TheSamba.com :: View topic - Zwitter (standard) with ragtop sunroof, project by coincidence

Thu Jan 26, 2023 2:38 am

Great, looking forward to follow this project !

Antoine

Fri Feb 24, 2023 11:40 pm

The mystery of my zwitter is reveiling itself slowly.
Ofcourse I have some info from the previous owner, but no paper to back it up.
I did order a birthcertificate it in 2016 but there were some gaps in it.

Recently I was introduced to a fellow zwitter standard ragtop owner who was asking if mine was also a CCG. Obviously I didn’t know what CCG ment.

Long story short: I have ordered a new birthcertificate, VW Classic Parts did some more investigation. At least now I know it’s paint color and where it was delivered. So yes it is a CCG car in Military Green and British Army. The only questionnable thing for me is the 17VB in the certificate. Anybody any idea what this abbreviation means?

As far as extra’s: M003, without ignition lock. So they have an option to leave something away :D :lol:

Sat Feb 25, 2023 1:20 am

Fantastic!
I’m away for the weekend but I’ll do a bit of digging on the 17VB next week. It’ll be a BAoR company or vehicle pool I expect. :P

Tue Feb 28, 2023 12:25 am

sinclair wrote: Fantastic!
I’m away for the weekend but I’ll do a bit of digging on the 17VB next week. It’ll be a BAoR company or vehicle pool I expect. :P

that would be highly appreciated 8) 8)

When I bought the zwitter the car was dismantled, but have latest picture in driveway just before they started dismantling.

The ragtop was in a box as was a role of green fabric, which he bought in 2016.

first I took some exposed material, looked a lot darker but similar material

Now we have removed some innerlayers of material which were not exposed to years of sun/rain/dirt/acid rain etc

This color looks a lot more like the role of green fabric, so in respect of the previous owner I am going to use this fabric for the ragtop.

Tue Feb 28, 2023 12:47 am

Hi.
Pretty sure the paint is Mid Bronze Green from memory. Also I tracked down your delivery location. 17 vehicle battalion :P

17 (Rear) Vehicle Depot .
1959.11.01 Formed near Monchengladbach, Germany by renaming 17 Vehicle Battalion

17 Vehicle Company RAOC arrived from Hamburg in Ayrshire Barracks Mönchengladbach 4 Oct 48, then redesignated Battalion 11 Nov 48.

https://bfg-locations.editboard.com/t135-17-base-vehicle-depot

Tue Feb 28, 2023 2:25 am

sinclair wrote: Hi.
Pretty sure the paint is Mid Bronze Green from memory. Also I tracked down your delivery location. 17 vehicle battalion :P

17 (Rear) Vehicle Depot .
1959.11.01 Formed near Monchengladbach, Germany by renaming 17 Vehicle Battalion

17 Vehicle Company RAOC arrived from Hamburg in Ayrshire Barracks Mönchengladbach 4 Oct 48, then redesignated Battalion 11 Nov 48.

https://bfg-locations.editboard.com/t135-17-base-vehicle-depot

thanks for the info, that is close by. only 90km from my hometown.

So now I know it was delivered in MonchenGladbach in 1952
from 1968 until 2016 it was in Vaals (Netherlands)
and from 2016 in Maastricht (Netherlands)

Tue Feb 28, 2023 2:33 am

That’s great. Can you contact previous owner? I managed to talk to the first civilian owner of my old 52.

Tue Feb 28, 2023 2:44 am

sinclair wrote: That’s great. Can you contact previous owner? I managed to talk to the first civilian owner of my old 52.

Yes I am in contact with previous owner, he is 80 now.
Hope to get her finished and can place it back at his driveway again for him to see and enjoy.......

Thu Mar 02, 2023 2:08 am

Hi, nothing from this belongs to the car. Maybe the carpet, but not the edgematerial in red.
Sorry for not answer, i am pretty busy.
Will contact you later.

Thu Mar 02, 2023 6:03 am

beetlekey wrote: Hi, nothing from this belongs to the car. Maybe the carpet, but not the edgematerial in red.
Sorry for not answer, i am pretty busy.
Will contact you later.

thanks for your feedback, much appreciated :D

I was aware of the inner lining, since this is much more recent material.
We are going to refurbish the complete ragtop, using the correct inner headliner.

The carpet does not belong to me, is a cover of the workbench of my upholsterer.

As for the outside, I understand it is probably not the factory standard material, but as mentioned due to the fact the previous owner acquired this material, the plan is to use it out of respect to the previous owner.

Thu Mar 02, 2023 6:10 am

Quote: As for the outside, I understand it is probably not the factory standard material, but as mentioned due to the fact the previous owner acquired this material, the plan is to use it out of respect to the previous owner

This is a very dump idea :roll:

Fri Mar 03, 2023 1:50 am

beetlekey wrote: Quote: As for the outside, I understand it is probably not the factory standard material, but as mentioned due to the fact the previous owner acquired this material, the plan is to use it out of respect to the previous owner

This is a very dump idea :roll:

I am not aiming on a 100% "when it left factory build".
It is nice to get some history on it, but will give it some of my personal touch.

So it may be not quite original but something different.

Wed Mar 20, 2024 6:28 am

purist avert your eyes. :shock: :shock:

Due to some personal reasons, and the fact that there is only so much time in a day, days in a week, months in a year, years in a lifetime
I had to drastically reduce the number of (project) cars I owned.

Having said this, I sold all "just because I can" projects which were in the end causing too much noise on the line for this zwitter project.
Since this car is "the ultimate one" for me.

So basically, I will focus only on this project and of course keep my drivers in good shape. Due to the fact it will end up more or less a daily driver for as long as we can keep driving our beloved oldtimers, the plan is slightly changed.

Yes I have the matching numbers gearbox, frontaxle and engine, but these will not end up in the car (but will keep them aside)

So will upgrade to
- dual wishbones in the front with ventilated CSP discbrakes
- IRS and matching gearbox and CSP discbrakes in the back
- type4 2.0 with upright conversion
- convertible louvred engine lid
- flat4 BRM's

The body will only have 1 change and that is the sidetrays in the engine boot since the type4 will take some more room then a 25HP and the chassis will receive IRS brackets.
But if I get the urge to go back stock all the rest is just bolted on stuff.

The mockup is ready for testfitting the body, just to make sure no changes are to be made lateron when body is painted. If all fits then all items will be disassembled, where needed sandblasted and painted.

Sat Mar 23, 2024 6:33 pm

I like it and probably you will never go back to stock 😆

Tue Mar 26, 2024 6:58 am

A change of direction. But I'm still just as interested to see how it turns out :D

Tue Feb 04, 2025 3:51 am

Finally some major steps are taken and tasks completed. Progress, I love it :D

All new sheetmetal has been welded in place

and chassis bolted in place for transport back home.

have some minor adjustments to do to match the holes in the floorpans to the body and then the body can move to paintshop.

In parallel the plan for the engine has been completed.
The 2.0 type type4 GA engine has been torn down, and will be upgraded to 2366cc using 103mm cylinders / pistons. 44IDF webers and a CSP python exhaust.
Parts are ordered and preparation of the carter is ongoing.

The IRS gearbox, that needs to be able to withstand whatever the 2366cc will throw at it, consists of a new reinforced gearboxhousing and reinforced side covers with a weddle super diff.

To be continued :-)

Wed Feb 05, 2025 2:52 pm

From another topic 17VB may have been a typo in the cert. they're often wrong.

finster wrote: this could be the answer, from a baor website.

"The first Park to arrive in the Hamburg area was 171 Vehicle Park under Major R.G. West, with their stock of heavy AFVs which were parked on the Autobahn, commencing at the Hamburg entrance, some 8 miles in the direction of Lübeck.The next Park to arrive was 172 Veh Park under Major W.L. Porter (later taken over by Major F.T. Wellfare), the main ‘B’ Veh Park of the Company and future main issuing Depot in BAOR. This Park took up a further stretch of the Lübeck Autobahn, from the 171 Veh Park exit as far as Bad Oldesloe."

so just off the autobahn midway between hamburg - lubeck about 170km north of wolfsburg

Thu Feb 06, 2025 3:44 am

thanks for your feedback, only thing I am sure of is that it is in my garage at this moment :D

sinclair wrote: From another topic 17VB may have been a typo in the cert. they're often wrong.

Fri Mar 28, 2025 9:37 pm

This will be an amazing car! Thank You for sharing this rebuild! I would love to drive a car like this daily.

Tue Apr 29, 2025 2:39 am

Car is at the painters at this moment.
Due to the fact this was a running project which halted in 1986 when I bought it in 2016 there were not that many parts left with OG paint on it.

Basically I had the 2 B columns in hand and 2 rear side windows cutouts.
All of these had a bronze outside paint and some dark green inside paint.

Next to this I only had a color picture of the car looking bronze in 1976

I have received a picture of a hoodstand in original color from a fellow CCG zwitter owner which look like the inside color of my panels. So it seems the previous owner has sprayed the outside of the car somewhere between 1968 (when he bought it) and 1976. Sound logical since it was already 16yrs old when he bought it, and the bronze looks somewhat a more modern military color.

So we try to match the paint as close as it can get to the remaining paint on the panels which seem to be in OG paint. To be continued.