[Indy452]

A lady here in town wants to sell this VW thats been in her alley since 2002. Since I like VW's I thought I would give it a go for a little work car/hobby vehicle. Its in pretty descent shape and she says it ran when they parked it but they diddn't know how to maintain it and a hose had deteriorated. (no biggie in my book) But I'm out of the loop on what to offer. I'm thinking $500 what do you all think?

I am confident I would have this puppy up and running in no time but of course you never know for sure...

Also, does anyone have any clue to what year it might be? I'm thinking its a 74 or 75 model year. Is it a super beetle or just a straight beetle? My last VW was a 68 about twelve years ago so my knowledge of these little beasts have slipped me.


Thanks if you can help!

 

[GrassMaster]

Looks like a '72 or '73 regular beetle to me. Could be a mix of parts, too. Rear taillights look like '74 or newer, but front turn signals are '73 or older. Engine is '73 or older (newer style fuel pump, but no EGR like '74 had).

Rear fenders are aftermarket fiberglass.

Does the engine turn over (not locked up)?

I'd give $500 for it. They aren't making 'em any more.

Check the floorpan for rust, especially under rear seat area.

Good luck!

 

[Grateful11]

The front turn signals are more like '66 or '67. The rears are mid 70's. The semi
padded dash looks like '68 to early 70's. I can't tell if it has single or dual port
heads, it has the old oil bath air filter, the wheels probably with wheel adapters
on them. Strange that it has flared rear fenders but std. front. It's worth $500.
I've had a '66 and a '67, wish I still had my '67. I knew that thing inside and
out, you had to to keep one on the road.

 

[Ingersoll444]

Well as long as the tub's not rotted, its defently worth $500. Looks to be late 60's early 70's to me. Should be a std beetle, but the difference between a supper and the reg was that the supper beetle had front struts.

I would defently grab it if its not rotted, and has all the papperwork.

 

[RatedZ]

I love the "Camaro" wheels on it. :biglaugh:

Ok, my cousin had an old bug like that, and he did a fair share of the work himself, but he managed to restore one from frame-up for about $8000.

Also, from what I understand, there are like 4 bolts that hold the engine and transmission in the car, and they can be removed as a single unit within about a half hour. I've heard the record for removing and re-installing an engine and transmission in one of those cars is something like 6 minutes.

A lot of reproduction parts for those cars can be found through places like www.jcwhitney.com, but I recommend sticking with authentic VW body panels, because reproductions don't tend to fit exactly like they should.

 

[Ingersoll444]

Ya, there pretty easy to pull a engine on!!

I did one back in the 80's. Pulled the old 1200 out on my buddys 66, and dropped in a later model 1600 duelport in it. It was a screamer with the early gears, and the more powerfull later engine!! Took a little grinding in the bellhousing to make it fit, but thats what flywheel teeth are for! [kinda cool realy.. bolt the engine up loose, fire it up, and tighten the bolts. ] Took two kids less then a weekend, and that included converiting to 12vt.

 

[SCUMMY]

i would buy it if it was over my way there fun little cars
cheers

 

[attorney_barnabas_collins]

I've had 19 air cooled VWs. Mostly beetles, some Ghias and Vans.

That one has fiberglass fenders and wheel adapters. I'd keep my eyes out for a set of original 4 lug wheels. The adapters will cause trouble down the line and the front end will never have the correct geometry.

They are fun, but not as economical as you might think. Figure about what a 4 cylinder american car would get without the heater or A/C.

Check the endplay by grabbing the crank flywheel and pushing in, then pulling out. Seen some with 1/4"!

It will be rotted under the battery but as long as the side rails are reasonable (where the runningboards attach) and the front end isn't cracked up where the front axle beam attaches, you have something worthwhile to build on.

I think I can smell that interior from here.

At one time they had the whole interior kits aftermarket for pretty cheap.

 

[Ingersoll444]

I think I can smell that interior from here.

LOL!!!!!!!!! you know we JUST picked up a '66 here at work for the showroom.[black... looks like the one in the new VW add] and I sat in it and all the thoughts of my buddys from the 80's came flooding back!!!!

 

[Brad]

Neal--Catch Shawnlb down in the Lawnboy section as well for some advice. That'd be pretty cool with a Duraforce dropped in there!

 

[Tractor-Holic]

I see some here really know their VW Beetles!..I had four in my youth,a '63 was my very first car,and my uncle sold me his '63 VW "Khombi" Transporter that had jalousie crank out windows and a factory paneled camper interior--probably the coolest thing I ever had (and didn't realize it at the time!)..

I also had a 1959 Beetle,and a 1953 Beetle with spilt rear windows when I was 12,my brother bought it for a parts car and used the engine,I used to play in it!..I wish I still had that now,it would be worth a fortune,thing was in very nice shape then,no rust..

I'm not that familiar with the 1967 and newer VW's,but they are similar..I'd say its well worth 500 if its not rotted to death,in fact,you'll be lucky to get it that cheap if it isn't rotted,because they are geeting very hard to find now..I had a blast in my VW's,especially the "Hippie Bus",and I learned a lot about cars and engines fixing them up..That one to me looks like a '68 or '69 with some other years lights added,as suggested already..Super Beetles also had a louver behind the rear quarter windows and a larger windsheild ,in addition to Mcphearson struts up front..I think 1970 was the first Super Beetle year..

I highly reccomend the book I had,I think it was titled "The Complete Idiots Guide To VW Repair" by Henry Muir,I lent it out and never saw it again,but a local library will have it most likely..a great read,and very informative and descriptive..another good one is "Small Wonder",a book about the VW history from day one when Ferdinand Porche made the first prototypes with a radial engine!..
Ahh,yes,I can smell the interior from here too!..many memories came flooding back when my older brother bought a '60 Beetle about 5 years ago,and I stuck my head inside it..I was tempted to buy it when he sold it ,but like him,I found I no longer FIT too well in it,even though I was just as tall when I was 18 as I am now!..guess I got bigger all over too!..he got 6K for it and only paid 600 I think,but he did the whole interior over and invested a lot into the engine and other mechanics..body was soild though and didn't need hardly any work..

Hope you find its worth buying and you end up with it..VW's are a cool car and more rugged than an anvil..I beat mine mercilessly ,I had those wheel adapters to put GM rims on mine,and used L78-15 stuuded snow tires on it in the rear,there were sand dunes in pits nearby I could climb with it that many CJ Jeeps only got halfway to three quarters up,and I won a lot of gas money betting them I could reach the top with my Beetle!..

I always took the back roads home during snow storms too,and looked for unplowed roads,it was like a 40 HP tobaggan,it rarely ever got stuck!..only thing I hated about my VW's was NO HEAT!..I used a sleeping bag for seat covers in the winter!..mine got about 30 mpg,with the 40 HP motor,the Bus only got 15-22 though,it had a 1500cc 53 HP motor,even though it was a '63.it came factory with it in a Bus that year..I miss all of them now!..

 

[GrassMaster]

Indy- check inside the driver's door frame. There might still be the ID plate with the year of manufacture there.

I am betting hard that it is a '73!

 

[Croc]

Yup, we definately got to get shawnlawnboy in here, he will definately know. Looks good for the price to me Neal, as long as the body/frame isn't rotted out. Good Luck!

 

[Tractor-Holic]

On the older Beetles I had,the I.D. tags were riveted behind the spare tire under the hood,and also stamped into the floor pan tunnel under the back seat in the center of it..not sure if they changed that after 1968 or not..

 

[1086]

I highly reccomend the book I had,I think it was titled "The Complete Idiots Guide To VW Repair" by Henry Muir,I lent it out and never saw it again,but a local library will have it most likely..a great read,and very informative and descriptive.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
If that's the same book I was reading maintenance instructions from to a co-worker years ago while he was working on his VW it is worth reading just for the entertainment even if you don't own a VW.

But then some days it doesn't take much to entertain me.:ROF

 

[Ingersoll444]

I had one of those books for the Rabbit. REAL good read, and nice real worl talking you through fixing common problems!!! Walked me through rewiring my fuse box after it shorted out after have a windheld leak!

 

[CraftHorse]

I thought the Super Beetles also had the curved windshield?

 

[attorney_barnabas_collins]

The McPherson strut front suspension was the big difference..and why they are no good for off roading. The later ones had the curved windshield the first couple of years had the standard I'm thinking. To be technical, I think the standard beetles also had a slight curve to them after they went to the bigger windows.
Something I found interesting to me was that the '57 on down oval windows had the same circumference as the '64 down side windows, so you could use a side window rubber to mount them.

 

[Ingersoll444]

Also the superbeatle had a curved under front valance with the vents in it. I belive that was for when they added the option of AC.

Anyone want to know the chasse number splits... Im sitting here at work with my VW parts catalog open.

 

[ar2stp48]

Nice looking start to a VW project. Looks to me to be '69-70 or 71. Engine appears to be dual port and the air cleaner is correct for that span. Wheel adaptersfor 4 bolt Vw to 5 bolt Chevy. Standard bug rather than Super--that is a good thing. Height of those head rests matches year span; think they were a bit taller in later years. Fiberglass rear fenders were an add-on for the width and flare; odd the front wasnt done too---but wider rear tires were popular at a time. Odd it doesnt seem to have the pop out rear windows---unless my eyes are bad and I am not seeing the handle.

Car would not have lasted one day at the car show/swap meet I attended last week priced at $500. I think you could easily add 300 to 450 and sell it quickly. I sold a '70 parts car for $400 and a '67 for resto project that looked worse than this one for $1000.

Look at the pan for rust; worst place will be section behind drivers seat. Pan is available in section and fairly easy to replace with a little cutting and wire welding.

Good luck and keep us informed.