Aircooled VW South Africa

A lot of you might remember that we bought a 1968 Notch (aka Norman) earlier this year. Norman is in need of some critical spares like the rear window, so we have not done anything on this project so far. I did not want to spend any money on it untill I could source a rear window.

To my surprise, Andrew aka Bugandy spotted this notch sitting next to the road and investigated. http://www.aircooledvwsa.co.za/viewtopi ... 71&t=17878

After he gave it a miss, I contacted the owner and asked if he was selling, price etc and we agreed on a weekend to meet and conclude the deal. A few weeks passed and last Thursday, I contacted the seller again. To my dismay he decided not to sell anymore. This after I had organised transport etc. I could just see that I would have to sell the other notch (Norman), if I couldn't source the necessary windows.

On Friday morning I decided to send a sms to the seller and inquired innocently if he had perhaps changed his mind and that I was hoping to come fetch the car on the weekend of the 4th of Sept. No response for the whole morning untill 13h00 when the phone rang and I was given the go-ahead to go fetch the car in Queenstown. While I drove tthe 660km back from site, the seatcover organised a trailer for us and sorted the picnic basket for the trip. I arrived home at 21h00 on Friday evening and left for Queenstown some 840km away, at 03h00 on Saturday morning. It was a long trip which saw us arriving at around 13h00 in Queenstown.

Upon inspection of the vehicle (and especially the back window ), I realised that the pics I saw of the car did not do it justice. What looked like rust was actually a dark rebrown colour paint. I found very little evidence of rust. The pan being the worst contributor with a huge hole behnd the passenger seat. The battery bay floor is even still intact.

We now sit with a dilema. This car has hardly any rust compared to Norman and is mostly straight and complete. Aparently the engine still runs. (I'll check this out as soon as I can)

Our problem is this. Do we keep both and restore both or do we keep one as a parts source for the other. If we keep only one, which one? The '68 has up to date papers, but the '63s body is in better condition. The owner is trying to find the papers which are filed somewhere.

In the meantime, here are some pics.

Loaded and Ready to go.


Safely home,




Interior is mostly there






The engine apparanetely stilll runs.


Lastly, just incase any of you thought that we came up with the name, It actually came with the car.

I was just about to bust your chops about the trip and the pics.
Posted in the nic of time.

Three words: Push button dash, restore the 63 (IF, you get the papers). Keep Norman as is till you find ANOTHER rear window.
No papers? Fix Norman first.

Oh and did I mention, Way to go! Thats how you do it.
Dont give up, put your money where your mouth is, drive the long distance and make it happen.
Thats what you call a true enthusiast !

Fix the 63, sell Norman to me. That is all

Your 63 is an S!!! Start on the 63!!!

GREAT!! Happy to hear that it all worked out in the end and that this vehicle seems to be a rather special one! Glad I took the time to stop and take the initial pic's and find out more - as Nelly is in good hands now and most probably going to receive the much needed make over.
BTW I think the heading should read Notch?

Bugandy wrote:GREAT!! Happy to hear that it all worked out in the end and that this vehicle seems to be a rather special one! Glad I took the time to stop and take the initial pic's and find out more - as Nelly is in good hands now and most probably going to receive the much needed make over.
BTW I think the heading should read Notch?

Fixed it.

Andrew, thanks again for the lead on this car. I really owe you one!

To all the other comments, thanks guys. We are also thinking along those lines. I suppose it will really depend on if I can get the papers or otherwise get the car registered somehow.

Blitzkrieg wrote:Fix the 63, sell Norman to me. That is all

Make me an offer I can't understand.

Hey Bernard
Congrats man and a good find !!

beetlefanatic wrote:

Blitzkrieg wrote:Fix the 63, sell Norman to me. That is all

Make me an offer I can't understand.

We'll talk soon

I have better front seats, maybe you can make up one decent set out of whatever you and I have, yours if you want them...

S cars should have twin carbs but the engine could have been changed
Armand

You are right Armand. I have just read that in the workshop manual. The engine was probably swopped. I'm on my way outside with the vaccuum cleaner and some water as we speak. Will try to locate the engine number for confirmation. According to my 1973 Haynes manual they added a pre-fix to differentiate between the models. K= 1500 and 1500S, T=1600, U=1600 FI, X= 1600 FI Automatic.

Congrats, that looks like a very nice project - and it is a very special car!

You'll enjoy this blog... http://vw1500s.skynetblogs.be/

If memory serves me right Volksworld did a write last monht or the month before on the S. Its a good read and should keep up the motivation for its restoration !

Congrats !

That cars well travelled in its condition. It seems in was in Joostenbergvlakte before moving to Queenstown.

We did some cleaning work Nelly today.

The trunk area


The Engine


The VIN plates (Still need to decipher some of it)



I found this peculiar switch in the door corner. It seems to be connected to something via a cable, but I haven't followed the cable yet to see where it ends up. The left door has the same setup. My first thought was that it had something to do with the interior light, but the door switch is also there. Anyone have an idea? I'll probably find out tomorrow if I carry on cleaning the interior.

Now where are Chris's old posts when he had his notch? He told us all what that lever was for.