1974 Volkswagen Beetle Super from North America - Comments

The starter needed replacing.

The left tie rod needed replacing.

The master cylinder needed replacing.

(Nothing out of the ordinary for such an old vehicle)

I absolutely love this car. It's a Sun Bug (has a sunroof). It is super fun to drive and maintenance is generally simple and inexpensive. I was lucky enough to find the car more or less fully restored, and have just maintained it.

I do some repairs myself and I have a good independent mechanic who knows air-cooled Volkswagens. If you don't do repairs yourself, finding a good, honest mechanic who knows air-cooled Volkwagens is extremely important. It's getting harder, too. Air-cooled Volkswagens are very unorthodox and most young mechanics don't know how to repair them properly!

If you want a Beetle, educate yourself about where they rust, join a club and have a knowledgeable person check one over before you buy it. The Beetle was an excellent car in its time (over 21 million units speak for themselves), had overall excellent reliability and parts are still cheap and plentiful. Fuel economy is still competitive with modern cars. However, because of the car's age (usually 30 years or more in Canada and US) there is a lot of room for things to be damaged or rusted out!

I'm the original poster. 5 year update. This continues to be a great little car. I've added about another 40 000 km since the last review.

Mostly have done just maintenance, like new plugs once a year, valve adjustments about twice a year and regular oil changes. Some other notable repairs in the last 5 years: new alternator, new muffler, new carburetor. Nothing too out of the ordinary. I think the carburetor was the original Solex.

The alternator light came on one day, so I drove it home and had a new stock Bosch one put in. No problems since.

My old carburetor lost a fair bit of reliability (stalling at idle even after a tune-up). Made an attempt to replace it with a Brosol 34 Pict3 (stock). Turned out it was defective, so my mechanic disassembled and cleaned the old one. It ran okay for another year. Then I got a Brosol 30/31 Pict (which I heard was better cast than the 34). The difference in smoothness is significant.

Replaced the old quiet pack muffler with a Dynamax (performance muffler). Sounds nice, but quality is questionable. Bottom is scuffed (and holed) just 1 year later (due to low clearance). Also the body of the muffler loosened from the exhaust pipe and it started to drag. Reclamped it, so I figure I can milk another year out of it. Still, that's pretty shoddy considering it was quite pricey.

Switched to Amsoil full synthetic 10W40 motor oil. Wow, you sure notice the difference. Not only does the car run smoother, but I notice the oil doesn't sludge up in cold, rainy Vancouver in the winter. I go 6 months between oil changes now (instead of about 3). Remember to clean the screen. If you have a screw on oil filter, go a year with synthetic. Do a little research - Amsoil seems to be one of the best.

Make your VW last longer by keeping the rust at bay. I peeled back the tar boards, sanded and painted the floors (on the inside) then I took the car to Krown rust control (www.krown.com) and had them spray everywhere (inside and out). Had all the carpets and passenger and rear seats removed before they sprayed. This stuff is really good. It's a liquid the creeps in all the little crevices. I've seen cars sprayed with Krown regularly in salt belts and they're still in mint condition after many years. In Vancouver, Canada, I figure I can go every 3 or 4 years as we don't have the salt issues like in the East (eg. US eastern seaboard or Canada east).

Rust prevention wise, I still recommend to paint inside the fender wells with POR15 or something. The Krown washes off too quickly. I bought a can of Master Series (like POR15, only cheaper) which should do pretty much the same thing. Figure Masterseries or POR15 on the underside, complemented with Krown sprayed on the outside, inside, inside heater channels etc, and you've got yourself a pretty unrustable car!

Had a little mishap. Damn low profile tires in the rain! Spun out over a curb. Damaged the right rear trailing arm, steering box and 2 rims! With used parts and $800 later, I got it fixed. In the grand scheme of things, that was cheap. I don't want to even begin to imagine what a similar mishap would cost in a new car. That's the most expensive repair to date.

Fuel economy wise, this car is okay, but not great for a four cylinder 1.6 litre. I usually get between 9 and 11 L/100 km depending on how much city/hwy and what season it is, ie 9 L/100 km = 50%/50% city/hwy outside ambient temp. 10 C or more. 11 L/100 km = mostly city and/or colder weather (like 0 C or so). Best is about 7 L/100 km (at steady 90-100 km/h in 20 C temp). Worst is around 13 L/100 km (snow, chains on tires - you get the idea!)

This car has a lot of character. Insurance is cheaper, repairs are simple and inexpensive and if you educate yourself on the car's shortcomings, you can have yourself a Beetle you can drive and enjoy everyday. How many 34 year old cars can do that?

Would add the following advice for any current or prospective "Old" VW Beetle owner: get yourself a copy of John Muir's "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive-A Manual of Step-by-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot". You can find used ones on ebay or Amazon for a couple bucks. Make sure you get the one for the air-cooled models as there was a later one for Rabbits and other fwd. There have been several printings, but the early ones had a spiral binding which made it easier to lie flat while you used it.

Great book with a lot of useful tips and advice which even the "mechanically-challenged" should be able to use!

John Muir's book "how to keep your VW alive.." even though full of information is so poorly written, it will make you want to throw it.. or burn..or for some "smoke it" I think Mr. Muir smoked a bit too much green stuff while writting this book. For example, go to the section on aiming headlights, read it five times and see if you can make sense of it.. Then go to the Internet and look up the same thing (anywhere) and compare the processes. I am the owner of two SB bugs, a 71 and 73 I also own the book, but don't swear by it and just be prepared to look elsewhere to get the "real (sober) story!

Have fun with old VWs!

I bought a 74 Sunbug last week. I had to tow it home, but the price was great!

Replaced the starter.. I had some used ones that checked out, but they only worked a few times, the replacement from local auto place works much better.

Replacing the master cylinder now. The one they sold me has an extra port?

Have you ever replaced the seals for the sunroof? I just got some pop out windows (rear quarter windows that open).

Thanks for the post. - Dan.

I have a 73 beetle and was just wondering if anyone has solved the problem of the back windscreen steaming up?? Have heard that there is possibly something which could be stuck on to heat it? Any ideas?

Thanks,

Suzie.