Hi i need some advice, im at the stage now with my '49 to get the chassis rolling (as some of you know its just a bare pan). Im in talks with two guys at the moment with the view to purchase a complete rolling chassis (ie. axles, engine, g/box) and use the parts on my chassis. As yet im still waiting for them to put a price on their chassis', i guess they will want at least £500-£1000???.

One is a '51 the other a '52, not ideal especially as i want to retain the cable brakes. This leads me into thinking maby i should be sourcing the specific '49 parts.

If anyone has any views on this please let me know, as im completly clueless at the moment for what to do for the best keeping in mind false economy for my wallet and originality for the cars sake.

Please help
kind regards
lee

---

Lee

Only you can decide how original you want to make your car. I don't know much about 49's but there are quite a few things that may cause problems if your planning on stripping parts off a 51 or 52 pan to get your 49 pan rolling.

I'm not an expert so anyone feel free to contradict. I think we ought to start at the easy end.

Engine, Gearbox, Axles
Obvioulsy there are things like engine numbers to deal with but I would have thought that any 25hp enigne on a crash box would work OK in the early pan. Once you start getting serious about keeping things correct you're into a whole world of trouble - check out some of the current manifold threads on The Samba 🙂 .

Brakes
You've said you wanted to keep your cable brakes, which unless either of the pans you're looking at are from a standard will cause you problems. I think that the cable brakes use the handbrake rod within the chassis tunnel to pull the cables.
The brake backing plates, pedal cluster, all the hydraulics and probably the whole handbrake assembly (except the lever) from a delux car are of no use to you, and will have cost you when you bought the pan. You'll also have to track down the correct cables, and brake mechanisms separately. Similarly if you decide to put hydraulics on the 49 pan you'll have to route the brake pipes and weld on all the little tabs to hold them in place.

Front Beam
I think the front beam design changed in 49 from one without shock towers to one with. There were also numerous different arrangements of torsion bars, but no-one will ever know except you. The rest of the steering mechanism should be OK though.


In my opinion, if either of the pans you are looking at are close to being MOT'able then you might want to bolt you body onto a later pan to get you out on the road while you devote the rest of your time to loking for the parts to fit your 49. In my books driving a 49 body on a 51 pan will be much more satisfying than sitting at home looking at a 49 body on a 49 pan with no engine or brakes. 😃

Hope that helps and sorry if I'm telling you stuff you already know.

Jon

---

Hi Jon, yes thanks for your thoughts. I knew as soon as i took on this restoration it was going to be a minefield.
Ive had many thoughts from just putting the shell on any pre 67 pan and doing what the hell i wanted to it, then the guys and girls on this forum sucked me into their world stock vintage. I realise now how 'rare' this car is so its only fair that im as true to it as i can possibly be.

I must admit it would be nice to use a later pan while i get my 49 chassis to mint original spec but this is not really ideal. Im not one to leave projects sitting around gathering dust, i can turn things around quite quickly (providing i have the parts to do it)

Im not sure if your familiar with my posts to date, so to give you a rough idea i want to restore the car to near original concourse condition, but im not going to the extremes of getting every detail 100% spot on. i.e Engine number (as you said any early engine with a crash box will be ok) things like getting the correct manifold i can concentrate on in a few years, phase two of the restoration if you like.

What i really want to know is can i source these 49 parts for roughly the same money as it will cost to buy a complete 51-52 chassis?
And more importantly where the hell do i look to find these parts.
I think id like to state at this point that im inclined to use 49 parts now rather than use the rolling chassis', as my car will be mush more original!

Ps my chassis is restored, ie all the rods and cable brakes are present and in good condition, so this is someting i dont need to get
Sorry for waffeling on, please help Lee

---

Lee.

I've just spotted you message on the samba. Although the curent exhange rate may make american stuff reasonably cheap, don't forget that you need to allow for import tax etc when it reaches here.

Have you tried places in Europe like BBT in belgium.

I'm not sure about this but Kaefer-Nostalgie seem to have german contact details and bank accounts. The stuff I bought from them was sent from the US but I guess it could depend on where there parts are located. It could be worth asking if they are able to dispatch specific parts from europe to avoid import taxes. Also their prices include worldwide shipping so we get a better deal than the americans. 😎

I'm sure you also know this, but german ebay seems to get a lot more early parts that we do. I think there is a '49 speedo on there at the moment.


Jon.

---

I would start by checking the German website www.bugnet.de where you may find parts. The dealers mentioned above are very expensive...
For instance, a guy was selling a whole 1949 VW on bugnet for about 3000 euros, just a few months ago. It needed restoration but it had parts galore!

Worth keeping an eye on https://www.bugbus.net  too.

Malc 😃

---

Hi guys, in 5 days ive found a complete front beam (with the longer shocks which is correct for nov 1949), Gearbox, half shafts, front and rear cable drums/spindles, and the short rear struts which are again correct for '49 and im told quite hard to find!?

Im also in talks with people about the steering box, pedal assembly (Smaller gas roller wheel?) and cable brake rod (inside tunnel).
Ive spoken to a previous owner of my car about a steering box im looking at, would you believe, it is the original from my car, it is at present in a '46 as the bloke is trying it out, (apparantly it actually steers the wheels, unlike the 46 box which is a bit "point and hope". Small world.

Any way my only large purchase now for the running gear is ofcourse a 1949 engine. I know i'll never find the original, but i think as long as i find a '49 engine this will be acceptable?

Let me know if anything pops up?
Kind Regards
Lee Ivatt

---

Wow Lee, I'm impressed - you don't hang about do you...

---

Hi Lee,
I think you need to get yourself over to Bad Camberg this summer and check out all the European traders. You'll come home with loads of contacts for parts and a camera full of pictures of all the '49 details you need to know. 😃

---

Yes i will try my hardest to get to camburg, depends how much work ive got on, but i think like you say if not for the parts it would be really educational for me to see as many of these in the flesh as possible. As i am somewhat clueless on these cars.

Oh whilst im on this subject, ive been asking for help on 'the samba', boy some of the people on there are real aggressive, thats the kind of stuff that makes me not want to bother with the car. Think i'll stick here its much more relaxed and helpful.

Oh and George if your reading, thanks for sticking up for me its glad to know someone understands what im saying (do tyres really cost £5000)

Still looking for an engine, think I may have found a half decent '50 engine, for roughly £200, do you think i should oblidge or still try and find a '49 motor?

---

Hi Lee,
I think it's great what you're doing with your '49. It's a hell of a project to take on as your first venture into vintage VWs!

Apart from helping my ex to restore her '60, my fist stock vintage VW is my Heb, but at least it's already in one piece and running!

I did a lot of reading and research into splits and coachbuilts before I bought it though. My view is, as long as you know which bits are wrong, just find as close as possible to get you going.

That way you still get to enjoy the car while you swap bits as and when you find them.

Malc

---

The samba is the biggest aircooled VW website in the world, it definitely has its uses - but yep the attitude on there often leaves a lot to be desired. A lot of people there are quick to jump in and tell you what you're doing is impossible, or extremely expensive - but you have to remember that splits were never exported there in any numbers and so all split stuff is very rare over there.

You go to Camberg and you won't believe all the rare stuff thats there, take a pickup truck and bring home everything you need. (Although the prices are usually bumped up for all the foreign visitors :roll: )

---

Lee,

Just a quick note to offer you some encouragement. A friend and I were talking today about your project and both of us were very impressed with what you've achieved so far. We reckon a few people within the vintage scene are going to be very impressed with your car once it's finished.

I agree you should try and keep it as original as possible but also have to agree with Malc, (six-0-one). If you have to put later stuff on it to get you through, do it. It's better to be driving it around while you're looking for that hard to find part, than have it sit in your garage for a couple of years while you trawl the internet & shows loking for that one part to finish the car off to the standard you want. Quite a few cars that are classed as 100% original have something wrong somewhere while the owners search for that part. Drive it, enjoy it and that part will turn up when you least expect it.

Just my tu'penny worth for what it's worth.

---

Thanks. As soon as i get that flaming mk1 escort finnished and sold im going to show those purists just how quickly (and proffesionally) i can get this car rolling.

Oh buy the way im not good at subtle hints (my misses can vouch for that) buy saying any vintage part will do as a tempoary substitute does that mean i should go for the '50 engine for now?

This is what im aiming for as what i will call the 'first fitting' untill i can find those important correct parts. I know the purists would rip this car to shreads but hey it will give them something to winge about.  8136.jpg You have insufficient rights to see the content.

---

Lee,

The Samba is certainly full of 'characters' :wink:

Best place I found for tyres is https://www.longstonetyres.co.uk/  They're possibly a bit far away from where you are, but they are really helpful guys, and make a mean cup of tea while they fit your tyres. Usefully they also have an adapter so they can balance 'wide 5' wheels - although it did take a bit of searching for when I was there. Whether you bother is up to you as they honestly tell you that balancing the wheels is only needed over about 50mph.

As for price, you're looking at about £100 each for a tyre and tube. You need 500/525 x 16 cross plys.

Jon.

---

Well heres the first parts, going to take some cleaning, got 58 years of swedish grease and oil on it, though it is very well preserved thanks to this. Just need to change the brakes back to cable.

---

Well heres the first parts, going to take some cleaning, got 58 years of swedish grease and oil on it, though it is very well preserved thanks to this. Just need to change the brakes back to cable.

---

Well heres the first parts, going to take some cleaning, got 58 years of swedish grease and oil on it, though it is very well preserved thanks to this. Just need to change the brakes back to cable.

---

YOU DON'T GET IT JON,GUESS YOU NEEDED TO BE THERE 😃 😃

Well heres the first parts, going to take some cleaning, got 58 years of swedish grease and oil on it, though it is very well preserved thanks to this. Just need to change the brakes back to cable.

Ok sorry about this here should be the picture.....

Oh and Jon, yeh thanks for the info will keep those details handy, you really needed to be there.

---