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Fri Jul 05, 2024 1:06 am

Hi everyone
This is my first post in the beetle forum, because I have just purchased my first beetle!
A friend of mine was with his parents on a road trip holiday and while visiting one of his parents old friends he noticed a beetle in the guys garage. He sent me a few snaps because he knows I'm into VWs (I'm restoring a 1966 kombi camper) I asked my friend if it were for sale and the answer was yes. Fast forward a couple months and I ended up buying it. I don't know much about beetles so I'm excited about learning more about them. The car is a pretty good find in my opinion. 3 owners with first 2 owners same family. Just clicked over 100k miles. Original motor. Nice original license plate which is quite fitting for a '63 (AN63) no rust, just evidence of one rust repair at the a pillar inside the front guard. Very original. Had a repaint at some point which I'm planning on tidying up again. Came with full rubber set to be installed. It came fully road legal with a new oil change.
Here's a couple pics , sorry I didn't get others, the owner and I were too busy talking! I'm guessing it may be L469 Anthracite? I'm picking it up in a couple weeks to check that. I'm thinking a light paint tidy up on the outside, fix a couple oil leaks...it's leaking from the oil Filler tube and missing the breather hose from the oil Filler tube to the air filter...
Anyway, I'm pretty excited with the purchase. Appreciate any advice. Cheers from NZ - Matt

Fri Jul 05, 2024 1:24 am

very nice! 8)
I see anthracite listed but with a different code for australian cars...
https://www.clubvw.org.au/vwreference/vwpaint/

Fri Jul 05, 2024 1:44 am

Hey finster! So was that the same for New Zealand cars? You know Australia and New Zealand are two different countries, right? 😛

Fri Jul 05, 2024 2:14 am

Hi Matt,
Great find. My first thought is that if it’s just clocked 100k on its original engine then it’s getting ready to drop an exhaust valve head. If you don’t know the history, start planning to replace the valves before this happens and save yourself a headache!

Fri Jul 05, 2024 2:19 am

Dangermouse!
Big ups for the forewarning mate. Definitely wasn't aware of that potential issue. I'll note that down and put it high on the to-do list. Cheers for that.

Fri Jul 05, 2024 3:25 am

SISKOZ wrote: Hey finster! So was that the same for New Zealand cars? You know Australia and New Zealand are two different countries, right? 😛

I was forgetting that cars were assembled in otahuhu, new zealand and not shipped across from australia. #-o

Fri Jul 05, 2024 5:51 pm

SISKOZ wrote: You know Australia and New Zealand are two different countries, right? 😛

Yes. Australia is where NZ'ers emigrate to and NZ is where Australians like to go on holidays or watch the Wallabies get thrashed at Eden Park for the umpteenth time :D

Fri Jul 26, 2024 6:40 pm

Finally picked up the beetle today after owning it for a few weeks as it was located a few hours away from where I live. Going straight away to my mate who will panel and paint the outside. It's definitely had a paint in its original colours with bondo cracking so needs work. Enjoy the photos ..If anyone sees anything not correct for a 63 please let me know.

Fri Jul 26, 2024 6:51 pm

Very nice!

I have official door card envy. And that is amazing "case candy" in terms of the original literature you have there.

('Outrageous Fortune' was one of the all-time favorite TV shows for wife and me.)

Fri Jul 26, 2024 9:02 pm

Yes all that documentation is certainly a walk through history. The condition is so good you should scan the documents for archival purposes as there are probably very few documents like these left anymore.

I guess the picture showing the glass means that unsurprisingly the window has been replaced in its life as it would have had German probably “Sekurit” glass.
Be gentle with the rubber floor mats. They look in reasonably good condition but can become brittle. Replacement mats are basically NLA anywhere in the world in RHD format.

Fri Aug 02, 2024 5:06 am

Cool car,

I will ask my Dad when I am back in CHCH later in the month if he recognises your car. He's retired now but he did his apprenticeship with Five Star Motors in CHCH in the 60's and then had his own mechanical business in the 70s and mid 80's in Sydenham and specialized in VW's.

I will see if I can find and take photos of the complete dealer sticker as well. I'm pretty sure I remember seeing it somewhere at his place.

Five Star Motors in 1972:

https://canterburystories.nz/collections/archives/star/negatives/1972/ccl-cs-33253

I think the workshop and parts division and petrol station was in Peterborough St. but the car yard was at 81 Kilmore St.

Fri Aug 02, 2024 6:49 pm

lgherb - if you liked outrageous fortune you have to check out "westside" it came out after outrageous fortune but is set before outrageous fortune when the characters were younger. Well worth a watch.

Viiking - cheers for the heads up with the mats. They are a little grubby but seem to be in really good condition. I'll make sure I look after them.

Bottlejack15 - thanks for that info! Really interesting to know your dad may have seen or worked on the car! Wow a copy of the original dealer sticker would be epic! Even if I could make an original copy from what ever you can get your hands on or a photo of. Thanks for getting in touch.

Sat Aug 03, 2024 12:01 am

This any help?

Sat Aug 03, 2024 2:47 am

Cheers Dangermouse
My one came from Christchurch so would be good to have a copy of their logo.

Sun Aug 04, 2024 2:28 am

Dangermouse has nailed it. It will be the same layout but the address wiill be different. That also matches the manuals you have.

It was VW Motors (New Zealand) Ltd. in the early 1960's and then changed to Five Star Motors by the mid 60's. If you google the address you can find some PDF's copies of old magazines that have been uploaded that feature the VW Motors and Five Star Motors ads.

I'd be intertested in some dimenson of the sticker to know the scale. [/img]

Sun Aug 04, 2024 5:49 am

somebody else can probably do better than this, -

Tue Aug 06, 2024 7:08 pm

Excellent work that man; good skills :thumbsup:

finster wrote: somebody else can probably do better than this, -

Fri Sep 06, 2024 11:29 pm

So after picking up the beetle for the first time I drove it straight to my panelbeater/Painter who's working on my kombi. He's owned beetles in the past and was very happy to help strip it back and re paint it for me. So far not too many surprises. The right side running board was pretty rusty so I ordered a set. I'll be keeping both the old running boards as I'm not sure what the quality of the repros are like. I got clips to hold on some of the loose Bonnet and front guard area chrome.

I'm planning to just paint the outside as the inside is nice and original. Being a CKD built here in New Zealand it's anyone's guess exactly what the colour is. It's similar to Anthracite and Jupiter grey but being a New Zealand original paintjob I may be better to just colour match the original paint from somewhere inside/under the car.

When I picked it up off the previous owner he was a bit embarrassed as it started to have an issue starting. Seems to be a starter motor issue. I'm going to work through things to diagnose this issue. It will crank over slowly but not start. I had to push start it to get it to the painters.

Looking forward to seeing it painted.

Sat Sep 07, 2024 12:09 am

Great project! Looks like it's been converted to 12 volt? I get a kick outa the no name license plates. Being an island there was/is no need since there's no national boundary overland, like Europe.

Sat Sep 07, 2024 1:02 am

Thanks Tasb. Yep, it sure has been converted. How is it that you can tell from the photos? I'm still learning more about the mechanics/electrical systems. Clean and simple license plates - I really like that. Especially when they line up to the vehicle they're on. Like in this case it being a 1963.