TheSamba.com :: View topic

Thu Nov 10, 2016 5:44 am

Just curious if 60's bug fan shrouds have date stamps on them and where would they be located. And if for example, if you had a 1/65 bug would it be unusual or accepatable that some parts were dated late 64 and some early 65. Or when VW was building these cars did they only use date appropriate parts during the build.

Thu Nov 10, 2016 7:10 am

read why fan shrouds had numbers ;

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3...ud+numbers

Thu Nov 10, 2016 8:28 am

I have never seen or heard of a date stamp on a shroud.

The painted on numbers mean something entirely different.

Thu Nov 10, 2016 9:02 am

I have never seen or heard of a date on a fan shroud

creideahm wrote: if you had a 1/65 bug would it be unusual or accepatable that some parts were dated late 64 and some early 65.
Yes. Parts that are dated - generator, regulator, speedometer, wheels, and so on are often 1/2/3 months before the date of the car. Or sometimes the same month.

If I had to guess I would say a '65 Beetle would have parts that were fairly close since VW was producing a lot of vehicles at that time.

Thu Nov 10, 2016 9:36 am

Good stuff. I looked at the fan shroud and keeping in mind VW can be sneaky where they put stamps, I could not locate the Mcode stamp but again not sure where to find it. :cry:

Also, thanks for response on date stamped parts. It makes sense for example, you have a 3/63 car but some of the parts are a month or so different. Thinking of a huge assembly line and all the pulse of parts it would have took to outfit our cars. Bet it was awesome to see.

If anyone can provide a picture of a stamp on a fan shroud or point me closer to where I could locate it would be awesome!

S

Thu Nov 10, 2016 10:38 am

creideahm wrote: If anyone can provide a picture of a stamp on a fan shroud or point me closer to where I could locate it would be awesome!

You're asking for something that doesn't exist.

There are certain characteristics of shrouds that differentiate between engines/engine sizes, engine features, years, models, but again, I've never seen, heard of, found, or saw a pic of a date stamp on a fan shroud.

Thu Nov 10, 2016 11:55 am

creideahm wrote: I could not locate the Mcode stamp but again not sure where to find it.

If anyone can provide a picture of a stamp on a fan shroud or point me closer to where I could locate it would be awesome!

S

The Mcode stamp is for options, and is not related to a build date. And most shrouds don't have Mcodes on them. I've only seen a few. They aren't always in the same spot either. But it's a big number, so if you don't see it, you likely just don't have a code on yours. It looks to just be painted on, and not actually stamped into the metal.

Thu Nov 10, 2016 12:09 pm

That answers my question. Thanks for the explanations

Fri Aug 29, 2025 10:17 pm

They were ink stamps to alert the assemblers on the factory line that there was a special order. I don’t think they were meant to last past the assembly line floor. They often did though.

Sat Aug 30, 2025 4:46 am

Much later as this is a 1302 line but the number on this engine shroud seems to have a least 5 digits

Sat Aug 30, 2025 4:57 am

Likely more than one code. I’ve seen shrouds that had two codes stamped on them.