh I well know that. I’ve driven those mountains and I know what I am up against. It’s not that the mountains are that high, which they are, but the condition of the roads is pretty pathetic as well – even on the Quota. This is probably one of my biggest concerns. I’ve been looking at a lot of Vochos online and many, many of them have no heater hoses and are missing other cooling tin. I’m afraid that many of these engines may have been running fine for a short trips around town but, if they’ve been running hot, the life expectancies may be much shorter than hoped for. We’ll just have to see. I actually thought of trying to haggle my purchase price down enough to just have a local Mexican mechanic put in a completely rebuilt engine. I've been noticing that most reconditioned long blocks go for around $7000 mxn pesos. This works out to around $350 in US dollars.

So, here is another question for you. If I buy a car, I will get the fractura signed over but will I need to relicense the car in Mexico? Or will I get to keep the current tags and drive on those until I get back to Kentucky?

Sun Nov 29, 2020 3:35 pm

GArBa wrote: You have the same set-up I had. I'd suggest using a male "Y" connector to replace the scotch-blue thingy. I went that way on mine because it's simpler than soldering and it can be reversed.

Did you mean one of these, I was thinking of this, but putting it inside the trunk and running another wire through.

Sun Nov 29, 2020 10:26 pm

This post is for anyone that may somehow think that Mexican Bugs are inferior to German ones. Here is an ad I found this evening for a car near Mexico City. OMG, I'm in love!

https://www.segundamano.mx/anuncios/estado-de-mexico/nezahualcoyotl/autos/vocho-1969-932269126

At $211,000 pesos, this car is way beyond my budget. This works out to be around $10,500 USD. But even so, a car of this caliber would be selling for $25000 or more in this country.

I copied and pasted three of the photos to the samba gallery so that in the future, when the car has been sold or the ad expired, folks will still be able to see the car I'm talking about. Here they are: