Hi, my father asked me if there's a way to determine if the engine in his 66 beetle is original. He had some major work done in the 80's but can't remember if the engine was replaced or not. Is there a way to determine if he has the original engine?
Thanks for any help,
Greg
Original engine?
Do you have the engine number?
With the engine number you can check the year that it was produced, there are a few internet resources with the information you need. The only sure fire way to see if the engine was original to the car is to order a 'Birth Certificate' direct from the Volkswagen factory in Germany, the certificate will give the chassis and engine number the car left the production line with as well as any options etc.
Alex.
With the engine number you can check the year that it was produced, there are a few internet resources with the information you need. The only sure fire way to see if the engine was original to the car is to order a 'Birth Certificate' direct from the Volkswagen factory in Germany, the certificate will give the chassis and engine number the car left the production line with as well as any options etc.
Alex.
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branston
- Senior Member
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- Location: Lock Haven, PA and St.Ives. UK
Re: Original engine?
your Dads '66 would have had the 1300 50hp engine rom new. The engine number will be prefixed F0xxxxxx stamped on the generator mount.Ledeburite wrote:Hi, my father asked me if there's a way to determine if the engine in his 66 beetle is original. He had some major work done in the 80's but can't remember if the engine was replaced or not. Is there a way to determine if he has the original engine?
Thanks for any help,
Greg
The samba has lists dating engine numbers
Of course if you want to know if it is the original engine you'll need to get birth certificate from VW
We just bought a 66 but the motor has been rebuilt. It has a X to the left and a steel thin plate stamped with numbers. I have tried every internet site and no information on what the rebuilt engine is. My next move is to call a local VW dealer and see if they have a data bank for those rebuilt factory engines. My gut tells me the engine is a 1600cc. The reason is that the hose from the carborator goes to the back of the engine. About every picture of a 1300cc engine had the hose going straight down into a cut out hole. My engine does not have this precut hole.
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fatalifeaten
- Senior Member
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- Joined: Sun Feb 03, 2008 12:05 am
- Location: The 480
Please keep in mind that an engine number will not necessarily tell you whether or not your engine is factory original. it could be the original case, but have been rebuilt several times, and could be a non-original displacement now. Another solid giveaway would be dual port intakes and heads. a '66 would be single port.
Factory spec, original engines absolutely do exist, and with some good detective work you can likely track one down that's correct for your model year, but if you're in possession of the original engine your car was delivered with, you are definitely in the lucky minority. Most of them have gone on to the big scrap pile in the sky or have been rebuilt into something a little more robust to keep up with the times/trends.
I think those X engines with a stamp plate are mexico or brazil replacement engines. I read somewhere about them, I'll see if I can dig it up.
Factory spec, original engines absolutely do exist, and with some good detective work you can likely track one down that's correct for your model year, but if you're in possession of the original engine your car was delivered with, you are definitely in the lucky minority. Most of them have gone on to the big scrap pile in the sky or have been rebuilt into something a little more robust to keep up with the times/trends.
I think those X engines with a stamp plate are mexico or brazil replacement engines. I read somewhere about them, I'll see if I can dig it up.