Transaxle ID

[planenut]

I'm restoring a 66 Beetle. I have the transaxle out cleaning and painting. I was told the unit was the original, but while I was cleaning, I noticed it had a back up light switch. I don't think that was available in '66, so I was wondering what I had. It is swing axle. Numbers are 8066885. I'm just stumped since I didn't think 66 offered a back up light optioin.

[Digger89L]

Perhaps if your 1966 bug is a very late production model (perhaps built in June or July of 1966 when VW was about to introduce the 1967 models in August of 1966) ...then it might have the backup light switch. Backup lights were introduced on the 1967 model year bug (according to published information) and VW has been known to overlap some features between model years. Published lists of VIN (chassis) numbers say the 1966 numbers ended in 116,1021,300 ....so, if your number is approaching that number, maybe having the backup light switch is a reasonable situation. Could be.

[planenut]

That's probably what it is. I think the car is an August car, so it may have a "67 trans. I just wished there was a good way to understand the code to the numbers. Everywhere I look talks about the preceding letters, but mine doesn't have that. What I thought to be the serial number turns out to be the transmission identifier. Mine starts with 80, but can't seem to find the correct "code breaker" yet. Thanks though for the reply, and I think you're probably correct.

[h~moto]

If you have an August (of 1966) car then you would have a 1967 model with a chassis number that starts with 117. According to progressive refinments, a transaxle number of 8066885 would be before the start of the 1966 model year. The first 1966 transaxle had number 8185079. Progressive refinements list Aug 1, 1966 as the date when the gearshift housing came with a threaded bore for a back up light switch. Knowing the first 5 digits of your chassis # would help to determine about when your car was built.

[planenut]

Sorry, I've been away. My VIN is 116-749751. Talking to the guy I bought the car from, he knows almost the entire history of the car. It's supposed to be the original transmission. I was mistaken about the mfg date. It is a March 66 car. Seems early for a '67 trans, but maybe not impossible.

[h~moto]

From what I can tell by looking at Progressive Refinements, your car was built on April 26, 1966. Your trans is newer than trans # 7 889 618 that was installed in chassis # 115 685 587 built on April 6, 1965 but older than trans # 8 185 079 that was installed in chassis # 116 000 001 built on Aug 02, 1965 (the start of the 1966 year).
As far as your trans having a back up light switch, I wonder if you have a newer gearshift housing installed on your transaxle. This is just a guess. I don't even know if a newer gearshift housing would fit on an older transaxle.

[planenut]

Thanks so much for the reply. I think the best thing to do is to drive it! I still wished there was some easy way to identify transmissions. At least for me.

[Blue Baron]

Sounds like a '65 tranny with a '67 or later nosecone installed. The advantage is you can now run a backup light.

[planenut]

Yeah, whatever I have, I'm glad I can use back up lights. Now all I have to do is find them. I still wish there was a concrete written way to ID the trannys. Thanks for the reply, though.