70 VW Beetle- what to look for?

[Az911]

Originally Posted by Gene-o

The worst rust areas to repair are the heater channels. Also check to see if the front beam hasn't rusted away.

www.thesamba.com is your friend

If it's a super it might not have a front beam

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Rust is a huge potential issue in any 1970s-vintage car, regardless of manufacturer or country of origin.

I've never seen a 1970s car in my life that didn't have some kind of rust issue - either one at the time or one that the owner had to address in restoring it. I've identified a couple of problem spots on my '74 911 so it's no exception.

"Rustproofing" in the 1970s was limited to spray-on or brush-on petroleum-based goop that worked marginally well (if that) and had a very limited effectiveness lifespan.

[Seahawk]

Me? I'd look for marijuana seeds. It's a lock.

[cgarr]

Whats nice is there is a huge aftermarket supply for these things, Wasn't 72 the first year for the Super Beetle?

[flashgordon13]

Another area to look at is oil leaks from bell housing. The engines from this era have a habit of excessive thrust bearing wear. This often cause damage to the engine case and requires a new case.

[Normy]

My dad bought a '70 Beetle in late 1969. I was three years old, but instantly I was fascinated with this car.

-Dad wasn't. In fact, he sold it when it was 5 years old and bought another member of his long list of "winners": A 1972 Ford Pinto~

Anyway, the Type 1 eventually left the household because it was "nickel-and-diming" my father, which means that he was having lots of little problems with it. I know that he had to have valve jobs done on the engine a couple of times.

Interesting thing about this particular car was that it had the Porsche Sportomatic transmission. This transmission was a manual without the clutch- when you grabbed the steering knob, a touch sensor registered the pressure of your hand and the clutch was disengaged by a huge electrically-controlled vacuum servo. You shifted, and then when you found the next gear, you took your hand off and the clutch re-engaged.

Years later, I watched my father "try" to shift my manual transmission cars, and I was amazed that he only had his hand on the shifter for a very short time, and he shifted very quickly. In normal driving he would RAM the shift rod around in my Scirocco so hard that I was worried about the nylon shift bushings! I asked him about this and he told me that since that VW Beetle, he had had nothing but automatic cars and as such he was just doing what he remembered.

Engineers! Christ. My dad is a retired electrical engineer with nearly 40 years of experience running nuclear and coal-fired electrical generating stations. You'd think that he would have a "touch" for mechanical systems such as automotive shift linkages, but apparently he doesn't-

Anyway, back to the '70 Beetle: I have one funny story to tell you. So far I have talked about my dad; now it is time to talk about MOM. She's just barely able to drive a manual car.

I always tease my mom these days:

"The last time you attempted to drive a manual transmission car...the firemen wound up reaching into the back seat of the burning car and pulling me to safety!" Which is true.

Though it wasn't her fault at all. I just like giving her hell about it! Dad's Type 1 needed it's 10,000 mile service. Mom dropped dad off at work, and with me and her sister in the car, proceeded to the VW dealer in Michigan in 1970. They took the car, and gave her a BRAND NEW VW Beetle as a loaner car. She sat me in the back seat, and she and her sister got in the car and drove away. There is a bit of controversy between my aunt and my mother to this day; My aunt says that she saw the red light on the dashboard indicating low oil pressure, but my mother says it never came on. My aunt told me that she even pointed out the red light to my mom, but she said it was "normal". In any case, they actually got about 3 miles down the road before the engine seized. It got so hot that it actually caught on fire! I was sound asleep on the back seat, probably 12 inches from disaster when all this went down. They pulled over in front of a crowded drugstore in St.Clair, Michigan and immediately the fire department was notified, since there were clouds of black smoke coming from the back of the car!

The post mortem? The car was STRAIGHT from the boat from Germany. It was shipped with no oil from Wolfsburg, and the dealers were supposed to fill their reservoirs as soon as they got them. This one apparently was missed, and it was given to a customer with NO oil in the pan!

Again...though it obviously isn't her fault...I NEVER miss an opportunity to point out to mom's friends the result of the LAST time she ever attempted to drive a manual transmission car...

N!