questions/ advice on my totaled 3yr project....

[westypoo]

ive always wanted to build that awesome fast germanlook super beetle. ive had a lot of old and rare beetles, but for some reason ive always been attracted to super beetles and how their known for their handling capabilities ( also, probably being that my first beetle ever was in fact a 71 super beetle). after life and funds allowed me to finally get a start on this dream project of mine, i ended up with a 73 super beetle. the quick list of things ive done to it up in till this point have been that i swapped the front suspension out for a 74 cause of the later model 2 bolt strut, put a vanagon WBX 2.1 motor W/ AMC heads, EFI/ spark controlled by Megasquirt 1 v3.57 board, crossed drilled front disk breaks, all 4 brakes re drilled to 4x100, XXR 002 15x8/15x9 rims with brand new goodyear rubber, and a custom made dash that i also had custom wrapped in vinyl with a mix of different porsche gauges.

now, as of a few weeks ago i let my brother barrow my truck for a while cause he doesnt have a car right now. so i then revert to daily driving my superbeetle. well last night on my way home my 3 yr project was all but DESTROYED!!!

i was sitting at a light waiting in traffic, and i heard screeching breaks, and a loud WHAM!... then seconds later i got hit. turned out that a guy in a 3500 dodge truck read ended a BMW 3 series, then the BMW rear ended me. the damage is quite bad. she hit me so hard that the alternator on the motor bacially took almost all the hit. it broke the alternator, bending my intake, breaking a boss on the engine case (thankfully i think it can be welded), broke the v-belt, broke the passenger side fuel rail, and im sure the list goes on not even including all the body panels that got damaged. heres the before pics, and the crashed pics.

before pics:





the wreckage:




what im asking now is...i WANT to get another superbeetle (pref. another 73') and build another one that will be even better. my concerns are that i wont get enough totaled value to go buy another one given the fact that its an old car, doesn't "LOOK" of really any worth value to the regular guy. IF i can get $3500 totaled value for it and i buy the car back, ill be happy cause i then can take that and get another super and swap all my goodies onto it. im super bummed cause this really has been the car ive wanted to build since i was 16yrs old. i was finally building what i always wanted. and it hurts to have it all taken away and not be "somewhat " compensated for it. do any of you have any advice as to how i can go about getting a fair totaled value? added note that the guys insurance is State Farm, and the body shop that i work at is also a state farm preferred repair shop.

[Marc]

It looks repairable from this distance, but at today's shop rates they may still want to total it. Don't sign any releases yet, "soft-tissue damage" AKA whiplash doesn't show up on X-rays; if you don't get what you think is a fair price for the car, who could blame you for developing a pain in the neck ?
See what kind of offer you can get for your losses if you keep the car (that way the insurance company gets out of having to pay the sales tax and license fees on a replacement vehicle, so they're saving a little there - they should pass that on to you).
Then look for a newer Super with a rack & pinion steering box (or, IMO, better yet a Standard). `75-up are going to be L-Jet, but it's relatively simple to backdate to carburetion and well worth it IMO in order to gain the improved steering gear.

[Piledriver]

S^*^^^*&&$#@#$.

OTOH, from the pics it looks entirely fixable.

Hope your neck feels better soon.

[westypoo]

i would love to get a 75 superbeetle, but i hate that they went to the 5mph impact bumper struts, and im staying with a super. never a standard beetle for handeling IMO. but this is not a debate witch handles better a standard nor a super ( thats been beat to death) and L-jet no way....i have megasquirt EFI WAY better then l-jet or a carb IMO.


BTW, the pics dont really do the extent of the damage justice. the pics are from my cell phone and are crappy.

[westypoo]

@ piledriver

fortunately im lucky and i was not hurt at all in the wreck.

[Marc]

i would love to get a 75 superbeetle, but i hate that they went to the 5mph impact bumper struts, and im staying with a super. never a standard beetle for handeling IMO. but this is not a debate witch handles better a standard nor a super ( thats been beat to death) and L-jet no way...

Right, a Super will aways handel better than a Standard
`71-`74 Super steering boxes haven't been available new for many years. They're frail pieces and the only replacements you can find are high-mileage-used or rebuilts which are more often than not of questionable quality...not to mention the ridiculous body-mounted steering linkage setup that comes with the deal. `75-up rack & pinion boxes are a giant step forward IMO.
I never even remotely suggested that you retain L-Jet - how did you manage to infer that?
The impact bumpers debuted in `74 (`74 rear shocks and fenders were one-year-only, slightly different than `75-`79). With basic fabrication/welding skills it's a simple matter to build your own brackets for "non-impact" facebars, and still have the stouter rear quarterpanels...which, by the way, would've been able to handle the sort of shot your car took with far less damage, with or without the bumper shocks. One of the `77 Beetles in our family fleet has solid rear bumper brackets which we built so that a light trailer hitch could be used - it took maybe an hour to make both of them from ¼" flat stock, using nothing more sophisticated than a bench vise & 5-lb sledge, reciprocating saw, drill, and welder.
The engine now in my daily driver was pulled from a rear-ended `74 Super that took a similar shot (perhaps a bit worse, the fuel pump and distributor were snapped off and the crank pulley and oil cooler folded forward)...but since the oil cooler "ears" were intact, it was an easy fix - just a matter of replacing bent/broken parts with straight ones. It took just a few minutes to yank the engine compartment back into basic shape using my ol' Ford pickup and a length of stout chain; a professional body man with a frame rack should be able to restore it in an hour or so, or one could simply graft on a rear clip from a donor car.

Here's a pic of the homemade solid LR bumper bracket - basically just a chunk of ¼" flat stock with a Z-bend in it.

[westypoo]

no I didnt mean to come off like that with the whole l-jet thing. thank you for all the valuable info. I work at a body shop and I know I could graft new panels in, but the car at some point in its life had a passenger side quarter put on amd it wasnt the best job done. so honestly im gonna take this opportunity to get a new unmolested body. I do appreciate all tue valuable info.

[Piledriver]

Got it, it's always nicer to start with a straight car.(if you can find one)

With your fab skills grafting in a rack on any SB should be relatively easy.

Audi (something?) donor?

[Buggin_74]

`71-`74 Super steering boxes haven't been available new for many years. They're frail pieces and the only replacements you can find are high-mileage-used or rebuilts which are more often than not of questionable quality...not to mention the ridiculous body-mounted steering linkage setup that comes with the deal. `75-up rack & pinion boxes are a giant step forward IMO.

There is several places that sell brand new not reco/reman steering boxes for supers like Topline and CIP1

Whilst I also agree rack and pinion is light years ahead, the steering box layout of Supers with the symmetrical center link and tie rods is alot nicer steering than the 1 long, 1 short standard beetle setup when its all in good shape.
The range of aftermarket parts out there for supers now leaves the 1930s torsion bar front end in the dark ages.
that's why the genuine Germanlook track car owners don't muck around with torsion bar cars

But yes this isnt the thread to spark another super vs standard debate.

It doesnt look like there is any major body creases?
shoudlnt be too hard to rebody though

[Marc]

I suppose I should've qualified that statement further...new OEM steering boxes aren't available. I have no experience with the third-world reproductions, but even if they're decent the rack & pinion's still better.

[westypoo]

ya ive been searing all over the USA looking for a 75 super. not many out their thats for sure, but im willing to pay to get a good one. i wanna get one thats still fuel injected, that way it will be that much easier for me to install my injection and motor. ill make some custom brackets so i can use eailer bumpers, and i want a rack and pinion, thats for sure.

[Marc]

An L-jet chassis will already have a fuel return line, and all of the fuel piping is 7.5mm so that's a plus if your FI doesn't need anything bigger.
The wider engine compartment opening gives more room for R&I'ing the motor without taking off parts, but you'll need the FI overcylinder tin (or make some filler panels, that's easy).
With your abilities it should be child's play to make the alterations necessary to fit an R&P to a 1303 body/chassis, so a sound `73 or `74 might still be worth considering if the price is right. The frame head needs to be notched about ¾" and a filler plate welded in for clearance to the rack boot, and captive nuts added for the rack mounting bolts. The hole in the front of the cab where the column comes through has to be elongated towards the passenger side, and the steering shaft/U-joint assembly replaced with a longer one.
The Super rack looks very similar to the one used in the Dasher/Fox/Passat (they even use the same rubber boot); I've never investigated, but there's a chance you might be able to adapt one of those (more readily available) units...

[westypoo]

ya very true. ive onle found 2 75' supers within a somewhat considerable driving distance. so a 73-74 might just have to work. but ya fitting a rack and pinion wont be hard at all for me. i already have a R&P that i got from a salvage yard out of a late 90's ford ranger as it steers from the front of spindle just like a super does. i plan of fitting my WBX motor in a way that to keep it like vw put it their as an option. i tell ya, swapping in a WBX motor (even with all the coolant lines) is still IMO way better then a type 4 motor. i did build a type 4 motor for the car first, but i got tired of the expence type 4 motors are, and that to put one in a beetle, you have to customize almost everything just to make it work. where as a WBX is just a watercooled version of a type1 motor, so the choice for me to go watercooled was an easy one, BUT i wanted to keep it VW, so thats why i choose the WBX. and with a turbo on it...i should be well into the 130HP range and keep PLENTY of reliability in the motor. my overall goal is to build a car i can have fun with on a day at the track, and still drive long distances in it and have it be rock solid.

[Buggin_74]

The frame head needs to be notched about ¾" and a filler plate welded in for clearance to the rack boot

It seems to be luck of the draw with that, my 74 doesn't and a mates 73 also converted doesnt but I've seen plenty of others that did.

The mk1 Passat rack is the same as super but I have a gut feeling they turn the opposite way as the steering knuckle is on the back side.

I imagine the US would have its fair share of 75-79 cabs sitting in junkyards to get the racks out of, but one really important part that is nearly always overlooked is the steering shaft.
Most people naturally grab the uni shaft but the main steering shaft is also longer.

Caught even me out on that one.
But it is well worth the effort if you convert to rack

[Piledriver]

I'm trying to convince my wife I need another car.
78 'vert sitting in a used car lot in my little berg, looks clean but I haven't given it more than a once over.