What is a good \'starter\' Beetle

Hi, have recently rediscovered a love for beetles. I want to learn how to maintain/tinker on it myself. Any opinions on a good model to start on. I was thinking of a 65 or 68 Thanks

ok mate i think the best beetle to start with is the one that you can get that is not in too bad a condition. and dont worry if you dont get a reply to a thread for a couple of hour cause on the weekends most people dont come on till night time and welcome

Thanks I orininaly wanted a 65 but was told the 68 has better Steering. Am looking for a copy of John Muirs idiot guide, but thought this site could be an invaluable source of information as well. My husdand has an EH so thought it was my turn to have a project.

I aggree with barls. Any good 'starter' beetle would be one that is not banged up really badly. Otherwise, it would be pretty stressful for a new owner with limited experience to try to fix up the ever continuous amount of problems.

If you get a reasonable condition beetle, you won't have to cope with to many probs and you get the opportunity to slowly learn the issues and maintanence required etc. as time continues, rather than all at once.

Model wise, well, personally they're all good. From what i have seen, all pre 70 beetles tend to have subtle differences here and there, and the running gear isn't that much different (For eg. Chassis is all the same), except for the drive train and engine and all, which are interchangable between em.

The only difference I see taht u may want to think about with the models, is that pre 70s have torsion bar suspension, while post 70s have McPherson struts. That difference is really only needed for concideration if ur thinking of going offroad, but yeah, all beetles are good, and improvements like u said, steering and all, or perhaps engines and running gear can all be swapped and matched and interchangable between all the beetle series models, with no or very lil' easy modification. (well, I'm pretty sure, plz correct me anyone if im' wrong).

Any is good, go for looks i say, and cause its a project (as u mentioned), u can improve the running gear as u complete it. So surf around, look at images.

Actually, best way to do it, is to go to www.busselecta.com, and click on bug selecta in that site, and select what u want ur bug to look like. its like a bug facade emulator kinda thing.

Plz, i say again to anyone out there, plz correct me if im wrong.

mynameischris88 wrote:The only difference I see taht u may want to think about with the models, is that pre 70s have torsion bar suspension, while post 70s have McPherson struts. That difference is really only needed for concideration if ur thinking of going offroad, but yeah, all beetles are good, and improvements like u said, steering and all, or perhaps engines and running gear can all be swapped and matched and interchangable between all the beetle series models, with no or very lil' easy modification. (well, I'm pretty sure, plz correct me anyone if im' wrong).

Plz, i say again to anyone out there, plz correct me if im wrong.

dont worry i will it only the sbugs, from late 71, and lbugs that have strut front end. as there was 1500s and 1300s that still had the beam front end.
the wheels are not all interchangable as they change stud patten from a wide 5 to a close 4 and they both have different size spindles as the years went on. this is not to say it cant be done its just harder.

Thanks for the advice guys, now I just need to find one 🙂

when i was looking for my bug, i just checked out the trading post each week and night on the net until i found what i was after, everytime i passed a car yard i also scanned them just in case. you will find one if you look, mine isn't the colour that i wanted but i wouldn't sell her for the world. i am the most happiest when driving down the road in my 68 bugnn[ Edited on 21/8/2005 by saintlywhitetigeress ]

70 on's the go. 12 volt electrics, twin port motors, better suspension, brakes ect ect!
Rob...

I found that the best type of beetle, comes with an engine..... (see avatar) :cry

I really do wish you good luck in finding the perfect beetle.

lol, Thinking I want a 65-68 pref white with disk brakes.

Hmmm I like this one. No discs but already 12v
any opinions?
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/1963-VW-BEETLE-The-same-model-as-Herby-in-the-movie_W0QQitemZ7178349269QQcategoryZ10781QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Kris wrote:lol, Thinking I want a 65-68 pref white with disk brakes.

Pre-68 had drums. Get a post-68 car. Everything is better for a beginner, from balljoints to doorhandles... I like older VWs, but the later ones are just a more sophisticated, relaible, easy to fix, easy to drive car all round.