Hi all,

I've just joined the forum and I thought I'd start by introducing myself and the car. I was quite heavily into the Beetle scene from 1996 to about 2004 when a house, marriage and kids stopped play! I had a diamond grey RHD '58 which I restored and then I bought an atlantic green July '53. The 58 had to go eventually but I still have the 53 and I dragged it out of the garage last month for the first time in a while.

I've caught the bug again so to speak! I've attached a few pics of the 53 in case anyone wanted to see it. I have one or two little bits that I'd like to put right now I've come to it with fresh enthusiasm but other than that it's just as I left it, and still runs great.

It spent its life in the Arctic Circle in the north of Sweden and was laid-up in about 1971. I bought it in 2000 and it was still in great shape though a little battered! The interior is all original except for the carpets, but sadly the engine had been replaced. I don't know whether the 33k is genuine or whether it's been round the clock.

It took 4 years to restore but I'm pretty pleased with the results, I hope you like it.









Martin

:thumbup: Looks lovely :beer:

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Good job, perfect! Congrats.

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Welcome to the forum Atlantic53. Nice looking car :thumbup: Do you have any photos of the build that you could post on here :roll:




Andy W

Wow! Lovely car- welcome to the forum!

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Very nice 😎

I love the color :thumbup:

Nicolas??? :rofl:
Nice car indeed:thumbup:

:twisted: ET

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remember the car from volksworld!

I also remember your 58, didn't that end up on one of the channel islands? used to see it constantly at Stanford hall years ago

Hi Martin. The oval looks fantastic.
I remember your Diamond Grey '58 - another stunning car.
Why don't you re-join the Historic Club and come and join our displays at Ripon Racecourse on 28th July and at Harewood House on 18th August? You'll be most welcome.

Cheers,
Rob

Fantastic Car & Super Colour !

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Not another 53 ,there everywhere, shame about the colour. :d

Thanks all for the kind comments, I'm glad you like it.

Yes Andy, I have some photos of the build somewhere but they are on film rather than digital and I haven't a clue where they are. When I find them I'll post a few.

It was in Volksworld in about 2004 I think, you have good memories :d I'm impressed you remember the '58 too, I miss the car but lack of space and time to enjoy it forced the sale in the end. It did go to the Channel Islands, but unfortunately I believe the chap that bought it passed away so I don't know where it is now, does anyone know by any chance? It was registered GCM764 but I guess this will have changed anyway.

Thanks Rob for the invite, I may well join again at some point soon. Shows are a bit difficult these days as I work quite a few weekends (though 18th August might be a possibility)!

Sunroof53, what's the chassis number of your car as I think they are both the same month?

I have one or two detailed questions that I'll post separately at some point.

Cheers,
Martin

wow, beautiful car, looks spot on. I love the colour too 😎

Chassis no 1-0 505 297

11h sedan

Engine no was originally 612 079

Produced on 09 07 53

Delivered to vw motors 13 07 53

Your engine looks great and has all the right bits as I am sure you know.took me years to find an air filter like that

Your car looks great with all the difficult to find 53 only bits.Hope to see it one day.I must get some done on my own as I have really missed it this summer.

Mike

your 58 was in the readers rides section of volksworld not so long ago.

I recall a family member of the guy who passed away inherited it.

:thumbup:

from the historic website

Thanks Mike,

I guess mine is later in the month (chassis 1-0514635), how do you find out all the specific details please? My car still has a rectangular paper/card ticket tucked between the glove box fixing strap and the glove box itself with a signature and dated July 1953 - could this be some sort of factory check?

My original engine had long gone and a 30hp engine was in it when I got it. I was fortunate to find a 25hp engine with all the correct ancillaries and an already rebuilt bottom end. I finished the build and the engine fired up straight off, but after a minute one of the push rods seized and so I had to re-strip the engine completely. This revealed that the crankcase had been sand blasted and the oil-ways hadn't been cleaned out properly. 😞

I still have the block in the garage but the 30hp went back in with all the 25hp ancillaries.

Thanks to you also Rob, it's nice to know the '58 is still with the family. And thanks for the image, I didn't know it was on the Historic site!

Cheers,
Martin

Your engine looks exellent but if you wanted to be picky the manifold should be black and the dynamo regulator would have been the D shaped one.As for specific details Its just a case of researching original cars and searching the forums.The samba as you know has a lot of valuable information and has a lot of info on 53s. My car has a 30hp block as the original engine was swapped out when the crank snapped.i am still looking for parts to make mine factory again but at the moment would be happy with it on the road again.

Mike

Thanks Mike. Yes I know about the regulator, I have a D regulator but it currently doesn't work, though I suspect it's fixable. I never realised the manifold should be black for this date, when did they change to grey?

Martin