Official Mexican / Brazilian Beetles - All years

[hopkin]

Willard:

Any chance on posting some pics of the car in question?
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1971 Super Beetle (past)
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1974 SunBug (past)
1972 914 (past)
1991 Honda Civic (Original Owner)
1996 'Open Air' Mexican Beetle (current)
2015 Golf (current)
2017 Dune Edition (daughter's car)

[Willard001]

Hi, the car is for sale by a dealer, so I don't have pictures but here is a link to the web site here

http://www.bmwburton.co.uk/used-cars/volkswagen-beetle-burton-upon-trent-201703223557974

It does appear to have several non original features including the spoiler, hub caps, mirrors, side repeaters etc .

[GArBa]

side repeaters were added to comply with UK traffic regulations (in Italy it's the same), their position isn't really the best one can choose but if they are wired, and were fitted, correctly they won't give you issues (check for rust behind them inside the trunk, who drilled the holes may have not rustproofed the bare metal).

chrome side mirrors and hubcaps were common additions to european imports and can be reversed: OE black mirrors are still available, grey original hubcaps aren't but you can buy black primed caps from VW and have them painted (prices are rising for OE parts). the engine looks nice visually, and the rear rain guard spoiler is a bolt on accessory.

check the front of the car, as the front bumper is not original (it's an older narrow stripe type) and the spoiler may have been added to hide some damage.
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cars:
'97 type 1 1600i
'14 type AA Seat Mii (sadly dead after 270.000 km)
'22 type C1 T-Cross
'23 type AC3 Hyundai I10 (VW no longer makes small cars!)
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moped:
'82 Benelli Magnum 3v

[hopkin]

[Willard001]

Thank you all for the advice. This car has been for sale for some time, the owner tried to sell as a private sale, it was then purchased by a dealer. I am told it was originally purchased by Coors brewery in the UK and wrapped in film promoting the Sol beer brand.

[nx6h]

My 2003 has black mirrors and i assumed they were original ? Never had a problem at MOT time . It also has side repeaters fitted ( very poorly) the wings were simply drilled and the bare metal left exposed

[GArBa]

You can tell the OE mirrors as they had side-specific arms, the left one being straight and the rigth one curved upwards to be more visible from the driver's seat (LHD car).
I'm assuming the MOT tester may have overlooked them, or maybe it was a case of hopkin's car's tester being over zealous.

It seems that poor fitting of side repeaters is unfortunately quite common.
local importers fitted them with little to no attention as they tried to maximize their profit: on my beetle each repeater hide holes that look like they may have been cut with a spoon rather than drilled and of course I had to take everything apart an re-do it properly as no rust proofing was used and the connection were not shorting just out of sheer luck.

edit: I corrected the post as I had left&right mixed up in the initial version. Well, maybe because I'm left handed
_________________
cars:
'97 type 1 1600i
'14 type AA Seat Mii (sadly dead after 270.000 km)
'22 type C1 T-Cross
'23 type AC3 Hyundai I10 (VW no longer makes small cars!)
-------------------------
moped:
'82 Benelli Magnum 3v

[hopkin]

I've highlighted the note about the mirrors made on the inspection report (this was the second inspection, the first inspection had 3 pages of things to be done )

The replacement mirrors looked very much like the ones on the green car. They were larger than the black ones I replaced them with (OEM from Mexico).

The side repeater install was poor on my car as well, at least they used Hella markers (from a Vauxhall). I removed them and painted the area, there was no rust and then I "MacGyver'd" a band on the inside so they fit tight.
_________________
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1974 SunBug (past)
1972 914 (past)
1991 Honda Civic (Original Owner)
1996 'Open Air' Mexican Beetle (current)
2015 Golf (current)
2017 Dune Edition (daughter's car)

[nx6h]

Just looked (OE mirrors) . I suspect Beetles-UK fitted correct mirrors just to pass SVA test and then refitted the OE mirrors before selling the car . Beetles -UK really were a bunch of cheapskate cowboys. I bought the car new for £9000 and when i collected it the petrol gauge read empty and they refused to put even a gallon of fuel into it

[Willard001]

This is great information. Thank you.

[robert Tarzwell]

hi have a strange brazil motor i believe it was from their R&D dept for a 356 fiberglass project in 1993 they shipped the Florida company making 356 a bare chassis with a motor fitted, it was not a teardown it was the chassis as off the floor, had drum front brakes and split axle, all brand new, twin carb motor ser number is zhr or (2hr) three 000 xed out then 000101101 4 as21

is bright orange with alternator any ideas ??

[blue72beetle]

Looks like a Puma engine.
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-Andy-
-1970 Ghia-
-1971 Bus 1776 Microsquirt EFI-

[robert Tarzwell]

yes it does look like the puma engine but mine does not have the two side hoses to the exhaust area im quite sure about the 1993 timeline from the papers i got but Puma was out of business then . any idea how large was told 2 liter ?

[hopkin]

Here's a photo of a Puma engine I took a few years ago. I don't know the year.

_________________
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1971 Super Beetle (past)
1974 SunBug (past)
1972 914 (past)
1991 Honda Civic (Original Owner)
1996 'Open Air' Mexican Beetle (current)
2015 Golf (current)
2017 Dune Edition (daughter's car)

[GArBa]

hopkin, that is a type 4 engine.

re robert Tarzwell pic, the shape of the fan housing is typical of late brazilian type 1s as it was meant to allow the upright engine to be fitted in the vw brasilia leaving a bit of usable luggage space accessible through the rear hatch. absence of heater ducts' outlets is also a trait of late brazilian shrouds.

I bet you are reading the number on the side of the oil sump. if this is the case, they are part numbers/manufacturing stamps; 000 101 101 is the part number (I have to look it up in the catalog, but the central "101" identifies it as an engine part and the leading "000" makes me think it's a replacement case), AS21 is the code for the alloy the engine casing is made of. This leads me to think the "4" you read between them is actually an "A", (modification code for the part number) and the "crossed zeroes" are the audi/auto union logo.

being a replacement case, the number should have been stamped on by the builder in the usual location below the alternator stand.

edit: the number does not appear in any of the parts manuals I have or have access to. however, since "101 101" identify an engine case, and esp. since the combination of the leading three figures of the part number identifies the model the part was originally designed for, IMHO having "000" points to a not type-specific engine case, i.e. a replacement that could be built both upright or pancake, installed in a car or in a bus. does it happen to have the mounts for the mustache bar in the oil pump area?
_________________
cars:
'97 type 1 1600i
'14 type AA Seat Mii (sadly dead after 270.000 km)
'22 type C1 T-Cross
'23 type AC3 Hyundai I10 (VW no longer makes small cars!)
-------------------------
moped:
'82 Benelli Magnum 3v

[hopkin]

[GArBa]

I'd say the design of the puma is really remarkable. It's often quite difficult for a small volume manufacturer to integrate off-the-shelf components in their bodies (e.g. those hideous cross-eyed morgans), in this version they acheived a really good result using the brasilia's rear light clusters.
_________________
cars:
'97 type 1 1600i
'14 type AA Seat Mii (sadly dead after 270.000 km)
'22 type C1 T-Cross
'23 type AC3 Hyundai I10 (VW no longer makes small cars!)
-------------------------
moped:
'82 Benelli Magnum 3v

[Markybug]

What a great thread!

I hope to get either a mexibug or a brazilian fusca (eventually!) , so this is all good info


Mark.

[GArBa]

Since I've recently swapped my headlights as per my previous posts, I made this short video to explain the main differences between mexi and euro H4 set-ups. Apologies for the accent (and the background noise, was warming up the engine).


Link

_________________
cars:
'97 type 1 1600i
'14 type AA Seat Mii (sadly dead after 270.000 km)
'22 type C1 T-Cross
'23 type AC3 Hyundai I10 (VW no longer makes small cars!)
-------------------------
moped:
'82 Benelli Magnum 3v

[Gerrelt]

I liked your video's, and your english is very good!
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