No sir, I’m up in central Wyoming. If I ever make it back your way I’ll be sure to reach out and buy you a cup of coffee.

Oh yeah, I remember that now. I was hoping we would get to meet. I would love to see your side of the country someday. Ok Bud have a great weekend.

@@busterstravels1534 anytime you find yourself heading west just let me know.

Thank-you. I’m still learning the video process and trying to improve. A ‘61 convertible would be a very sweet ride, enjoy your build!

Thanks! That’s my favorite as well. My wife likes the Turquoise best so… we’ll see 😁

@@CowboyGarage well I think that's the second best. But we know a saying happy wife happy life haha

Thank-you sir!

I’m sure you have! It’s good to hear from you old friend.

Thanks! When I’m back to my office I’ll see if I can nail down your engine for sure, but these are all mostly interchangeable so engine swaps are not only possible, but they are actually very common. I’ll have some kind of answer for you tonight or tomorrow

Nice attention to detail. After fighting with it in the way for a bit I decided that I should probably replace the fuel line while I'm doing everything else and so I just removed it from the tunnel. I had filmed a bit about that and then the footage came out awful so I cut it and simply forgot to mention it in the voiceover. I'm still new to all this and learning as I go so I'll miss stuff like that from time to time. I appreciate your input and helping cover all the little details that I miss.

It absolutely wasn’t necessary for the frame head repair, but it was going to happen anyway before I sandblasted the pan and as you deduced, the weight reduction (and balance) certainly didn’t hurt. I should have clarified that aspect when I was making the video, it was just one of the details that slipped through my tiny brain 😁 Thanks for pointing it out though, I appreciate the feedback.

The red one is definitely a '61, but all I know about it's history is that it was crashed in 1970 and has supposedly been sitting ever since. There are a few sources of the ID numbers, but the one I used on the engine in that red bug was actually the engine page from the Samba and the other engines I took a screen shot from another site that listed both US and international market numbers. I did notice that the Samba page that includes VIN and front axles numbers shows it as a November 1960 engine like you pointed out. I'm not an expert on the subject matter, but my big book says that engines for the '61 production cars were made starting in August of 1960 and can be identified from late 1960 year model engines by the removable generator stand, as well as a few other details, but that's the easiest to see. It's a great question though and I may have to send off for a birth certificate just for the sake of learning. Thanks for bringing it up, I'll be sure to follow up on this and see if we can get a more definitive answer in the future. As to starting the engine, it clicked, but wouldn't turn over. The cables are terrible so I'm going to slap some new cables on it and try again, but first paying jobs have to get caught up! Maybe next week. Thanks again for the insight and have a great day.

Thanks! Sometimes you just have to get creative. Next time I’ll have a better idea of where the balance point is, but you gotta learn as you go in life. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Thank-you sir. Bodywork is a great thing to learn. It doesn’t take any super skills, just some patience and persistence. I appreciate you taking the time to check out my slowly growing channel.

Makasih

Times have certainly changed since we were young! Thanks for sharing.

A 1965 surely had no 1500 engine, for the 1500 was introduced in 1966.

I’m certain you are right. When the U.S. cars moved up to larger displacements and dual port heads, much of the global cars stayed with the smaller engines and single port heads. It can get a bit fuzzy at times which is why the good charts will give you options for US cars versus South American vs German. Thanks for the info!

@@CowboyGarage I should mention that there's a very good chance that that engine might not have been original to the car. Way back in the day, a lot of Jordanian army officers were given Volkswagens as personal transportation. Then in the late 1980s, when the Jordanian army decided it was about time they decommissioned the fleet and got its officers newer and better rides, they also decided that instead of scrapping all those Beatles - along with the huge parts inventory they had stockpiled for them - they might as well refurbish them and auction them off to the general public as surplus. Mine was one of those so-called _army_ vehicles; it was a beat up specimen, and even though it had changed hands multiple times before it got to me, most of its components were factory. For over three years, I drove that car hard, winter, summer, rain or shine. I even drove it from Amman to Aqaba and back in 105 F heat, doing 70mph for much of the way, with nary a hitch. Heady times!

@@sjanzeir wow, very cool bit of history! I love studying history so thank-you very much for sharing that. It’s always good to learn something new!

​@@CowboyGarageMy mother had two VW's. One was a durable and reliable 1965 with a 1500 engine. She had it for 27 years. We called that car old faithful. The second VW was a 1971 with a 1600 dual port engine. The 1971 VW was all hot garbage. The 1600 dual port had a tendency to suck the #3 exhaust down into the crankcase every 30,000 miles. That 1971 engine in 120,000 miles was a rebuilt exchange engine for four times. Four times she had to replace that engine.

@ericknoblauch9195 wow! I think I’d have been looking for another ‘65 to trade that ‘71 for! Thanks for sharing.

You are correct. That’s why I use the plastic brush. I’ve seen numbers rubbed off when using a steel brush on brittle magnesium cases before. The worst was watching a guy use a steel brush on a drill, it was like an eraser 😂

Thanks!

Good to know. I will definitely be building the engine that I’m using. Thanks

That’s definitely the easiest way!

Yes sir, disappointed is definitely the appropriate description. Some of them are somewhat understandable from a cost perspective, but some of them would not have cost any extra or at most they would have cost a couple minutes extra labor. I guess the worst part of it is that over the years I have come to accept substandard parts as the "normal" when working on old cars. To make it even worse I've found that you can pay extra for the same part and get the exact same quality as the cheap ones more often than not. Dealing with the "quality" of aftermarket parts is really a sad aspect of restoring old cars and trucks.

Thanks! I appreciate your feedback, have a great day!

Glad it was helpful!

Right on, what vehicle is your 1200 going in? These are fun little engines to build and I really appreciate the modularity of the VW design philosophy. I’m mostly into old American cars and trucks, but everyone needs an old VW or two in their collection 😁

Just the engine for now. I grew up working and owning classic cars and trucks. 65 GMC truck, 68 vw bus, 65 Chevelle Malibu SS, 68 firebird, 67 fastback mustang 2+2, 72 Camero, 65 mustang couple and a couple 70 mustangs one for parts

@@TimsWorkshopTJY I was just browsing your channel, you seem to have quite the eclectic mix of projects, just like what I'm used to. I have a variety of old cars, trucks, boats and motorcycles along with the normal newer stuff that keeps the place running.

I’m betting it will, but it’ll be fun to find out either way. The car was last registered in 1977 and has supposedly been sitting ever since.

Absolutely, they were common enough back in the day. Besides the cars ending up in the crusher, another reason they are less common now is that the factory exchange program died long ago and aftermarket builders have continued to this day. Thanks for the input and have a great day!

I still see a lot of them on the road today in California. In California the weather did not rot cars like it does in the midwest or eastern United States. I know someone who put over 1,000,000 miles on a 1956 Beetle. During the million mile mark the engine was exchanged with a rebuilt short block 7 times.

Thank-you sir. It helps that I had a great father teaching me about cars ;)

You’re not wrong! As long as it has compression (no valves stuck open) then I’m sure I can feed it enough gas and spark to make some noise!

Yes sir, both are very valid points and it definitely makes me feel old to think about how I have coworkers who are younger than most of my tools.

Sounds like a fun project, those old FJs are really nice rides! I’ll have to check out your channel, thanks for stopping by 😁

I've been working on FJ40s since 2003, even had a FJ40 used parts business for twenty years. The beauty is that from 58-83 lots of parts are inter-changeable, @@CowboyGarage

Thank-you. I try to make use of as much of the offcuts as possible. It’s often easier (like this example) and it’s just more economically and environmentally responsible to reuse/recycle when possible. Thanks for your input!

The lathe is indeed a new addition, but not for any particular purpose (other than turning metal of course). It’s a small hobby lathe (10”x22”) so not something particularly useful for automotive work other than perhaps a spacer or some such gizmo. It might make an appearance in a future video, time will tell. Thanks for your interest!

Thank-you sir! I appreciate your support.

Thanks! I simplified and omitted a few minor details just for the sake of making a video about the basics, but even if you add in the other details they really are simple systems that work well.

To be completely fair, this one started off stripped completely in the video. If the car was fully assembled you would have a bit more work to do, but they are simple cars regardless.

Thanks! I appreciate your feedback.

Thanks! I’ve never replaced a head, but I’ve replaced hundreds of different weld in panels over the years so I’m pretty confident in the results. Thanks for watching :)

I think you absolutely made the right choice to not try a repair but replace it. I'll be curious to get your impression of the strength of the new metal vs the original. @@CowboyGarage

@JohnMartini in the next big video I’ll be doing just that, along with measured thickness, weld quality and fitment quality of the replacement. Thanks for watching.

Thank-you!

Greetings! Thanks for your interest. What country are you from, if you don’t mind my asking.

The front apron shows signs of a decent impact, I agree with the crash theory. Thanks for your input!

Thanks!

Very cool! I’ve always admired the old beetles, but the closest I ever came was a rail job built from a ‘63. That is, until this pair of ‘61s fell in my lap 😁

Thank-you very much! I appreciate your input.