[T3] Rear Script 1972 Squareback?

[Jim Adney]

On 10 Aug 2016 at 10:39, Dave Pallo wrote:

> I can't prove my script is original, but I would bet it is. I do have a
> spare late rear hatch that has never been apart, so I carefully removed its
> script. Just like Elwood, both the letters are angled and the script is
> mounted on an angle. The Type 3 script has part number 361853687J cast into
> it. Every letter is cored out on the backside, and all 3 mounting pins are
> separate pieces staked onto the cast part. This script is about 10" long,
> and the letters are about .760" tall. I also have 2 (what I believe are
> repop) scripts here with part numbers 113853687K and 113853687B, and they
> are only 9.125" long, and the letters are about .690" tall, and so the 3
> mounting pin locations are wrong too. They letters are not cored out, and
> the 3 pins are cast into the part as one piece. Very different script from
> our Type 3 part. The Jbug script shows the beetle part number, so I'm
> betting it will not replace our script exactly, as the beetle script is too
> short, the letters are not as tall, and the 3 pin locations are off. But
> from the unscaled photo Jbug provided: they look the same from the front.

I checked a bunch of them that I have, and I have several 361 J 
versions, just as Dave described. The letters are all angled so VW 
must have used the "italic" script on all the squareback rear doors, 
whether the script was mounted at an angle or straight. They all 
appear to have been made for VW by "PuC" and I have several different 
versions of Js: They all look the same from the front, but there are 
variations in how the part number and logos are done on the rear.

It never occurred to me that the mounting pins might be separate, but 
when I look closely, I can see, on some of them, where they appear to 
be cast in, not staked. I can see where the cast metal didn't close 
fully around the base of the pin. I expected cast in pins to be steel 
for extra strength, but nothing here is magnetic. They must be some 
slightly stronger alum alloy.  

I also have a 363 B script, which must be for something earlier. It's 
smaller, with smaller mounting pins that appear to be part of the 
casting.

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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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