Hi all,

My wife and I finally bought ourselves our beetle, after talking about it for years. She's always admired the looks and I've always been fascinated by the design. Plus they're just plain cool.

Here's a couple of pics:





It's a 72 super bug with an amateur respray which looks glossy but is hiding some filler and bad welding here and there but the wheel arches, strut towers and floor plans are solid. It'll stay looking presentable for a few years then get a proper respray in a standard scheme and colour.

Interior has had the carpet and headlining replaced but the rest needs a bit of attention. Front seats are non standard and will be replaced.

The suspensions been replaced with lowered springs and struts but the front tyres are scrubbing quite badly, either it's too low or the tyres on the non standard wheels are too big. I think these came out with 13" wheels yeah? I'd like to put standard wheels and hubcaps back on if anyone in WA has a nice set.

Engine pulls nicely and sounds great.. I finally understand why you're all so hopelessly addicted to air cooled vw's. Needs a bit of a tune up.

Gearbox selects fine and is quiet but I think the shift linkages need attention - it's a bit ponderous and loose. Any suggestions? Clutch is fine.

Brakes are getting a look in. They were non-vacuum assist I take it? They feel like the brakes on a 60's falcon. Ie like stepping on a half inflated basketball. Suggestions for upgrades would be most appreciated.

As you can tell I'm a bit of a newbie with air cooled vw's but have a lot of experience working and restoring other vehicles and motorcycles so your suggestions and help to point me in the right direction would be much appreciated.

I was going to say Welcome aboard, but looks like you've been lurking awhile since you registered in 2006.

You're going to have great fun in your new little beastie, don't be afraid to ask any questions at all, we are all here to help and share the obsession!

Cheers,
Ash

Yes it's taken me a while to get my act together now we've finally got our bug, my wife and I can't wait to get stuck into the mechanicals and get it driving nicely and get the interior nice and drive it .. With a view to an eventual body off resto in the years to come. There's a lot of inspiration from this forum that led to us finally taking the plunge.

G'day.

Wheels were standard 15".
It is the wrong offset that is causing the rubbing. Wack a clean set of stock on the front and either stock or 6" wide on the back.
Will look and handle a heap better.

That bug is just screaming out for a set of nice shiny chrome stock bumper bars


With your gearshift being sloppy its usually a combination of the plastic bishing up front and the rubber blocks in the rear coupler under the back seat being worn out, not too hard to replace, just messy and fiddly.

In worst case scenario like my bug where it was run for too long with the front bushing missing the hanger gets worn out and needs replacing.

Quote:

Originally posted by Joel That bug is just screaming out for a set of nice shiny chrome stock bumper bars With your gearshift being sloppy its usually a combination of the plastic bishing up front and the rubber blocks in the rear coupler under the back seat being worn out, not too hard to replace, just messy and fiddly. In worst case scenario like my bug where it was run for too long with the front bushing missing the hanger gets worn out and needs replacing.

Picked up the bug yesterday and haven't stopped grinning yet.

Blew a master cylinder on the way home and grabbed a replacement off the shelf from vw centre, had it fitted and bled in 2hrs (working on the ground) not bad for an air cooled n00b?

Today I'm giving it a service and trying to fix the handbrake..

Hand brake was an easy fix and now it's adjusted properly it works beautifully.

Over Christmas I'm doing the valve clearances, timing an ignition and a general tune up. Will change the drive belt .. I've been reading about the shim system, fascinating.. I've never seen anything like it when I was working on cars/bikes for a living. Never touched an old dub before so it's a fun learning curve.

Cheers all an have a great Christmas.

Lots of good help here

http://www.vw-resource.com/ 

Yeah I've been following that one religiously for tips.

Tune up done, running nicely now.

However it's marking its territory now.. I'm fairly certain it's the oil cooler seals, as I've eliminated most of the other leaks.

How much is taking the top end and tins off to get to it going to suck?

a fair bit

Where abouts is it leaking?
LHS coming out of the shroud flowing over the cylinder tin?

If its a stock motor it is almost easier to drop the motor.
It is just a pain getting to the rear tin screws.
Still - nothing you cant do in a Saturday morning listening to the cricket

Do you know if it has the thermostat and flaps??
Doubt it but you never know

You need to take off the following
*Engine lid and hinge horns
*carburetor
*disconnect thermostat if there
*generator and shroud together

Make sure you get the correct seals

Exactly as you described.. I re sealed the oil pressure switch in the hope that might be it, to no avail and it only leaks a lot after it's run so I'm sure it's the oil cooler.

I don't think the thermostat and flaps are there - parts of my tins are missing (groan..) will all be rectified once it's rebuilt.