Finding a good used bug

Friend of mine introduced me to a newbie who wants a bug. This gal has
her heart set on owning a classic, so I agreed to go shopping with
her. We saw three bugs.

Bug #1 was a 1971 standard bug. Body wasn't too bad. Lowered, with a
Bob H. signature "Bitchin' sound system" Shifter was loose and sloppy,
brakes were non-existant. The engine "Runs great" according to the
owner as I am chucking the crankshaft pulley back and forth about a
full quarter inch. Endplay just a shade out of spec. No cooling tin
under the cylinders. No tin between the valve stacks on the heads. No
front or rear tin. "It's never overheated" explains the owner. It has
Honda seats installed artfully with TWO BOLTS per seat, right through
the floorpan. No stiffener, no brackets..just a couple holes drilled
in the pan with a bolt and a nut. I drove it, and when I hit the
brakes the pedal just flopped towards the floor like a dead thing and
we were not slowing down. We pass on this one. Asking price $2300

Bug #2 was wayyy the hell out in the sticks. 1972 super beetle. Owner
had one picture posted on craigslist, which looked pretty good. Once
we get there however we find out the picture is the only angle at
which no body damage is visible on the car. Front apron has been
smacked, no rear bumper, original paint was so-so. Engine..get this,
the guy said "I had all the tin removed so the engine would run
cooler"(!). In fact, he said it was against his better judgment that
he allowed the mechanic to put the fan shroud and upper cylinder tin
in place. It's a "1776 with a big webber for more power". No preheat
system installed. "It has a K&N filter so don't throw it away". The
preheat passages on the exhaust manifold aren't covered up with the
blockoff plates.

He claimed the original mileage to be 72,xxx, as I opened the door and
watched it drop a full half inch. Upper hinge was so worn out I could
see it move by just barely lifting on the door. The door handles were
so stiff it took two hands to pull the latch and open the door. On the
upside, it had the original sapphire radio, and the key-in-ignition/
seatbelt buzzer system still worked. Original, cracked window rubber
with the blackened plastic-chrome still in place. The endplay on the
bottom end wasn't too bad but it was leaking oil from the cylinders on
the #1/#2 side where the cylinders enter the case. The transaxle had
about 2 inches worth of crap caked on it all the way around. We were
going to drive it, but it had NO gas(!). So the guy pours the two-
cycle gas from his chainsaw in the tank to get it started(!!!). We
didn't even get pulled away before it died. We told the guy we would
let him know.

Bug #3 is a 1973 standard beetle. The gal selling this one put in the
ad that it needs a new engine, and sure as hell it needs a new engine.
Blows blue smoke, endplay is just ridiculous, leaks like a sieve. But
it runs. So I drove it and listened the transaxle growl in all 4
gears. Clutch felt like crap, but "was only a year old" according to
the owner. Engine still sports the original "Deutchse Vergasser"
carburetor from Germany(!). Steering wheel had about 3 INCHES of play
and the front end clunked but "The steering box is brand new" claims
the seller.

I guess the clutch is the least of the issues since this one needs a
transaxle and an engine and a front end. Body is actually pretty good,
no rust on the floor pans. But she wants $1500 for it and I don't know
that it would make it home to this gal's house about 15 miles away
with the engine or the suspension in the shape it is in now. Girl
wanting the bug says "No problem we can get a new engine". Which we
can, but I have to question how much work said Girl is going to invest
in this new endeavor before she gives up and sells it to the next
unlucky soul. I let her drive my super bug when we got home with it's
nice tight shifter, quiet transaxle, new Topline steering gearbox and
mostly-original engine that goes when you press the gas. "Wow, this
drives nice" was her response......as she revs it to 3500rpm every
time we take off. Doh.

To be honest, I saw three cars and all three were total pieces of
crap. Missing parts, improper assembly. Not one ran well, some were
butchered so badly they were literally not safe to drive at all. And
yet people are still asking over 2 grand for two of them.

People just don't understand these cars, and the knowledge base of
people who DO know how to work on them seems to be evaporating pretty
quickly.

Chris

On Fri, 01 Jun 2007 17:05:49 -0000, "
> wrote:

>People just don't understand these cars, and the knowledge base of
>people who DO know how to work on them seems to be evaporating pretty
>quickly.

Well, those were the ones being sold by the people who don't understand
them. The ones that do just collect them.
--
Michael Cecil
http://home.roadrunner.com/~macecil/
http://home.roadrunner.com/~safehex/
http://home.roadrunner.com/~macecil/hackingvista/

" > wrote in
ps.com:

> Friend of mine introduced me to a newbie who wants a bug. This gal has
> her heart set on owning a classic, so I agreed to go shopping with
> her. We saw three bugs.
>
> To be honest, I saw three cars and all three were total pieces of
> crap. Missing parts, improper assembly. Not one ran well, some were
> butchered so badly they were literally not safe to drive at all. And
> yet people are still asking over 2 grand for two of them.
>
> People just don't understand these cars, and the knowledge base of
> people who DO know how to work on them seems to be evaporating pretty
> quickly.
>
> Chris
>

Ha, sounds like the many trips to look at Bugs here in Missouri. It seems
most are either butchered, neglected or a melding of the two.

I got lucky when I found mine (well, my daughter's future car - 72
Super). Guy didn't like the fact it didn't have air cond (was a roofer by
trade) - so I got a good deal. Does it have issues? A couple of minor
ones - but it has a rust-free body & pan plus a new motor. Plus it's an
ex-air car...

--
Looking for Trizone & SuperSonic backglasses in good shape, Chase HQ
parts.

wrote:
> Friend of mine introduced me to a newbie who wants a bug. This gal has
> her heart set on owning a classic, so I agreed to go shopping with
> her. We saw three bugs.
> [...]
> To be honest, I saw three cars and all three were total pieces of
> crap. Missing parts, improper assembly. Not one ran well, some were
> butchered so badly they were literally not safe to drive at all. And
> yet people are still asking over 2 grand for two of them.
>
> People just don't understand these cars, and the knowledge base of
> people who DO know how to work on them seems to be evaporating pretty
> quickly.

You will find some very knowledgeable people here, Chris. Among us we
have probably seen everything that can be wrong about the ACVWs.

Yeah, it's funny how everybody selling a Bug says it's got a recently
rebuilt engine. Not funny is how bad a rebuild can be.

Where are you located? How much are you willing to spend for a very
clean Bug?

If your friend is interested in a Baja Bug, I'm getting ready to sell
mine. Since you didn't mention where you are, odds are you're way to
far away to look at mine (in Tualatin, OR.)

I'm getting married and I need a family car. I have my camouflage
painted 1966 Baja Bug and my 1978 For truck (with only 76k miles on it.)
Since I need the truck, sadly I will be parting with my beloved Steurm
Kafer (Assault Beetle.)

It has 7k miles are a rebuilt engine. I really blew a wad on this engine
but I figured it would last longer if I did everything right. It has
the following.

Mahle 88mm machine in cylinders with forged pistons (these have a
thicker cylinder wall than stock but many folks do think they're worth
the money for only 100cc more.)

New dual port Brazilian cylinder heads with a set of swivel foot valve
adjusters and a good set of stock rocker-arms.

Engle #100 cam with BugPack high-lift followers.

Full-flow oil filter and a doghouse style cooling system. It also has
the cooling flaps in place with a good thermostat.

Dual advance distributor (but is still running points.)

8 dowel flywheel.

All the machine work was done at Dan Hall's high performance auto
machine shop in Portland, Oregon. He started out as exclusively
air-cooled VW and expanded as the air-cooled stuff started drying up. I
had it balanced and blue printed and it's the smoothest running bug I've
ever seen. I painted the case with motorcycle engine case paint because
I thought the bare magnesium was ugly. I assembled the engine (I was a
motorcycle mechanic for about 20 years.)

After dumping almost $2k into this engine I was too broke for electronic
ignition or dual carbs. It's running a 34pict carb. I'm sure it would
make more power with dual carbs but I'm happy with the way it runs.

When I started this project it wouldn't climb the west hills out of
Portland in 4 gear if I didn't hit the bas of the hill at 50+ at full
throttle. I decided the stock 1300 had to go and when it died, I had
not intention of just replacing it with stock.

I bought a 72 bug that a kid had taken apart and never put back together
most of the body parts were missing and all the interior was gone so
used it for parts for the 1966.

I while rebuilding the engine, I took the transaxle over to Import
Transmission Exchange had it gone through and converted to use the
swing-axle differential.

I picked up a used 1600 single port cheap and I installed it so I could
drive the bug while I was finishing the engine. Anyway it ran so good
that I ended up shelving the new engine for several years... Fast
forward several years and I finally finished the new engine and got the
old girl back on the road a year ago. I installed a new Bosch
alternator at the time.

She runs great and is amazingly smooth. With the old engine, it would
vibrate like crazy at around 55 in 3rd then 4th was good up to way
faster than it should go. With the new engine it's smooth up to 65 in
3rd (later model higher geared diff) and I don't even want to explore
how fast it will go in 4th. It's very punchy in the lower gears and
never feels under powered. My goal was to climb the west hills out of
Portland in 4th at freeway speed and it will now accelerate up hill in 4
from 50.

Now for the rest of the car.
Painted cammo and it's easy to touch up... ;o) It has a fiberglass
wide-eye front end kit and bobbed stock steel rear fenders. I don't run
it off road so it has regular radial tires up front and 12" wire all
season radials on spoke steel wheels in the back.

The pan is rust free even under the battery. Here in Oregon we don't
salt our roads in the winter and there isn't much snow here anyway.

The interior will need to be redone. It has a pair of 240Z seats in it
because I got them for free. The seats are also lowered. I'm 6'5" and
I needed more head room. A driver under 6' will have trouble seeing
over the dash...

I have spare front beam that I was getting ready to install disk brakes
on then swap it out. The stock front end is ready for a new pair of
tie-rod ends.

I have the parts to rebuild the windshield wipers linkage and I'll
probably do this next week.

For someone that wants a solidly reliable Bug but doesn't mind redoing
the interior and a few cosmetic things, this car would be ideal.

Here's a pic of it just before I put it back on the road.
http://www.oregonmotorcycleparts.com/images/Bug3.jpg

but it doesn't have the same header. The other one was bumped in
traffic and I insisted the insurance company replace the header and both
heat exchangers. The shop couldn't find the model SS header I had on it
so I went for another model SS header.

Love will do funny things to a bloke. I've been alone a long time and
letting go of this toy is a small price to pay.

I would consider in part trade for a small SUV or 4WD wagon. Otherwise
I'm looking at $3k for the old girl.

Tony

Anthony W wrote:
> If your friend is interested in a Baja Bug, I'm getting ready to sell
> mine. Since you didn't mention where you are, odds are you're way to
> far away to look at mine (in Tualatin, OR.)
>
> I'm getting married and I need a family car. I have my camouflage
> painted 1966 Baja Bug and my 1978 For truck (with only 76k miles on it.)
> Since I need the truck, sadly I will be parting with my beloved Steurm
> Kafer (Assault Beetle.)
>
> It has 7k miles are a rebuilt engine. I really blew a wad on this engine
> but I figured it would last longer if I did everything right. It has
> the following.
>
> Mahle 88mm machine in cylinders with forged pistons (these have a
> thicker cylinder wall than stock but many folks do think they're worth
> the money for only 100cc more.)
>
> New dual port Brazilian cylinder heads with a set of swivel foot valve
> adjusters and a good set of stock rocker-arms.
>
> Engle #100 cam with BugPack high-lift followers.
>
> Full-flow oil filter and a doghouse style cooling system. It also has
> the cooling flaps in place with a good thermostat.
>
> Dual advance distributor (but is still running points.)
>
> 8 dowel flywheel.
>
> All the machine work was done at Dan Hall's high performance auto
> machine shop in Portland, Oregon. He started out as exclusively
> air-cooled VW and expanded as the air-cooled stuff started drying up. I
> had it balanced and blue printed and it's the smoothest running bug I've
> ever seen. I painted the case with motorcycle engine case paint because
> I thought the bare magnesium was ugly. I assembled the engine (I was a
> motorcycle mechanic for about 20 years.)
>
> After dumping almost $2k into this engine I was too broke for electronic
> ignition or dual carbs. It's running a 34pict carb. I'm sure it would
> make more power with dual carbs but I'm happy with the way it runs.
>
> When I started this project it wouldn't climb the west hills out of
> Portland in 4 gear if I didn't hit the bas of the hill at 50+ at full
> throttle. I decided the stock 1300 had to go and when it died, I had
> not intention of just replacing it with stock.
>
> I bought a 72 bug that a kid had taken apart and never put back together
> most of the body parts were missing and all the interior was gone so
> used it for parts for the 1966.
>
> I while rebuilding the engine, I took the transaxle over to Import
> Transmission Exchange had it gone through and converted to use the
> swing-axle differential.
>
> I picked up a used 1600 single port cheap and I installed it so I could
> drive the bug while I was finishing the engine. Anyway it ran so good
> that I ended up shelving the new engine for several years... Fast
> forward several years and I finally finished the new engine and got the
> old girl back on the road a year ago. I installed a new Bosch
> alternator at the time.
>
> She runs great and is amazingly smooth. With the old engine, it would
> vibrate like crazy at around 55 in 3rd then 4th was good up to way
> faster than it should go. With the new engine it's smooth up to 65 in
> 3rd (later model higher geared diff) and I don't even want to explore
> how fast it will go in 4th. It's very punchy in the lower gears and
> never feels under powered. My goal was to climb the west hills out of
> Portland in 4th at freeway speed and it will now accelerate up hill in 4
> from 50.
>
> Now for the rest of the car.
> Painted cammo and it's easy to touch up... ;o) It has a fiberglass
> wide-eye front end kit and bobbed stock steel rear fenders. I don't run
> it off road so it has regular radial tires up front and 12" wire all
> season radials on spoke steel wheels in the back.
>
> The pan is rust free even under the battery. Here in Oregon we don't
> salt our roads in the winter and there isn't much snow here anyway.
>
> The interior will need to be redone. It has a pair of 240Z seats in it
> because I got them for free. The seats are also lowered. I'm 6'5" and
> I needed more head room. A driver under 6' will have trouble seeing
> over the dash...
>
> I have spare front beam that I was getting ready to install disk brakes
> on then swap it out. The stock front end is ready for a new pair of
> tie-rod ends.
>
> I have the parts to rebuild the windshield wipers linkage and I'll
> probably do this next week.
>
> For someone that wants a solidly reliable Bug but doesn't mind redoing
> the interior and a few cosmetic things, this car would be ideal.
>
> Here's a pic of it just before I put it back on the road.
> http://www.oregonmotorcycleparts.com/images/Bug3.jpg
>
> but it doesn't have the same header. The other one was bumped in
> traffic and I insisted the insurance company replace the header and both
> heat exchangers. The shop couldn't find the model SS header I had on it
> so I went for another model SS header.
>
> Love will do funny things to a bloke. I've been alone a long time and
> letting go of this toy is a small price to pay.
>
> I would consider in part trade for a small SUV or 4WD wagon. Otherwise
> I'm looking at $3k for the old girl.
>
> Tony

You should make this a separate post, sounds like a good deal!
Best of luck.

J.

Berg wrote:
>>
>> I would consider in part trade for a small SUV or 4WD wagon.
>> Otherwise I'm looking at $3k for the old girl.
>>
>> Tony
>
> You should make this a separate post, sounds like a good deal!
> Best of luck.
>
> J.

I will next week and I'll probably post it up on Samba.com too.

I want to finish installing the parts to get the driver's door window
working and fix the wipers. The rest I'll likely leave for the next owner.

Tony