VW Beetle Classic... questions pre-acquisition

[aero]

A little update...since other projects are taking forever, i needed a beetle!

69/70 are hard to find in the condition and price i want, found a 70 that i was debating on (floor pan was completely Flintstone'd) but with winter coming and no garage, it's probably not the best project to try and take on right now.

But I'll likely be picking up a 74 super beetle tomorrow. Decent condition, runs well, tuned engine and includes an extra stock one. Not the ideal rig, but it'll be something i can clean up, learn about the cars and keep looking for the 69/70.

And having a spare engine will help me in that search as well.

First tasks as with every vehicle i get will be a good deep cleaning, remove crappy window tint and do an overall check of everything to make sure it's safe and road worthy.

 

[Charles R]

You do know that supers have a strut style font end, right? A friend's brother Baja'd out a super, and it requires a bit more effort to maintain structural strength if you cut up the body for a kit.

 

[Mos6502]

On the other hand, the Super Beetle is favored over the torsion-bar suspended beetles for rally use. Wider track and smaller turning radius.

Make sure the front end gets a good inspection, they often need new bushings and ball joints.

 

[aero]

No luck on pictures, the website says the cell phone picture is too large

But it's a 74, modded engine with 50k on it built for highway travel and canyon carving. 80hp or so? Not much rust, needs a little paint job and new tires. Suspension is upgraded as well.

Has a decent oil leak that the seller wasn't able to track down exactly where it was coming from... Possibly "Between 3 and 4 below the doghouse" which is Greek to me. Also have the stock engine that came out of it.

So I'll start by cleaning it up a little and go from there. Maybe pop out the engine to find the leak and get it fixed.

 

[Mos6502]

Doghouse probably means it's an oil cooler leak. On the older engines the oil cooler was located inside the fan shroud, but this meant it would overheat the 3 and 4 cylinders, on late model engines they moved it outside of the fan shroud into the "dog house" that sits behind (well, in front of, technically) the shroud, and it gets its own ducting for cooling air. Resealing the oil cooler is an engine-out project.

pic of the "doghouse" :

 

[Charles R]

Mos6502 is probably right on the money. Fortunately, even if it's an engine out repair, that's not too hard. But if it's your first time dealing with bugs, you'll do yourself a big favor by finding a local with experience to "walk you through" hands on.

For example...
There are a few different oil cooler seals available, depending on the year of the engine case. Don't automatically assume its an engine case that matches the year of the bug. Old engine cases sometimes get "spread", and a rebuilder can easily use a good case from a different year.

 

[aero]

Thanks for the intel. The guy I bought it from is a lifelong VW modder, so I'll see if he knows what case the builder used.

I sold most of my tools so I'll grab a good jack, and an engine stand and then get around to digging into it. It leaks quite a bit, quite wet underneath (just moving it in the driveway and running for a minute or two, there is a 4" diameter puddle or so). So I dont plan on driving it on the road until its fixed. Was hoping to start on other little projects on it instead of this, but it'll be a great time to get down and dirty right off the bat.

 

[aero]

Well, I jumped into a quick paint job by using rustoleum type paint and rolled it on. The internet shows you can do a great job with it as long as you are on top of it. I was trying to beat the cold, and should've used a hair dryer to pop the bubbles as I rolled it on. So.. it looks better from a distance.

Engine stand is here (hopefully it'll work for the engine, but guess I might have to buy one of the adapters for VWs. Jack is on its way.

But the whole bottom of the engine is wet, and the majority of the transmission is wet as well. So I'll have some looking to do. The passenger wheel hub/seal area is wet as well.

Heres a link to where some pictures are.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=707533

 

[Sneaks]

Dunno whatever ended up with this but for you, or anyone else who stumbles on this thread, Supers aren’t necessarily a weak link.i owned this one for a few years (now in Germany getting a full restoration) that ran SCCA and WRC Pro Rally, it was featured in a Popular Mechanics article on the ALCAN 5000. A strut brace helps.

 

[Nelson]

Reading this with lots of interest, as I’m about to lift my 74 super after Christmas. trying for a class 11 style build Using 215/75/15 all round. Rear is easy enough to lift, front I not sure on best way, but I think I’ll go with spacer on strut tops and tweak bump steer if needed.

 

[Nelson]

This is what I have a 1300TP clean and just covered 50,000 miles.