Re: [T3] 1968 T3 Fenders - will 69' work?

[Simon Glen <simonglen@bigpond.com>]

Greg,

Yes, that 68 Australian manufactured Type 3 panel van in the "Type3.org"
scrapbook is an early 1968 Australian-manufactured Type 36 and it had an
in-trunk fuel filler.

Until mid-1968, Australian "manufactured" Type 3s remained almost in a time
warp.  (And so did Australian Beetles, too.)  Right up until 1968 they were
the same as 1964 German models in terms of brakes, electrics, body panels,
in-trunk fuel filler, etc except that by  mid-1966 Type 3 fastbacks (the 1600
TS) did have the single port twin carb1600 motor which became available for
Australian "manufactured" squarebacks in early 1968.  However, Australian
"manufacture" of Type 3s ceased during the middle of 1968 and was replaced by
"assembly" of German-made CKD kits.  Thus, from about June 1968 onwards
Australian Type 3s were the same as those that came off the Wolfsburg
production line except for some locally sourced items such as paint, window
glass, some electrics, tyres, etc.

So, it is important to distinguish between Australian-manufactured and
Australian-assembled when discussing Australian Type 3s.  In fact, there were
no Australian "assembled" fastbacks or squarebacks with 1968 chassis numbers,
only some notchbacks.  Australian "assembly" of fastbacks and squarebacks did
not occur until during the 1969 model year.

Thus, the only Australian model with an external wing or fender-mounted fuel
flap that has to be opened by hand is on a few "assembled" 68-model 1600
notchbacks.  Cable-release flaps came later with 69 models as per
German-manufactured Type 3s.

To my knowledge the only Type 3s with an external fuel flap mounted on the
left side wing or fender are the Brazilian ones.  Why the Brazilians went the
other way I just do not know.  For me, the logic for having a fuel filler on
the kerb side of the vehicle is good especially if there were fuel pumps
mounted on the kerb outside a shop or garage.  And, this has sometimes been a
problem for right side steering cars because the kerb is on the left as in
countries like Britain, Japan, Australia, South Africa, etc, etc..  Yet, the
Brazilians (who drive on the right side of the road as they do in USA)
shifted the filler to the left which is not the kerb side for them.

Regards,

Simon Glen.
Toowoomba,  Australia.

Greg Merritt wrote:

> > Yes, 68 amd 69 take the same fenders. '68 was the first year for the
> > external gas filler door.
>
>         Didn't the flap get the cable release in '69?  It's that way for
> Beetles.
>
>         I was looking in the scrapbook for pictures of '68s, and came
> across the '68 Australian panel van photos submitted by Simon.  There's no
> gas flap on the right-hand side.
>
>         Simon, did Australian models retain the in-trunk filler for a
> while longer?  Or was it actually placed on the left side for RHD cars?
> That would seem odd, I think... unless the idea is that you want it on the
> opposite side of the driver, so that the driver doesn't hit the pump with
> the door when getting out of the car...
>
>         Could be a way to spot a RHD "conversion" vs. a RHD original.
>
> Regards,
> -Greg
>
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