1962 Ragtop Sedan Up Fixing

[Larmo63]

We installed the Varga master cylinder today and it made a huge difference. I have solid pedal, we readjusted the shoes and set the pedal free play.

A few other odds and ends around the car.

I'm obsessed with how fun these cars are.
_________________
Lawrence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘61 Mango Green Single Cab
'62 Pearl White Ragtop sedan
'66 Ruby Red Cabriolet
'86 Porsche 911 Carrera

[Larmo63]

I've been working on the whitewalls, they were really brown, still not white but better.

_________________
Lawrence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘61 Mango Green Single Cab
'62 Pearl White Ragtop sedan
'66 Ruby Red Cabriolet
'86 Porsche 911 Carrera

[glutamodo]

I've never had whitewalls on my Beetles, but I actually have ran them on both my 85 Golf and 83 Camry (every year, one company does a micro-run of 175/80R13 whitewall tires, and I've been getting them for years) and in the dry climate of Wyoming I find it hard to get the stripes white. Is it just me or did Westley's Tire Bleach used to be a lot stronger than it is now? That's about the only thing I use though, along with some Green Scotch Brite.

As for your tires, well I really think whitewalls need the contrast of two-tone rims. You get a dark/light/dark/light/dark/light(*chrome) effect. I''ve often wondered if this is why that VW changed the wheel paint schemes from 1960 to 61 from having the darker colour on the outside of the rim to the inside. I think it works a lot better 61-onward. But then again, I don't do it myself, and while my rims are two-tone, they are hidden behind trim rings... At least I use rather older style ones with very narrow slots, they look a lot better than the common ones that I once ran.
_________________
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.

[sportin-wood]

I used to use Wesley's Bleach White or SOS pads on my whitewalls. Both worked great. Haven't used Wesley's for several years...
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Paused 66 project bug
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"Relax, all right? My old man is a television repairman. He's got this ultimate set of tools. I can fix it." --- Jeff Spicoli

[60ragtop]

Westley's is not as good as it used to be
_________________
Rick
Certified Mechanic by the State of Michigan in 1977
ASA certified in 1987
Certified Hunter Wheel Alignment Master Technician 1986

[Larmo63]

I used SoftScrub w/Bleach on the whitewalls. I have always used Westley's on all of my wide whites.

I scored a Sapphire II am/fm radio that I installed today. I wish it worked.

_________________
Lawrence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘61 Mango Green Single Cab
'62 Pearl White Ragtop sedan
'66 Ruby Red Cabriolet
'86 Porsche 911 Carrera

[Mervo]

Looks great Larmo. I recently did my '61 wheels and cleaned the white band as well. The material in the tyre construction always bleeds through and the 'walls need cleaning every few months if you are keen. There are lots of threads on this topic. My radio is the Australian market AWA one with the VW logo and "1961 1200 on the back" . Picked it up for $20 and had an FM board added in for under $300 and a new potentiometer fitted.

_________________
1962 Porsche 356
1968 Porsche 911 (sold)
1988 Porsche 911
2004 Porsche Turbo
1960 VW beetle (Australian)

[Larmo63]

I found these front blinker lenses here on the board, fair price. Some people cal them Italian version, some say Belgium.

Either way, I like them, they are a bit unique.

_________________
Lawrence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘61 Mango Green Single Cab
'62 Pearl White Ragtop sedan
'66 Ruby Red Cabriolet
'86 Porsche 911 Carrera

[glutamodo]

I'm actually kind of proud that my 62 has never had a dash radio. I still have the original block-off plate in place. It did get repainted once though

Those turn lenses are cool, those are often pricey, but cool.

Myself, back when I was regularly driving my 62, I valued overall visibility over everything so I just fitted amber bulbs under the clear covers, that way they were amber from every angle. (I much preferred that to using solid amber covers)
_________________
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.

[Larmo63]

Thank you to everyone for the comments. This is going to be my build/restore thread too.

My question tonight is how do I find out my 'birth date' for the car? I know it is an early '62 and has a few 'late'61/early '62' items.

I've been in Porsche world for too long and I forgot some of these basics, still re-learning.

Thanks.
_________________
Lawrence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘61 Mango Green Single Cab
'62 Pearl White Ragtop sedan
'66 Ruby Red Cabriolet
'86 Porsche 911 Carrera

[glutamodo]

The 1962 model year started July 31 1961. And at that time all of the major changes for model year 62 were made. They had already changed the VW emblem on the hood which would last the entire 62 model year. The exterior/interior paint and upholstery color schemes changed for 62. The design of the horn circuit changed for 62. The addition of heater outlets under the back seat began with model year 62. I guess one hold-over was the engine air cleaner, the placement of the crankcase breather did change during model year 61 and would carry over a few months into 62 production)


As for finding a date:

For Free... you can guesstimate the date to within a week or so by using the end-of-month production survey charts that are on The Samba.

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

For example, my 62 has chassis number that starts with 4436. Most of the entries on that chart are the last one made in the listed month. So that puts my number pretty much smack dab in the middle of January 62.


For Money... you can pay the VW Museum to see if it's in their records:

https://www.volkswagen-classic-parts.com/en_global/service/certificate-data-sheets.html

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=398
_________________
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.

[Larmo63]

Thank you, my VIN starts with 411, so early.

My stick shift knob is a 10mm, so maybe they were still using up '61 parts?

I kind of wish my car would have had an original block-off plate, but the outline for the radio plate is there, I had to put something in there.

I'll check my VIN and engine numbers against that chart tomorrow and report back.

Also, I'll post up an engine pic so you guys can tell me what you see. I know it has a hot start relay mounted near the VR that is an add-on. It is Bosch though, not Ford.
_________________
Lawrence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘61 Mango Green Single Cab
'62 Pearl White Ragtop sedan
'66 Ruby Red Cabriolet
'86 Porsche 911 Carrera

[glutamodo]

Good call on the shift lever, I forgot that one. That was a change in mid November 61. I was more thinking about the colors that the interior bits were painted. The shift lever was painted a different color for model year 61 than it was in 62 on a Pearl White car.

When I bought my 62 back in 1989, it was mostly original. The outside had been painted some other color white with some kind of crappy pinstripes, but the interior was mostly original except for some ugly non-stock carpet and seat cover overlays.

And this was the engine at that time, original air cleaner, not the correct distributor, and a badly placed fuel filter, but that's how it was sold to me.

I still use that same air cleaner. Kept the original firewall lining. And I have a correct distributor now. But it's been changed to 12V so I have those bits on there. My car was made just days from when they put in a metal vacuum advance pipe, so while it's not correct, I use one. I just like the look of the metal fuel pipe, which was more a 1963-64 thing, so I use it. Heck, the engine block is a 61 now. (when I got the car it had the original engine in it, but that's long gone now) Oh and my intake manifold should not be gray either. The correct look of that is in the image above, black end pipes with bare metal center section.

_________________
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.

[Larmo63]

Good information.

We should start a '62-'63 Sedan page if there isn't one.

My shift lever and E-brake handle are Anthracite as original.
_________________
Lawrence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘61 Mango Green Single Cab
'62 Pearl White Ragtop sedan
'66 Ruby Red Cabriolet
'86 Porsche 911 Carrera

[Larmo63]

Here is the motor, I have no history on it. It runs great, looks to be a recent rebuild.

_________________
Lawrence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘61 Mango Green Single Cab
'62 Pearl White Ragtop sedan
'66 Ruby Red Cabriolet
'86 Porsche 911 Carrera

[Larmo63]

I also found a very nice roof rack for the car, not sure if it is going to stay or not.

I like the look.

_________________
Lawrence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘61 Mango Green Single Cab
'62 Pearl White Ragtop sedan
'66 Ruby Red Cabriolet
'86 Porsche 911 Carrera

[Larmo63]

So I looked up my engine on various charts #6056338 and it seems well within reason that it is the original engine to this car.

A mid August 1961 build date, so an early '62 model.

_________________
Lawrence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘61 Mango Green Single Cab
'62 Pearl White Ragtop sedan
'66 Ruby Red Cabriolet
'86 Porsche 911 Carrera

[Larmo63]

Oops, meant to post this one:

_________________
Lawrence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘61 Mango Green Single Cab
'62 Pearl White Ragtop sedan
'66 Ruby Red Cabriolet
'86 Porsche 911 Carrera

[Rome]

[Larmo63]

The E brake is within spec, but I think some further adjustment would make it perfect.

My Carrera sits while I play with this old VW bug.

Go figure.
_________________
Lawrence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘61 Mango Green Single Cab
'62 Pearl White Ragtop sedan
'66 Ruby Red Cabriolet
'86 Porsche 911 Carrera