Rather than clutter up other threads with my musings on Superbugs, I decided to start up a seperate thread.

I looked at two bugs this weekend. The first you may have seen in my Extractors question thread. THe yellowy green coloured 74 L.

I drove for over two hours each way to look at this car, armed with a unregistered vehicle permit, so I could test drive it. During the journey I though I must be mad driving so far to look at a car that might be a bucket of poo.

Anyway, when I arrived, it was parked in the gravel driveway, and it looked great! Having read "How to Keep Your Volkswage Alive" again, I went over it pretty thoroughly before I even started it. Then I took it for a 20min drive.

The good:
- The interior was really quite nice other than the headlining. There was just that tear on the drivers seat and a small crack on the dashtop. Even the carpets were quite good.
- The dashboard had not been hacked for a modern stereo!!
- No rattles.
- Underneath the guards there was not even a hint of rust. Just dull paint in the same colour as the body. It looked completely original and almost unmarked. No globules of underseal like you usually see!
- Everything seemed good in the front end, no split balljoint boots, no leaking struts, wheel bearings fine, bushes didn't seem to have any play.
- Bumpers, rubbers etc were excellent.
- Paint was original except for the front valance and bonnet. It may have had a minor tap in the front in the past. The paint was nice and glossy all over.
- In the back both CV boots were intact and the diff felt nice and tight.
- It went really well. Accelerated heaps better than any of the bugs I have driven so far. Almost like it wasn't stock. It had a distinct burble at idle like maybe there was a cam in there??
- Clutch fine.
- Gearbox fine. Shifter was beautiful to use. No slop!
- It had 51,000km on the clock with last service (in 2006) at 49,000km. It drove and looked like a 151,000km car rather than a 451,000km car, if you get what I mean.
- The pans were RUST FREE. But the driver side one looked newer than the passenger side? Huh? See my notes below...

The bad:
- There was heaps of seam sealer where the drivers side pan met the centre tunnel. It was the only non-standard sealer on the entire car. I scratched at it with my fingernal and discovered the whole pan had been replaced. It wasn't a brilliant job, having been welded in little blobs every few inches rather than seam-welded properly. Worst of all, the pan was slightly bucked at one place, leaving a 3mm gap between the tunnel edge and pan edge. Looks like it needed all the interior taken out and to be welded in properly. But the car was almost rust-free, so if the battery area rusted, why did they replace the entire pan instead of just patch the rust? Odd.
- The passengers seat seemed loose on the rails, like I could rattle it a few mm off the pan T rails??? I couldn't figure out what was wrong.
- The handbrake only worked on the left rear wheel.
- There was a really bad shimmy through the steering around 80-90km/h. Wheel balancing? Steering dampner?
- There were rust spots on both rear pillars and both front seams just in front of the doors. The photos the seller sent were the worst sides, the other side in each case was less than 1c piece sized. It still had the "foam of death" in the rear pillars.

So the immediate fix it list:
- Weld the pan seam.
- Fix the shimmy. How?
- Seat rail?
- Oil leaks.
- Handbrake cable.
- Front discs and pads probably.
- Full service and tune.
- Bleed brakes.

Later:
- Headliner
- Rust issues before they get worse.

On the whole, not a bad little car.

The next car was a white 73L nearby. The asking price was nearly double the mustard one, and it had a recent serice history. So I had high hopes of it being a great car.

I was sorely disappointed. It could only be described as "cosmeticaly challenged". A dodgy old respray coming off in chunks, signs of overspray on rubbers and trim, minor rust scabs in the usual spots, damaged bumpers, broken door trims, knackered dash, wires hanging loose under the dash, ratty carpets, split seats, a bad oil leak from a pushrod tube and under the strainer plate (How could a VW specialist leave it like that!?!). Worst of all, the clutch took up only at the very end of the pedal travel, and it shuddered no matter how much I tried to slip it. I think the rear main was leaking onto it, as it got better the more I drove it. It drove well otherwise, but the rest of the car just wasn't up to scratch. I asked him about the clutch and he told me it had always been like that!?!

On the plus side, there were bills in the glovebox totalling about $2800 servicing, a second-hand replacement motor, brake work, rust repairs to the pan and front inner guards and a few other bits.

So, I've discounted that one from my list. The seller virtually begged us to make an offer, as he wanted it gone. A shame because I someow felt sorry for the car. I reckon the same money as the mustard car would have bought it, but it just didn't present as well. He was a nice guy, but it's a car I'm buying, not a person.

I'm not sure yet whether I should close the book and buy the mustard one or keep searching. It seems like a pretty good deal.

Thoughts?

Cheers,

In all honesty, the mustard bug doesnt seem too bad. The shimmy is easy to fix. I put urethane bushes in the front end and a new steering damper, and a wheel alignment. It cost me $100 in parts and about an hour to change the parts. You must consider the front wheels need to be in balance and the tyres of good tread,

The other mechanical items seem normal and you will have other service items come up needing to be done. It is the nature of older cars as you would understand.

The rust in the rear pillars is very common. There is expanding foam put behind there from factory and it would be wise to scrape it out. The rust in the front pillars doent sound too bad, however it is not fair to say it is nothing to worry about. Cars made of steel rust. This cannot be avoided and you will need to investigate all sections of concern. The floor pan may be roadworthy, and it seems to be done with sealer, so if having that under the car where you cannot see it does not worry you too much, then dont worry about it for now. If you buy the car and in 10 years you get to a stage where you want to fully restore it, then you will have a good opportunity to have the floor pan done to perfection.

Agree with above

The rust get fixed properly and rattle can over it just so it looks close in colour
Pan sounds ok
Probably needed more than a patch. Just check the seat rails
new pans have poor welding of the rails. Mine actually tore off once
Otherwise the plastic covers are probably missing on the rails

With the shimmies - get some spare control arms. Get new ball joints and bushings pushed in
Then it is a simple job to change them over.
Good chance the strut inserts have never been changed

Thanks guys.

I'm not expecting perfection. It's a 35 year old car after all.

Other than the pan issue I was quite happy with the car. As it wasn't seam welded in properly I figured it would not meet RWC standards and would need to be rewelded. The cosmetics aspect of it does not worry me, but even if it did meet RWC standards like that I'd stell redo the seam sealing to make sure no water could get in.

I should have mentioned the tyres are new. The front and rear light lenses and the running boards look like they are new too.

Having a had a night to "sleep on it" I'm pretty sure I will buy this one. Will probably call up tonight and start the negotiations.

Stupidly I left my trolley jack handle there, so I have to go back to get that anyway!

Well, I now own a 74 L Bug. I pick it up this weekend.

I pretty excited, I've wanted a bug on-and-off since I was 14 and I'm now 36!

My 3.5yo old son is VW mad (he gives them hugs when he sees them - but only air-cooled ones!) and he is VERY excited. So it's all good.

EDIT: Thanks for all the help and advice from this forum. I would not have done it without you guys, and that's the truth.

Cheers,
Brett.

Time to think of a name... Stay away from using mustard, that's my teritory.... Hahaha


Sounds awesome mate, supers are sick, you'll love it

Congratulations. How about some photos when you get a chance.

Pics











There's no name yet, my classic cars usually name themselves soon enough.

I'll ask the old owner what she called her.

Cheers,
Brett.

Looks a great find that one!
the shimmey could be wheel alignment but being a super its more then likely your steering damper, ball joints, any front end bushings...
first off check out the steering damper, also check out your steering box adjustment

Hand brake needs an adjustment if its only pulling one wheel

looks great though matey!

Looks like a good find to me, and especially for the money. Now the fun begins!

Well I'm impressed.

Brett,

Congratulations on your purchase the car looks to be in good condition and the move you drive it the more you will appreciate it.

What plans do you have for the car? and yes you need a name lol.

Bought my 69 (Rosie) a month ago and have been driving her every weekend, the commodore stays in the garage. You can see mine in the my69bug thread under members rides.

Look forward to seeing more updates

nice car.As soon as you get it ,get rid of the filter in the engine compartment.from what i can see it looks like it is on the pressure side.
pretty sweet ride otherwise.

nothing screams mid 70s like martini olive

got an earlier dash fitted and the seats have been reupholstered but looks to be amazingly unmolested overall

Lbugs like that are getting hard to find
good score

Martini Olive? So that's what the colour is called.

The fuel filter will be flung as soon as I get it home.

How can you tell it's an earlier dash? I thought all L dashes were the same. I also didn't realise it had been retrimmed. Not that it matters to me really. I want it to be a tidy driver, not a concourse show car.

As for the name, in my collection I already have:

- "Mopoke" the Moke
- "Corrie" the Corona Coupe (also called "the sliver ghost" because one of my mates reckons it's rarely seen in public and renders people speechless when it is.)
- "Trixie" the Mini Traveller
- "Mongrel" the Mini Racer
- "Beep Beep" the Corona Liftback - my son named that one.
- The Pathfinder is just "the Pathfinder"

This one might end up being "Vera the VW" or "Beryl the Beetle" or something similar. If the previous owner doesn't have a name for her that is. It's apparently bad luck to change the name on a ship, so the same might apply to a car.

I spoke to Gary from Wolfsburg Automotove in Geelong yesterday, and he reckons the shimmy could be the steering damper or the steering box. I reckon it's not likely to be the box, as there is bugger-all play in it. Either way, it's not going to be expensive.

Basically I'll fix the obvious stuff, then take it for an RWC and see what it fails on, then work out what I will fix myself and what I will farm out to Wolfsburg.

Cheers,

LOVE martini olive!!!

Joel - what do you mean early dash??

the 73 dashes have a different defroster panel at the top and the round style glovebox catch like this one.
the glovebox lids cant be swapped cos the catch in the dash is different
74 and 75Lbug had the squeeze type and the plastic defroster outlets

with how good the condition of the dash is, it was a good chance it wasnt original anyway
count your blessings, most Lbug owners would kill for a dash that good

with your shimmys, more often than not its the wheels causing it
a quick easy expirement to try which often works is take one wheel off and rotate is 90degrees around with the wheels bolts, only do one side at a time though and see if that makes any difference

I was going to say, that ain't no mustard!!

Steve, no imaginary friends (well, just the ones who never want to talk to me... Darn you g people today with their facebook and rare face to face meetings) , just a car that I love too much.

Typical VW - changing things to improve them, but its so subtle that most don't notice.

I think the hazzard switch was mounted upside down, probably they messed that up when they replaced the dash.

I will have to get a dash cover to protect that dash! There was one on eBay last week, but I didn't need it then.

Other items on the immediate shopping list:
- Window winder handles - drivers one is broken, so I will replace both. Are there any durable alternatives available these days?
- The knobs on both seat tilts, to allow access to the rear, are missing. The tilts still work though, I tried them both using a screwdriver.

On the less immediate list of accessories.
- Child Restraint Points. Easily done if they are not there already? Anyone know when VW started fitting them. I had a poke around the firewall, but could not find any captive nuts.
- A tow bar so I can tow the little trailer I built for the Moke.
- A decent stereo. It currently has a nasty no-name cassette player from the 80's. I don't want to cut the dash to fit a modern stereo. I've got a nice 90's shaft model Kenwood tape deck sitting idle, so I will probably use that. Ideally I'd like a shaft model head unit with CD changer control ability or an aux input. Some hope. Maybe I can find an old CD changer that uses the FM band. (Call me old school, but I prefer CD stackers to MP3 players.)

Cheers,
Brett

Quote:

Quote: Originally posted by bnicho - Window winder handles - drivers one is broken, so I will replace both. Are there any durable alternatives available these days? Yep, you can get metal ones, forget the plastic originals, i broke 3 sets in a month. metal ones, 2 years nearly, and still awesome. Quote: Originally posted by bnicho Call me old school, but I prefer CD stackers to MP3 players. thats not oldschool.... just a bit silly. Why? MP3's = more music, no jamming, no in-betweeen time..... need I go on? Mainly, if you want to upgrade to more powerful/quality speakers/subs/amps later, you will need a decent headunit. but, use what you have thats how money is saved! Cheers, Brett

Quote:

Originally posted by colonel mustard thats not oldschool.... just a bit silly. Why? MP3's = more music, no jamming, no in-betweeen time..... need I go on? Mainly, if you want to upgrade to more powerful/quality speakers/subs/amps later, you will need a decent headunit. but, use what you have thats how money is saved!

the window winder handles are a PITA, thats what drove me to installing power windows

the stock style break to easy and the chrome ones with holes like mustard mentioned if the knobs dont fall off its the fact there designed for a standard bug and are too long for an Lbug so your hands hit the dash winding them

old datsun ones fit and are pretty strong but also incredibly ugly

Hmm, do the winder handles screw on, or are they the type that have clips or pins that side out?

they screw on

I'm not so keen on the colour. I would have preferred blue, white or red (in that order). But I don't dislike it either. It suits the car's era.

I doubt I will ever chnage the colour anyway, because it's such a pain to do it properly - inside, outside, underside. I can't stand cars that are one colour on the outside and a different colour in the engine bay, boot or door jambs. That's just tacky.

- Window winder handles - drivers one is broken, so I will replace both. Are there any durable alternatives available these days?

I had the same problem with my 74 1300 beetle. The cheap plastic replacements will break after 2weeks, The nobs fall off the chrome metal ones. So I perchased a pair of brand new Genuine Volkswagen winders from Mick motors for $50.00. They work grate and are very solid and should last many years. I hope.