1963 Beetle (Lil Blue)

[Jay-Rod]

Thanks to my brother and Dad, Ive been around VWs all my life. This is the first of mine. Its still not entirely mine, as it was bought by Brad Smith of Smitty's Smoothies to be a company car for the West Coast, but it's in my possession and mine to work on and drive!

If any of you have had the opportunity to work with (or order from) Brad, he will take very good care of you as a customer, mentor, and friend!

Before looking through the pics, know that new suspension, wheels, and tires are on the way from Smitty's Smoothies.

These pictures are of the day it was purchased.

The only bit of noteworthy rust...

Took it to work...CHP!!

My wife couldn't wait to tear apart the rear seat and see if anything was salvageable. Turns out the seatback frame was bent in a few places and will get replaced. She was bummed to not get to recover it yet.

Ive had this tin for roughly 18 years.....how fortunate id end up with a bug almost identical to it.....

If anyone sees anything especially neat, or could tell me whats not stock on the engine based on what you see, Id appreciate it. Im learning as much as I can, the previous owner had no idea about anything on the car.
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1963 Beetle

[Mark Evans]

Welcome to the Dub club! I'm sure you know the motor is a later dual port with an alternator. Also has a 2 bbl progressive carb. Gas cap is from a Thing. You should be able to resell those wheels. All looks good to me. Looks like your daughter is now a dub lover too!
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'63 Ragtop

[calvinater]

i hate you west coasters
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"Albatross"!

[Jay-Rod]

[KTPhil]

Great start for restoration! So little rust... looks like the kinds of cars I found 25 years ago here in Cali... rust was almost never an issue except maybe the battery tray or the front quarter panel (Bermuda Triangles) if the drains were closed off.

Looks like a power pulley on that engine. That means your fan turns more slowly. Better to put a stock pulley (or stock sized degree pulley) on it, especially if you change the gearing to slow down the engine revs on the highway.

That isn't the original fuel tank cap, but it's proper. VW retrofitted these stronger caps whenever the car came in. They stopped selling the cork gaskets for the original types and instead sold you this cap. Prevents it from popping off in a collision and burning you. Keep it!

Does your header system not have a pre-heat flange to connect to the heat riser on the intake manifold? It's a good idea to prevent carb icing.

I bet the thermostat is removed, too... a good thing to put back right but with an obviously non-stock shroud this may not be possible. Is the shroud a doghouse with the offset, larger oil cooler?

[Jay-Rod]

[67rustavenger]

Jay-Rod, Are you CHP?
Not that I care but you might be able to answer more than a few questions from those that live in California.

ACVW's are either cool or meant to hide from in today's youth.
I have a daughter in the Air force that want's to drive my 67 while she's on leave. I'm good with that as she is protecting our country everyday

Your older daughter might get over the stigma of the "Uncool" car someday. Just don't force it on her. peer pressure can be horrible on kids today.

Have a great weekend and be safe.
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I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!

There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo!

[Jay-Rod]

[Jay-Rod]

My nephew took a few pictures this past weekend.

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1963 Beetle

[Jay-Rod]

Found this under the car the other day. Left/Driver side, just inside the rear wheel. "Rockerarm" suggested it was part of an old A/C system. The piping is hooked up to the driver side heater pipe that runs under the seat to the heater channel.

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1963 Beetle

[vwoldbug]

Hello , I think that blower is part of a heater booster & that is a one barrel carb . That car has a lot of potential.

[EMPIImp69]

Yea your car looks cool, I want to paint mine the same Gulf blue
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1963 Ragtop Bug

[63Ragtop NZ]

I think you and your girls face says it all man.

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If you can't join them, beat them!

[Jay-Rod]

Oh yeah, I smile like a goober every time I drive it. I love this car!

Thanks all.
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1963 Beetle

[rockerarm]

[Jay-Rod]

[rockerarm]

Hi.
If your Al's system is in good shape you may wish to retain it. Many of the aftermarket headers aren't as good as in the past. The CB components seem to get good reviews here. But, one thing to consider is the design of the header's flange welded onto the two pipes has an inherent flaw when compared to a stock muffler. The flaw is there is no forced flow of exhaust gas thru those welded on flanges vs a dedicated tube that will force an amount of exhaust up thru the intake manifold's pre-heat pipes. And this is dependent on your intake manifold's pre heat pipe being free of obstruction. As simple a design that it is and you might be in for some money spent and/or labor invested here.
Why not try and improve the air cleaner's pre-heat feature and see if you achieve the improvement you desire?
Those shields are available by a few vendors and I believe somebody has posted their dimensions if you wish to make them yourself.
You gotta stop that lost/valuable cooling air from escaping as this air can be used to cool the engine.
You may only have the right side brake cable as you can see in that pic, below the metal brake line, the open hole.
Bill

[Jay-Rod]

The Al's system is indeed in pretty good shape. Its not banged up, not rusted out, ect.... The quiet pack, on the other hand, that has holes all over it. I briefly considered swapping it for a stinger, but Ill probably just get another quiet pack.

I understand what you mean about the flanges. If they aren't designed to force air through them, and are just an opening somewhere in the stream, then they are barely useful. I will look into the air cleaner as you mentioned, since the preheat pipe that runs along the intake manifold has been cut off just to the left of the carb. Seems like a bad idea, just routing raw exhaust into the engine bay.... Ive left it alone, since that preheat pipe isn't being used anyway.

As for the e-brake...that could be the reason I don't have enough cable tension for the ratcheting mechanism to work right. Good eye!
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1963 Beetle

[63Ragtop NZ]

you are possible missing item number 5.

if it's anything like my car, it's slowly rusting in the bottom of the tunnel, it's not actually attached to the handbrake leaver, just the clicker thing(#eight) holds it in place.
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If you can't join them, beat them!

[arizonabuckeye]