I was perusing my local Autotrader page on YouTwitFace and came across a 74 SuperBeetle. No one here loves them. The people here only want a 67 or older, but I dearly love them.
So I popped over to the guys house because I had a few minutes before a string of meetings. He was asking $2k for it. It was a clean, non-sunroof, manual car with basically nothing working electrically, but it started and ran great. The car has no rust. None in the bumper mounts, none in the floors, and no dents. Anywhere. Its unreal how clean the car is.
I whipped out 13 $100 bills and made my offer. He accepted, and I drove it home. I'll update with more pics once the rain dies down.
The car idles really high and dies occasionally at stop signs, but it fires right up. I mean, first hit, every time. I'll likely redo the brakes, put my 8 spoke empi knockoffs on it and just clean it up a little. Oh, the steering wheel shakes violently at anything above what I think is 40 mph (nothing inside really works), so I'll be replacing all the steering stuff.
Outside of that, I have no idea what I'll do with it.
I've been looking for a 73 or 74 super for a while and people seem to want the world for them here. $4000 or more for rusty or non-driving, or they're all convertibles.
that having been said, I got the A3 because the price was right at the time, but it is by no means the car I had been shopping for the past 3 years for (3.0t a6). kinda blew my load on the pre-show, as it were.
If I could choose I'd take a '75, as they had rack & pinion steering, but I'd be really happy with that for $1300. :thumbup:
As to the occasional idle issue I'd look first at the throttle shaft to see if you have a little play there. If not, start looking at vacuum lines or the vacuum advance to see if it's sucking air. It won't be doing it all of the time or it wouldn't idle at all. After that you'll want to time it and then adjust the carb back to where it should be, as it sounds like all of that is out of whack.
Use urethane bushings for the front end and the shimmy will go away. It's probably the inner control arm bushings, but worn rubber in other places will make them shimmy, too. My '71 convertible always had a little, even with all new rubber and a good alignment. My nephew bought it from me, installed urethane and it was steady as a rock afterwards. :thumbup:
After that you get to delve into your wiring. For a 1303 (curved windshield Super) you're on your own. I know little about them. I just think it's weird and inconvenient that the wiring is under the dash!
My mom has a '77 Super Beetle. It's been a never ending project, but it is fun to drive for some reason. Maybe because it's a convertible.
Have fun with the car, I wouldn't want to mess with the electronics in one of those, I know it's very simple, but it's different than anything else domestic and therefore - No thanks.
'68 was the first of what we used to call "late models". It's when they made several changes, but the most obvious are the bumpers and shape of the hood, deck lid and taillights. It wasn't 'til '69 that the swingaxle went away in the U.S., though. Sure, some changes happened in '65, more in '66 and '67, but '68 was the most obvious to the casual observer with the exception of the curved window Super Beetle that hit in '73.
To many the '67 is the "Holy Grail" of Beetles, but I like the '66 best. It has fewer oddball parts and still has the early headlights, yet has the larger engine compartment that allows the fitment of big/modified engines more easily. :thumbup:
I could go on and on about the changes, but it would bore everyone to death, possibly even me! :laugh:
In to watch the process on this one. The Missus wants a fun "around town" car to keep the miles off the truck. I'm sure finding a clean one up here wouldn't happen on a reasonable budget though.
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