Hey all.

It is in great trauma I come to you as a community and a novice. If it was a holden or even a Hillman I would be at home, but my wife after seeing two beetles (Fleur's[Helbus] ew one and another friends) it seems that she has decided that the Commodore we called hers is now not any good.

Now I have been around computers a very long time and (under a different handle as oldn64 does not seem right here) am a wealth of knowledge and am a moderator for a few other forums. Having stated this I just do not get this air cooled thing????

Not to mention I feel very stupid right about now!! So in an effort to help my wife to get a good beetle I need some knowledge. So I am guessing I am really trying to say [size=6]H E L P[/size]

Lets start at the top.

1. I am not sure on what the hell a semaphore is???
2. What are the usual rust places for beetles?
3. Model which The lady likes seems to be 63-67
4. What is the differences in 6v to 12v? (i am electrical engineer so do understand the elctrical side of things just more intewrested in the vw side of things...)
5. Have seen a number of beetles claming shortened front tubes etc etc why what does this mod do???
6. Have seen a number of beeltes stating a 5 speed box. where does ths come from o i it a typo?
7. do you oftenhave isues wth battery and therear set?
8. What is the difference between twin port and single port heads (it is the facility for twin carbs???) the only other thing I can think of is that the heads are like the holden six (red) and thus have the shared inlets...
9. Why do some beelte have neg camber on rear and others have positive?
10. what is the difference between the straight axles and a swing arm gearbox? why the difference?
11. What is required to place porsche rims on the vehicle I know there are two types of stud patterns but porsche are different again.
12. how do you make a beetle stop? again if EH or Hillman easy as but beetle seems foreign.
13. As you can see I am the mechanic and general worker the driver on the other hand just wants to do that Drive it. So is $4000 reasonable for a 66 model or are we getting ripped?

Cheers

T (aka Oldn64)

Let the knowledging begin!!

hang about, i'm working on it.

first of all, welcome, the prefered terminology for the "c" word is conformadore

1- rectangle indicator that sticks out from the "b" pillar- pre 60's beetles, not sure about kombis- over $100 each if your not lucky enough to have em

2-did you say the "r" word, tisk tisk.in the bonnet under the spare wheel and under the rubber seals



behind the wheel arch (front) bottom of "a" pillar where the door hinges screw on. bottom of doors inside and out. under the 1/4 vent windows

the "heater channel" ie. underneath where the doors close from front to back, look behind the running boards from underneath the car to spot this one.

in front of the rear wheel arch, the rear bumper mounts and rear apron

the lower sections of mud guards, bonnets and "boot" or "decklids" ie. rear /engine cover

floor pans halves- to the point where they dissapear altogether- flinstones style.

theres more, but hellbus knows evey single one

3--- the pre 68 beetles all have similar overall appearence, after that they changed a few times

4-- 6 volt electrical systems. sometimes refers to appearance as mentoned in point three, as the 12volt system was introduced with the change of body design. a well maintained 6v system can work fine, but dull lights, no stereo etc. you know what would be involved in changing the system over, so lets just say its easily done with no modifying, take out, bolt in replacement

5---- wild to mild, "narrowed" front ends are either for looks, to go real low, or to gain clearence on outer mudguard lip for the wheels/tyres or a combo of all the above.

6-----5 speeds can be done and involves a new section being added to the nose of the gearbox to accomodate the 5th gear. the diff is integrated into the box, so its not a matter of getting a celica box, rear engine cars eg porsche can be used, either way 5 speed equates to big $$$$$$$$$$$. the four works fine as the 4th gear was designed quite high from the factory- remeber autobahns!

7-----now your'e saying the f word! fire? it does happen but rarely, but the seat is not bolted down, so matainance is easy. acid leaking on the floor is not good, so battery clamps should be working, a simple rubber door mat will almost expell the myth of fire caused by short cuircits

8---single port heads have one hole on the ouside of the casting, and split for the two valves, within the head itself.

dual ports have two holes/ports all the way through the head, and further up towards the carbie (single barrel) the manifold splits it from 4 individual to 2 then joins to 1.

opinions of performance differences are endless

9----depends on height of suspension mainly.REAR END/AXLE lets think about a see-saw, teeter totter. just think about what goes on from the pivot point to the end you are sitting on.

when you go up, you lean forward, down you lean back.

the v.w axle pivots from the gearbox,(which makes this point almost at the centerline of the car) when the axle pushes up towards the body(lowered), the top of the tyres leans forwards towards the center line-NEGATIVE camber! opposite produces positive camber.

the camber varies a touch as the vehicle is under power or coasting, cuased by squatting/loading rear suspension

10---pre 1969 beetles used swing axles or straight axles.

after that they added a diagonal trailing arm and C.V joints to cure the camber changes associated with one piece axles. refered to as I.R.S- although they were all independent of each other

back to the see-saw.a c.v joint allows the plank of said sesaw to bend at both the middle and seat end. the one at the seat end conteracts/corrects the angle created as it goes up and down. now you dont laen back and forth, your camber doesn't change! do you fell less sensation/safer? not a bad thing for a car hey!

theres more too it, but thats the basic of it

11---5 holes/wheel bolts for early-6volt-pre68 beetles.

4 holes for later, 68 onwards

5 holes for porsche-interestingly, the same distance from the center pont of the hub as four stud V.W pattern-only 5 holes instead. this is why it is possible to redrill and use studs and nuts, or drill and tap for wheel bolts-- not recommended

new "blank" v.w rotors/drums can be bought and drillied to suit all sorts of patterns other than porsche. they are a original v.w size and as such, use the other associated original v.w parts. its just like renewing the worn out ones, just bolting on the replacement parts, only with a different pattern!

or you can use porsche set ups, including the BIG calipers, pads and rotors you would expect from porsche. more complicated due to the different bearing/stubs sizes and offset issues


12--- put your foot on the middle peddle and PUSH!
if that doesn't work, try the handbrake! some people call it the emergency brake.

turn the key to the off position.

13--- that depends. spend $10000 and be done with it!
see here:
http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?tid=48328 

:sandrine





[ Edited on 26-1-06 by dumone ]

Well, i can answer a few, i can't say i'm the pro, but heaps here are.

A semaphore is one of those 'classic' indicators that flip out from the side of the car. On the bugs, it flips out from a position like in between the driver door and rear window. Have alook at these pics of it:

http://www.bugology.com/cgi-bin/gi_v1.cgi?a=4&b=1  (see the rectangle heading downways on the side of the bug, to the left of the rear window? Thats the semaphore, without being retracted out.

heres what it is, retracted out (when u go to indicate): http://www.bugology.com/gallery1/semaphore1.jpg 

I don't think they make em for any 1960+ dubs though. But no 66 will ave em. Well, not stock anyways, spose someone could mod em in.

usual rust places? Lol, well, i'm learning that myself.

from what i have seen, mainly, is along the heater channels (helps if u get a bug with the least amount of rust in the channels, cause they can be a challenge to replace. if u replace and reweld em in and don't do it spot on, the body will be crooked (as i have heard), cause they are the main strengthening for hte body.

um, the A pillars a big rust spots too (got taht myself). the floor can be nasty sometimes too the flooring can be pretty rusty, and sometimes there are situations where ur feet can fal through.

Um, under the hood, in the spare tire well, can get rust there, water sometimes gets trapped. i got a bit of rust down the bottom of my doors too. A little bit too around the edges of my windows.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

when it comes to 6 and 12 volt kinda things, am going through that myself. But.... i'm not sure what it goes with yr models and which are 6 and which are 12. I go the later are obviously the 12vs, ur 66, well it could be 6 volt if its still original. my 67' is 6v.

It just means that ur light bulbs, battery, starter, alternator/generator, coil, wiper motors, water pumps etc, Everything electrical is build for 6volt source.

[ Edited on 26/1/2006 by bajachris88 ]

Ok, number of things.

aver spoken to previous owner. Car seems honest (if you know what I mean) has been sprayed recently (a Rav4 colour) and had mostr of the rust cut out. The car has been serviced by a Bug mechanic and seems to be pretty good. The car has been lowered all around and has been converted to 12V (properly done, well as much as a auto elec can do anyway.

From the rust department there is some in the front apparently under the guards (I would suggest inner guard not outter. As I have not seen the car in the flesh I cannot tell you much more than this. The running gear has only done about 17000 miles since rebuild. So all seems good thus far.

Are the inner guard normal rusting locations? It runs a 1600 and single carb. the beetle exhuast and silencers have been readded after the owner got sick of the drone. All in all it seems a good base to start with but will know more tomorrow... any pointers. Just to give peoples an idea here is a photo of said car from owner after discussion.

Cheers

T

Ok hang on a few more thing I forgot. Firstly thanks for the heads up guys (non gender specific.. )

How come the BBcode seeming not to work for me??? grrr

Cheers
T

Quote:

Originally posted by firefly The other stupid question... where is reverse in the shift pattern? the other thing is what I do remember of the shift pattern you sort of just point the shifter in the "general" direction of the gear you wish and it sort of finds it.. :S (slop city style.. ) Can this be fixed, or where they like this from factory... ie how does the shiofter work?? Cheers T PS: sorry for the ignorance. Knowledge sadly lacking here.

Hey Tim, it seems ya missus liked Fleur's beetle when she saw it

You could get a Berg or Empi short shifter which makes the gears very direct with very short throws too: like this... http://www.geneberg.com/product_info.php?cPath=17_475_2971&products_id=1174 

Fantastic to use but get one with the button on the right (for your left hand thumb) looking from above...

/

Quote:

Originally posted by Helbus Hey Tim, it seems ya missus liked Fleur's beetle when she saw it

Front seat belts is normal. Our 70 has front only.

Haymes is a good manual. John Muirs idiots guide is great for a lighter look at servicing the VW without as many technical pages. It is a much easier read for non technically minded people.

Clutch cable may need adjusting, stretched, frayed, or the clutch is worn. Adjusting the cable is able to be done without any tools. Just turn the wingnut. (Kombi anyway)

Oil leaks, well if it is pushrod or oil cooler seals, then it is a fair bit of dissassemly to put the relativley inexpensive parts in. If it is a rear main seal, again it is labour to seperate engine and gearbox and get the flywheel off and put the seal in. The easy leaks are rocker cover and oil strainer (drain plug/plate) leaks.

The concerning oil leaks are case leaks where the case halves are no longer married up and sealed, or behind no. 3 cylinder behind the flywheel is cracked. The case has to be welded or replaced.

Sloppy gear shift is normal, and new bushes or a new coupling back near the gearbox that again are not expensive will help that along. Quick shifting an original older gearbox will not produce satisfactory results as the design and wear associated will not tolerated that kind of shift all of the time. A gentle slip into the next gear should be fine, iff not, the synchros need work.