Hey guys Chris again from ClassicVWBugs.com, and I got a little quick tip for you today. And that is IDing your bug. If you don't know their body numbers on your Volkswagen, and there's three different spots, I am going to show you to find those identification numbers.
If you find a lot of bugs for sale and you are interested in picking one of them up whether it's on E-Bay or Craigslist or even in your area, you got to want to check these ID numbers, why, because sometimes you might have an early model bug, that's on a later model chassis. Now if you are a purist and you want a collectible vehicle, of course you got to want every thing to match, you are not going to want mismatch numbers.
So what you are going to want to do is you want to look for the number, on the tunnel, on the chassis. And then there is another number, in the front of the bug underneath the hood. I am going to show you, where those numbers are and there is another number on the engine. And then as you look those up, there is a website you can go to called TheSamba.com and you go to their technical section, you look up VIN numbers and then you can look up the VINs of these cars, and make sure they even match the correct years.
Some people have titles, let's say 57 bug and, you know what the numbers are for the 64. There is -- I have seen wacky things like that, so you just going to want to be careful. But I am going to show you right now where to find these ID numbers, and so you could play safe there, and make sure you are getting the correct year bug and everything matches, if you are looking for a real collectible vehicle,
Okay, so we are inside this 54 bug and I am going to start putting back together. Before I bought this car, I just wanted to make sure everything was original on it, and it actually is. But if you notice here, this is where the back seat area goes. So you would want to pick up the backseat of the car here, so you could see where the VIN number is here. I am going to show you right now. I just kind of cleaned it off. So you can see some numbers, and we could see those there. It's 10-77304 1 and a dash there, there is a scratch there so you kind of have to look close sometimes to see these numbers. So that's the one area where you would find the VIN number for the bug.
Okay, the second area you are going to want to look is under the trunk. Now here's an early bug again, so this is where they put the ID tags. I am going to show you, I guess, I get closer and you could see the number over here. That's the VIN and that number matches from the number inside the car. Some of the later model bugs, they moved the plate to a lower section may be down here for another tag.
Super Beetles had different spots, but ordinarily they have a tag under the front hood. Sometimes you might find a bug, that is missing this plate, so that means somebody swap that plate and put it on one of their other bugs.
And then once again, you are going to have a mismatched VIN. So there is the second area to find the VIN. You could also look up to body tag here -- here there's another body number. You can also use that and look that up on samba and make sure it matches.
And if you want you know three is a charm, when it comes to the VIN number, the place where you have to look, is right here on the engine stand. I will zoom in here for you. There is that number, you take the number it's not going to match the body number, Okay. So you got to have to take that number and take the other VIN numbers and look on samba and see if they all match, the time period of when this bug was released into the public.
If it's around the same time it's not going to match the numbers exactly, but it's still going to give you a ratio. You are going to want to just uncheck and see hopefully that if it's a January 54 bug or you know, a March of 58 bug, if they all forward in the same time period then you're good to go.
If you notice, you know you might have the same body numbers but the VIN number for the engine might be from a 71 or you know later model or something like that. So that's it, That's how you identify your bug and if you have got any questions e-mail me Chris@classicvwbugs.com.
And once again, this is all about hoping that your bug is pure and that everything matches. And you have a real collectible vehicle. If it doesn't bother you then don't worry buddy, if you just want a fun car, that doesn't matter then. But this is for those collectors out there. That who want a real pure bug. Alright take care.
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