a- Are you ABSOLUTELY sure this is a 1959? and if you are then the person who altered the look did a meticulous job and paid attention to the details. I notice that the vent windows are also post 1962 and if so the doors have also been changed.
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Yes sir absolutely sure. At first sight I hated the car as it no longer looked like what a 59 would. I am not the one who altered the look but boy did the previous owner pay attention to details?? Dare I say that someone deserves to be praised? The vent windows are post 64, that being the last year for the earlier type vent windows. The doors which came with the car are of 67 vintage. I got 64 vintage ones for our project, the closest I could manage.
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b. Youâll probably hate me for saying this but you have overlooked the fuel filler opening that is seen on the side. This is a post 1967 feature and no way in hell can a 1959 come with a fuel filler on the side. If it appears genuine then the car is not a 59
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I donât hate you at all! I donât blame you as the workmanship on the alterations is very clean. A VW specialist mechanic who actually saw the car first hand with his eyes in broad daylight refused to believe it was a 59. The alterations were just too clean. The post 68 fuel filler door has been grafted into the front right quarter panel. You would see a close up of this area showing the neat seam welds somewhere in this thread.
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c. It looks correct under the hood and the tank should be the raised hump type with a bigger fuel lid.
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Under the front hood, thereâs a post 68 front clip and the fuel tank area was altered to accept a post 68 fuel tank to compliment the external fuel filler.
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d. Please try and source NEW front fenders. They are easily available and in-expensive but would make a world of difference when the car come sout of the paint booth. It does not matter how good your denter is. The imperfections appear when the car has been painted and ready for the fitting of headlamps etc. I made the same mistake when restoring my Karman Convertible and although it looks fine but no matter how I adjust the headlamps one of the lights is aimed at the tall trees.
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NEW fenders???? Nasir bhai, have you forgotten we are in
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Pakistan
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??
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Karachi
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never saw brand new pre 67 front fenders or pre 72 rear ones for that matter ever. We did have brand new post 68 front and post 73 rear fenders available a few years ago, even those are no longer available. I think in Isb the story was a bit different.
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I had a very very hard time locating the pre 67 front fenders here, even the second hand ones. Rare, rare, rare! The ones we have prepped for this car are about the cleanest second hand pairs we can wish for in
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Karachi
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. I think I am lucky!
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About the headlamps being out of alignment, I think you do have a point. HmmmmâŚ.. a bit of head scratching has made me come up with some nifty ideas to minimize such head and heart aches. Would see me implement some ideas which if successful Id like to patent!
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e. I notice that you have overlooked the small channels around the hood and trunk to hold the rubber seal. I strongly recommend you get rid of the ones currently on the car ..shave them off completely, get rid of the rust underneath and weld new channels. There is nothing worseâŚwell maybe there are worse things than that but still pretty bad to see paint cracking when you try slip in the new seals after a paint job.
Yes, you are right, I had overlooked them, at least not thought hard in this direction. These do need attention if I am to avoid a real pain in the butt after the bug is painted. Thanks a lot for pointing this out.
f. Last bit of suggestion is to go visit Abbottabad when you can. Take Romano along or get directions. There is an abandoned red 1959 along the Abbottabad Nathiagali road. I traced the owner a few years back and he wanted 21,ooo rupees for it. He has all the parts carefully removed and stored at his place. I remember he mentioned the batwing steering, fuel tank and semaphores too. It might be worth while to buy the car as it was in better nick than most cars of that age and fairly rust free. (the parts were included in the price.) Oh and he had the correct engine too.
I think this particular car has now disappeared. Romano?? Any ideas whether this an avenue worth looking into???
Good luck and keep posting on PakWheels. I am registered but do not visit regularly so if there is anything in particular you wish to draw my attention to please shoot me a mail on my @yahoo.ca addy.
Thanks a million for your valuable input. I hope you have checked the option of getting an alert when replies are posted and follow the progress here. Would pmail you anyway soon.
A big thank you again!
