air cooled VW's...anybody got one?

[phatmanmike]

hello. its me.<br /><br />im gonna trade my 1960 glasspar for a 1970 squareback.<br /><br />my wife had a 1974 squareback when she was 16( her first car) and has allways wanted another, although her car was an automatic, it was still cool.(and ungodly SLOW )<br /><br />just wante to know if anybody else here has a AIRCOOLED VW. if you do, what do you have, and what have you done to it.<br /><br />m ike

 

[tcube]

Re: air cooled VW's...anybody got one?

Mike,<br /><br />I don't have one now but I've owned three in the past - a '58 Beetle with about 120k miles (Sacramento), a '65 Karmen Ghia (Duluth), and a '60 something wagon (not to be confused with a van) which may be what your wife is calling a square back - it looked like a small station wagon. It had an automatic and was, in a word, a DOG. That was in OKC - ran OK (no pun intended) in colder weather but always felt like it was draging a large anchor in the heat of summer. Part of the problem was that it was grossly under powered. That was not a problem with the Beetle or the Ghia - both were stick shift and weren't affected by the weather. The Giha was, however, like driving in a freezer during the Duluth winter - the heaters on air cooled engines truly suck.<br /><br />tcube

 

[dogsdad]

Re: air cooled VW's...anybody got one?

Had a '66 that was like the fastback, only it was a notchback. Don't know what they called that model, but it had a 1500 pancake motor and ran pretty strong. After I wrapped it around a telephone pole, I sold the motor to a guy for his dune buggy. He was impressed with that motor.<br /><br />Had a Beetle that was a conglomeration of parts. I think the title said '64. It had a 36-horse 1200 and was a great big turd on wheels. Worst car I ever owned. One day the main pulley busted and the blasted thing overheated. As I sat at the side of the road waiting for it to cool down so I could get it back into town, the very car I traded for it came down the road, and the guy driving it waved as he went by. Little did he know how I seethed inside. I hated that Beetle. And I often wished cars had feelings, because I wanted that car to HURT the day it died!<br /><br /><br />-dd-

 

[jimchere]

Re: air cooled VW's...anybody got one?

Mike,<br />I happily run a '74 Ghia ("fatchick ghia) day to day. Tough little bugger of an engine, just don't get hit!<br />If you happen to see the movie coming out "The Last Shot" you'll see that car in the background behind Matthew Broderick in the mule scene for a whole second (red color).<br />I'm pretty good at mechanicals on the ACVW, so let me know what you got.

 

[phatmanmike]

Re: air cooled VW's...anybody got one?

thanks jim

 

[CalicoKid]

Re: air cooled VW's...anybody got one?

Had a superbeatle convertable, 1971, for a while. Nice big alloy wheels and wide tires really slowed it down. That was one sharp looking car but took patience to drive. It was not very good at towing my boat either.

 

[Rainmaker]

Re: air cooled VW's...anybody got one?

Had a few aircooled VWs but my absolute favorite was the 73 Squareback. Mine was a four-speed. It originally came with Bosch Fuel Infection that really stunk. I replaced this with dual Weber 32mm carbs when I rebuilt the motor. The new motor (1835 cc) would not beat the Corvettes but had had plenty of power for my use.<br /><br />Drove the car more than 170,000 miles. Got me thru college and a few years into post-college life. I used it to move from apartment to apartment while in college. Sold it when the first kid was due to make room in the garage for an SUV. Sorry ever since.<br /><br />Don't see many of them anymore. You are lucky to find one.

 

[Link]

Re: air cooled VW's...anybody got one?

Hey Mike<br /><br />When I first met Mrs.Link in 82 she was driving a 74 square back! She loved it. 4 speed with plenty of power. I have often thought about getting a restored one for her.<br /><br />I have owned at least six beetles (maybe more)<br />From the gutless 1200 BTW it didnt even use crank shaft bearings.. to the last one a superbeetle that I did a few cars shows in.<br /> <br />Love them.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: air cooled VW's...anybody got one?

I also have had many aircooled Vdubs. Never owned a bus though. Just down to one I keep. It was my dads pride and joy. 1972 Customized Bradley GT with the 2L porsch (Same thing as a bus engine). It had been sitting for 15 years and mice and snakes all through it. I got it when mom passed away. Got it running and drove it for about 200 miles and its been sitting now for the last 5 years. Dang boat takes all my time.<br /><br />VW work is all I did for about 3 years. Did all the machine work that can be done to one. Built one out of scrap parts that would run without the coil. With the coil, oh boy, it sounded wicked. Got about 200 miles out of it before the crank twisted into. It would pull the front wheels off about a foot! When I built that engine, I knew it wouldn't last, but it was fun!

 

[Rainmaker]

Re: air cooled VW's...anybody got one?

Link,<br />Sounds like you married a fine, sensible woman.<br /><br />Those Squarebacks were incredibly well designed vehicles. The rear-mounted pancake engine meant that you had a trunk up front and a complete "station wagon" area in the back. Several people asked me where the engine was. I usually told them I had not been able to locate it yet.<br /><br />Did your wife's car still have the fuel infection?<br /><br />I too had several Bugs, and also a 68 Karmann Ghia. Never owned a bus either. Loved them all but the Squareback was the best. I do remeber those Bradley GTs. Weren't they kit cars?<br /><br />If I find a restorable Squareback out there I think I'll buy it. But I rarely see them anymore. Even more rare are what I call the female Squarebacks ("Notchbacks, in VW nomenclature). <br />mike

 

[mellowyellow]

Re: air cooled VW's...anybody got one?

owned a couple in Cali, a '66 bus and a '68 ghia.<br />man I loved that ghia <br />one difference is your supposed to have the valves<br />adjusted frequently. I had it done every 3Kmi.<br />when I got the oil changed. put almost 200K on<br />that motor and it still ran great when I sold her.

 

[BillP]

Re: air cooled VW's...anybody got one?

I've owned a 57 bug and 60 camper bus...both 36hp. <br /><br />I also had a Type 4 1800cc bus engine in an experimental airplane. I increased it to 1915cc with a slip in pistion set which is the max you can do without fly cutting the block. I put 1700cc heads on because they have the largest valves and best for straight carb use (POSA carb in my case). No crank work required and I used the stock 71mm forged crank. The Type 4 weighs about 40lb more and it's all in beefing up weak parts of earlier types 1 & 2.

 

[18rabbit]

Re: air cooled VW's...anybody got one?

Got a couple bugs, ’64 and ’67. VW air cooled engines are extremely well engineered, but have routine trivial maintenance, and they will run forever.<br /><br />Problem, Ms. Rabbit was recently clobbered by an SUV. She was stopped, the SUV came up behind her traveling at about 35mph … doing a cell phone call. The ’64 bug was creamed; the SUV got a scratch on the front bumper. For safety reasons, I cannot recommend any of the older bugs. The seats aren't safe. Maybe other old VW’s are ok but you cannot under estimate the need for the modern safety engineering that cars have today.<br /><br />Mike, if you love your wife, put her in a car that will bring her home safely.

 

[BillP]

Re: air cooled VW's...anybody got one?

Hey 18rabbit,<br />I crashed the 57 bug and went through the windshied. The dash bent into the shape of my body. Those old bugs aren't a good place to be if you hit anything. My crash was at only 30 mph and it totalled the bug and nearly cut my nose off. Buses aren't much better. I could easily flex the front panel of my 60 in a few inches with my hand.

 

[kenimpzoom]

Re: air cooled VW's...anybody got one?

Unsafe at any speed....<br /><br />My brother had a 61 convertable and a 65 sedan. They dont do to well in the Houston heat. Vapor locked all the time. Blew several engines just cause the baffels werent just right.<br /><br />Ken

 

[kd6nem]

Re: air cooled VW's...anybody got one?

Hmm,<br />Lots of fond nostalgic memories. Had 64 Beetle with a slightly "warmed up" 40 horse that I built. ~50 Hp, 40 MPG. 64 on had better heaters. Worked fine down to the mid 20's at least. The 67 was the best Beetle in my book. First 12 volt electrical. Don't remember if the cam had insert bearings, though it is true the 40hp didn't. Ran right in the case. (The crank definitely had insert bearings, by the way. It was the cam that didn't.) Type 4/late type 2 parts are more expensive, though stronger. Two brothers also had Beetles, one a bus as well. No one had a squareback, though I drove one once. I'd be very suspicious of anything other than the normal clutch/manual transmission. The automatics and the "semi-automatic" were not good at all, IMO.<br /><br />I wouldn't mind the simplicity and economy, but you'd get run over around these parts. I don't like to cruise wide open all day. Too many RPM's to drive day in and day out @ 70 MPH. Not enough safety factor, either. I will not have one for the road again. In an experimental airplane like BillP did, maybe. But only if someone comes up with a better reduction drive to gear down the propeller.

 

[Link]

Re: air cooled VW's...anybody got one?

Rainmaker <br />

Did your wife's car still have the fuel infection?

Couldn't tell you. The only time I looked under the hood was the night she burned it up taking me to my flight out to Korea 1983. I looked at it said Yup Burnt Pancake! Then I explained what that meant

 

[jinx]

Re: air cooled VW's...anybody got one?

Times have changed and I wouldn't make any of them a daily driver for my wife or kids today.<br /><br />But I loved them way back when.<br /><br />1958 Sunroof Beetle<br />1964 Ghia<br />1965 21 window bus<br />1973 Bug--my first new car $2127 full price delivered!!!<br />1964 Bug<br />1969 Truck--pretty handy but Ind Rear Susp does weird things with a load<br />1971 411, a four door rear engined job that was so named because the company only sold about 411 of them<br /><br />Never had a type 3, maybe someday.<br /><br />Jinx