The OCI was more like 1,500 than 3,000 miles.
VW's the old air cooled ones
- Thread starter CourierDriver
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OCI was 3000 miles according to my 1973 owners manual.
Here's my Volkswagen story: In 1972, I bought a 1967 Beetle. It had about 70,000 miles showing on the odometer. After about a year, it burnt a valve, so I carried it to the VW dealer.
They did a valve job, put in a new clutch while they had the engine out, gave it an oil change and a tune-up, and charged me $190 counting sales tax.
In that era, comparing it to my other cars with V-8 engines, I thought the fuel economy was great. Driven carefully, I recollect getting about 27 mpg around town; Once, on an interstate highway trip over to Nashville (200 miles), I got 30.5 mpg.
They did a valve job, put in a new clutch while they had the engine out, gave it an oil change and a tune-up, and charged me $190 counting sales tax.
In that era, comparing it to my other cars with V-8 engines, I thought the fuel economy was great. Driven carefully, I recollect getting about 27 mpg around town; Once, on an interstate highway trip over to Nashville (200 miles), I got 30.5 mpg.
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
I knew a tech who worked at a VW dealer for years; claimed he could take out the engine in a Beetle in less than 30 mins
True, you could easily -- but they wouldn't go over 100k w/o a top-end rebuild. If they did, they were smoking and running on 3 cylinders.
I knew a tech who worked at a VW dealer for years; claimed he could take out the engine in a Beetle in less than 30 mins
True, you could easily -- but they wouldn't go over 100k w/o a top-end rebuild. If they did, they were smoking and running on 3 cylinders.
Tim H - A 1973? I quit VWs after 1970! I think any enthusiast would not go that long [3k], even though the mfr said so.
1999nick - They ran rich with real retarded ignition timing, and low compression [thus low efficiency].
26-27 was normal. It should have been 32-36.
1999nick - They ran rich with real retarded ignition timing, and low compression [thus low efficiency].
26-27 was normal. It should have been 32-36.
The original oil change interval was 1600 KM and, yes, the sump was minimal but there was an oil cooler. The problems with the #3 cylinder running hot was because the oil cooler shadowed that cylinder's air flow. This was actually dealt with early on by slightly retarding the timing on that cylinder by the way the distributor point cam was made and later by offsetting the oil cooler in the "doghouse" style air shroud. My son has a 1968 that I drove for a number of years while I was between cars. I learned a lot and I'm amazed at the engineering that went into that engine.
my dad had a black 57. -what I can remember was no gas gauge-there was a lever on the floor you would hit with your foot when the engine stumbled and was out of gas-I think it held a reserve of about a gallon.
When the muffler blew, dad used a Planters peanut can for a muffler.
He got it sideways one morning on some black ice and when it hit regular pavement it flipped and rolled on it's side down the road. Couple guys from his work flipped it back over, and he drove it the rest of the way to work. He got some gloss black paint, and that was the bodywork required. Drove it for years after that, and finally sold it to someone else
Steve
When the muffler blew, dad used a Planters peanut can for a muffler.
He got it sideways one morning on some black ice and when it hit regular pavement it flipped and rolled on it's side down the road. Couple guys from his work flipped it back over, and he drove it the rest of the way to work. He got some gloss black paint, and that was the bodywork required. Drove it for years after that, and finally sold it to someone else
Steve
How about the system for the windshield washer fluid?
A line was connected to the spare tire to pressurize the fluid so it would spray!
And the older VWs until around 1958 had semiphore turn signals.
An arm would swing out!
A line was connected to the spare tire to pressurize the fluid so it would spray!
And the older VWs until around 1958 had semiphore turn signals.
An arm would swing out!
My dad had a 1961 and a 1964 while he went to university in Australia in the 1960's. Wrecked the first one while driving drunk; and I guess sold the second one when he left for Canada in 1969.
All my mom remembers about them is 'he drove everywhere with his foot to the floor, all the time...'
His parent had a 1969(?) VW Type 3 1600 fastback. I remember driving around in that car in 1982 when we visited them. I always thought the 'type 3's' were a neat evolution of the beetle idea.
All my mom remembers about them is 'he drove everywhere with his foot to the floor, all the time...'
His parent had a 1969(?) VW Type 3 1600 fastback. I remember driving around in that car in 1982 when we visited them. I always thought the 'type 3's' were a neat evolution of the beetle idea.
I helped a friend take the engine out of his VW bus, and the two of us carried it across the backyard and slid it down some planks into the basement so he could rebuild it. It was a heavy lift, but doable. Not too many engines these days that two teens would try that on.
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When I was 16 (1974) a bunch of friends of mine had a place we would go to drink that was out of the way. It was a Farmers tractor path that ran along a river to a private treed area. My friend had his fathers 1973 gold VW `Sunbug` and I had my mom`s 1973 Datsun 610. We got drunk one day, and my friend decided to drive the Bug up the steep hill beside the river. I would guess it way 300-400 feet up, and not sure the angle, but no normal person would try it. He got up 3/4 way up and the bug ran out of power. Egged on by my friends, I tried it in the Datson and made it up with realtive ease...
The early VW bus had a really low 1st gear--a real stump puller. My dad and I would take that thing on old fire roads where you wouldn't see anything but 4-wheel drive stuff. The high ground clearance helped too. They also had a 1-ton payload, so when building something we'd take the seats out and load it up with cement blocks and lumber right to the roof and drive home. I bet we pushed close to that ton a few times.
A lot of people say they can pull a Corvair motor in an hour. I've only done it a couple of times and it takes me most of the morning.
But back in the 60's I had to pull Chevrolet Suburban and C-20 transmissions about every 3 weeks to replace throwout bearings. got it down to a half hour job.
But back in the 60's I had to pull Chevrolet Suburban and C-20 transmissions about every 3 weeks to replace throwout bearings. got it down to a half hour job.
Originally Posted By: Bluestream
I knew a tech who worked at a VW dealer for years; claimed he could take out the engine in a Beetle in less than 30 mins
I've watched an engine being exchanged in 30 minutes. Old one out new one in, and that was in a gas station that had sideline of VW repair work.
I knew a tech who worked at a VW dealer for years; claimed he could take out the engine in a Beetle in less than 30 mins
I've watched an engine being exchanged in 30 minutes. Old one out new one in, and that was in a gas station that had sideline of VW repair work.
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