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Joe McGill wrote: > I was looking at a supposed 1500s last week, and the engine number on the > car was six digits beginning with 9. There was no R or N, so my question > is, is this engine a 1500s, or just a regular 1500? Joe, I understand from the information that I have that Type3 1500 motors were made and numbered in the range 0 900 000 to 0 999 999 between mid-March 1965 and mid-June 1965. >From 01Aug65 (for the 1966 model year onwards) a single- letter before the ten-digit consecutive number was used to denote the different Type3 engine models: K, M, P, T, U, X (and a 124 prefix for industrial Type3 motors). The Type3 engine number should almost always begin with a zero or, after 01AUG65, it should have a zero after the prefix letter. It wasn't until during the 1973 model year that Type3 motor production topped one million and that the zero after the prefix letter changed up to a one. However, for the duration of the "1500S" production run (from 01AUG63 to 31JUL65) VW did stamp a prefix of "R" for the high compression twin-carb "1500S" motor and the prefix "N" for the low compression (M240) twin carb 1500S motor. Single carburettor motors had no letter prefix until the 1966 model year. So, I would agree with you that if your engine number is in the 0 900 000s and has no "R" or "N" prefix, it must have originally been a single-carburettor crankcase. Unless, of course, your engine is a twin-carburettor version installed in Australia in an Australian-built 1500S, in which case there would be no "R" or "N" prefix !!! Australian-built 1500S motors had a compression ratio in between that of the standard German-built high-compression motor and the optional German- built M-240 low-compression motor. (I can't tell from your E-mail address where on this planet you live. But, if you live in North America or Europe, it is most unlikely that this Australian information will be relevant to you.) Simon Glen Toowoomba, Australia ------------------------------------------------------------------- Search old messages on the Web! Visit http://www.vwtype3.org/list/