VW Beetle.... Are they reall that sh1t to drive?

[cobblers]

With the engine off, push and pull the crank pulley to check for endfloat, there should be so little you can barely feel or hear it

 

I love the episode of Wheeler Dealers where Mike brewer "checks for endfloat" on that beetle they buy, and you can actually see the thing move about half an inch. Mike is all like "Yeah, that's great, just a tiny bit of movement, it's a goodun" or words to that effect.

[Father Ted]

Well, the chap selling it (from work) insists its a 1300S with a 1300cc engine Its a mucky orange colour and has rusty rear wings, rusty "running boards" (and they dont look right) and no badges. I never got as far as giving any of the cogs a tug.

It also has a rather worn interior, no carpets and cable with scotchlocks galore strung under the dash. It would appear also that "a couple of hundred quid" actually means £990.

I might however have a look for a nice one, there is a "restorers" nearby in the Brig, so I may pop down there and have a chat. But thanks for the thoughts. I think I will give one a try out if I can find a halfway decent one for a reasonable price.

[garethj]

Well, the chap selling it (from work) insists its a 1300S with a 1300cc engine

"S" means the most powerful version, so for 70s Beetles it would be (or started out as) as 1600cc. Same with the Fastbacks in the 60s, there was the 1500 and the 1500S with its twin carbs.

 

1302 / 1303 cars usually drive better, but they're worth less. As mentioned before, the spare wheel lays flat and there are coil springs under the front. If the spare wheel is almost upright and there's no springs under the front it's a 1200, 1300, 1500 or GT (1300S in other countries)

 

A good Beetle is fantastic, I've owned a couple. A bad one is dreadful, I've owned a few of those before I bought good ones

 

 

And unloved 412, with equally unloved Saab 95

[dollywobbler]

I've driven a 1966 1300 and really liked it. Very characterful if short on the fun stakes compared to other aircooled classics I can think of. Have driven a Type 3 too and liked that as well.

 

Have driven a Mexican-built Bug and found it a bit boring - like many classics, they'd kind of engineered the fun out of them towards the end. Too much plastic inside and while very capable, it just left me a bit cold.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

A good Beetle (as opposed to the slammed/rusty/bodged rubbish as driven by the typical VW scene no worries wannabe Newquay Surfer dude twat) is a nice thing. The 12v 1500 was probably best. On decent modern correct sized tyres with standard suspension with perhaps some better dampers, they steer and handle well enough as long as you don't take the piss.

 

There much be a VW show on this weekend. I saw no end of shagged out air cooled junk hobbling along the M42/M1 today including a couple of hippies in some rat look slammed Beetle smoking and backfiring on the A43, causing traffic hold ups. Get a car that actually works you idiot.

[CIH]

With earlier (torsion beam ?) suspension, the theory is the rearwheels would roll with the body roll, tuck under, see positive camber and a massive drop in grip leading to snap oversteer. This was much worse on radial tyres where the sidewalls store much more energy than crossplies.

 

Similar problems with cars equipped with Swing Axles ie; Imps, early Benz, Corvair etc.

 

I'm not so sure about later semi-trailing arm type but I'd guess they were better, but still pretty poor at maintainng the wheel posture compaired to modern multi-link types.

[aled]

YES - is the reply i would give.

 

drove one once and will never drive one again.

 

an imp without an exhaust is quieter and handles a dam sight better.

[Torsten2001]

I drove this today:

A 1 owner 1958 car with 55k miles on the clock, it was an utter joy to drive!

[Pillock]

 

There much be a VW show on this weekend. I saw no end of shagged out air cooled junk hobbling along the M42/M1 today including a couple of hippies in some rat look slammed Beetle smoking and backfiring on the A43, causing traffic hold ups. Get a car that actually works you idiot.

There is, Bug Jam is on at Santa Pod - I'm sat in the pits there right now. I'd have to say after a wander around general camping there's a lot fewer deathtrap/hippie/crappy/piles of shit than there used to be, people are actually putting a bit of effort in or just getting something normal.

[Justin Case]

Its a mucky orange colour and has rusty "running boards" (and they dont look right)

Are these the heater channels, in which case it is a major repair job as they are structural. A friend had a mucky green colour one with rotten heater channels which was only saved from the scrapyard because he passed it on to someone who had the knowledge and the equipment to fix it

[Cavcraft]

I don't reckon they're anywhere near as 'scened' as they used to be. At one time it appeared every fucking one was running on Empis or Centrelines and was painted some vile colour or other, but all the ones I've spotted being driven recently have been pretty much left standard.

[Pete-M]

I like the look of them on Empis, lowered, in a bright colour.

[Station]

I've been in a couple, and I think there are better cars, but there's not many cars half the age with a full catalogue of replacement parts still being made, and the community is huge. I'd probably be hooked if I bought one. I think I'd rather have an Imp though.

[Mike D]

 

I loved this car, it was hideously rotten, and the lack of roof pretty much rules out heater channel replacement, but I had a ton of fun in it

[Pillock]

Its a mucky orange colour and has rusty "running boards" (and they dont look right)

Are these the heater channels, in which case it is a major repair job as they are structural. A friend had a mucky green colour one with rotten heater channels which was only saved from the scrapyard because he passed it on to someone who had the knowledge and the equipment to fix it

If you can see them, they're the running boards - bin them off and replace them if they're rusty, but they're not essential. Even brand new ones should never be stepped on by anyone bigger than a toddler, they're just not up to the job. Heater channels are the bits the running boards bolt to, essentially hollow sill sections that the heat comes up from the exchangers to the outlets at the front.

 

Heater channels aren't a bad job to do right, but easy to mess up - you MUST brace the door gap before cutting as the shell will close up and you'll never get the door to close again.