Gearbox Numbers - Yes Really!

[Martin Southwell]

After owning my 47 for at leat 32 years, I'm now heavily involved in restoring it, and have today pulled the gearbox, with a view to overhauling it. I recall driving it in the early 80's, and remember that it was very noisy, akin to having your head against an electric drill!

In 1979, when speaking to the guy who had owned the car for a number of years in the 50's, I recall that he said that the gearbox had been in and out of the car at least a couple of times, and that he had a couple of Polish guys in Bristol always did the gearbox work for him. I wonder if the reason for this was because they had worked at the factory during the war? It seems that these early boxes are not very robust.

The owner recalled that whilst travelling under a low railway bridge in Bristol one day, the gearbox suddenly seized solid, and couldn't easily be moved, causing a minor traffic jam in the process. Breaking down in the the same spot today, with traffic levels at least four times higher, would result in a very large problem at this strategic point.

Anyway, I had always assumed from what the previous owner had said, that the car still had its original gearbox, but it seems not, as the number on the tunnel when pulled today, is 0385908, I assume that this is a 51/52? Could somebody confirm this please. What sort of number should I be looking for, for a May 47 car? Thanks in advance for any help.

I do have a 47 gearbox somewhere in one of my garages, with not many miles on it, which was bought many years ago, from somebody who had acquired the remaining parts from a 47 Beetle, which has been the pride and joy of somebody in the Royal Airforce, in Suffolk if I remember correctly, who went to London for the weekend, leaving his car at the Air Base.

Unfortunately, a crane at the base ran out of control, and flattened the Beetle, and the only things worth salvaging (although I'm sure we would do a more thorough salvage job these days) were the engine, gearbox, engine lid, and four wheels, all of which I have, except the engine lid. The wheels are on my car today, and are in great shape, and in addition, the gearbox looks set to be used as well. Here endeth the story!

[johnshenry]

Yours is a March '52 gearbox.

See:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/bugchassisdating.php

For '47 you should be in the mid to upper 70,000s for a number.
_________________
John Henry

'57 Deluxe
'56 Single Cab

[Martin Southwell]

Thanks for that information. I did look to see what could be found on this web-site, but couldn't find the list you provided the link for! Must try harder next time! Now the task is to try and find that other gearbox. Thank goodness that the engine is original.

[kdf38]

My Mid Nov '47 gearbox has a 'Star'0790xx

the gearbox number is around 7800 higher than my chassis number
and around 20.200 lower than the engine number.

[Martin Southwell]

Just in case anybody is interested, I found that gearbox I was talking about earlier, has a number is 069227, which probably makes it a late 46 in view of the information provided earlier. Nevertheless, it will be used in my May 47 Beetle!

The box will now be cleaned up externally (although in pretty good shape) and stripped down to see if anything is amiss inside, but I'm hoping not in view of its past history (see above) that it will need little doing to it. I notice that the nose cone section, unlike the alloy body, has a bronze finish. No doubt the actual material will become evident when being stripped down.

I've seen the subject mentioned elsewhere on Samba, but what would be the best thing/material to coat/paint the box with, to retain its shine, but at the same time protect it from the onset of the 'white powers', bearing in mind that if an American product, I would need to be able to ship it to the UK?

Again thanks for any help/advice.