Part I  Spring 2007

Restoration of Schwimm 15410 – part 1

In late 2007, a schwimm was advertised on Bart’s inestimable website, vw166.com. At this point, I had been looking for a schwimm for almost 2 years and had reconciled myself to the fact that it was unlikely I would ever get one, especially as prices seemed to be rapidly rising out of my reach!

15410 was obviously a restoration project but from the photos seemed complete. The sale was to be made to the highest bidder and so I lodged my bid and was surprised to find it was the highest. At this point however, the owner was not quite ready to sell and so a number of months passed until just before Easter 2008 when I received an email telling me that 15410 was mine and could be collected!! I could not stop smiling. Cash was transferred, trailer rented and ferries booked. Myself, a friend, my daughter and her friend made the journey from UK to just south of Paris where 15410 lived. As we approached the location, I began to feel nervous, I had at this point only seen a few photos of the car and so did not know really what to expect. 

We arrived at our destination et voila! In a barn, we found 15410 where she had lived for the past 20 years.

Unfortunately, the owner was unable to share any history of 15410 with me save for the fact he had owned her for 20 years and in that time, it seemed, had been unable to complete her restoration.

The car seemed fairly original and unrestored. The body appeared to be complete and in reasonable condition, there being some obvious rust problems but nothing too serious. Whilst relatively complete, some ‘cosmetic’ parts were missing, e.g. couple of seats, gearbox cover, roof and frame etc. However, all the major components seemed to be present – body, windscreen, gearbox, engine, propeller unit.

So she was pushed out into the daylight to begin the journey to her new home

Things I liked about her:

- wide wheels which I prefer

- wider mudguards marking her out as a late production model

- the fact she was mine!

400 miles later, she was at her new home which she will now share with new friends!

So, having got her home, I could now start the work. Learning from experience of previous restorations, it is important to do several things:

1.   Maintain the momentum – it is easy to push projects to the back of the garage and forget. So I have set myself a target. Normandy 2009.

2.  Keep notes during  tear down – I always say this, I never do it. This time is different as the reference material is not as freely available as for other vehicles like Jeeps.

3.  Box the parts and label them – Again, easy to say, not always done. Am forcing myself to do it this time……

So the dismantling began. And was relatively straightforward, there being no seized bolts apart from 1 rear shock absorber bolt. Everything came apart very easily. Inside 1 day, I was already down to the bare shell. By this stage, the initial euphoria of purchase had worn off and the grim reality of the restoration had set in. I could now find that some things were not as they seemed:

    The engine is a 51 Beetle, not a schwimm engine

    The dashboard panel had been cut out and replaced with an piece of L section iron

-   Whilst the driver side dashboard bracket is present and seems original, there is no Fahrstelling nummer stamped into it

    More rust problems became apparent when engine, gearbox, running gear are removed

-   Whilst engine deck lid is original Schwimm, the body number does not match my body number

Now fully stripped, it is time for sandblasting to reveal the true state of the bodywork.

Well, what returned from the sand blasters was not exactly what I had hoped for. The sandblasting removed the paint, rust and filler already applied to the body over the years to reveal the following problems:

1.  Below the waterline, the driver side is a mass of welded on patches to cover the pinhole perforations revealed by the sandblasting. This patching has not been done in a professional way, it is simply big plates of metal slapped on and arc welded in place.

2.  The passenger side is also plated but nowhere near as badly and the wheel arch is in good shape

3.  The rear driver wheel  arch looks like someone attacked it with a hammer and a gas torch

4.  The front deck under the wheel hump is lacework

5.  The front deck itself, looks like the result of a failed origami lesson, it looks exactly like a crumpled sheet of paper that has been straightened out…badly. It is also perforated all over

6.  The inner driver side longitudinal rib is toast. It has been massively (and crudely) plated to retain integrity but it is basically scrap

7.  Someone has previously removed the front deck by the expedient of putting a gas torch through the dash section (hence the L section iron dash) and through the central rib under the deck so half is attached to the top deck and half is attached to the tub…

On the positive side, we can now see what needs to be done! Replacement panels ordered from a variety of sources.

15410 is now at the body shop where work will commence in the next couple of weeks on restoration retaining  as much of the original metal work as possible.

So, at this point what do I know about 15410? The reality is not much but here is the summary

-   No fahrstelling number – original dash bracket is present but not stamped and there is no chassis plate (although the engine room panel has the holes for the chassis plate rivets)

-   Aufbau 15410 which I think is the highest recorded number in the registry

    Engine lid number 3886

-   Gearbox number is 7-013953 (although it is unclear if this is the original gearbox)

-   All my wheels are dated  between May and November 1943 (revealed by sandblasting)

-   Inside, there were traces of green paint which may or may not be original

-   Late body details include: No stop pocket, dash with late style tool box bracket, no passenger side rear light mounting (and no evidence of one being fitted), wide mudguards, additional mudguard supports underneath the mudguards, no side rail, rounded front rail, horn mount welded to driver side front wing, small headlights

It has been suggested that given the high aufbau and green paint, this could be one of the schwimms assembled and used after the war by the British Army. Photos of these schwimms have all of the same body details as mine and the green paint inside the engine bay is perhaps further evidence. A known British assembled schwimm has an aufbau very close to mine. It was also suggested that the absence of the stamped fahrstelling could have been because those assembled by the British were not ‘production line’ models and so might not have received a production fahrstelling nummer. Vince has challenged me to rebuild 15410 in British army configuration, i.e. paint her dark green…….but I think I prefer the sand colour…….

Part II  Spring 2009

The result: