My 1963 "field find". The " matador " from maricopa CA.

[Dkwautounion]

Heres my 1963 sedan. Just dragged it home.

Found this cyclone exhaust in it.

Original seats

Wood kit and any guess on shifter? Found some formula vee lug nut caps in the trunk.

[Dkwautounion]

Cool sticker on the dash. Any infon would be awesome .
Tore out the interior

Trunk

More to come . Gonna replace the pans soon. Just ordered the bug me video volume 6. Comes on Saturday . I Found a DMV drivers test in the car from taft ca. A book and this 7 up bottle with opener. I have registration card from 1978 which wa the original owner. A "oil man" from maricopa ca.

[Slow 1200]

this car is so cool! What are your plans with it?

[russ c]

Nice gonna be watching!!

[TastyTuner]

very cool. looks like it will clean up nicely!
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TastyGarage

[slave1pilot]

I'd love the radio if you are gonna replace it lol
Nice find, it looks like a fun project
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My Photobucket for my Herbie Project - http://s1288.photobucket.com/user/TK-439/library/Herbie?sort=3&page=1

Currently:
1963 Ragtop Beetle
Previously:
1967 Beetle
1968 Beetle
1970 Beetle

[vwuberalles]

Nice score!! Are you gonna preserve what's there or go the restoration route?
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1973 Superbeetle: 1st car, owned since age 12. Update thread --> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9919140#9919140
1967 Kombi: Owned since age 17, Dad's retirement project.
1966 Beetle: My new project. (SOLD) Build thread--> https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=678040

[Dkwautounion]

I'm going to preserve what I can. Interior will be new. Paint is gonna stay. I would like to have the radio working. I just bought Albert gravel guards and the door handle scratch protectors. Still debating on the wood kit on the glove box, ashtray , and around fuel gauge .

[mukluk]

The "wood kit" looks like standard contact paper or shelf liner, shouldn't be too difficult to find new if you want to keep the look.
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1960 Ragtop w/Semaphores "Inga"

[hitest]

[Dkwautounion]

Then that stuff will be coming off asap. Any idea about this shifter?

A little clr on the decklid and a little wax.

Picture of the front

[mukluk]

Wooden stair banister knob most likely.
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1960 Ragtop w/Semaphores "Inga"

[Rome]

Looks like the stock, original shifter was cut down a bit. Stock shifter has a shallow "S" curve; yours does not appear to have the upper approx. 1/4 length. The wood knob could either be just friction-pressed onto the shifter shank, or glued on. My suggestion would be to lightly sand the knob, stain it the color of your choice, then apply 2 coats of urethane. Paint the shifter shaft semi-gloss black. Install a short-shift kit, painting the base black. While you have the shifter out, check the shift rod bushing in the tunnel. Very likely it is really worn so that the shifter feels sloppy. New bushing plus the short-shift kit will give a huge improvement in shift quality.

Consider cutting some thin lauan wood for the glovebox and the speedo surround panels, and staining them the color of your shifter knob. Trace the shape of the panels onto the wood and cut them out with a fine-blade jigsaw. Attach them with contact cement. With your dry climate, the lauan probably won't warp and get wavy as it would in high humidity areas.

Does the engine rotate freely?

[Dkwautounion]

Heres the bottom of the shitter knob

Tonight I got all 32 bolts that hold the body down off. Plus 2 more for the shitter and 2 at the steering column connection. Wiggle the body loose. It will come off this weekend when I get help

[mukluk]

[Rome]

Thanks for the close-up shot of the shift knob. I remember a company named "Cal Custom" in the 1970's offered many dress-up items for domestic cars and VWs. The knob would either be specific for a certain car, or a shift knob like this would come with a few plastic inserts/collars that you'd insert into the knob hole and would shape itself over the shifter shaft's threads to hold it in place.

You've been busy with the body separation! I would not have expected the floor to have such a large rot-through coming from the dry Central Valley.

Do you also have active interest in DKWs, possibly even own one?

[Dkwautounion]

I do not own one and thanks for the pic. That's awesome

[slave1pilot]

exactly.
My old '70 had that same knob on it .
also, the donor dash for my 63 had the same woodgrain

TBH, the woodgrain looks too well done to be shelf paper. I'm sure there were die-cut kits back in the 70's for bugs.
_________________
My Photobucket for my Herbie Project - http://s1288.photobucket.com/user/TK-439/library/Herbie?sort=3&page=1

Currently:
1963 Ragtop Beetle
Previously:
1967 Beetle
1968 Beetle
1970 Beetle

[67ctbug]

Cool Beetle! I’d leave the wood grain, looks cool.
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'67 Beetle L41
'74 Westfalia
'69 Plymouth "Adam-12"
'63 Ragtop
'73 914
'73 Dodge W200
'72 Dodge Wrecker
Go Cubs!
World Series Champions 2016

[TDCTDI]