Hi all. While I have owned a 76 Golf before I am totally new to the air cooled variety. I started looking for a nice car to drive to work that would not cost the earth. I looked at quite a few and then became infatuated with Bugs. Perhaps I wanted something I could actually work on without having a computer degree. I finally settled on a 73 "L" over a 65, mainly because of the creature comforts allthough I now plan on getting something older to work on next year. The question I have is: Whats up with VW brakes? I test drove five or six and all had what I would term "hoary" brakes. Foot nearly to the floor and quite spongy. I would have expected a difference between the disk and drums but all were equally bad. Is this because they are not power assisted? Oh and I noticed that all the shifters had broken boots and three miles between gears. Is there any way to fix this? I want something a little tighter. The car I chose is not in the best condition but for the price it was a steal. Besides I know I should be able to do most if not all the work myself and learn for my next project car. The wife does not like my choice as she wanted me to get a trytop ute but I think I became infected with Wolfsburg disease. For the fist time in many years I am excited to be driving a car I can work on.:bounce

welcome to the fold
the brakes can be quite good if they are spongy bleed them, as for the shift distance fit a quick shift which will reduce it to about 2 inches between gears not 4-6 inches

Thanks. I had allready purchased three magazines before I settled on a bug. I think they made up my mind. The smell of grease, petrol and oil came back to me and I felt sad that I had been away from doing things myself for so long.
I was wondering just how strong the brake hoses were. Should it be something to replace sooner rather than later even if they look good?
Do you know an approximate guess on how much that sort of shifter will cost? I was just going to replace the bushes in the old unit but if there is something better for a good price I will probably go that way first.
God this car better be OK for the fist few weeks at least lol. I am going to get a VW mechanic to give it a major service then start doing things myself. This is mainly so they can tell me the things I need to do before I HAVE to do them
Edit: just saw the other post while writing this. I haven't actually picked the car up yet so not had a decent drive. I have had quite a bit of experience rebuilding Old Holden's and spending WAY too much on engines so I am not shy about doing the work once I get my hands on a factory manual. LOL I am like a kid with a new toy and the wait till I pick the car up tommorow is killing me

under $20 for the quick shift and it works well

lol... let's get the basics right, okay?

Well I finally have the car now. I must have looked at too many as this one does not seem to be as bad with the brakes and loose shifter. However the electrics are wierd. Fuel gage refuses to work and wow that I took out the old stereo wiring the flasher unit buzzes constantly till I start the car and the gen light flashes with the indicator. I am realy looking forward to working on this problem as I love nutting out wiring problems. The car actually handles real nice as well.

:cry I just took her in for a major service and inspection today. My motor is apparently shot. Compressions between 90 and 105. leaking seals and one of the spark plugs had been cross threaded. So thay say I have to do the rings and the job will cost over 1200 dollars. Plus all the other thinks like sized LH rear brake adjuster, faulty fuel gage, shocks and struts a few bushes and I still have to find a good RH front and LH rear guard and running boards. THEN the micowave packed up, the frige went on the fritz, heater broke, washing machine died, kids are sick, 1500 to 1800 to spend fixing the wifes cars trans and all this in just over a week. Hmm anyone know of parts available in Adelaide that are cheap? lol time to start crying methinks

Compression.. who cares? As long is it is not blowing smoke... If it runs, it runs... that's one of the beauties of a Beetle! The rest you can proabably tackle yourself

The last car I bought, the owner said he'd had a quote for a new engine becuase it was 'stuffed'. It was very hard to start, had a leaky exhaust, was blowing a little blue smoke and there was a red light in the dash that flickered...

I crossed my fingers, put in fresh oil (that was the red light on the dash) puttied the exhaust leak, changed the plugs, adjusted the points and carby and can now sit on the freeway at 120km/h when the cops aren't looking

And the old owner was told he needed a new engine...nn[ Edited on 23-8-2005 by VWCOOL ]