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 Turkeyss
Seriously Crusin Dubber
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| posted on September 6th, 2007 at 04:23 PM |
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What to know about buying a bug
Hello, On saturday i will be going to look at a '74 superbug and im wondering what i especially need to look out for? Bad rust areas? back pillar
vents i know but how ca ni tell if they have rust? any info will be handy...Cheers
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 MISS VDUB
A.k.a.: Ash
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| posted on September 6th, 2007 at 04:27 PM |
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Usually with the back pillar vents you will often see bubbling through the paint, making it an obvious sign. Another one is the heater channels. Have
a good look under the pan!
Ash x
1963 Single Cab Ute: "El Concreto"
1962 Baja Beetle: "Peanut"
1968 Porsche 912 SWB: "Pip"
1972 Kombi Snail: "The Snail"
2012 Skoda Octavia Scout: "Scout"
2016 Scirocco R: "Rocco"
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OZ Towdster
A.k.a.: Andrew Westwood
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| posted on September 6th, 2007 at 04:52 PM |
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Body ~ Take a fridge magnet with you to check for rust in the rear pillars as if there is any filler in this area it wont stick and as Ash said have a
good look at the underside of the pan,and the bottom of the A pillars under the bottom hinges.
Apart from the body i would also give the mechanicals a good check out also as a dodgy gearbox alone will soon set you back a $1000 +
Gear box ~ They will always wine in reverse as they have straight cut teeth but if it pops out of reverse or any other gear its buggered
Motor ~ Being a 74 it should be fitted with a 1600 twin port but buy now it could be anything , so here are a couple of simple little tests once warm
let it idle and remove the oil filler cap if it smokes exsesivly again its buggered and will cost $1500 + to rebuild to basic specs .Next turn it off
and grab hold of the bottom fan belt pulley and give it a good pull back and forth and you should feel very close to no movement so know if thats good
and it does not breath heavily i would now check for bad oil leaks which if it is a few years old will more than likely be leaking from the pushrod
tubes which are under the cylinders and while looking in this area look up between the cylinder and cylinderhead which should be nice and dry but if
it looks wet and oily it could posiibly have a compresion leak and another common bad leak will be the rear main seal which if stuffed will be
leaking out between the gearbox and the motor at the bottom of the bellhousing.
Last of all have good look at the ball joints , tie rod ends and what the brakes feel like.
Now what have you found .
[ Edited on 6-9-07 by A Westwood ]
Don't let body work get in the way of real suspension travel
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blutopless2
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| posted on September 6th, 2007 at 05:12 PM |
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ooooo.. do tell... :bounce
see.... air and water do mix 
1974 1300
1997 MK3 Golf GL
2003 NB Cabrio
2012 Golf VI GTI
2014 Audi A4 Quattro |
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Turkeyss
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| posted on September 6th, 2007 at 05:28 PM |
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Awesome info guys. Thanks alot and ill let you know how it goes. Cheers
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Spellbound
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| posted on September 7th, 2007 at 09:29 AM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by A Westwood
Body ~ Take a fridge magnet with you to check for rust in the rear pillars as if there is any filler in this area it wont stick and as Ash said have a
good look at the underside of the pan,and the bottom of the A pillars under the bottom hinges.
Apart from the body i would also give the mechanicals a good check out also as a dodgy gearbox alone will soon set you back a $1000 +
Gear box ~ They will always wine in reverse as they have straight cut teeth but if it pops out of reverse or any other gear its buggered
Motor ~ Being a 74 it should be fitted with a 1600 twin port but buy now it could be anything , so here are a couple of simple little tests once warm
let it idle and remove the oil filler cap if it smokes exsesivly again its buggered and will cost $1500 + to rebuild to basic specs .Next turn it off
and grab hold of the bottom fan belt pulley and give it a good pull back and forth and you should feel very close to no movement so know if thats good
and it does not breath heavily i would now check for bad oil leaks which if it is a few years old will more than likely be leaking from the pushrod
tubes which are under the cylinders and while looking in this area look up between the cylinder and cylinderhead which should be nice and dry but if
it looks wet and oily it could posiibly have a compresion leak and another common bad leak will be the rear main seal which if stuffed will be
leaking out between the gearbox and the motor at the bottom of the bellhousing.
Last of all have good look at the ball joints , tie rod ends and what the brakes feel like.
Now what have you found .
[ Edited on 6-9-07 by A Westwood ]
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Wish i had all that info before I bought my Bug. The pillars and pan I knew about, but the engine checks probably would have been a good idea.
Still, guess I was lucky on the day. 
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Turkeyss
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| posted on September 8th, 2007 at 02:04 PM |
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superbug looked really good. drove it and was fine. checked everything i was supposed to and it was fine. Its on ebay white superbug in parkville.
Good car for $4500. said he'd mayb go 4000.
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LukeV85
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| posted on September 10th, 2007 at 12:28 PM |
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Hey mate,
Ive had bout 4 bugs before, the 1st one i bought was a real bugger, i was young and didnt know what to look for. Over the years ive sorta picked up
what to look for.
Being a 74 Superbug you will need to look under the back window. They are known for rusting there due to the foam that Vw packed in the rear air
vents.
Another is the pillers, water channels, heating channels and floor pan. I had a bug with a massive hole and only found it after i brough the car. Look
under the back seat when the battery is, with these cars due to battery acid leak the really rust there.
As you can tell by my post, the main issue is the rust. If you find a straight bug with absolutly no rust (THEY ARE OUT THERE) jump at it. If they
look like they have been treated like gold THEY ARE!!
Good luck
1962.5 VW Beetle 1200
2002 VW Oettinger Bora - Statutory Write Off
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Turkeyss
Seriously Crusin Dubber
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| posted on September 10th, 2007 at 04:56 PM |
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cool. thanks for the info. I didn't look under the back seat. i was just really having a look at it cos i haven't been around too many. prob woulda
never bought it. from what i saw it was pretty nice. Im no expert tho. hopefully will be one day......Cheers
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LukeV85
Seriously Crusin Dubber
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| posted on September 11th, 2007 at 12:35 AM |
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best of luck
1962.5 VW Beetle 1200
2002 VW Oettinger Bora - Statutory Write Off
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