Arkmage

iTrader: (3)

heheh... i'm going with a water cooled subaru turbo motor. more power and much better reliability. my last beetle was a pain in the neck... had to wrench on it at least 2-3 hours a week.

akaryrye

iTrader: (5)

Ok im still interested in the beetle, but I had a discussion about buying the VW beetle with my dad today. He owned one and said it did good on the snow/ ice in oklahoma ... would have never guessed. Then I asked him about the BMW 2002 and he said it was considered a bit of a sleeper in his day because it was ugly by popular opinion, but had good performance charactaristics.

So, now always having been a BMW fan as well, am looking at not only old VW's ... but also BMW's as well.

rotaryjunky

iTrader: (3)

You really can't go wrong with either, but you will pay a pretty penny for the 2002 if it is nice. At least around here. The Sub swap is a great idea and some company makes a kit which would make it easy, but pretty expensive. Stay away from the 914/6, I know a guy who spent years and huge money trying to get his to run right, and he is very knowledgeable.

y8s

iTrader: (8)

heh, it's like a history of my family's old cars (my dad got my sister a 2002 back in the day). what next? a 924? a 356b?

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Around 1969, the Type 1 (which covers all Beetles and Ghias) began transitioning to what they called the "IRS" (independent rear suspension) setup. It wasn't a hard model-year change, and the auto-stick cars got it first.

The IRS is a fairly traditional suspension as we think of it. The rear hubs are positioned by a single triangular control arm, and the half-axles are very much like our own- two CVs each, one inside one outside.

The earlier cars used a "swing axle" suspension. It was still fully independent (left and right sides not coupled) but the difference is that the axle was hinged only on the inside, and solid at the hub end. So as the suspension travels up and down, the camber angle changes radically, leading to somewhat erratic handling in extreme conditions. For comparison, James Dean's 550 spyder had an identical swingaxle rear suspension, and as we all know, that ended badly.

On the front end, the Type 1's have always had an independent suspension. The "standard" beetles and Ghias use a double transverse torsion bar setup, basically two leaf springs one above the other, fixed in the middle, and free to rotate at the ends. At each side is a pair or trailing arms, which pivot on the end of each spring, and then couple to the hub. The major difference here is that the early cars used a king and link pin setup to couple to the hub which, while quite durable, was again a bit vague. Around '66 they changed to a double ball joint setup, retaining the same basic geometry but smoothing things out a bit.

The Super Beetle ('71+) used a MacPhearson strut front suspension. The decision, as I understand it, was based principally on the desire for increased trunk space. I don't think it necessarily works that much better than the torsion bar system, it's just more compact. One downside is that Super Beetles notoriously suffer from a shimmy (not unlike our cars) at around 50-60MPH. They even call it the Super Shimmy.

All Beetle convertibles from '71 on are Supers.

In '75, the Supers got rack and pinion steering. This was a definite improvement over the old worm gear box. Unfortunately, this is also the year that Bosch L-jetronic fuel injection was introduced to the cars. It's not an inherently bad system, but it's difficult to service (all analog) and does not lend itself to modification. It's not hard to rip it all off and convert to carb(s), but as unmolested FI cars are now becoming rare, I have a hard time condoning that sort of thing.

The weight difference between the standard and super is fairly small. ‘73+ Supers (with their bulbous nose) might be a tad heavier, but it’s not much. Frankly, all Type 1’s handle so very poorly compared to a Miata that you won’t notice.

akaryrye

iTrader: (5)

thank you very much for that, it clarified a lot of questions I had

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

If you're seriously considering an ACVW, buy this book: http://tinyurl.com/yhwrnw

It's technically a repair manual, but it is probably the best-written, best illustrated, clearest, most understandable, and most entertaining repair manual in the whole history of industrialized civilization. It was one of the first books I picked up on the subject and I still have my copy, albeit it encrusted in grease & grime and with the covers held on with duct tape. The author (John Muir) was a sort of hippie / naturalist / auto mechanic which makes for an amusing read at times.

At any rate, it covers the whole spectrum of air-cooled VW production and thus one can learn a great deal about the various model year changes by browsing over the various procedures.

turbopezz

http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/car/253395049.html

akaryrye

iTrader: (5)

Thanks p3zz, that one looks nice, too bad im in cali ... good thing theres quite a few over here too so im not worried. Still not completely sure im gonna sell the black miata to get a beetle, only time will tell.

turbopezz

my uncle owned a vw,bmw,porshce repair shop in the 60s70s.has a van and beetle there not pretty looking.but theyve been running for ever i think he has a fleet of motors and tranny.hes a bus tech now.oh and a 944 that had a really bas electrical fire.hes a real genius when it comes to anything,american imoprt euro.he looks like the count guy.

miatamania

iTrader: (9)

guy I know had an old school beetle w/ I THINK a motor out of a 911? I just know it was a flat six...ran high 10s in the 1/4

Arkmage

iTrader: (3)

How is the rear suspension to blame for someone dying in a head on collision?

I will agree that swing axle = poop. Jacking forces are the devil.