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vinnkie Samba Member

Joined: November 18, 2015 Posts: 8 Location: Zagreb,Croatia
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Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2016 3:36 pm Post subject: 1963 Ragtop beetle |
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Hi guys! I was watching and reading this forum for some time now so I wanted to show you what I bought in august of the last year.It is a car that my dad first saw 7 years ago and tried to buy it then but the owner didn't want to sell it.My dad is quite the persistent man so he called the guy every couple months and finally he agreed to sell the beetle.In the meantime my dad persuaded him to put the beetle on jack stands and has removed the wheels which was a pretty big deal considering that the car was parked outside and on grass .We came for the car a few days after the guy agreed to sell it and there was some diffrence to see...He said that some kids have thrown rocks at the car so they have dented it and broken the driver's side window and the back window.Broken windows resulted in rain coming in and destroying the floor but at that time I wasn't too conserned with it then because of me having the beetle just put a smile on my face .
This are some pics of the car from where it came and the state in which it was...
...and in the garage after it came home
I'm not sure if you can see it on the pictures is that the car is an american model which is quite rare in Croatia and the whole Europe.
I hope you guys like it as much as I do and I'll be putting more images of the progress which has been made and what will be made in the future . _________________ 1963 Ragtop Beetle |
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irvanm Samba Member
Joined: January 09, 2008 Posts: 610 Location: Lawrence, Kansas
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Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2016 4:41 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop beetle |
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That car had quite a view while it was sitting there. Neat find. |
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Dake Samba Member

Joined: September 02, 2014 Posts: 482 Location: Georgia
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Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2016 5:07 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop beetle |
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Nice looking ride. Nice find any shot of the inside. |
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rcooled Samba Member

Joined: September 20, 2008 Posts: 2660 Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2016 8:32 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop beetle |
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Good score...hard to beat a '63 ragtop
Post more photos when you get a chance. What are your plans for it? _________________ '63 Ragtop (current)
'65 Ghia coupe (totaled)
'67 Ghia convertible (current)
'69.5 Ghia convertible and
'62, '63, '65, '69 Bugs (all long gone) |
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hitest Samba Member

Joined: September 30, 2008 Posts: 10318 Location: Prime Meridian, ID
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2016 9:14 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop beetle |
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Beautiful! My first ragtop was a gulf blue '63 with the correct blue sunroof cover. Well done. Mine even had a similar rust pattern in the qtrs.  _________________
EverettB wrote: |
I wonder what the nut looks like.
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'62 L390 151, '62 L469 117, '63 L380 113, '64 L87 311, '65 L512 265, '65 L31 SO-42, '66 L360 251, '68 L30k 141, '71 L12 113, '74 ORG 181
FU#5 |
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rsthj Samba Member
Joined: December 16, 2015 Posts: 65
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Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2016 12:27 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop beetle |
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Another beauty getting back on the road. Looking forward to more pictures! |
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62ItalianRagtop Samba Member
Joined: August 18, 2007 Posts: 1356 Location: Italy
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Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 4:16 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop beetle |
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Very very nice .... it seems untouched
Are you sure is it 63 and not 62 (I can see wolfsburg badge on front hood) ? _________________ LOOKING FOR 62 ENGINE WITH NUMBER FROM 6.904.xxx TO 6.915.xxx
http://tettodistraccio.blogspot.com/ |
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wardk Samba Member
Joined: June 03, 2015 Posts: 114 Location: canada
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Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 8:31 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop beetle |
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Nice car , I am building it's twin my serial # indicates it's a 61. If you are going to rebuild it prepare yourself for lots of work. When I first posted Grampa Pete warned that once you remove the pan it will probably be more than year before you drive it again, He was right, I spend more time on mine than most being semi retired . hundreds of hrs so far and finally ready for paint a crossroads for me, now I can start putting it back together vs dismantling and repairing. Good luck PS putting a picture of beautiful finished bug on the shop wall helps.
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vinnkie Samba Member

Joined: November 18, 2015 Posts: 8 Location: Zagreb,Croatia
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Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 2:59 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop beetle |
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There are a few things that I forgot to say about the beetle so I'll say them now.The bug was put on that place in 95' also that's the last year that it was registered.The car doesn't have papers beacause it wasn't put in the inheritance papers before the original owner passed away(not sure if there is such a thing in America),but it was in the family the whole time(grandson was selling the car).Therefore we needed to find a new chassis with papers to connect with car,the only reason that I'm not feeling sad about it is that the original chassis needed new floors and the new chassis had new floors already welded on .
So here are some pics of the inside,trunk and the motor...
Engine is a bit younger,it's a 66' but still not running.
When I was cleaning the inside of the car I stepped on the metal behind the back seats and I fell through .
That happened beacuse of the rain coming in through the back window which had been broken with rocks .
The paint is gone stay so it's going to be a ratlook like Dake's bug ,also the rest of the car fenders,doors,hoods etc...,is healthy with no rust holes .
P.S. I'm still not sure how to put multiple quotes in one post so I'll try to do them once at a time... _________________ 1963 Ragtop Beetle |
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vinnkie Samba Member

Joined: November 18, 2015 Posts: 8 Location: Zagreb,Croatia
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Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 3:22 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop beetle |
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62ItalianRagtop wrote: |
Very very nice .... it seems untouched
Are you sure is it 63 and not 62 (I can see wolfsburg badge on front hood) ? |
Yeah thanks,it's mostly untouched except the front fenders and the front apron.It's chassis number says it's 06/63',not sure why there's a badge there . _________________ 1963 Ragtop Beetle |
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vinnkie Samba Member

Joined: November 18, 2015 Posts: 8 Location: Zagreb,Croatia
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Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 3:30 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop beetle |
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wardk wrote: |
Nice car , I am building it's twin my serial # indicates it's a 61. If you are going to rebuild it prepare yourself for lots of work. When I first posted Grampa Pete warned that once you remove the pan it will probably be more than year before you drive it again, He was right, I spend more time on mine than most being semi retired . hundreds of hrs so far and finally ready for paint a crossroads for me, now I can start putting it back together vs dismantling and repairing. Good luck PS putting a picture of beautiful finished bug on the shop wall helps.
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Yes I'm going to rebuild it and it's already in progress,those pics that I'm posting on samba are from last year .Thanks anyway and I'll try to put some bug on the wall . _________________ 1963 Ragtop Beetle |
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Doktor Samba Member

Joined: December 12, 2006 Posts: 95 Location: Croatia, Europe
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Posted: Sat Mar 05, 2016 4:48 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop beetle |
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Aaaa, VW Bug from Veprinac, close to the city of Rijeka is finaly in good hands...
Please, post more pics, as soon as you make any progress...  |
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vinnkie Samba Member

Joined: November 18, 2015 Posts: 8 Location: Zagreb,Croatia
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Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 3:22 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop beetle |
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As I've said in the last time the bug needed a new chassis,so we've gotten her one...
It's a year younger than the original one and completely rust holes free so there wasn't a lot of work needed for it to become nice again as you will see.The chassis was cleaned to bare metal and then coated with Wurth rust converter which turns what's left of the rust to a paint ready surface(after applying it changes the color of rust to purple).After that we sprayed primer and put some silicone which is specifically used to cover connections of metal,in this case also to prevent from dirt going in those spots.Finally we sprayed some color on it,it is dark grey so it's easier to see in future when it will be driven for some time if there will be some rust spots or anything similar to that.
The upper side of the chassis was painted in three parts:front,middle,rear...
The bottom side of the chassis was painted all at once,also we didn't remove the gearbox from the chassis since there was no need for it.
You can see the Wurth rust converter in action ...
It has been done really good and the time was taken to ensure that everything was done properly .Chassis was the last thing that was in 2015 that I have pics of.There is no pics but the interior of the car was taken out and the bug was separated from the chassis.As I am a student I didn't have a lot of time in this year until the end of february because of the exams so there was nothing done to the bug .Now I have some time and I'm doing on the beetle again,more pics soon ... _________________ 1963 Ragtop Beetle |
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arizonabuckeye Samba Member
Joined: November 10, 2013 Posts: 547 Location: SLC
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Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2016 4:53 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop beetle |
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Just wanted to mention that your axel boots should be cocked at an angle not straight up and down. |
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vinnkie Samba Member

Joined: November 18, 2015 Posts: 8 Location: Zagreb,Croatia
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Posted: Sat Mar 19, 2016 4:15 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop beetle |
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Doktor wrote: |
Aaaa, VW Bug from Veprinac, close to the city of Rijeka is finaly in good hands...
Please, post more pics, as soon as you make any progress...  |
Yes it is from Veprinac, thanks I like to think that it is in good hands .
arizonabuckeye wrote: |
Just wanted to mention that your axel boots should be cocked at an angle not straight up and down. |
Not sure what you mean beacuse on the last two pics you can see that they're not straight,or I haven't understood what you mean(most likely )... _________________ 1963 Ragtop Beetle |
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MomoMoto Samba Member
Joined: March 02, 2015 Posts: 84 Location: Greenville, SC
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 7:20 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop beetle |
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Boot seams at 10 or 2 o'clock, not straight up. Forward toward the front of the car, so when you are driving, the fluid rolls back and away from the seam.
Hope that helps clarify.
Awesome build, thank you for sharing! _________________ ------------------
'61 Beetle Ragtop
'15 Golf GTI |
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glutamodo  The Android

Joined: July 13, 2004 Posts: 26448 Location: Douglas, WY
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Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 8:56 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop beetle |
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VW always said to have the seam horizontal towards the rear. I don't think whether you go front or rear matters that much but you certainly don't want them straight up, which puts extra stress on the seam every time the axles "swing". And I've always gone a bit up from horizontal as mentioned, 2/10 oclockish, oo in line with the nut there on the axle tube retainer:
_________________ Andy T.
"What is Glutamodo, Horror of Toyko, besides total, fiendish, quality-a-you brain!" |
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vinnkie Samba Member

Joined: November 18, 2015 Posts: 8 Location: Zagreb,Croatia
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Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 4:07 am Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop beetle |
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Hey guys just to say thanks for the info about axel boots and to post a few things that have been done recently ... With the patina on the bug that I wanted to preserve I was thinking about a way to clean the inside of the fenders so this is what we made...
It's basically an OSB panel cut to fit the fender on it and then put on metal legs so it's on the right height for grinding the rust .For now I've cleaned all four of them and we're debating to send to be sand blasted or not beacuse of the rust still on them also it's quite hard to clean inside of the edges(destroyed 1 drill on them ).Also we've cut the metal that has dissapeared on my bug from a lot younger bug,the one which is located behind the back seat and cleaned it to bare metal as we've done on everything so far ...
You can see the diffrence between the cleaned and rusted .
It will now be sent to be welded to the beetle and after that painted, for now it only has rust converter and primer on it.Also I've wanted to ask you guys about the reverse Hella lights that I've bought recently because the ones that can be seen of Samba don't have two contacts inside for two bulbs(or I haven't seen any).
One of the last things that I've wanted to mention is that I've got a original roof rack but I'm still not sure if it's going on the bug because it's a ragtop beetle(forgot to take a pic ).As soon as the fenders are painted I'll put some pics . _________________ 1963 Ragtop Beetle |
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Joseph DR Samba Member

Joined: December 20, 2004 Posts: 180 Location: Texas
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Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 3:30 pm Post subject: Re: 1963 Ragtop beetle |
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I love that color and think this bug is in good hands. Great find! _________________ 1964 Beetle |
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grandpa pete Samba Member

Joined: July 06, 2008 Posts: 6426 Location: St. Petersburg, FL
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