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Sun Jun 08, 2025 5:02 pm

The serial number is AO 481 915. I found the document in the technical section above that should show me what year it is, but I don’t see any serial numbers that start with AO. It is entirely possible that it’s right there in the document but I simply didn’t see it. :D

It’s a swing axle, and I have some reason to think that it’s from a 68, but I’m not sure. It’s in a 67 beetle that I recently re-acquired from my younger days.

Any guidance is appreciated!

Sun Jun 08, 2025 8:45 pm

There's a number of posts that call into question the veracity of the oft reported transmission lists. Some of it may be correct but not always. Some are from this site and some are reported from elsewhere.

To help you out the transmission in my late father's owned since new Feb 1968 Euro RHD is A0431525. Yours is sometime after that obviously. If you work out how many VW were made from the VIN number range per month you might be able to work out the month it came from. It is the original transmission. On some lists an AO transmission is allegedly from a Ghia.

Mine is definitely a long axle Feb 1968 assembled swing axle transmission.

It is reported that after the 9999999 transmission VW changed to 0000001, so the first digit on yours and mine is a zero not the letter "oh". Still 7 digits.

Now when they introduced the A prefix I don't know but one theory is that they did it so that there would be no confusion between the original 7 digit number and the new 7 digit number. I don't know if anyone really knows anymore.

Here's a thread about this very issue. There are others.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487125

Mon Jun 09, 2025 5:32 am

viiking wrote: There's a number of posts that call into question the veracity of the oft reported transmission lists. Some of it may be correct but not always. Some are from this site and some are reported from elsewhere.

To help you out the transmission in my late father's owned since new Feb 1968 Euro RHD is A0431525. Yours is sometime after that obviously. If you work out how many VW were made from the VIN number range per month you might be able to work out the month it came from. It is the original transmission. On some lists an AO transmission is allegedly from a Ghia.

Mine is definitely a long axle Feb 1968 assembled swing axle transmission.

It is reported that after the 9999999 transmission VW changed to 0000001, so the first digit on yours and mine is a zero not the letter "oh". Still 7 digits.

Now when they introduced the A prefix I don't know but one theory is that they did it so that there would be no confusion between the original 7 digit number and the new 7 digit number. I don't know if anyone really knows anymore.

Here's a thread about this very issue. There are others.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487125

This is helpful in several ways, thank you. I read through the other thread.

Your comment about yours being a long axle 68 jogged my memory. Probably around 35+ years ago when I owned this 67 the first time, I remember swapping out the axle shafts. I had pulled off the drums for brake work and noticed that there was a stack of shims inside the drums because the shafts were too long for the drums. In fact, as my memory is coming back, I remember at first that I left off shims during reassembly, only to learn that the axle nut wasn’t even close to the drum. I think I even tried putting the shims on the outside of the drum, only to learn that the hubcap would not go on. So I pulled the drum off, put the shims back on the inside and buttoned it up. Seems like there did end up being a couple of shims on the outside too, so that the brake shoe still worked. Then I went on a search for shorter shafts.

At the time, parts were easier to come by and somehow I got my hands on a pair of axle shafts that were shorter. I am 65% sure that the shorter shafts were from a 67.

So based on all of this, I’m pretty comfortable that my transmission was from a 68 originally, and was likely made sometime after Feb. 68 based on your serial number.

To try to narrow down whether it came from a Beetle or a Ghia: did Ghia’s in 68 have a swing axle? If so, were they 5 bolt or 4 bolt hubs? If they were 4 bolt, then they probably had the longer axle shafts like a Beetle? If Ghia’s had 4 bolt hubs and longer shafts in 68, then my transmission could have came from either a Ghia or a bug. Probably no way to know that for sure. I’m ok either way, because I think I have a transmission that came from a 68, manufactured sometime after February 68 and before August of 68.

Thanks again for the info, and for jogging my memory!

Wed Jun 11, 2025 7:54 am

aquifer wrote: viiking wrote: There's a number of posts that call into question the veracity of the oft reported transmission lists. Some of it may be correct but not always. Some are from this site and some are reported from elsewhere.

To help you out the transmission in my late father's owned since new Feb 1968 Euro RHD is A0431525. Yours is sometime after that obviously. If you work out how many VW were made from the VIN number range per month you might be able to work out the month it came from. It is the original transmission. On some lists an AO transmission is allegedly from a Ghia.

Mine is definitely a long axle Feb 1968 assembled swing axle transmission.

It is reported that after the 9999999 transmission VW changed to 0000001, so the first digit on yours and mine is a zero not the letter "oh". Still 7 digits.

Now when they introduced the A prefix I don't know but one theory is that they did it so that there would be no confusion between the original 7 digit number and the new 7 digit number. I don't know if anyone really knows anymore.

Here's a thread about this very issue. There are others.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487125

This is helpful in several ways, thank you. I read through the other thread.

Your comment about yours being a long axle 68 jogged my memory. Probably around 35+ years ago when I owned this 67 the first time, I remember swapping out the axle shafts. I had pulled off the drums for brake work and noticed that there was a stack of shims inside the drums because the shafts were too long for the drums. In fact, as my memory is coming back, I remember at first that I left off shims during reassembly, only to learn that the axle nut wasn’t even close to the drum. I think I even tried putting the shims on the outside of the drum, only to learn that the hubcap would not go on. So I pulled the drum off, put the shims back on the inside and buttoned it up. Seems like there did end up being a couple of shims on the outside too, so that the brake shoe still worked. Then I went on a search for shorter shafts.

At the time, parts were easier to come by and somehow I got my hands on a pair of axle shafts that were shorter. I am 65% sure that the shorter shafts were from a 67.

So based on all of this, I’m pretty comfortable that my transmission was from a 68 originally, and was likely made sometime after Feb. 68 based on your serial number.

To try to narrow down whether it came from a Beetle or a Ghia: did Ghia’s in 68 have a swing axle? If so, were they 5 bolt or 4 bolt hubs? If they were 4 bolt, then they probably had the longer axle shafts like a Beetle? If Ghia’s had 4 bolt hubs and longer shafts in 68, then my transmission could have came from either a Ghia or a bug. Probably no way to know that for sure. I’m ok either way, because I think I have a transmission that came from a 68, manufactured sometime after February 68 and before August of 68.

Thanks again for the info, and for jogging my memory!

If your trans is a 68 swing axle, it has original the 12 V starter with thin shaft, the long axle shafts for 4 lug drums, brake 230 x 40 mm and the old style, not guided throw out bearing.
In Germany and Europe, for all Karmann type 14 shifters, the swing axle was Standard till July 1974, but has got the new guided throw out bearing in Aug 70.
You can thank your meanwhile 91 years old Ralph Nader, that the VW US models had got the IRS also for shifters.
Th ÁO´(A Oh) not zero, Ghia trans appeared in Aug 1970 for 1600 ccm DP engines and from start came along with the new guided throw out bearing.
If your trans has the old style, not guided throw bearing, it´s rather pre Aug 70 and a Beetle ´A zero´trans.
You can also have a look on cast date stamps on trans housing.