1962 European Ragtop Beetle - Nivea Creme Edition

[EvanB]

I picked up this 1962 Ragtop this week, and think I have a real gem.

VIN: 4843316 (Mid-July, 1962. 8,106 cars built from July 1st till this one, 11,683 built after this one until July 31st)

Engine VIN: 6902548

The car was imported in 2004 from Amsterdam by way of the boat Tropicana, I have some paperwork on this. Delivered to port in Baltimore, then shipped to Cleveland, Ohio.
Once in Ohio, the car was registered for 1 year by the previous owner, then stored from 2005-2018. There have been 8,000km put on the car from delivery to the states through today.

Earlier this year Previous Owner decided he wanted to let the car go - so he installed new tires, had the oil changed and 28-Pict carb rebuilt, with new fuel filter. Then, the car was posted and sold a couple days later to me.

Here is what I have gathered so far:

The car was originally sold from Robinson Volkswagen in Graz, Austria. (The Dealership appears to still be open)

The car appears to be a Deluxe model, per all of the chrome and accessories. Also, on the shipping paperwork, it is marked 'Luxus', which I believe is German for Deluxe. Nearly everything appears to be original. Still 6Volt. The only piece I have found that is not original is the Turn Signal switch. The one on the car has the button for Hi/Low Beam, I believe this should have been a foot button? The switch is also black, and I believe it should have been white/creme?

The car appears to never have been split, possibly never had the engine removed? Some body panels do look to have been resprayed, as well as inside the trunk.

The car is very solid. Minor rust on the heater channels, with a small dime-size hole on the passenger side. Minor rust in the battery tray area, with dime size hole in the corner.

Accessories:
-Gravel Guards (Rear Fenders)
-Fender Guards (Front Fenders)
-Automatic Back-Up Light
-3rd Brake Light
-Bumper Guards (Over riders and Towel Bars)
-Headlight Brims
-Cooling Slot Molding
-Ski Rack (1) (Arlberg Sport)
-VDO Fuel Gauge
-Rear Pop-Outs
-Front Bumper Mounted Horns
-Mud Flaps
-Blaupunkt Radio
-bamboo Parcel Tray
-Drivers Side Mirror
-Sun Visors (Driver and Passenger)
-Windows Rain Covers (Ventshades?)
-Chrome hubcap beauty rings
-Chrome/Red exhaust tip


The car came to the USA with the Nivea Creme logo on it. It is a vinyl logo, not painted. There is a small model car that came with it with the same logo.
Previous owner said something about it being in a museum in Europe for some time, but didn't have much information and I have not been able to validate this.

My plans are to fix a few things that need attention, and keep the car as is.

With that said, I have some learning to do. My VW history is a little short compared to most on this forum.

Current issues:
- Thermostat Ring is opening too far and contacting the fan blades. I have read this can be adjusted with the bolt on the arm? Can this be done with the engine in the car? Seems to be a tight squeeze back there.

- Heat will not turn off. Knob turns very easily, several turns, then stops as expected. Looking at the heater boxes, it looks like the drivers side flap is staying open and passenger side is stuck closed?

- Fuel pump is leaking some fuel. Car has started and ran fine the first few days, but would not start yesterday. I believe it is having trouble getting fuel. Any idea what rebuild kit I need?

- Fuel tank leaks fuel around the sensor when full. I may have just filled it too much?

- Oil cap keeps blowing off.. I added a paper towel to tighten it up for now. Thoughts on a cause?

- Steering wheel is not centered, or car is way out of alignment. Guessing not centered when turn signal switch was replaced.

- Clutch could be adjusted, has some play in it and the engagement point is very high

- Lights are VERY dim. Is this just a 6Volt thing? I can barely see brake lights and turn signals in the daylight, and the headlights are like holding candles in-front of the car

- Radio is not working. Haven't investigated fuses or other items, just know I cannot get it to make noise.

- Does anyone have recommendations on cleaning the headliner? The back area is very dirty/moldy. It appears to be original, so I do not want to destroy it.

- Drivers door lock is not functioning. Not sure if I don't have the proper key, or if the lock is just stuck

- Horn ring is broken on one side. May try to glue it back?

Link to more images in my Gallery:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_search.php?search_author=EvanB


Thanks for reading. This is the car I've been waiting for, and I look forward to enjoying it for years to come!
_________________
1962 Euro Ragtop Beetle
1964 Beetle (Parts)
1967 Baja Bug (72 Pan)
1974 Railbuggy (Sold)
2006 Jetta TDI

[EvanB]

Cant forget the pictures!

_________________
1962 Euro Ragtop Beetle
1964 Beetle (Parts)
1967 Baja Bug (72 Pan)
1974 Railbuggy (Sold)
2006 Jetta TDI

[EvanB]

More Pictures

_________________
1962 Euro Ragtop Beetle
1964 Beetle (Parts)
1967 Baja Bug (72 Pan)
1974 Railbuggy (Sold)
2006 Jetta TDI

[EverettB]

Nice find, you really got a "Creme Puff" car.

The seats are cool and a nice change from the typical vinyl.
I have seen people say they steamed-cleaned cloth seats in the past, that may clean them up.
_________________
How to Post Photos
Everett Barnes - [email protected] | My wanted ads
"Water is the only drink for a wise man" | "Communication prevents complaints"
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

[hitest]

I am certain those are vinyl seats- just euro "deluxe" Everett. They provide a little ventilation vs. the straight vinyl. Yours are in EXCEPTIONAL condition!

I'm hunching the car got a makeover maybe 20-25 years ago- hence the 80-90s era accessories like the HL visors. But they put some neat things on there during the updates (like the back dated crest). I'm pretty sure that's when the bumpers were replaced. Don't be surprised when you get the BC for it if it states US-spec bumpers. They were a frequently-ordered specification due to the perception of better crash-worthiness. That ski rack company is still in business- never seen one mounted on a bug before. The recliner on the driver's seat is a model I haven't seen on a bug either!

Your Headliner I'm afraid to say is toast. It is beyond savable.

If you have fuel leaking around the sender- it tells me not enough attention has been paid to gasket health, which could also translate to fuel line neglect. Sending units may fill up a little around the lever pivot- but not around the perimeter where sender meets tank lip. Get in there and replace all the soft lines just to be safe.

PS- don't let a Herbie guy get ahold of it! It's a PRIME candidate for a Herbie recreation
_________________

[glutamodo]

Looks like someone has yanked out the entire 1962-early 63 heat system of ducts under the back seat: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=445797&
_________________
Andy T.


IMAGE NOTE: It has been noted that Chrome based browsers may have issues in displaying my vast image library, which use non-secure links and are on an FTP server. Images should still be viewable if the link is clicked though.
I do not know how to fix this. All I can say is it all works fine for me with what I use, Firefox.

[deann]

Some guys have all the luck.

It will definitely be a hit at the next car show.

[EvanB]

Thanks Everett!

hitest, I'm making a list of a bunch of stuff to replace now.. all fuel lines, going through/rebuilding the brakes, engine and trans oil, check oil level in steering box, etc.


It does seem the car went through a restore some time ago - perhaps not as original as I originally thought.

Your comment made me start looking a lot closer at many things.. and I'm afraid I have uncovered some bad news. I think the car may have had the ragtop grafted from another car.

Signs of welding on the roof.. I thought the paint looked a little thick there.. it's bondo

Looking across from passenger side.. appears the Bondo is what drove the 'Patina'

Can see on driver side A-pillar.. looks like it was grafted just above the windshield vent. Clip looks to have been grey?

Passenger side has bondo in this area:

I applied for a Birth Cert today, so when that comes in I expect to know 100%. But from the looks of things, it was grafted some time ago.


I guess this makes my decision easier on trying to keep everything 100% original vs changing/upgrading things. I don't feel so bad about going 12v, and potentially going larger engine now.
_________________
1962 Euro Ragtop Beetle
1964 Beetle (Parts)
1967 Baja Bug (72 Pan)
1974 Railbuggy (Sold)
2006 Jetta TDI

[Rome]

Interesting Beetle, even with the grafted-in sunroof. The decal in your gallery lists the Gerlosstrasse- Grossglockner-Hochalpenstrasse, which are in southern Austria.

You have a rear fog light above the reverse light. Rear fogs are a popular accessory in Europe. A single lamp is mounted on the driver's side of the vehicle, so that when illuminated, the light indicates the "outer edge" of the vehicle to cars coming up from behind that intend to pass you on the left. If the car were right-hand drive, the lamp would be mounted on the right rear. The bulb is the same as a brake light, 21W single-filament. Looks like the activation switch is the small white one to the left of the steering column under the dash.

Dim lights- clean your battery ground cable/body connection to bare metal. Clean your fuses with a brass bristle brush (battery ground disconnected), and also clean the brass terminals in which they sit. Lots of grunt work. Might help. Also remove the small ground wires coming out of each headlamp wiring harness on the front side panel. Clean the attachment area to bare metal, and apply a smear of dielectric grease to prevent corrosion. Reattach the wires... All these small bits of cleaning allow a few more tenths of a volt to pass through. Collectively they make a noticeable difference.

Your distributor vacuum line with the circular turn is upside-down. Just pull off the entire line and put the circle up near the carburetor. The circle is there to prevent fuel from getting pulled out of the carburetor while running and going down into the distrib. Easy fix.

Rear luggage area carpet could well be cleaned using a steamer. You need something that hot to kill the mold. Maybe first spray it with a diluted mold killer, and wear a dust mask or even respirator while using the steamer.

My father had an off-white (L87 pearl white) '61 Beetle as a new company vehicle, which also had an off-white sunroof. J.T. Garwood's "Car of the Century" lists the same combination for '62, along with sand beige running board mats which you could obtain from Wolfsburg West.

I've been using Nivea Creme daily for nearly 40 years.

[EvanB]

Thanks for the tips/fixes! Cool information about the fog light, and cool story about your dads Bug, looks good!

When looking in the trunk, the wiring is incomplete. Nothing goes to that switch, or the radio for that matter.

The more I look around and think about the museum comment.. I wonder if this car was built as a clone to the 1/17th toy car that came with it, and displayed in some sort of Nivea museum... toy car has ragtop, and radio/switch could have been added only for show? Maybe the original Austria car was delivered as a standard, and things were added for the museum?

_________________
1962 Euro Ragtop Beetle
1964 Beetle (Parts)
1967 Baja Bug (72 Pan)
1974 Railbuggy (Sold)
2006 Jetta TDI

[joey1320]

Great score. Cool to see it made it's way to Ohio.

I would recommend placing a rubber mat over your battery for safety reasons.
_________________
**1971 Super Project
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[lovethatconvertible]

Nice score on the ragtop, but I'm more impressed that it came with a mini version that's made in France and not the usual place/Country.
Keep the updates coming.
_________________
1960 Convertible

[EvanB]

Parts order placed last night.. looks like I'll have plenty of work to do next week!

-all rubber brake lines
-wheel cylinders
-brake rebuild kits

-gas gauge sender unit seal
-rubber gas lines

-trans boots
-oil change seals
-valve cover gaskets

-back up fuses
-trans to chassis ground strap

Tried to order a fuel pump rebuild kit, but WW is sold out.. anyone have another source for these?

I plan to pull the tank to replace the lower fuel line.
Should I change the steering box fluid while the gas tank is out? Any other things to while the tank is out?

Goals are to get to mechanically sound. I know there's some play in the front end. Think I will try to make it through this summer, then rebuild the front end over winter.
_________________
1962 Euro Ragtop Beetle
1964 Beetle (Parts)
1967 Baja Bug (72 Pan)
1974 Railbuggy (Sold)
2006 Jetta TDI

[EvanB]

Been working in the baja mostly, but did get some time for the ragtop.

Went to start it the other day and it just cranked and cranked, didnt seem to be getting fuel. Then it stopped cranking. I figured I had killed the battery, so I pulled it and put it on the charger. I also went through and cleaned up all the electrical conned connections.. trans ground strap, starter, inside dash, etc.

Hooked up the charger battery.. and nothing happens when I turn the key. I get dash lights, and the generator light dims slightly when I turn the key.. but no click or turn from the starter. Tapped it a few times with a hammer, still nothing. Do I need someone to crank it while I tap?

Did I burn up the starter cranking it?

As far as the not getting fuel.. I can see the fuel drain out of the filter between the pump and carb.. so it has to fill that up before it will start. Is there a way to stop this from happening? Is my filter too big?

_________________
1962 Euro Ragtop Beetle
1964 Beetle (Parts)
1967 Baja Bug (72 Pan)
1974 Railbuggy (Sold)
2006 Jetta TDI

[flat4olsen]

Nice car. But please move the plastic fuel filter out of the engine bay. A small leak will drip fuel on/into the distributor. You do NOT want into there....
Put it next to the gearbox under the car.
_________________
Type 1 1968, Lotosweiss. 2109 oxyboxer engine
Early Bay 1970, Montana Red. Under construction

[EvanB]

[Sharp64]

Here’s my advice. Totally clean out the fuel system and eliminate the inline fuel filter altogether. There is a sock in the tank and a filter in the pump. Unless you’re siphoning the gas out of abandoned cars on the side of the road like the Road Warrior there isn’t any reason for 3 fuel filters. Drain, pull and clean the tank and replace all the soft lines. Use a compressor to blow out the hard line in the tunnel. Clean and rebuild the fuel pump. Replace the sock in the tank. Completely rebuild the carb. After that you should be set and out don’t have to worry about where you put the filter as you won’t need one.
_________________
1960 Indigo Blue Ragtop (Blue Barry)
1967 Ghia
1985 Westy Money Pit
“...some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.” - Michael Caine

[EvanB]

Figure it's time for an update!

- Replaced all rubber fuel lines and pulled the tank. Looked pretty good inside. Also rebuilt the German fuel pump in the process. Found the rubber on the top of the sending unit is torn. Looks like there are some good threads on finding good repo sending units.

- While the tank was out, I inspected the brake lines. They actually looked really good, guessing they were new when it came over in 2004. Shelved the parts for now, may dig into the brakes this winter.

- Cleaned a bunch of electrical connections, but my headlights are still VERY dim. It's like holding a candle in front of the car. Think I'll try new headlights.. anyone have a good source for 6V unsealed headlights? What about LED interior/Brake lights? Was doing some reading and this seems like a good options?

- Replaced both axle boots with bolt on style from WW, pretty simple but dirty job

- Replaced Trans fluid. When draining it seemed a little low, probably due to the leaky boot.

- Replaced engine oil, found a stripped filter bolt/nut (stripped from block).. but it seems to be holding for now and not leaking

- Hand washed the car, probably for the first time since it was parked. Looks a lot better now! The running boards are actually grey/cream.. going to try some CLR on them I think to clean them up some more.

- Tore out the headliner/rear carpet. It was too far gone to save, and I also wanted to inspect how the ragtop was grafted on. Looks to be a decent job. Going to try to clean up the glue/dirt on the metal and rock no-headliner for now. *Pics dont show it, but I did remove the headliner all the way to the front, as well as on the ragtop area. Need to grab some pics of the ragtop mechanism.

- Ragtop was grafted in at the pillars, looks to be some bracing inside in the back. Didnt tear off the B Pillar vinyl yet to look there, but I'm guessing much of the same. there appears to be 'stiching' across the roof right behind the ragtop.. This isn't original is it? Wonder why they did that when it was cut at the pillars? Some pics from the inside below..

- Found some minor rust repair on the rear wheel wells. Looks to be good enough for now

- Planning to deep clean the seats. I don't think I want to disassemble them/remove the covers, Thinking I can use a carpet shampooer to clean them? Maybe a couple passes over a couple days? They are cloth.

- When the car gets up to operating temp, I can hear the 'donut ring' thermostat coming into contact with the fan. Looks like I can adjust it by way of the bolt on the passenger side of the engine? Kind of in a bad place.. going to be a tight squeeze to make the adjustment.

- When the car is cold, taking off in 1st gear I get a shudder. I've heard this can be caused by the bowden tube? Or maybe the main seal is leaking oil onto the flywheel? It seems to smooth out after a few starts.. maybe just re-breaking in the clutch after sitting for so long? Clutch cable is noticeably loose. I have about 1 1/2 inches of play in the pedal before anything, and the actual clutch release point seems very high. Meant to adjust the cable when I had the car in the air, but forgot.

- When running in 3rd or 4th gear, I will get a 'shudder' in the engine. I wouldn't call it a stumble, just a slight shudder you can feel. Pretty sure it's getting fuel just fine. After a long run I can grab the dipstick, although it is decently hot to the touch, so I don't think it's really running too hot. Other ideas? The pieces of fuel hose holding the vacuum tube from the carb to the distributor seem pretty old, but were too small of a size for the fuel line I purchased. Is this supposed to be fuel line? Would a vacuum leak cause the shudder I am feeling?

- Drivers door lock doesn't turn with either key that came with the car. Car came with an aftermarket ignition switch and another correct VW key. Pulled the door handle to check the codes.. are they supposed to match? Suppose it could have been re-keyed.
Key = SU148
Handle = SU184

Now for some pictures!

_________________
1962 Euro Ragtop Beetle
1964 Beetle (Parts)
1967 Baja Bug (72 Pan)
1974 Railbuggy (Sold)
2006 Jetta TDI

[finster]

I thought from the first photo of the roof weld that only the ragtop and a metal margin around it had been cut in - but those other welds at the rear window mean that the whole roof has been grafted and frankenbug style too

[EvanB]

Bug is now for sale!

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2332291

Additional photos of the seats:

_________________
1962 Euro Ragtop Beetle
1964 Beetle (Parts)
1967 Baja Bug (72 Pan)
1974 Railbuggy (Sold)
2006 Jetta TDI