71 Super-Beetle

[mountainkowboy]

What the skinny? I know NOTHING about supers!

I can pick up an un-molested one that's been sitting for 6 years, wasn't stored, just parked and left. Never been hit was a good runner/driver when parked. the guy left it with his sister and moved cross country and she never moved it.............$300.00

[Marc]

You really can't go wrong at that price if there's no rust - it'd be hard for there NOT to be $300 in parts alone. Supers and Standards are the same car from the A-pillar back so there's much interchangeability.

Any car that's been sitting that long is going to have some issues. I'd start by grabbing onto the crank pulley and reefing in & out to make sure the crankshaft endplay isn't gross, then changing the oil, pulling out the sparkplugs and squirting some light oil into each chamber (Marvel Mystery Oil would be my preference, but ATF would do) and then gingerly turning the crank through a few revolutions by hand. There are two concerns here, one is simple rust on the cylinder walls (which in the worst case can seize the engine, and break the rings into pieces if you force things) and the other is that sometimes the aluminum heads corrode and enough fluffy junk falls off to pile up between the piston and head when the piston gets to TDC...again, bad things happen if you force it to turn over.
IF it turns over smoothly, adjust all of the valves a little loose (say, .012") and squirt a little oil on the rocker arms/shafts while you're there. This will make them hammer into the seats a little once you get it running, which'll clean off rust that's built up on the faces and make compression test results more meaningful. Replace the points and plugs (if they look very good you may be able to get away with just cleaning them). Probably wisest to buy a kit and some carb cleaner and just do a quicky rebuild, but you might get away with just taking off the top and cleaning out the floatbowl, removing the jets and squirting aerosol cleaner and compressed air through every hole with the carb still on the engine.
It's almost a given that there'll be some brake issues. Bonded linings can actually separate from the shoe frames just from atmospheric moisture. Wheel cylinders and master cylinder can leak or seize, brake fluid absorbs water from the air and it settles in the low points of the system. Flex hoses can swell shut internally. A good place to start is to buy a quart of fluid and see how flushing/bleeding the system goes.
Super Beetles have a nicer boulevard ride, a tighter turning circle, and a bigger trunk than Standards because of the MacPherson strut suspension, but it's also not nearly as rugged and has a bunch of rubber-bushed parts that will probably need attention. The early "1302s" like yours have a positive scrub radius which makes them even more susceptible to the dreaded "Super Beetle shakes" than the redesigned "1303" suspension found in newer ones (on the plus side, the early setup's easier to replace the balljoints on if needed). If the previous owner drove the front end into the ground you may be up for some considerable cost to make it road-worthy, so be sure to check that stuff and the brakes out thoroughly before blowing the budget on a new engine, paint job, etc.....

[mountainkowboy]

Thanks for the "super" info......had a lot of bugs and ghia's, just never delt with a super.

First thing was to get the engine to fire and see where that's at. That's what will determine the next step. If the engine is ok, then I'll move on to the brakes and do a test run around the neighborhood and see how the trans is. Then a frontend rebuild so there wont be any worries with that.

[mountainkowboy]

Well I got a 71 SB.....but its a vert!

Went and looked at this one today and bought it........Pretty solid, runs like a top, has some small issues, but no big deal. Still waiting on an answer on the sedan.

[Marc]

Bet ya didn't get that for $300.

[mountainkowboy]

Bet ya didn't get that for $300.

nope...................$2,000.00

[Marc]

Not bad, if it has no serious cancer and the "vert" bits are in decent shape. I have an aversion to Supers in general, but it's worth it to deal with their weaknesses for a convertible. I can't tell from the photo, does it still have the huge `71/`72 taillights or have they been backdated to `68-`70 size? What's the total number of louvers in the engine lid? They came in 24 (6-6-6-6), 26 (7-6-6-7) and 28 (7-7-7-7). IIRC, a `71 'vert should have 28 - rarest there is.

`71/`72 are about a foot tall overall:


`68-`70 are ~2" shorter (`70 pictured):


Either one looks OK, so long as they match. The mounting holes in the fenders were moved, too (nothing uglier IMO than the big lights mounted too low).
`68/`68 and `71/`72 all have lenses which are reflectorized over the taillamp. `70 had little "bicycle" reflectors on the bumper brackets and no reflectors in the lenses.
`70 and `71/`72 had similar "parallelogram" reflectors on the sides; `70 were slightly smaller IIRC.

[mountainkowboy]

It has the side reflector tail lights, not sure of the size. Also not sure on the deck lid, but I remember a staggered vent, so most likely a 26. A horrible paint job....it might have been nice 10 years ago, but know one took care of it. Its not without issues, the pan repairs look like an 8 year old welded them, so I will have to redo them, that was the only rust I could find. One of the bows in the top is broken and the top isn't attached on the passenger side. The top itself is in good condition. Missing the fresh air vent system and the fuel tank vent system is all screwed up and I will replace ALL the fuel lines. Needs new seals and the upholstery is pretty worn along with the carpet.

My plans are to address the fuel system issues and fix the top to get it into "DD" status as it sits. I'm still trying to get the 71 SB sedan for $300 since its un molested and has all the parts that the vert is missing.

Picking it up today.......so I will know more tonight.

[super beetle]

Hello
I have the same story but in reverse. Bought a decent un-molested "71 super" sedan. and then found a "71 super" vert Basket case. PO said all parts were included. (not so) (my bad) I am restoring the sedan and trying to use all that I can salvage for the vert. I have the top but it is soaking in pen-oil because of being froze solid and has a busted hinge. (hope to re-weld). I put everything on hold to build a 3 car garage to do the work in. and then summer came and spent all my free time with my grand boys (8 and 10) figure they are close to wanting to spend most of their time with friends, than with me and Nana.
Sorry, I'm long winded.
Good Luck and happy Buggin.

[Marc]

In case you guys haven't heard of them, http://www.chucksconvertibleparts.com/ is in VA and could be a valuable resource for your convertible top issues.

Besides having all of the parts you might need in stock, they sell instruction manuals.
mountainkowboy, you might want to email Chuck about the mounting-point surgery your car needs to see what his advice is.

http://www.chucksconvertibleparts.com/t ... on-manuals

[champagne superbeetle]

I have never seen 6-6-6-6 louvers. The sedans -- Supers and standards -- came with 5-5 which were longer. The 'verts should have been 7-7-7-7 of '71. (I'm talking US-spec.) 7-6-6-7 is the most common. Nothing wrong with that; it just has been replaced.

I loved my '71, although it was not a 'vert. If (mostly) free of rust, the balance can be handled with care with a fantastic end result awaiting you. Very cool.

[Marc]

I have never seen 6-6-6-6 louvers.l.

1970 sales brochure. The Convertible is Standard-based (last year) and you can see the 1970-only bumper-bracket reflectors. The 6-6-6-6 configuration "officially" debuted for the 1971 model year, but VW often used up old stock before incorporating a change, or as in this case introduced a change somewhat earlier than officially documented. What I find confusing in this picture is that the 'vert has the "1971" engine lid, yet both cars have the two-tone 1969 rims.
Sales brochures are typically prepared well in advance of model release, which explains the rims...but where did the 6-6-6-6 lid come from, assuming the picture was taken a year before they were introduced? Evidently it was determined early on that the 1970 1600SP convertible didn't really need more cooling than the `68/`69 1500SP did and the 6-6-6-6 lid was shelved until the introduction of the 1600DP. Some swear that 6-6-6-6 was used on `71 Sedans and 7-7-7-7 on `71 'verts, and that they compromised for `72 on the 7-6-6-7 arrangement for both models - but because VW apparently used whatever was in the pile sometimes, there seems to always be an exception to any "rule".

7-7-7-7:


Then there's the 7-6-6-7 with thermostatically-controlled auxiliary flap, first seen (I believe) on 1974 California-emissions cars and later on most US-market cars; not found on Canadian-market latemodels, apparently it wasn't considered to be warm enough there to justify it:


And there are Brazilian-made replacement lids which have a wider gap between the two center louver panes where a VW emblem resided on the Fusca; several variations in louver count on those, as well.

[mountainkowboy]

I closed the deal for the 71 SB sedan for $300, just haven't got it home yet. Will bring it back to life hopefully and use the 2 to make 1 really decent bug. I have found more rust and some PO horrid repairs and butchery. It would be nice to repair it with good German metal rather than the re-popped panels that are available.

[Marc]

It'd be twice the work, but you could use the OG floorboards from the Sedan to restore the Convertible and then install aftermarket pans in the Sedan (if you decide to keep it on the road). The only difference in the pans is the jack port design; the stiffening channels on the 'vert are independent of the floorboards.
A full pan swap is even feasible, but the VIN number of the Sedan's chassis would reveal it to not be "Convertible" ...don't undertake without consulting with the authorities, either, you don't want to create title/registration hassles.

[mountainkowboy]

The sedan has some huge back fees at DMV and would need to sit for 4 to 5 more years to drop out of there computer. The fenders on the convertible are kinda trashed. My plan is to keep "the best parts" on the vert! After I get the sedan to run and drive (being optimistic) I will start the swapping of parts.