IMHO I believe the terrible wipers.... Why hasn't some ingenius aftermarket company engineered wipers for the early models with "proper
Wiper Blades" and proper tension and wiper area.... Some Fords used to have an extra arm to control the wiper arm itself... to make it wipe all
the windscreen .. but NOT allowing the end of the wiper to go off the screen..... Its a bit hard to imagine until You see one in action.... but it
probably cost less than $5 a car to produce.....
and then there is the Mercedes ONE WIPER BLADE that does the whole windscreen... and probably costs around $300-$600 to produce per car... only a
wild guess with this one... but I'm sure one could be made for much less than that. NOT using Mercedes parts of course...
What do You Hate with Your early pre'68 VW???
Can the moderator put this in General Chat .... please..
[Edited on 6-1-2003 by 68AutoBug]
mate i think ur posting in the wrong section shouldnt this be in Genral Chat
(No disrespect intended)
Not enough around!
The wipers on my oval are fantastic as long as it doesn't rain.
The wipers on my '58 are fantastic just so long as it isn't windy
My '58 holds the road so well just so long as it isn't windy
The vent windows on my '58 are the best cooling system ever invented, just so long as it isn't windy
:sandrine
The headlights can be pretty dim, even when converted to 12 volt. I'd definitely want extra lamps on a pre '68 and for that matter, my
present 1302 super bug.
[Edited on 6-1-2003 by Schmonno]
You can fix the headlight issue:
http://www.vwtype3.org/info-headlight-conversion
Andrew
Schmonno.
You can fix the Headlamps in post 68 Beetles by upgrading to Hella H4 7inch semi seales beams such as used in the Golf... or other generic brands. The
Easier solution - which I have done to My 2001 Lancer.. is replace the headlamp Bulbs with Narva plus 50 Quartz Halogen Bulbs that use Xenon gas.
These bulbs are the same wattage as standard Globes 60/55w but are actually 50% brighter on both High & Low Beam...
and shine 20 metres further on the road.
They cost approx $30 a Pair....
To replace the Standard VW headlamps in post 68 VWs... can be done.. but the first time is the hardest.. naturally... I use a certain [large] type of
sealed beam clamp to hold the headlamp itself and then it just needs to be modified to fit and be adjustable in the VW Chromed Rim....
VWs do have the 3 lugs welded into all the headlamp guard buckets and these are used for the sealed beam headlamps as used in the USA... I've
never used these lugs. it may be easier....
other than the swing axle (not hard to modify or just swap pans) and some other small mechanical things, i like my 63. whats wrong with the wipers?
There is nothing wrong with them if they are in good working order, the windscreen isnt very big!
pre 68's are lighter by a bit, and since they are australian made they are unique in the world. The headlights on later beetles are slightly
better, but the early ones can be made damn good if u use new halogen globes. Pre 68's look a billion times better, the 1/4 vent windows are
fine, the early bugs have thicker sheet metal than superbugs. pre 68 suspension although crap, is tougher. pre 68's have lots of unique Aussie
only parts on it.. the VW logo with the two kangaroos hmmmm. A pan swap is dead easy to do so u can really ahve the best of both worlds
btw why did u post this topic originally in buying and selling?
I love my 65 beetle 
I love my 62, 65 & 67 beetles.:thumb
I prefer early beetles. I havent driven my 56 but I love it. Cant wait to have enough money to replace that semi auto pan with a nice swinger.
VW won plenty of endurance races with that "crap" suspension. Probably the worlds most popular (in terms of number of cars) open wheel
racecars... formula vee use that "crap" suspension. The 2000-3000cc sports sedan class record at most hillclimb tracks in NSW are held by a
swingaxle beetle. The beetles popularity started to slide at the end of the "crap" suspension.
How can you possibly have one windscreen wiper cover most of a windscreen.. Esp a short windscreen like a beetle. Besides (said it before, I say it
again) Rain X fixes all windscreen wiper problems. So much so that you can almost take them off.
[Edited on 7-1-2003 by amazer]
sure the swing axle can be modified to go pretty well...
but really the later 4 joint suspension is pretty much superior, the only disadvantage really is strength for $$$ (even this only really applies to
things like drag racing and modified beetles). 99% of people use it for, daily driving/street driving, and at this it shines. no one manufactures
swing axles on any modern car any more, semi trailing arms ala late beetle can still be seen on a lot of modern cars like commodores. porsche
911's used trailing arms, the porsche 944 had a very similar semi trailing arm setup as the late beetle.
i know crap might be a harsh word but swing axles are outdated and dangerous by today's standards.
and with the later tranny (post 71) u get a better throwout bearing that actually travels in a straight line.
the later pan has disc brakes and balljoints on the front. Better rear drums, and a better wheel stud pattern that doesnt distort drums and go out
of round so easily.
the US the sales peaked in 1968. and people freaked out at the way it looked and then it declined from then on.
generally what my opinion is that the later mechanicals are on the whole (there are some exceptions) are better. but the pre 68's are much much
much better looking, and are rarer and cooler.
and u can easily swap pans to gain almost all the advantages of the late beetle.
and yes i do love my 63 beetle
[Edited on 7-1-2003 by Che Castro]
No struts and dodgy door locks, never lean on the inside of early Beetle doors.
Hey Andrew, Lee, I heaps appreciate your advice for brighter headlights.
I'm attracted to the 'older' look as with alot of you. Although my sister insists she prefers the look of later models (post 68).
It's interesting that we enthusuasists are usually the only people who notice the differences between models. To most people out there, a beetle
is just a punch buggy! 
There's nothing I hate about them...all the negative things that people say, endears me to them more!!!
No has mentioned splittys here so I just did.
Wipers suck a fair bit...I am informed that early bug wipers have a spring that holds them to the glass well.
I first heard about rainX from a rodding friend..have never looked back, it is quite true about not needing the wipers, nad the faster you go the
better the rain falls off, On the hume while it was pissing down I wasnt using the wipers and I could see fine...
cheers
You can fix the headlights by fitting a relay to the high and low beams and use the light switch to turn on the relay. Use this with halogen bullbs
and you have really good lights.
Even used this on a 6volt car with good results
Yeah, I read somewhere that hella make 6volt halogens, but to be honest I'm fairly happy with the standard ones.
I don't really understand all these complaints about swing-axles, I find my bug drives just fine, it handles better than a lot of other cars
I've driven. But then again with 36 horses of fury I might not be going as fast as some of you guys.
As far as the single windscreen wiper goes, the ones I have seen don't just pivot from one point, they have a weird cam setup that let's
them cover most of the windsheild.
my cars been converted to 12v by the previous owner, so i have never experienced 6v.
6v lights use the same amount of energy as 12v lights so they are just as bright as each other. its just that a 6v system is more susceptible to
voltage drops due to bad grounds and connections.
my bug drives fine and its a stock swing axle (no camber compensator or anything). Its just that when u push it, u reach its limits quite suddenly
and harshly. There is nothing majorly wrong with pre 68 bugs if u leave it bog stock
my rant before about the shortcomings of swing axles is only relevant if u take corners and drive it more like a modern car. The stock bug is great
when u leave it that way
wow I'm the first to mention the crap 4 wheel drums..I just love adjusting them evey few weeks guess thats why I fitted 944 disks all round :bounce
Well my oldest is a '71 Ghia...
But my mate has a '61 Ghia and it scares me beacuse it doesn't have dual circuit brakes or seat belts.
eh the brakes on my car (stock wide 5 drums all round) are pretty sufficient for day to day driving, i dont drive very fast (its a 1600 SP with lotsa
axle breaking torque! , i just dont choose to floor it thats all!). The stock brakes are quite good if they are maintained and adjusted properly.
I want to go to a dual circuit but i'll do that when i swap pans anyway.
NUTHIN, NUTHIN, NUTHIN, NUTHIN
I dont hate anything about any VW product....
Thats just the type of GUY i am.
:beer:beer:beer:beer:beer:beer:beer:beer:beer:beer:beer:beer:beer:beer:beer:beer:beer:beer:beer:beer:beer
Be careful overdoing the smileys dave. They'll start talking about you.
Is that your belt count for tonight, Dave??
YEP... belt count n talking... COOL...
at least it wont be a stupid subject.
:beer:beer:beer:beer
Sheeeesh!! I havent had half of that and its taking me about 15 mins to type this stupid reply!!!
Hey Dave, whats the go when you have visitors over at Boris's's's'. Are the Crownies kept there or do I take what I drink which
would be Crowns (on special occasions such as this)....
"once again" not enough of them ! . . . and thus parts expensive.
.
that some of them have had rust destroy small sections.
.
a little under powered in standard form for my liking.
.
that you have to go to the trouble of converting to 12v to put high performance electrics on.
Hutcho
U can bring a few along it doesnt hurt.