The Bug Shop FAQ pt3

Part 3 of ? of Bug Shop's guide to buying a Beetle (many of its parts apply to any aircooled, or indeed any car), is reproduced by kind permission of the author, John S. Henry of the Bugshop USA.

www.geocities.com/MotorCity/4000/bsfqbyng.htm

Mechanical Stuff

This really is even more dependent on what you want the car for. I would gladly take a car (depending on the year) with NO brakes because I know that the whole system can be replaced for about $250. From the 40 horse era ('61) and up (assuming that you want to replace it with the correct items), most mechanical stuff is pretty inexpensive and available.

Mechanical Stuff- ENGINE

I did completely rebuild the engine in my first VW (in 1981), I did all of the tune up, valve setting, "external" stuff on all my bugs for many years, nothing in, or about an aircooled VW engine scares me. But, I am far from an engine expert. In my humble opinion, a Beetle "long block" (that means the stuff inside the case, crank, rods, pistons, cams, heads valves,..... I thinks that's all the big stuff) is good for about 100m mi IF the engine is taken care of. Specifically if the valve clearances have been kept right and the oil changed every 3-5k mi. A "short block" (case, crank, cam, maybe rods) is good for about 200k mi under those same conditions. These are rough estimates, but the two most important considerations in assessing a Beetle engine are how many miles are on it, and has it been maintained properly. Unfortunately, it is very likely you will not know one or either of these two things.

A 1303 engine

I am not going to go into the technical engine assessment procedures like compression tests, spark plug inspections, etc. I think John Muir and other books have some good text on that (ISBN: 1562614800). I would just say two things. 1) Your best purchase is form a "known" seller. I don't necessarily mean family, but from someone who has owned the car a long time, has records and indicates that he/she has meticulously maintained the car, can tell you every thing about it. As opposed to someone who just "got it from a friend" a couple weeks ago and has know idea of it's history. And 2), don't think of a wheezing, drippy engine as a stake in the heart of an otherwise good car. Engines are pretty cheap compared to other makes. "Top ends" (pistons, cylinders, heads) can be rebuilt by the novice pretty easily. If the history of the car is unknown and the condition of the engine questionable, maybe you take a chance knowing that you could scrape up $300-$400 for some engine work.. (BUT, see "Vintage considerations")

But I will give you three little "tests" that I have learned over the years to assess engine condition.

þ Test for crankshaft axial play- With the engine off, grab the pulley on the crank with both hands (the lower pulley) and try to push it in and out. Really hard. In a fresh, perfect engine, it should not move at all. In a wheezer, it may have 1/8" or more of play.

þ Test oil pressure- With the engine off, remove the high voltage wire from the center of the voltage coil. That is the fat, short wire that goes between the voltage coil ( that black can-shaped thing bolted to the upper left side of the fan housong as you are peering into the engine bay) and the distributor cap (that round brown or black thing with 5 fat wires coming out of the top of it sticking out of the left side of the engine case). Do not disconnect it at the distributor cap end and leave it hanging, lest when you crank the engine it will spark to whatever is nearby and might start a fire ("Naaaah, I don't really think I want this car..."). Now without touching the gas, crank the engine and watch to see if the (green) oil light in the speedometer goes out. In a fresh engine, enough oil pressure will be built up at cranking speed to extinguish the light, but only in the freshest of engines. In a very-low-oil-pressure, wheezer engine, that green light will flicker or maybe come on steady at idle once the engine is hot (reattach the wire, start the engine). Make sure the oil is filled to the proper level for these tests.

þ Test for crankcase pressure/blow-by- When the piston rings are badly worn, combustion gases can "leak" past the rings and into the crankcase while the engine is running. This is called "blow-by" and creates pressure in the crankcase. To test for this, take the oil filler cap off of a fully warmed up, idling engine. Place the palm of your hand firmly over the mouth of the opening and wait a few seconds, then remove your hand slowly. If you hear or feel a "pffftt" of pressure having built up, there is some blow-by. If you have burned a circle on the palm of your hand, the engine is also overheating. If the engine is equipped with a "breather box" (non-stock aftermarket accessory) you will not feel pressure even if the rings are worn.

And let me make one more point about the engine. I once went to a Beetle shop to ask for a quote to have a clutch done. I lived in an apartment and didn't have the resources to do it myself, although I had done it several times before at my parents years ago so I knew exactly what was involved. The shop quoted me $300 in labor to "R&R" (remove and replace) the engine. The last time I removed a Beetle engine in my garage, it took me 15 minutes. At many bigger VW shows there are "Engine Pull" contests where a Beetle is driven to a spot, two guys get out and remove the engine, roll it something like 10 ft away from the car, then back, re-install it and drive off. Record times, last I saw, were in the 6-7 minute range. That's no typo, 6-7 minutes (but I don't think the heater boxes are hooked up). Don't let anyone quote you any more than an hour labor to remove and replace an engine. If it takes them longer than that, they have no idea what they are doing (or they are trying to hose you) and you shouldn't be paying them to work on your car. If you are so inclined, you should really try it yourself. All you really need is a good floor jack.

Mechanical Stuff- Transmission, suspension

There are a couple of known "wear out conditions" with the VW trannies. One is when the "slider" gear gets worn. In this case, the car will not stay in reverse. To test, back up the car and put a little load on the tranny. Back up a slight incline or get in a clear area, engage the clutch fully in reverse and get on the gas a bit (be careful, don't hurt any one). If this gear is worn, the shifter will pop out of reverse with a loud "thunk". If the gear is really worn, it won't even start to back up, it will just pop out quickly and quietly. Always check reverse, the car may behave perfectly other wise. If reverse pops out, the car will need a new tranny ($100 - $400 depending on used/new).

Another tranny "failure mode" is similar to reverse but involves 4th gear under load. Get the car out on the open road, get into 4th at about 40-45mph and floor it. If 4th is bad, it will pop out with a loud thunk.. If this happens, plan on a new tranny.

The Torsion bar Suspension

Lastly, a common wear sign is when the 2nd gear syncro goes bad. If this is the case (assuming a '51 or newer bug), the gears will "grind" when you try to downshift from 3rd to 2nd. This type of failure is very common (I think because 2nd is the gear most often "downshifted" to) but it doesn't render the car undriveable. Two of my Beetles did it and I drove them for years like this. There is a workaround, by the way, that just involves a change in your shifting technique. When you go out of third, don't go down into second with the stickshift. First, go up like you are trying to go into first, push "up there" a little (don't worry, at 25+ mph, you are not likely to get it to go into first anyway) then quickly drop down into 2nd; and the gears won't grind. What you did was use the first gear syncro to match the mainshaft speed to the wheels and then jumped into 2nd before it had a chance to spin up again (as simple as I can describe it with a dissertation on syncromesh transmission concepts). If it grinds going into 2nd the usual way and you do this while the seller is riding with you, just say matter-a-factly "Oh. Second gear synchro is shot, you didn't tell me that did you?"

As for the suspension in general, the rear swingaxle suspension ('68 and earlier) is pretty hardy. The only thing that I might suggest is to look at the axle boots. These are rubber boots on either side of the tranny that flex as the axles move up and down. They are cheap and easy to replace, but leaky ones and no indication by the seller that they were ever concerned about that might indicate a tranny run without (much, if any) gear oil. At highway speed (that would be about 50 for a Beetle), a tranny that has run without gear oil most of it's life will (in the terms of an old Beetle mechanic I knew in upstate South Carolina) "howl". I've heard deafening ones. You'll know it when you hear it; = new tranny.

The front suspension is a little more sensitive. It is a pretty good design, but gets wobbly, clunky and UNSAFE when it wears. Most parts are pretty inexpensive, and aside from accident damage, everything is pretty much fixable. Speaking of accident damage, look for a bent front beam and/or bulkhead area. The twin tubes that make up the beam should be straight and square with the front of the car. The bulkhead portion of the pan front that it (the beam) bolts to should be square and free of bends on its corners.

The parts that make the front end wobbly/unsafe when they go bad are most often the ball joints ('66 and newer) or the king/link pins ('65 and older) and the tie rod ends. Particularly unsafe is when a lower ball joint gets so bad it pulls out of its socket. This just leaves one of the two torsion arms to hold up that side of the car. If you are going slow when this happens, the front end of your car will collapse, more pronounced on the side with the failed ball joint, and the tire may drag inside the fenderwell and steering will be mostly inoperable. If it happens when you are going fast, the wheel will slam back in the fender opening the second you hit the brakes because you think something has gone wrong, usually rip the upper ball joint loose on that same side and allow the entire wheel, brake hub and spindle to rip from the car as soon as the rubber brake hose tears off, opening the brake lines and possibly rendering the brakes in the three hubs that you still have possession of, useless. Steering will be up to the will of the gods and you are now driving a brakeless three-wheeler. I was lucky enough to have learned this lesson when mine let go going over a speed bump at work., I know others who were not so lucky.

King/link pins front ends almost cannot let go that way, BUT they are somewhat more expensive to rebuild. Ball joints at the time of this writing are still plentiful around $10 ea; there are 4 of them.

So assess the front end carefully, and unless the seller shows you a receipt for a recent rebuild, count on spending some money here. If it is a ball joint front end and more than 2 yrs old (or unknown) since they were replaced, I would replace them immediately. The consequences are not worth the risk. Check the tie rods by grabbing the front wheels at 3 and 9 o'clock and trying to turn them back and forth while someone holds the steering wheel tight. Play here could be tie rod ends or steering box. Now if you can jack the car up, do the same with hands at 12 and 6 o'clock. Play this way usually means ball joints or link/king pins or loose/worn wheel bearings. The Muir book has some good points on this.

Notice how the car drives. Can you move the steering wheel side to side some without affecting steering? This probably means either steering box replacement (although some are adjustable, it is usually not the right fix) or very badly worn tie rods (pretty cheap). Steering boxes have gotten a little pricey lately ($100+). Go over some bumps. Listen and feel for clunking and loose stuff. I can't really get into the details of all the stuff that can go wrong up front and how to diagnose and fix it, but be sensitive in this area ("Yep, the joints are shot. Listen, this car needs a few hundred in front end work, I'll offer ya...").

Take from this text these points:

1. Beetle front ends are victims of wear and make Beetle feel sloppy, rattly and quite possibly unsafe

2. Almost all parts are plentiful and inexpensive, stuff can be fixed. Only the steering box is a high dollar item

3. Link/king pin front ends are somewhat more expensive to rebuild than balljoint units and require some additional expertise and tooling.

4. Count on alignment and wheel balancing AFTER you have all the other front end mechanicals 100%. A Beetle CAN go straight down the road, smoothly.

Mechanical Stuff- Brakes

Ok, this will be quick. The Beetle brakes on the bug, when 100%, will stop the car, fast. These brakes are really no different than any other drum braking systems, YOU can do the work on them (get the Muir book). Here's my stab at system pricing, from my head at the time of this writing:

þ Master cylinder: $35

þ ALL lines: $60

þ Shoes (4 wheels) $35

þ Drums: $25 ea (except some early 60s and earlier)

þ Wheel cylinders: $15 ea

þ Hardware sets: $10 per wheel

Why did I suddenly list brake component parts prices in this article?. To make the point that beetle brake work is simple and parts are cheap. Personally, I would never NOT buy a Beetle that I otherwise would take because it needed brake work. No matter what condition the brakes seem to be in, if you buy the car, plan on either paying someone to go over them or get the Muir book and a Saturday and do it yourself. And haggle a the selling price accordingly.

Mechanical Stuff- Clutch

A whole, new clutch costs about $70 (parts). Yes, you have to take the engine out to replace it, but that is no big deal (see "engine" text above). There IS a common problem with Beetle clutches though worth mentioning. It is when the clutch tube (a skinny steel pipe inside the "tunnel" that guides the clutch cable from your pedal back to where the clutch actually is) breaks itself loose from its welds inside the tunnel. I wrote an extensive article on this ("Clutch tube reattachment"), it should be available from wherever you got this one. The symptoms may vary. It might be a clanking or clunking sound from inside the tunnel when you depress and/or release the clutch (there should be NO sound), or it might be a very "tight" feeling clutch pedal; one that has no free play at all at the beginning of its travel and begins to disengage the clutch as soon as it is pressed. (this is because the clutch cable has to be tightened so much to compensate for the moving tube in the tunnel to make it work) You might find this symptom if the seller is trying to "hide" this problem (intentionally or not). The repair for this is somewhat involved and requires some simple welding. If you have a good candidate with this problem and are comfortable dealing with it, inform the seller of the problem and get him to lop a big chunk off the selling price.

Mechanical Stuff- Other

This whole mechanical thing is hard for me because I know these cars well, I'm not scared away by anything broken on them. So my tendency is to NEVER say "don't buy it if...." (except for bad rustout described above) As I go through it, there is very little that I could say, "Oh that's a BIG problem". On the other hand, lots of little problems can sink a ship too.

"Other" mechanical stuff might be windows rolling up and down (Read "The Doors" article to address the mysteries in there), hoods closing right, wipers, wiring etc. All I can think to say is that there is no "bad" designs (years), it's all VERY simple (that's why the car was so successful). If you mechanically inclined, this is a perfect car to jump into.

next month - vintage considerations