I just bought my first beetle in many years. A 66 1300 in great overall condition. It steers, handles and brakes very well, body nearly as new.
Except for - this thing is slooooow!
There is a shudder / vibration coming from the rear but only in top (4th) gear.

I will have my first chance this weekend to get underneath and check things out. Any suggestions as to what I should check are greatly appreciated.
BTW, do beetles have an oil filter? Can't remember.

Welcome back to the fray! The vibration could be an unbalanced wheel (the best scenerio). Does it only happen in 4th gear? Is it dependent on road speed or engine speed?

Beetles only have a 'strainer' that doesn't really catch anything unless you have flies in your sump. That's why we need to change our oil every 5000kms...

http://www.vw-resource.com/1966manual.html 

here is a manual that should be for your model.

Vibration - some how check engine and gear box mounts.

Slowness - stop driving that GTI you just bought!

Seriously - put a 1600 in there soon.
Should bolt in with minor modifications

Terrific, thanks guys!
I'll give it a good going over on Saturday.
I have stacks of Castrol Formula R non synthetic (25W-50W), would that be OK for the 1300? I use it for myTR's.

Barry, what would a "reasonable" 1600 cost me?
There were no such things as twin ports when I was last an owner. Or are 1600 single ports OK as well?

Single ports are ok but i would go the twin port

I have sold "good" twin ports for as little as $250 for a long block to $750 for a "complete" bolt in

is yours a 6 volt still??

1600's are 12v and have a different fly wheel
You have to either change that over or convert to 12 volt (more $$$ - your hooked, it never ends!!)

You should have a good talk to Squizzy. He has just sold his 1978? convertable and bought a 1959 1200 and is looking for more power as it is his daily driver.
he has explored the the different avenues and will have some cost

Could be engine/gearbox mounts....
they don't seem to last these days....

I have a single port 1600 and I'm very pleased with the way it goes....

Many of Us change Our Oil at 3000kms...
or some as soon as it gets dirty......!!

cheers

Lee

http://community.webshots.com/user/vw68autobug 

Thanks fellas. I gave the car another run last night and it seems to have a distinct lack of power, which is exacerbated in top gear. Seems like it can't hold enough power to drive in 4th and shudders accordingly.
Is spluttering a bit, so I'm thinking it's electrical or fuel related.
I'll check leads, plugs, fuel filter,mounts etc. Might get new plugs and leads tomorrow and change the oil Saturday. Are the black or coloured lead sets from Classic Vee Dub the ones to get?
Anything else I should zoom in on?

check that your carb is bolted on tight enough. might pay to give it a blast with some carb cleaner too... run PULP too, see if that helps..

Good luck

squizy, my 66 is still 6 volts. I don't really want to mess with originality unless there are overwhelming benefits.

Keep the 1300, just give a good tune, and as Chris said, sus out the carb situation, maybe throw a kit through it, they cost 20 bucks and you can do it yourself, just remember how it came apart, even if you have to draw pics etc, give all the galleries a good clean with carb clean as you go. Check the vacum advance mechanism on the dissy, might need freeing up with some wd 40 or maybe replacing. I have a 1300, and its a little slow up hills on the hyway, but its a little rocket around town.

Spent a few hours on beelzebug on Saturday.

Found #2 ignition lead was faulty. Changed that and put in 4 new plugs and voila, all is fine with the world. Also found a crack in the hose fitting on the vacuum advance. Just did a running repair with tape for now.Cleaned the carby, changed the oil and cleaned the filter. Greased the front end. That's about the limit of my expertise, so adjusting valves, timing, points etc might need help.
Thanks for your advice everyone.

good to hear! Timing and points is easy and simple to do.. There should be lots on info on AVd and the web about it. Do a search.. Valve clearence is technically simple, but physically and bit of a cow at times...