Sunday, January 21, 2018

Identification- Motor & Frame

Occasionally I get asked, how do I go about finding out what my VIN number is. It isn't easy to get to, but it is located under the center console. If you follow the gearshift and center tunnel back towards the engine, there is a small inspection cover to get to the linkage. Just to the front of that cover your VIN number should be stamped. 
Image result for vw beetle serial number location

I also get asked on engine identification, and here is the story on that. It is easier to get to the the frame VIN. If you look at the base of the oil filler/generator/ alternator cast bracket where it joins the block there should be your engine number stamped in the block. You can Google VW Beetle Engine Numbers and get the year and assembly location, displacement. 









Hopefully this helps as you investigate what you have and match parts to it.

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Factory or Kit- You decide

I know you probably hear this as well, but it keeps coming up, "your car is nothing more than a kit car". I can live with it, and actually when I first bought the Mini Mark I had suspicions it was as well. The more I researched the car and its rich history I learned otherwise, a factory or "coach built" car.

Original factory pictures discovered show around thirty five different Bremen cars coming down the line. Of those thirty five cars, a mixture of Creightons, Sebrings and Mini Marks, I can count around fifteen Mini Marks just on the day this picture was taken.

Coach-building goes back to the 1450’s when wagons were built. In fact there were so many coach-builders that almost every city had one. In the late 1800’s as horseless cars came to life, coach-builders began to customize the frames and engines coming off the assembly lines. From those beginnings until around 1920 coach-builders bought artistry to the square boxy cars coming off the evolving assembly lines. The more the assembly lives developed: thanks to Henry Ford, and cars started to have curves and character, coach-building diminished. By the war years only the rich could afford the work of a coach-builder, and car companies were not willing to sell frames to coach-builders. They were designing their own stylish bodies during those years. With the end of the wars, most of the coach-builders had disappeared, and only the assembly line designs were available.

This brings me to Bremen Motors. Although they were not known as traditional coach-builders, they took a chance to bring artistry to a simple and plain Bug type Volkswagen. Their cars were not cheap by any means, actually around 9-10 times what the Beetles were. If you purchased one of the original 300-400 factory built Mini Marks, you had to like the design and be able to afford it, around $15K, expensive for the day. 

Here is a list of some of the documented coach-builders in the USA, Brewster & Co., Brunn, Budd Company, Derham, Earl Automobile Works, Fisher, Fleetwood, KEM Motorworks, LeBaron, Locke, N2A Motors Inc., Murphy, Rollston, Willoughby, SSZ Motorcars. Some of you may recognize the Earl Automotive Works, it was the company of Harley J Earl of GM and Corvette fame. I am not putting the Mini design in the same league of the Corvette, but it is stylish and innovative. It didn’t copy the much duplicated MG design of those years, that many “kit cars” did. It had a character of it’s own, and yes it did borrow other car designs, but have you seen a "new: design in any car brand or design?. 

There was a “kit” option for the Mini Mark, and I found the factory sheets on assembled and kits. I was told that at least up until the 80’s when ownership changed hands, not many, if any kits were sold. If you notice the date on the "kit" paperwork it is 1981, near the end of production. 


So you decide, there are probably some hints in craftsmanship on what you have, but with this many coming down the line, chances are you have a factory built, let someone prove otherwise, and many will try.










Sunday, January 14, 2018

Shifter Bezel & Boot

It has been a while since I have posted, and it is in the middle of winter here. The car has been waiting for warm weather to come back out and show off. Not really exciting though when it is below in the single digits for days and weeks. The deep of winter does give me a chance to continue a few more custom features on the Mini. This year, the shifter has been the focus. When we originally did the carpet and interior, we had just put a boot together and put it in place. Actually the original wasn't very much different than what we had made. It just didn't look sporty though. There isn't much area on the tunnel so I fabricated a wood riser on the tunnel and under the carpet. The riser has a flat top, and large enough to work with. I took some measurements and went about making an aluminum trim ring, polishing it, and fastening down with chrome screws. Here is the finish look. I think it gives the car a very sporty look!