1965 Volkswagen Type-1 (Beetle) D.I.Y. Project (o\_!_/o)

[AsadIshaque]

Ah! the joy of reaching out in the box or on the shelf to grab the new part when you need it. ..only if you have collected everything you need.

I even have the screws, nuts, bolts and washers cleaned, de-greased, (and at one point cad plated) for when I am putting it all together. (there is a person in Rawalpindi who cadmium plates nuts and bolts. If you can get original spare hardware from the countless Dalda tins at the old repair shops you can have them treated and ready when your car is ready to receive them.)

Ooooooh!!

   Thats the way to go!! Basit the Karachi denter does it for his 'special' customers who are building really good cars at his place. 

   This 'plating' is done by motorcycle resto shops, Ive heard. Have not gone out to hunt this aspect myself. Should go sometime.

[reezvaan]

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

[nmshaikh]

@AsadIshaque its definitely not a punched hole. Its original. I have seen the antenna installed on the right side on quite a few cars already, here is one for your consideration;

Here is another issue that I cannot say much with authority but from what I have seen/ read the antenna hole is only on the left side. The antenna in the picture looks a bit low in any case and its a japanese after market one so there is a possibility the owner had it punched for the purpose. (considering the suzuki mirrors that he has it is not too much of an improbability either) I think the 66 came with a side mounted antenna and the one in this location (actually a bit higher on the left side) started in 68...

[reezvaan]

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

[reezvaan]

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

[Xulfiqar]

[QUOTE=AsadIshaque;2719990]Ooooooh!!

   Thats the way to go!! Basit the Karachi denter does it for his 'special' customers who are building really good cars at his place. 

   This 'plating' is done by motorcycle resto shops, Ive heard. Have not gone out to hunt this aspect myself. Should go sometime.[/QUOTE]

cadmium plating is also done near waterpump FB area - just be sure to put every bolt and nut in a mesh or string them together with a piece of wire so they dont lose it. Doesnt cost much, I always plate all external fastening hardware on any rebuilt engine to give it that NEW look

Its a very good idea - a good set of tap-dies also is worth every penny to clean out blind holes and have a solid contact for the threads

[Xulfiqar]

[QUOTE=AsadIshaque;2719955]I recently visited the Lawrence Road market looking for a couple of steering universal joints but came up with nothing. I did search the whole market end to end, twice that day. I was very disappointed.

From this experience, Id safely say that I dont have the nuts to go searching for nuts there :P

Zulfiqar, when did you visit the market?? Im assuming it mustve been a few years back?? If not then maybe its worth a peek.[/QUOTE]

Odd - I visited it right this year with a freind (same 124 owner) to find him some door hinge bolts for his car, I found them on a cart, the actual market is inside the buildings - little shops that have mountains of the stuff. You need to sift through it.

[nmshaikh]

@nmshaikh

The retractable aerial installed on the above mentioned car is surely an aftermarket piece but its not Japanese, its Brazilian. I know since I have it installed with my own hands on my 1970.

I believe at some point in time the retractable aerials were stopped being installed from the factory and were installed at delivery points by the dealers (I am sure I have read it in Robert Bentley's Workshop Manual somewhere which for now I can not locate where - will share the extract whenever I could locate that piece) just like the door hinges and locks lubrication that was stopped in factory (in following is the reference/extract from Robert Bentley Workshop Manual explaining the same).

Since the Aerials were installed by the dealers instead at the assembly line it could be the case that there are diverse cases of some cars having retractable aerials installed on the RHS while the others have it on LHS. Possible?

Having said that, there is another acute chance of some retractable aerials being installed on special orders/requirements by the customers since now it is quite clear that VW used diverse range of accessories as custom option then why can not the custom location for retractable aerials be a possibility?

The issue at hand is not if the arial is factory installed but if there is a hole for it in a 1966 bug. I would have to dig into my manuals now to find a reference but I believe that a 66 did not come with a retractable antenna and that too on the right side. The only reference of antennas I have been able to find are the ones mounted on the quarter panel and that too on the Left side.
Lets dig into our ref. books...

[nmshaikh]

[QUOTE=Xulfiqar;
Its a very good idea - a good set of tap-dies also is worth every penny to clean out blind holes and have a solid contact for the threads[/QUOTE]
@ Xulfiqar..Excellent point. The fender bolts and the ones holding the running boards are prime contenders for this treatment. If you can get your hands on some anti seize compound and apply to the bolts when tightening it would ensure they don't give you grief when/if you want to take them off.

[reezvaan]

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

[nmshaikh]

Can someone tell me what is this part that is circled in the picture below?

It appears to be an after market control relay of some sort, drawing power directly off the battery..my guess would be it is a lights control unit...HID lights or DRL's

[reezvaan]

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

[Xulfiqar]

@ Xulfiqar..Excellent point. The fender bolts and the ones holding the running boards are prime contenders for this treatment. If you can get your hands on some anti seize compound and apply to the bolts when tightening it would ensure they don't give you grief when/if you want to take them off.

Its a cardinal sin not to use copper antisieze in such locations - specially in german cars - because their bolts dont break off - they twist out the siezed blind nut captured in the body

[reezvaan]

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

[nmshaikh]

Here is a pic of a 1966 which confirms your reference;

The first reference I have found for the factory aerial hole is for 1968 model year and it is in the Intereurope repair manual for VW Beetle printed in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comEngland</SPAN></st1:place></st1:country-region>. It is referred to as Scuttle mounted type aerial and the first line reads..<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = " border=" /><o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
"1. Remove the blanking plug from the scuttle panel on the nearside of the car to expose the aerial hole provided."<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Nearside is the left side in UK and for years I could never remember which was the near side and which side was off...until an old man told me an easy to remember rule...'near, 'port' and 'left' all have four letters.. 'off', ’starboard’ and 'right' do not.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Prior to that it was the side mounted antenna for which a hole had to be drilled either by the customer (a template was provided with the radio manual) or by the dealership. There is no hard and fast rule re. which side was chosen for the drilling of the holes but it was usually the side away from the curb to prevent passing vandals breaking the exposed antenna<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Then there were the straight mount antennas and the mounted-at-an angle antennas but both were put there by the dealers and individuals. The straight antennas were for AM radios and the tilted ones were for FM. (AM waves travel horizontally)<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
<o:p></o:p>

[reezvaan]

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

[nmshaikh]

@Reezwaan..absolutely. it could be a dealer punched hole or a local dentors handiwork. However when VW started punching these holes at the time of manufacture it was always on the left side.

[reezvaan]

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

[reezvaan]

This post was flagged by the community and is temporarily hidden.

[nmshaikh]

you can clean the tunnel with some detergent and brush but don't get the fibre insulation / sound proofing wet if you can help it. Take some good sharp scissors and trim the hanging fibre and clean the exposed metal. That is about the extent you should go. If you rip it out, most likely it won't be in a shape to go back in.

Wait for the front clip. Then we'll work on the aluminum tag