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aquifer 
Samba Member
Joined: August 30, 2021
Posts: 274
Location: Nebraska
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 Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2025 5:02 pm Post subject: What year is this transmission? |
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The serial number is AO 481 915. I found the document in the technical section above that should show me what year it is, but I don’t see any serial numbers that start with AO. It is entirely possible that it’s right there in the document but I simply didn’t see it. 
It’s a swing axle, and I have some reason to think that it’s from a 68, but I’m not sure. It’s in a 67 beetle that I recently re-acquired from my younger days.
Any guidance is appreciated!
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Parts needed:
Front & rear NOS or used OEM door panels for a '67 in the original Gazelle color (dark tan/light brown). |
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viiking
Samba Member
Joined: May 10, 2013
Posts: 3085
Location: Sydney Australia
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| Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2025 8:45 pm Post subject: Re: What year is this transmission? |
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There's a number of posts that call into question the veracity of the oft reported transmission lists. Some of it may be correct but not always. Some are from this site and some are reported from elsewhere.
To help you out the transmission in my late father's owned since new Feb 1968 Euro RHD is A0431525. Yours is sometime after that obviously. If you work out how many VW were made from the VIN number range per month you might be able to work out the month it came from. It is the original transmission. On some lists an AO transmission is allegedly from a Ghia.
Mine is definitely a long axle Feb 1968 assembled swing axle transmission.
It is reported that after the 9999999 transmission VW changed to 0000001, so the first digit on yours and mine is a zero not the letter "oh". Still 7 digits.
Now when they introduced the A prefix I don't know but one theory is that they did it so that there would be no confusion between the original 7 digit number and the new 7 digit number. I don't know if anyone really knows anymore.
Here's a thread about this very issue. There are others.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487125
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1968 1500 RHD Lotus White Beetle since birth. In the hospital for major surgery
1966 Lancia Flavia Pininfarina Coupe - in the waiting room
Discharged: 1983 Vanagon, 1974 1800 Microbus,1968 Low Light,1968 Type 3 |
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aquifer
Samba Member
Joined: August 30, 2021
Posts: 274
Location: Nebraska
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| Posted: Mon Jun 09, 2025 5:32 am Post subject: Re: What year is this transmission? |
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| viiking wrote: |
There's a number of posts that call into question the veracity of the oft reported transmission lists. Some of it may be correct but not always. Some are from this site and some are reported from elsewhere.
To help you out the transmission in my late father's owned since new Feb 1968 Euro RHD is A0431525. Yours is sometime after that obviously. If you work out how many VW were made from the VIN number range per month you might be able to work out the month it came from. It is the original transmission. On some lists an AO transmission is allegedly from a Ghia.
Mine is definitely a long axle Feb 1968 assembled swing axle transmission.
It is reported that after the 9999999 transmission VW changed to 0000001, so the first digit on yours and mine is a zero not the letter "oh". Still 7 digits.
Now when they introduced the A prefix I don't know but one theory is that they did it so that there would be no confusion between the original 7 digit number and the new 7 digit number. I don't know if anyone really knows anymore.
Here's a thread about this very issue. There are others.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487125 |
This is helpful in several ways, thank you. I read through the other thread.
Your comment about yours being a long axle 68 jogged my memory. Probably around 35+ years ago when I owned this 67 the first time, I remember swapping out the axle shafts. I had pulled off the drums for brake work and noticed that there was a stack of shims inside the drums because the shafts were too long for the drums. In fact, as my memory is coming back, I remember at first that I left off shims during reassembly, only to learn that the axle nut wasn’t even close to the drum. I think I even tried putting the shims on the outside of the drum, only to learn that the hubcap would not go on. So I pulled the drum off, put the shims back on the inside and buttoned it up. Seems like there did end up being a couple of shims on the outside too, so that the brake shoe still worked. Then I went on a search for shorter shafts.
At the time, parts were easier to come by and somehow I got my hands on a pair of axle shafts that were shorter. I am 65% sure that the shorter shafts were from a 67.
So based on all of this, I’m pretty comfortable that my transmission was from a 68 originally, and was likely made sometime after Feb. 68 based on your serial number.
To try to narrow down whether it came from a Beetle or a Ghia: did Ghia’s in 68 have a swing axle? If so, were they 5 bolt or 4 bolt hubs? If they were 4 bolt, then they probably had the longer axle shafts like a Beetle? If Ghia’s had 4 bolt hubs and longer shafts in 68, then my transmission could have came from either a Ghia or a bug. Probably no way to know that for sure. I’m ok either way, because I think I have a transmission that came from a 68, manufactured sometime after February 68 and before August of 68.
Thanks again for the info, and for jogging my memory!
_________________
Parts needed:
Front & rear NOS or used OEM door panels for a '67 in the original Gazelle color (dark tan/light brown). |
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