Hi everyone,

I'm currently the owner of a stage 2 Mk5 GTI DSG and love the thing. It is by far the best car I have owned.

When I built my house 2 years ago I added a 3rd parking spot and workbench area to the garage with the intention of buying a project car in the not to distant future. Up until now it has remained empty because I hadn't decided what that project would be . The wait is now over, I'm currently in the hunt for a beetle so I can fill the air-cooled void in my life.

I look forward to spending a lot of time here

Welcome to AVD
and a nice looking GTI there..

Keep looking until You fiind a beetle with as little rust as possible.
even one owners are still about...

cheers

LEE

Welcome and nice GTi.

What model bug are you looking for? If you provide some details I'm sure people here can help you find one.

Welcome aboard the VW OCD chat room. If you put up your location people will be able to point you in the direction of cars in your area. Nice water pumper by the way. Also be prepared for randoms to wave at you when you drive a classic VW, something you won't get with your GTi. Enjoy.

Thanks guys.

I like the 60's shape and I would also like to go down the volksrod path one day but it seems there is a lot up in the air on what you can legally do.

I was eyeing this off the other night

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p4340.l2557&...


I have a budget of 4-5k to get a base to work with, I would love some feedback on what you would do if in my position.

Thats are gorgeous golf! I bet that thing fangs like a bat outta hell.

The racer inspired modern dubs seem to have a sophistication and elegance about them compared to jdm which bring about a more plastic, street whore kinda feel imho.

You on drugs Chris? Racer inspired modern dubs? You've clearly been driving Jap crap for too long to know about Watercooled German engineering?

The GTI's are an awesome car to drive mof477, handling is second to none. Driving air cooled comes with a different kind of satisfaction and handling, but I like the best of both worlds too Hopefully you can come along to one of our get togethers. Let us know what you are looking for if you are serious about wanting something now and we will be more than happy to help you out!

Ha ha, oh know what have I started

I would love to come along, Im so keen to learn.

You have no idea how keen I am to just buy one but I also want to make the right decision.

Think of what you would like in the way of looks and handling. There is a big difference between earlier and later model beetles.

Don't be afraid to ask questions and use the search function at the top. You will learn lots here, and we look forward to you coming along to one of our get togethers.

Nice GTI mate! .. oh yeah and welcome

Welcome! Nice Golf!

What do you want from your Beetle? How are you going to drive it? Those are the two questions you need to think about.

Have you ever driven an air-cooled VW before? I think that it would be worth test-driving someone else's before buying your own. They're quite a different driving experience, certainly a world away from your GTI. I'm sure you'll love it, but bear in mind that with a stock engine you will be going quite slowly, especially with the 1200cc cars! Are you happy to cruise with a stock motor, or will you want to go quick? Is your car going to be a show car, race car or daily driver?

The main thing to look for when buying a car is bodywork. Check for rust, dents and also check that the car is straight. You want the bodywork to be as good as possible, ideally with decent paint in a colour you like so you don't have to paint it. Fixing rust or dents and then getting the car painted is much more expensive than fixing the mechanical parts of the car. If you want to go quick, then you're going to need a new engine anyway. If you don't want to pay for a new engine, you should be able to get a decent used 1600cc twin-port for about $1000 ready to slot into the car. I got mine through eBay for $800 and it runs beautifully. A stock 1600cc twin-port gives you roughly 60 to 65 horsepower, which is a good improvement over any of the earlier engines and is more than capable of keeping up with modern traffic, driving up hills at the speed limit and even giving you a lot of fun on twisty roads through the hills. The smaller engines will struggle to maintain speed up hills, especially if they're tired.

Areas to look for rust generally are in the heater channels (door sills), floor pans, battery tray, lower A and B pillars (door jambs), the flanges where the guards bolt to the body, the spare tyre well, edges of doors, bonnet and engine lid and around the C pillar and rear window area on cars built after 1971. Also, anything else between the front bumper and the back bumper!

Welcome!if you'd like to look at a very clean 58-60 bug give me Call0416099372,sounds like it's exactly what your looking for.A mate is down sizing his projects and this ones going,been off the road for years.Got it out and washed it the other day it's real sweet.If it was me buying a first bug I'd steer clear of anything with a shiny repaint and Chinese parts.Best of luck and don't be affraid to have the vehical throughly inspected,a couple of hundred can save you thousands!Cheers Col

what about an early type 3 to be different? better driving car than the beetle

Quote:

Originally posted by waveman1500 Welcome! Nice Golf! What do you want from your Beetle? How are you going to drive it? Those are the two questions you need to think about. Have you ever driven an air-cooled VW before? I think that it would be worth test-driving someone else's before buying your own. They're quite a different driving experience, certainly a world away from your GTI. I'm sure you'll love it, but bear in mind that with a stock engine you will be going quite slowly, especially with the 1200cc cars! Are you happy to cruise with a stock motor, or will you want to go quick? Is your car going to be a show car, race car or daily driver? The main thing to look for when buying a car is bodywork. Check for rust, dents and also check that the car is straight. You want the bodywork to be as good as possible, ideally with decent paint in a colour you like so you don't have to paint it. Fixing rust or dents and then getting the car painted is much more expensive than fixing the mechanical parts of the car. If you want to go quick, then you're going to need a new engine anyway. If you don't want to pay for a new engine, you should be able to get a decent used 1600cc twin-port for about $1000 ready to slot into the car. I got mine through eBay for $800 and it runs beautifully. A stock 1600cc twin-port gives you roughly 60 to 65 horsepower, which is a good improvement over any of the earlier engines and is more than capable of keeping up with modern traffic, driving up hills at the speed limit and even giving you a lot of fun on twisty roads through the hills. The smaller engines will struggle to maintain speed up hills, especially if they're tired. Areas to look for rust generally are in the heater channels (door sills), floor pans, battery tray, lower A and B pillars (door jambs), the flanges where the guards bolt to the body, the spare tyre well, edges of doors, bonnet and engine lid and around the C pillar and rear window area on cars built after 1971. Also, anything else between the front bumper and the back bumper!

If you're only going to drive it on weekends, then it is worth looking into historic rego. I'm not sure how the scheme works in QLD, but in SA you need to join a car club and your car needs to be stock, or as close as possible. They wouldn't accept dramatic lowering and I've heard of cars being refused historic reg because of having period alloy wheels, so it's stock rims and hubcaps. The interpretation of what is allowed and what's not is up to the discretion of the car club. I've heard of some clubs who are ruthlessly strict (no silicon plug leads allowed!) and others who will register anything without even inspecting it. The historic rego saves you a fortune though, it only costs a quarter of the price of full rego and you get 90 days a year to drive it. I believe that it substantially reduces your insurance as well. They have been planning for years to extend the scheme to modified cars, but I won't hold my breath.

For QLD go club rego instead. If you want to get a chat about vw's on club rego, talk to Jack at Gold Coast vee dub. He knows it inside and out. Vw's modified, great and small can be put on club rego at a fraction of the cost. Two catches, one is you have to be a member of a car club, and two you can only drive it to and from events (regardless of distance).

This could be any and i mean ANY event from any motoring club. Could be a motorbike show somewhere, ricer show, v8 thingo.. anything. Just need that as an excuse for why your driving on the road. Could also be test driving for prep for the show. This is a restriction, but you'd only be very unlucky to be questioned about it. Its not the polices business or job to enforce it. You'd have to be pulled over and questioned by a Transport Department official, and how often do you see them on the road?

(ironically, last two weeks i have seen 2 random defect inspection bays at the side of the road with TMR officials, but thats a first ever).

Better yet, get club rego, register you OWN official club, and where ever you want to drive, make a 'club' event about it haha, whether it be shopping, movies, visiting relatives . Cheaky hey?

Quote:

Originally posted by bajachris88 For QLD go club rego instead. If you want to get a chat about vw's on club rego, talk to Jack at Gold Coast vee dub. He knows it inside and out. Vw's modified, great and small can be put on club rego at a fraction of the cost. Two catches, one is you have to be a member of a car club, and two you can only drive it to and from events (regardless of distance). This could be any and i mean ANY event from any motoring club. Could be a motorbike show somewhere, ricer show, v8 thingo.. anything. Just need that as an excuse for why your driving on the road. Could also be test driving for prep for the show. This is a restriction, but you'd only be very unlucky to be questioned about it. Its not the polices business or job to enforce it. You'd have to be pulled over and questioned by a Transport Department official, and how often do you see them on the road? (ironically, last two weeks i have seen 2 random defect inspection bays at the side of the road with TMR officials, but thats a first ever). Better yet, get club rego, register you OWN official club, and where ever you want to drive, make a 'club' event about it haha, whether it be shopping, movies, visiting relatives . Cheaky hey?

Love your GTI hope you dont mind will post it on my vw watercooled facebook page.

Now as the owner of an R and a 69 bug they are two totally different cars yet I love driving both of them. For shear power and handling you cant beat the R but my bug is so satisfying to drive on a Sunday morning and you get a lot of reactions from people.

Before you go buying see if you can meet up with some beetle owners and pick their brains as well as everyone on here. when I first went to buy i was looking for a 64 (my birth year) but i wanted 12 volt, front disc brakes. After looking at a few "restored" early beetles i realised you had to be weary of bugs painted in two pack etc although there are some great restored beetles there are some poorly restored beetles as well so beware.

I ended up buying a nice straight 69 beetle that the previous owner had repaired the pan, added disc brakes and it was generally a solid car. I have since spent more than the purchase price 6K on wheels, suspension, new window rubbers, new interior and sound system. I am currently buying parts for a new engine just to give it a little more low down torque.

It maybe be better off spending a little more and saving over the long run. Basically for every $1 you spend you would only recover half (my experience) so a nice car being sold for $8K may cost you much more if you buy a car at $4K and want to do up the car for a similar result.

If your interested click on my link in my signature 69bug for the thread on my beetle

Also click HERE and you will see my watercooled site with your car featered

Yes the more you can learn up will hopefully save you $$$ btw check out my aircooled page as well if you wanna see beetles

Aircooled

Certainly love the R but they are too different to compare lol. A lot of people don't like driving aircooled but you either love them or hate them lol.

If you lower them too far they will drive too harsh also if you put too larger wheels on them makes them drive harsh.

This is probably a really stupid question but what are the round cylindrical shaped things some beetles have attached to their side windows?

They're called a swamp cooler. Essentially an evaporative air conditioner, all they have in them is a tank of water, a piece of wicking material and a scoop to funnel the air through it and into the car through the top of the car window. They were originally sold in the 1940s and '50s, mostly in the USA and not just for VWs, but they've become fashionable as old school/vintage/rat-rod accessories. Some of them that you see on cars now will be reproductions or fakes.