'58/'59 Beetle Discussion

Trayle D. the real oggfk · Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2010 7:14 pm Post subject:

The book I like the best for this sort of year to year information is VW BEETLE Authenticity Series by Bob Wilson. Its got good usually correct information with not to many errors while explaining things. Every now and them I come across something in it that I know isnt true and its usually something that has to do with dates and specific small changes. But for the most part it seem to be dead on. And it has a very well put together production chart and coulor combination chart in the back with dates by months and years. I really like it and have used it for years. And yes I know its not a Progressive Refinement book, I have people like Bob S. if I have question or I think my book is wrong, and Ive made ooodles of foot notes in it regarding questionable info.

The pictures above are pretty comprehensive. I just finished doing body work on a pair of 64 fender for my sunroof and a pair of 58-59 "wire tube" fenders at the same time. There are most definitely shape differences between the two fenders, not just where they meet the running board but with actual width of the fenders and shape of the area around the head light buckets as well. The running board part is easy to see, the other differences you really need one of each in hand to be able to tell...
_________________
the original
. . . . . . .GERMAN FOLKS 602
"The Downest, Deepest, & Dopest"

Trayle Duncan
AKA: The Troll that lives under that samba
AKA: The Samba Fabricator

Stay'n sucka free for the 0000000000... Hell, from now on...

outoftheoffice · Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 11:49 am Post subject:

Great thread here.

Nice 58 stale air, great color.

mario_0609 · Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 4:28 pm Post subject:

Here's another picture of what is supposed to be a late 57/early 58, taken from Etzold's book. Too bad the front fenders aren't any clearer, but you can see the corner to the running board

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

_________________
cheers, Mario

* 22 Oct. '58 export bug
* 27 June 72 Westfalia Camper

spectre6000 · Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:08 pm Post subject:

It's not a yeti photo, but pretty grainy and poorly lit. If you look close you can see the semaphore lines.

You can see the fender flare in the light reflection though. If the photo were better it might make for a good comparison to some of the later fenders pictured to date in this thread.
_________________
Jason Hopper

-'58 German Market Deluxe Beetle (in progress)
-'84 M1009 CUCV
-'81 K10
"Buy the best, cry once." -Gene Berg
"A cheap man will always buy the cheapest thing available, and then buys another one hoping for a better result, and then spends the rest of his life in misery complaining about it. A thrifty man will buy a good part once and never think about it again." -RockCrusher
"Don't feed the Shitty Parts Monster!" -Me

mario_0609 · Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 11:11 pm Post subject:

The quality in the book is a little better. There you can roughly see the form of the fender. Unfortunately, I don't have a scanner, but I'll try to get it scanned somewhere.
_________________
cheers, Mario

* 22 Oct. '58 export bug
* 27 June 72 Westfalia Camper

mario_0609 · Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 1:52 pm Post subject:

Alright- I managed to get a hi-res scan of the image above.
you can download it here: http://img714.yfrog.com/img714/1785/1958hires.jpg (3.6MB)

I also played a little bit around in photoshop to make the front fender more visible. At the lower right corner, I had to guess a little bit...

I also scanned a picture of a '65 convertible which is taken approx. from the same angle.

I think I see a little difference between these two fenders, but we need to take into account that it's not the exact same angle.
I guess the only way to know is to have somebody with some photographic skills to make some well lit pictures of the various fender type from the exact same angle...
_________________
cheers, Mario

* 22 Oct. '58 export bug
* 27 June 72 Westfalia Camper

spectre6000 · Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 2:53 pm Post subject:

If you have any suggestions as far as method for getting the exact same angle, I have those '58 and '64 fenders pictured earlier I can try to get some further comparison shots of.
_________________
Jason Hopper

-'58 German Market Deluxe Beetle (in progress)
-'84 M1009 CUCV
-'81 K10
"Buy the best, cry once." -Gene Berg
"A cheap man will always buy the cheapest thing available, and then buys another one hoping for a better result, and then spends the rest of his life in misery complaining about it. A thrifty man will buy a good part once and never think about it again." -RockCrusher
"Don't feed the Shitty Parts Monster!" -Me

djkeev · Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 2:56 pm Post subject:

spectre6000 · Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 3:25 pm Post subject:

Would lighter or darker be better?
_________________
Jason Hopper

-'58 German Market Deluxe Beetle (in progress)
-'84 M1009 CUCV
-'81 K10
"Buy the best, cry once." -Gene Berg
"A cheap man will always buy the cheapest thing available, and then buys another one hoping for a better result, and then spends the rest of his life in misery complaining about it. A thrifty man will buy a good part once and never think about it again." -RockCrusher
"Don't feed the Shitty Parts Monster!" -Me

mario_0609 · Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 3:28 pm Post subject:

spectre6000 · Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 4:32 pm Post subject:

Those were outside on my driveway as close together as I could get them (laying down). I tried to get several degrees of rotation around the flare. None of those fenders are going to see any further use in their current paint, and I have some extra black enamel and some extra white primer that I wouldn't mind sacrificing for the cause. I'll also straighten out the '64 fender (it's a little worse for the wear).

The question is, which would give better shots? White or black?

I'll contribute '64 photos from every angle, as well as the not-precisely known-but-as-correct-as-I-can-tell-to-an-early-'59 vintage photos in whichever color is deemed best for comparison. Would someone care to chime in with some other years?

As a side note, a year-by-year, photos from every angle fender thread would make for some EXCELLENT sticky material. Everett would have to come in behind us and put them in the correct order as well as remove commentary, but that's a piece of information that is entirely lacking in all literature insofar as I can tell.
_________________
Jason Hopper

-'58 German Market Deluxe Beetle (in progress)
-'84 M1009 CUCV
-'81 K10
"Buy the best, cry once." -Gene Berg
"A cheap man will always buy the cheapest thing available, and then buys another one hoping for a better result, and then spends the rest of his life in misery complaining about it. A thrifty man will buy a good part once and never think about it again." -RockCrusher
"Don't feed the Shitty Parts Monster!" -Me

58Dub · Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 4:49 pm Post subject:

I just sold my '58 fender...but let me know if you need any pics from '60
_________________
58 Beetle (now just a pile of parts in the corner)
60 Beetle (2221 turbo under construction)
70 Beetle Baja project

spectre6000 · Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 7:39 pm Post subject:

Please.
_________________
Jason Hopper

-'58 German Market Deluxe Beetle (in progress)
-'84 M1009 CUCV
-'81 K10
"Buy the best, cry once." -Gene Berg
"A cheap man will always buy the cheapest thing available, and then buys another one hoping for a better result, and then spends the rest of his life in misery complaining about it. A thrifty man will buy a good part once and never think about it again." -RockCrusher
"Don't feed the Shitty Parts Monster!" -Me

outoftheoffice · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 10:02 am Post subject:

Not sure if this helps anything but here are a couple shots of my passenger fender (original) from my April 58; primered and with shiny paint. These show mostly the flare at the running board but I can try to get more photos of other angles if needed..

mario_0609 · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 11:42 am Post subject:

great. Thanks for sharing. This confirms spectre6000 pics from the previous page that 58 fenders have this sharp edge at the lower corner.
_________________
cheers, Mario

* 22 Oct. '58 export bug
* 27 June 72 Westfalia Camper

spectre6000 · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 12:33 pm Post subject:

I've been told they lose the majority of the flare (end up looking like the '64 fender) sometime mid-'59. Does anyone know (definitively) when that change occurred?

I think it's fascinating how things actually changed over time. It looks like the only changes that occurred on August 1, '58 were the colors. I went back and looked at my BC, and it was originally Garnet Red (a '59-only color) confirmed in those odd recesses and under seals that never see light or wear. Everything else about the car is wholesale '58 so far, but the color did in fact change before the beginning of September. It would make sense for marketing purposes as well (colors are the most visible change and the easiest to market). Who is really going to care about the number of ribs behind the spare when they're looking at a new car on the showroom floor?
_________________
Jason Hopper

-'58 German Market Deluxe Beetle (in progress)
-'84 M1009 CUCV
-'81 K10
"Buy the best, cry once." -Gene Berg
"A cheap man will always buy the cheapest thing available, and then buys another one hoping for a better result, and then spends the rest of his life in misery complaining about it. A thrifty man will buy a good part once and never think about it again." -RockCrusher
"Don't feed the Shitty Parts Monster!" -Me

58Dub · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 3:51 pm Post subject:

Here are a couple pics from my '60. The running board mount is much more of a smooth transition.

And the headlight buldge is not as pronounced

_________________
58 Beetle (now just a pile of parts in the corner)
60 Beetle (2221 turbo under construction)
70 Beetle Baja project

Trayle D. the real oggfk · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 4:06 pm Post subject:

Ive always believed that the fender changed shapes at the same time as the fenders lost the wire tube. Which I also always believed was half way threw(or round about) 1959. I know for a fact that I have seen unmolested 1959s without the wire tube holes in the spare tire well. Having said that, I also own a 1959 with wire tube front fenders and rear fenders with the press makes between the mounting holes. Ill have to go get the VIN #s to find out what month that car was made. BTW, if anyone has an OG paint L243 Diamond Gray hood and decklid I would be interested... LOL, just thougth I would throw that out there.
_________________
the original
. . . . . . .GERMAN FOLKS 602
"The Downest, Deepest, & Dopest"

Trayle Duncan
AKA: The Troll that lives under that samba
AKA: The Samba Fabricator

Stay'n sucka free for the 0000000000... Hell, from now on...

spectre6000 · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 5:29 pm Post subject:

It looks like the '64 fender I shot had a more pronounced flare than that one... Anyone have any insight on that?
_________________
Jason Hopper

-'58 German Market Deluxe Beetle (in progress)
-'84 M1009 CUCV
-'81 K10
"Buy the best, cry once." -Gene Berg
"A cheap man will always buy the cheapest thing available, and then buys another one hoping for a better result, and then spends the rest of his life in misery complaining about it. A thrifty man will buy a good part once and never think about it again." -RockCrusher
"Don't feed the Shitty Parts Monster!" -Me

volkswagenut · Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 5:39 pm Post subject:


Hello! Log in or Register \| Help \| Donate \| Buy Shirts	See all banner ads \| Advertise on TheSamba.com

'58/'59 Beetle Discussion
Page: Previous 1, 2, 3, 4 ... 144, 145, 146 Next Jump to:

	Forum Index -> Beetle - 1958-1967	All times are Mountain Standard Time/Pacific Daylight Savings Time Page: Previous 1, 2, 3, 4 ... 144, 145, 146 Next Jump to:
Page 3 of 146