I once owned a Super Beetle.. now my Super Beetle was an Autostick, and
rotted.. so the horror stories are much more than usual.. Like the
front end almost falling out on the way home.. the Wheel falling off
while then being towed, and causing a wreck.. Taking my girlfriend for
a ride and the ball joint busting.. dragging down the road.. etc..

So here's what I suggest.

If you drive, and at 40MPH feel shimmy in the steering.. Then you have
the Super Beetle blues, and will need to look into the Tie Rods, Ends,
Balljoints, etc.. or.. you may end up like I did. I highly reccomend to
replace the ball joints just for fun, and maybe new tie rod ends, if
the tie rods look ok.

As for brakes.. Mine was the same.. It is hard to find brake lines at a
local store. I would reccomend not replacing just the master cylinder..
this is an old vehicle. The wheel cylinders are only about $20 or less
each. A must. I changed the shoes too. You will most likely find if you
do not also change the wheel clyinders, that the bleeder valves will
most likely be clogged anyways or snap off. Unless it had recent brake
work, inwich the master cylinder was simply overlooked. However, since
your daughter may be driving, you may want to do a front disc brake
conversion. The brakes are not all that good to begin with. I have all
around disc brakes on my new bug, and it stops on a dime.


Welting color is no major deal for a daily driver. Most amateur paint
jobs paint right over them. Matching color to vehicle. You may wonder
why?? Unless you have serious plans on redoing the vehicle to full
extent, I wouldn't bother. Sometimes the fender bolts rust, and will
snap off.. etc.. or pieces of the vehicle snap off while trying to
loosen the fender for changing the welting. May open a can of beans.
Again, mine was a beast!!! Maybe I am wrong with saying that. My new
bug has 100% new bolts on every fender, so I know it would be ok to
loosen them. My welting will be black.. only because it will be painted
with fenders off. Then the fenders painted seperately. If yours are
black, consider it a bonus!! That means that the fenders were removed
without much issue and reinstalled.

All in all, sounds like you got a great deal. Especially with the A/C
components. Compressors used are on Thesamba.com for no more than $50.
>From my personal opinion, it is becoming very hard to find solid Bugs
these days. Before you dump a ton of money, make sure the heater
channels are solid. Make sure where the door pillars meet the floor,
that they are solid to the floor. I would personally pull up the carpet
edge near the doors to inspect the heater channels. These are very
important.



Regardless of any situation, you will have alot of fun!!! I started in
the VW's nearly 6 years ago.. from horror stories.. and still at it
now. No longer a horror story. Every single day, I think about a VW. I
proposed in my 1960 Bug. When I went to purchase it, the family
snickered that a wedding was more important. I bought it. Went to Kayes
Jewellers, and proposed in it on Christmas Eve. Heck, I even bought one
of those new Beetles for my girlfriend just the other week. Going to
buy a 70 Bug to restore this weekend too.


Now sit back.. relax..
Go to Youtube.com and search for "Bug Drag Racing" videos.

My 1960 is on their.. not drag racing though.. I wish.. Acting drag
racing with a stock 1600cc engine.






Barnhart Pinball wrote:
> Picked the little dude up today. Mechanically tight (new engine, trans
> mounts, tons of new parts) and runs great. Handles like a go-kart. I got
> lucky with this one as it has what looks to be the original paint, no
> rust (well, except for one or 2 small places on the driver door and a
> couple where it got scratched) and a perfect underpan. It's a color code
> 21E (looking though the net) "blood orange", and was equipped with
> factory air conditioning. Someone removed the part under the dash and the
> compressor is gone. All the lines and condensor/fan are still present.
> Wheels and hubcaps are striaght and present.
>
> The bad? It needs some TLC. It needs some brake work (bad master cylinder
> or leak somewhere - ask me how I found out driving it home), a new
> headliner, putting the fresh air box back (removed to put a tach and oil
> temp/pressure gauges + new fuel sender). It needs the right front fender
> either replaced or fixed - the headlight bucket is pushed back. The rear
> defrost is broken (clips are snapped off). I have what appears to be a
> bad fuel line (gas smell in trunk, looks like vent hose may be bad). Plus
> the headlights and running lights work off a toggle switch. Not cool.
>
> Is the welting(? - the parts between the fenders) supposed to be black or
> body color? I know the rear engine cover was replaced as it's white
> underneath (you'd think they would at least paint that too).
>
> It'll be restored and driven over the next 4 years until my daughter is
> old enough to drive - plus she is going to help restore it. It's what she
> wanted (an orange Bug) and I couldn't pass up on a deal - especially for
> a great running, solid car.