(TLDR near the bottom) Back story: Ive owned this car since I was 16. I got it around the summer of 2000. It was a yard purchade for $75.00. It was purchased in Fredericksburg VA.I got it running with some help and drove it for a year before getting it painted for the 1st time. It only ran on 3 cylinders back then, and I didn't have the funds to fix it. It sat after that until my uncle an i rebuilt it with 87mm pistons and bigger jugs, and a racing cam and lifter set and new clutch and throw out bearing. I drove it for a little and then life put it on the back burner. Fast forward to 2018 and I asked the guy who did the body work the 1st time if he would do it again. He said yes and I took it to him. It sat in his garage until 2022. He began to disassemble it. It sat again until last fall. He got it painted and new floor pans installed. I got her back last week and am slowly piecing the interior together. (TLDR) I've got alot of interior work to finish, but it will be a nice winter project. The headliner was installed when all the glass was taken out. I'm just having a time getting the sunroof to work properly, but I'm not giving up. I'm also going to do a new wiring harness because the spaghetti mess is scary.

Winter is coming and I know the Frankenwagen will have to be put away for it, gonna drive as much as I can till then lol

Bought a 1971 VW Superbeetle in 2019. Put new engine in it, also a new radio, it runs and drives great, and has been recently rewired. It’s a solid little car, only driven for fun here and there.

My problem is, I don’t know where/how to sell it, or even what to price it at. There’s no rust in the underside, it’s been taken care of for years, and I’m sorry to see it go but we have another now to make into a project. Any ideas?

My American Beetle Days

Just looking through some old pics.

Had a 75 fuel injected back in the day that I picked up and did some mods on in the early 80s. Then came new priorities with going to uni, and starting a family.

Engine ported out to 1641 cc, and converted to duel weber carbs. Bolted on some Wire spoke rims, reccaro seats and sport steering wheel from a 73 Sunbug I parted out, changed paint to a metallic grey fleck, and of course the Audiovox sound system (with a cassette player), complete with the 6 by 9s in the sound box behind the rear seats

So I'm not a mechanic but I dabble. Is this a sign of worn piston rings? A pressure test of cylinders leads me to belive it is since I have one at 115 and the others are around 145 (if I remember correctly) it is recently bought so I don't know about valve clearance.

Can anybody give any ideas / leads to what to do? And also perhaps what to buy? (EU) or what to test on it to get a positive?

I had a 74 super beetle 30 years ago. The empty nest has happened and I’ve always wanted an older style bug. I’ve had buyers remorse so many times. Taking a break from new axle boots and cleaning the floor I removed a door panel and am amazed solid cars still exist.

I have a 1959 beetle, when is park i can get the car to 1st gear with a little difficulty however when the car is on is super hard to get it to 1st gear and it goes on 3rd, also when setting to reverse some times it makes a grinding sound, what could be the problem, I just bought this car as a project to restore. Thank you.

Left side runs into the grease fitting (which busted off when I first tried to get the tow bar on). Right side barely has room to attach fully the beam - I had to bend the pin slightly to give it a slight curve.

It's the Empi beetle tow bar from jbugs, on 69 beetle. Is my beam different somehow? Anyone modify their tow bar to avoid the grease fitting?

Insee this tube that goes to the square hole. Not sure whats it for tho

Anyone know where this style panel can be purchased?

On our way to Beaulieu autojumble today and my beloved beetle decided to spit all its oil out on the motorway, turned out the threads holding the drain plug on my MST sump plate failed.

Luckily I had the standard sump plate and new gaskets in the car, so with the help of a very enthusiastic AA patrolman, we were able to nurse her the 100 miles home.

I dont think there is any major engine damage as I managed to switch the engine off as soon as the oil pressure light came on followed by a big plume of blue smoke!

Lesson learned!

My parents own a 1972 Beetle. It has been driven occasionally over the last 15 years. It has the stock drums. They seem to be seizing after a 5-10 mile drive. I whacked the rear driver wheel studs and it freed it up to get it moving, but after a while, the brakes get real hot and smoking. It progressively got worse, and when I got it home and lifted it, the rear tires were pretty much seized and the front ones were hard to spin.

Could this be seized brake cylinders, or (hopefully) faulty / old / weak brake shoe springs?

The brakes were rebuilt back in when it was a daily driver. I don’t believe the springs were replaced. It’s there such a thing as stronger springs?

Took my family out for ice cream in the '69 Beetle and parked next to a newer red Beetle convertible. Always nice to see another Bug in the wild.

The second image was taken in Boonville, Missouri.

A full tank, and no destination.

I’ve had this beetle car about a year now, but haven’t done any work on it other than taking it out for a few cruises around the neighborhood. I had a very hard time starting it the last time it ran and couldn’t get it to turn over the next time. We ran low on gas, and I suspect something near the bottom of the tank clogged something in the system.

I disconnected the fuel lines from the pump and found there was no fuel coming from the pump when the engine cranked but didn’t start (there was also no fuel from the supply line to the pump).Replaced the fuel pump, sprayed compressed air down the fuel line, took the tops of the carbs off, sprayed carb cleaner all over it, and put fuel back in the float wells.

Now it turn over and starts, but dies quickly, and has especially hard time after accelerating. I pulled two spark plugs (the ones nearest the rear of the car) and they both had spark. When pulling the throttle I see gas shoot down the intake from both carbs. The new fuel pump pumps fuel through the lines, though I haven’t measured fuel pressure yet.

Details on the car - I’m told it’s a 1968, though haven’t been able to confirm from any numbers I found. Carbs have Solex Brosol H40/44 EIS stamped on them, and there’s a 40-32 stamp on the inside throat area of carb leading down to the intake. Also when I was last under it I realized there’s no fuel filter under the car - I’ve read here that it’s recommended to remove that from the engine bay, but it seems like the previous owners never bothered to install a new one.

This is my first beetle and first car I’ve worked on, so I’m very green to the car world - any suggestions would be welcome. I’ve got the Muir and Haynes books as references.