Learn Me Air-Cooled VW Restoration

[RDCanecutter 26475]

I almost have the credit card paid off, so it's time for a new hobby. My first car was a 72 Superbeetle (long gone), and I am convinced I will be young again and my hair will grow back if I hear that sewing-machine engine going again.

What are the logistics of setting up a space to work on an old VW, fixing whatever there is to fix, then playing with it, selling it, and starting on another one?

I figure basic tools that I already have will do 90% of the work, but this would be a cool excuse for new tools. Reckon I'll need some sort of chain hoist/tripod thing? Got a long garage with crap at one end, clear it out and there's my shop space.

Anybody do this sort of thing?

[deadshank 24653]

[RDCanecutter 26475]

1 minute ago, deadshank said:

#3 cylinder always overheats on those buses.

[Homercles 10206]

Well don’t put water in it.

[El Diablo 4232]

I learned how to drive a stick in a friends '72 Superbeetle so this hits really close to home. He ended up rolling the damn thing and my first question was "How?", they sit about 6" off the ground, if that. Loose gravel on a banked curve, he went tumbling down the backside after losing control. Damn fine ride. VW Beetle orange it was. It looked like a snap brim hat after the accident. Totaled.

 

Edited to add: The classic car thread in Hobbies might have the info you're looking for, several surly bastards there who repair/restore cars.

Edited July 6, 2018 by El Diablo

[RDCanecutter 26475]

I rolled mine going backwards down a hill, and I wasn't in it and neither was the engine. It was sitting outside a mechanic's shop while my broke ass was coming up with ransom money, and a dude turned around in the parking lot, hooked the bumper without realizing it, and launched it out onto the road like unto a child tossing a paper airplane.

Insurance company called me about my "wreck". I had been on a motorcycle that day and told her I'd know if I'd been in a wreck.

Anyway, we bent the VW's fenders back out, dropped the insurance-money new engine in it, and it drove great.

[El Diablo 4232]

We had I think just the one VW mechanic in town, old German guy, of course. His place was pretty much a salvage yard for VW's. Was at the end of Valley Mills as you head towards the traffic circle, might still have been there during your time.

[Chuychanga 133]

You should get a Thing. 

[deadshank 24653]

1 hour ago, Chuychanga said:

You should get a Thing. 

Vic has cornered the market on Things.

[RDCanecutter 26475]

2 hours ago, El Diablo said:

We had I think just the one VW mechanic in town, old German guy, of course. His place was pretty much a salvage yard for VW's. Was at the end of Valley Mills as you head towards the traffic circle, might still have been there during your time.

I dunno. I was more dreaming of getting a Triumph when I was in Waco.

We see a VW Bug for sale around here in Birmingham ever so often, Mrs. Canecutter is always "Just get it if you want it", and I'm all "I'on know, mbaby, I can still smell burning oil out the back of a Bug, have to work on one all the time..."

So I figured, what the hell, get one that you know is bad, and fix it, nose to tail.

[El Diablo 4232]

49 minutes ago, RDCanecutter said:

I dunno. I was more dreaming of getting a Triumph when I was in Waco.

We see a VW Bug for sale around here in Birmingham ever so often, Mrs. Canecutter is always "Just get it if you want it", and I'm all "I'on know, mbaby, I can still smell burning oil out the back of a Bug, have to work on one all the time..."

So I figured, what the hell, get one that you know is bad, and fix it, nose to tail.

2 wheel Triumph or 4 wheel? My dad talked me out of buying one of the 4 wheel variety, think it was a TR3 or 2, don't remember. It was a hotrod. The old man selling it told me "she's got a lot of MOXIE".

[RDCanecutter 26475]

2 wheels.

Some of those TR cars were probably more primitive than a Bug.

[Jkwellborn 6747]

Vic has cornered the market on Things.

Curved maybe. But no corners.

[El Diablo 4232]

3 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

2 wheels.

Some of those TR cars were probably more primitive than a Bug.

I wanted it for the moxie. 

[RDCanecutter 26475]

15 hours ago, El Diablo said:

I wanted it for the moxie. 

When I go completely off the grid, the only way you'll be able to contact me is to leave a note on the windshield of my British Racing Green TR-6 with wire spokes. After I get one.

Back to VW restoration, told a mechanic friend about my mania in the hopes he'd talk me down. Instead he took off talking like a rocket, explaining how I could set up a case borer right in my home and also how his dad would be happy to sell me more VW parts than I could ever use because he has them sitting all over the place*.

*This could be me one day.

[El Diablo 4232]

That TR-6 better have redline tires or you're doing it wrong. 

[XYZ 2154]

My “play” vehicle is a VW bay window bus. Also, I’ve owned a beetle and another bus. Whaddya wanna know?

[El Diablo 4232]

Why was the Vanagon, with its classic sleek lines, discontinued? 

[ROFL BOX 6649]

If by "sleek", you mean a brick with 1 corner chipped off, sure.

[RDCanecutter 26475]

16 hours ago, XYZ said:

My “play” vehicle is a VW bay window bus. Also, I’ve owned a beetle and another bus. Whaddya wanna know?

Trying to figure out what a VW-specific work area/ tool set might need that other cars wouldn't, tricks of the trade, that sort of thing.

Any suppliers really good, others that should be avoided?

Idea right now is to find a decent hulk and replace electrical, brakes, transmission, engine, maybe glass too, take paint down to bare metal and repaint.

Leave the seats as are if I can.

I don't plan on doing much, I guess.

[XYZ 2154]

Do you know which type of VW you want to restore, beetle, bus, ghia? For buses, my go-to parts store is busdepot.com. Also cip1.com. Also jbugs.com. Register in thesamba forum. There are guys there who know just about everything. As far as tools go, nothing out of the ordinary, EXCEPT if you want to take the drum brake hub off, there’s a castellated nut that holds it that takes a big wrench (I wanna say 42 mm), but the pain is not the wrench itself but it takes 240 ft*lb of torque. So, yeah, that is a real bitch.

In April they have the biggest VW show in Texas in Fredericksburg. I went this year and it was pretty cool. Lots of old beetles, split window buses, etc. Next year I’m gonna try to take my bus. Maybe.

[RDCanecutter 26475]

Cool. I have a paper jbugs catalog on the way (I like paper), and I think I found thesamba back when I had some vague dream of getting a new-ish Mexican VW up here.

My idea is to get the simplest beetle I could find, learn how to fix it, then sell it and do better on successive ones. I could probably get my wife to pay for everything if I went the bus route, but then we'd never sell it, and I'd end up being that dude who has multiple VWs sitting around the property.

Who am I kidding-- of course I'm going to become that dude who has multiple VWs sitting around the property.

[XYZ 2154]

I’ve been watching the new season of comedians in cars getting coffee. Seinfeld likes his air-cooled VWs and Porsches. Thing, dune buggy, 356. At least twice he stopped to admire a beetle.

[Sbbruin 21896]

I drove this car (not this exact one, but same year- 71- and color), from age 16-19.  Had 184K on when I got it, 236K when it died.  I loved that car.  I never once wasn't able to at least push start it.

[RDCanecutter 26475]

15 hours ago, Sbbruin said:

I drove this car (not this exact one, but same year- 71- and color), from age 16-19.  Had 184K on when I got it, 236K when it died.  I loved that car.  I never once wasn't able to at least push start it.

That is almost the clone of my first one, including the pale yellow paint job. Parked it on many a hill just to make sure I could pop-start it.

Last time I saw it it was in Auburn Alabama being redone as a Baja Bug with metallic blue paint. Wonder if I could find it.

[RDCanecutter 26475]

Sitrep: got holt of

This:

And this:

About halfway through reading them, remembering everything I ever did wrong with my first car.

[El Diablo 4232]

That last book looks.....Groovy, baby!

[RDCanecutter 26475]

5 minutes ago, El Diablo said:

That last book looks.....Groovy, baby!

Because it is. Muir is all about saving you some bread, man.

[RPM 26358]

In high school we used to go buy old beater Beetles, cut the body off with a torch and go stump jumping. They never lasted very long. There's a "certain wtf am I doing" feeling you get while flying through the air with the gas tank a few inches in front of you.

[pyrohornIII 4823]

First off, this is what i would do for a fun bug.

Second, if you ever have a question or need a part I have a cousin in SA that is all things Bug.  He used to build rail sand buggies when they were legal.

Third...Triumph on 4 wheels.   Had one of these in high school.  GT6+  Being British Leyland it was broken a lot.   But when it ran, it ran very nicely.  I think a lot of the datsun 240Z styling came from this car.    It was basically a spitfire but it had an inline 6 with dual strombergs.   

 

 

[RDCanecutter 26475]

Triumphs are crack rock to me. I can't try it, not even once.

maniloveadamntriumph

[NeverMarryAStripper 21935]

13 hours ago, pyrohornIII said:

First off, this is what i would do for a fun bug.

 

That's what I learned to drive in when I was 14

[ROFL BOX 6649]

Strombergs... holy shit those are cantakerous & damn near impossible to keep the linkage synchronized properly for the long term.

 

[RDCanecutter 26475]

Nice looking 77 VW Convertible down the road for sale on the internet. I was enjoying all the photos until they showed the engine, and I recoiled in horror. Engine wasn't nasty, but I could barely see it underneath all the late-70s emissions controls.

I think I should seek out something older.

Edited July 29, 2018 by RDCanecutter
hale i cain't spale.

[zork 629]

4 hours ago, RDCanecutter said:

Nice looking 77 VW Convertible down the road for sale on the internet. I was enjoying all the photos until they showed the engine, and I recoiled in horror. Engine wasn't nasty, but I could barely see it underneath all the late-70s emissions controls.

I think I should seek out something older.

I had an old truck that 'they' said would be an antique at 25 years old.  That was when 'they' said it would grandfather out of some if not all of the emissions requirements to get a sticker.  That was 20 years ago and in Texas.(maybe 'Bama has similar rules on old cars/trucks)  'They' have probably changed those rules to make even antiques follow the rules of emission fuckery.  Good luck and nice thread start you have going.

[RDCanecutter 26475]

The Hagerty website I just googled tells me you are still safe after 25 years in Texas. Another one tells me that Alabama only has a "safety inspection" on transfer of ownership. I have never had that done for anything, unless that was when the insurance dude walked around the car to convince himself it existed.

Alabama is pretty much Wild West South East on inspections. Cops might pull you over to chat if the vehicle is smoking/wobbling/actually on fire, but it's pretty hands-off. Of course, that could change overnight if some inspection service kicks a $10K bribe to the right state rep.

[El Diablo 4232]

Speaking of VW's... I recall when I first got out of the Navy and was living in Galveston ca. '85 some friends of mine there had a VW diesel pickup, about the size of an old Ford Ranger. Don't know that I ever saw another one. Might have imagined the whole thing too.

[RDCanecutter 26475]

16 minutes ago, El Diablo said:

Speaking of VW's... I recall when I first got out of the Navy and was living in Galveston ca. '85 some friends of mine there had a VW diesel pickup, about the size of an old Ford Ranger. Don't know that I ever saw another one. Might have imagined the whole thing too.

[elfenix 34336]

i see a rabbit pickup every once in a great while. mostly i assume it's someone up from mexico. 

[El Diablo 4232]

I just remember that they had to wait for the glow plugs to warm up before they could start the thing.

[RDCanecutter 26475]

You can skip waiting for the glow plugs to warm up, and then you don't have to do it anymore.

[El Diablo 4232]

1 hour ago, RDCanecutter said:

You can skip waiting for the glow plugs to warm up, and then you don't have to do it anymore.

You would have to bypass the idiot light first. I mean, you can't ignore the idiot light, you'd have to disable it. Right? It'd be like NASA pushing the "GO" button when the countdown is still at 4 or 5. You just can't do that.

"LEEROYYYYYY JENKINSSSSSS!!!"

"What happened to him?"

"Truck won't start"

"He didn't wait for the light to go off, did he?"

Edited July 30, 2018 by El Diablo

[RDCanecutter 26475]

Now for Actual Acquisition of the Air-Cooled VW.

It is easy to find them online. They range from nice-looking for more than 10K, to grim, still at least half that. But those might be two states away.

Gone are the days when you just saw them all over. I think there are as many functioning Model Ts (1) in my neighborhood as old bugs.

Mrs. Canecutter and I drove around in the country pondering this, in the kinds of places where old cars on blocks, like cattle, are a sign of wealth. Really poor people would have sold a VW long ago. Internet sophisticates, the same. What we need is a cranky old dude who thinks he's going to fix that car one day, so there it sits until...

In the meantime, I also want to keep my old Tracker going. Goal is to make it to 400,000 miles, it's more than halfway there, So I ordered manuals for it too. Then it hit me that Trackers, while not common, are still here and there, and moreover, nobody prices them like collector's items. Yet. I found allegedly driveable ones being offered for as little as 1200.

Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.

[ROFL BOX 6649]

Here's the deal.

We're clearing a 6 acre property here in Drip & I've got 2 bugs to move.  1 is white, fairly well smashed up from the B pillar back on the driver's side; didn't look to see if the flat 4 was still in there.  From my memory, I think it's around an 83.  Seats are pretty ruinous,  however I think 4 of the  6 windows are usable.  I didn't look to see what condition either the bonnet or rear deck lid is in.

Bug # 2 is better condition but still probably undriveable & like the other, I didn't get a look @ what the engine might be like.  If memory serves me accurately, I'll say this one is maybe a '71 to possibly a '73.

The property owner says he is in possession of bo he moment.th titles & I think I can get them moved out for $ 500.00 each or $ $ 750.00 for both, you arrange transportation.  If you have ca$h in hand, that will obviously be a motivator, so come prepared.

I'd post pics here, but Shag 2.0 is being a dipshit via Tapa & I don't photo host anywhere @ the moment.  If you have an interest, send me a PM & we'll exchange phone #'s so I can text you pics.

[RDCanecutter 26475]

9 hours ago, ROFL BOX said:

Here's the deal.
 

This is good info. Lemme cogitate just a wee bit on it, and then I will get back with you.

[El Diablo 4232]

This may be the break you've been looking for. Once people know you're "that VW guy" the old bugs will start coming to YOU. But I'd keep my options open on the Trackers just in case.

[RDCanecutter 26475]

@ROFL BOX, pm sent, nttatwwt.

[RDCanecutter 26475]

4 hours ago, El Diablo said:

This may be the break you've been looking for. Once people know you're "that VW guy" the old bugs will start coming to YOU. But I'd keep my options open on the Trackers just in case.

Call them up from the dead.

[El Diablo 4232]

There's them Suzuki Amigos too ya know. They're gonna need some love eventually.

[elfenix 34336]

an idea occurred to me, so i searched the intertrons for "import beetle from mexico" and the first result was @RDCanecutter's thread on TOS. 

 

should be able to get a 1993 nowadays. 

Edited August 1, 2018 by elfenix