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Old Volkswagens Porsches

M

Michael Williams

Member
Hey Guys,

I've been a daily reader for many years and really enjoy reading the posts. I've been looking for an old VW (Beetle, Bus, etc) to restore. I would even be interested in an old Porsche 356. Since there are ALOT of farmers on here, I thought some of you might know of one in a barn or garage. Please let me know if you know of any. I'm in central Ohio.. Willing to travel!! - Thanks Mike - 1972 Ford 3000 owner...
 
To each his own, I guess. I hated the things when they were current. I spent half a year working in a Volkswagen rebuild shop and that was enough for me. I also made the mistake of owning a few. I'll take a turbo-charged Corvair Spyder anytime - if I feel the need for something air-cooled. Now, a Porsche - maybe . . I'd feel a little different. I passed up a couple of Porsche farm tractors a while ago, and now wonder if I should of got them.

I never found the Volks to be very reliable or rugged. Cheap? Yes, at the time.

Maybe if I lived down south, I'd feel a little different. No heat and defroster is a big draw-back in the northeast - unless your "Bug" has the optional gasoine heater/defroster.

My first Bug was a 1949. Didn't even have a fuel gauge. Just a reserve-tank switch like a motorcycle. My newest was a fuel-injected Karman Ghia with a gaoline heater then almost killed me.

Funny thing. Last night there was a short thing on TV about a place that restores Bugs. The guy claimed the engines easily last 300K miles. Hmmm. I worked in a rebuild shop and rarely heard of one making it to 100K. One valve ran hot and usually burned out at 80K.
 
(quoted from post at 11:54:41 01/20/11) Hey Guys,

I've been a daily reader for many years and really enjoy reading the posts. I've been looking for an old VW (Beetle, Bus, etc) to restore. I would even be interested in an old Porsche 356. Since there are ALOT of farmers on here, I thought some of you might know of one in a barn or garage. Please let me know if you know of any. I'm in central Ohio.. Willing to travel!! - Thanks Mike - 1972 Ford 3000 owner...
Click to expand...
Neighbor has an old prezel beetle that I've been half hearted trying to talk him out of. If you wanted that one, you'd have to name it herby and teach it to swim though.

Dave
 
I had a '57 VW and R&R'd the engine so many times it would have been a good idea to install it with wing nuts. Oil cooler sprung leak, head and jug pulled stud right out of the case, valve cover popped off causing loss of oil, new clutch, replacement heads, fuel pump lever pin fell out, coil quit, generator quit, and the fool thing never did give exceptional mileage. Cold as a mother-in-laws heart, NVH disaster, crappy bumper mounts rotted through, and on and on.
 
I know where there is a VW bug right now. It is here in Missouri and I even have the guys phone number but I'll not post it here. Drop me an e-mail is you want his number
 
Sounds about like my experiences with the things. I got so I could do an engine change in two hours. It's bad enough when you own one. Worse when you go to work as a Volkswagen mehcanic and do it all day long, five days a week.

And even worse yet? Try driving one when it zero degrees and there's ice on the windshield. It used to be a funny sight see people driving in the winter with their heads hanging out the window- because they couldn't see out the windshield.
 
You would have loved my collection of VWs that I had back in the 70s. At one time I have 2 vans, 4 or 5 bugs and one of the bugs had the double tear drop back windows but they are long since gone
 



We're all looking for that barn find.
1963 Shelby Cobra (CSX 2080). (Photo courtesy Auctions America by RM)
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. − Now flying under the Auctions America by RM banner, the three-day Collector Cars of Fort Lauderdale sale returns to the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center March 4-6, 2011, with an impressive range of automobiles and motorcycles, including a barn-find 1963 Shelby Cobra (CSX 2080), estimate: $425,000-$475,000.
0120%20barncobra.jpg
 
You've got me thinking of Anne Francis now. The blonde actress that died last week. She had her own TV show years back called "Honey West." She drove a small-block Shelby AC Cobra.

And if you remember "Get Smart" . . . Ralph Smart drove a "poor man's Cobra. A 1966 Sunbeam Tiger - built by Carol Shelby. SB Ford engine. I had four of them. Wish I had one now.
 
Yep......that was good old #3 exhaust valve.You had to open it up a bit beyond the spec and she was happy as a hog in a new pen.

Heat ? Just carry an old quilt and a bottle of Ripple in the bug and all was merry.
 
My 1949 Bug had the double-rear windows. No gas gauge, just a little reserve-fuel level in the dash.
 
The one I had with the double rear windows in it was a 1957 I learned to love to hate them over about 2 years. Had so many parts for them at one time that the whole back end of one of the vans was full of parts almost all the way up to the divider. Sure wish I still had all those parts now they are worth big $$ but my parent sold the place and moved and those parts went who knows where
 
When I was a teenager, I drove from New Jersey to Mexico and junked my 1962 Chevy there. So, I hitch-hiked back home. When in the mountains of Pennsylvania, and near frozen to death in a snow-storm - guess who and what picked me up? A Volkswagen van full of hippies. Of all the cars (or trucks) to pick me up, I had to wind up in a Volkswagen van with no heat and a bunch of stoned hippies. I think I was colder in that van then when I was out on the road trying to get a ride. Didn't help that they had the front windows open, trying to keep the windshield from fogging up. Hey, at least they gave me a ride and I'm alive to tell about it.
 
Ya the heaters on them either worked real real well or they didn't work at all. Most people didn't have a clue even how to turn them one of off and when they stopped working they could not figure out how to fix them. Still remember rolling one of those thing in a cotton field in Mississippi and landing back on the wheels. Kicked the roof back out and never did tell my parents about it. At one time I had 2 vans plus at least 4 plus bugs
 
maxwell smart ! the first shows had the sunbeam, then later shows he drove in with a vw charmen ghia sorry about that chief., missed it by that much were two of his famous sayings agent 99 was barbara feldman
do you remember the cone of silience? how about his shoe phone?
 
Yes, done it many times. In my neck of the woods, it was "Old Duke" or "BoonesFarm" rotgut.

A gallon of cheap wine and a few packs of Marboros - next best thing to heaven (at the time).
 
I think these VW bugs where the sorryest contraptions ever build.
they where noisy,had no power or heat to speak of and drank like a tempelier,i can't figger how some people could fall in love with the things.
There is only one worse IMO,and that is the Citroen(ugly duckling) as they where/are referred to)Made in France.
Any one know of these cars?
 
Daughter is kinda quirky, and she wanted a Bug when she got her license. I found her one, and it ran fine. She loved it.

But she was driving 15 miles each way, after school, to work at a horse farm. We had a cold snap, and her teeth were chattering so hard when she got home that she couldn't talk. Over her objection, we got rid of it and got her a Subaru, before she caught her death of dern foolishness.
 
My brother had a bug, don"t remember the year, The car started sagging so that the doors wouldn"t close. He cured it with fence posts and muffler clamp thru the floor.
I had a "73 van. Wife and I took it on our honeymoon, clutch cable broke someplace in WV had to wait a couple of days for it to come in. We did"nt care.
 
There was a fella by me trying to sell his beetle for a couple of years, but must have sold it because now he has a microvan in his barn.

How about a Karman Gia? No, I don't have any leads on one, but always figured with a turbo charged Porsche engine in it, might be fun.

Good luck.

Mark
 
Old Beetles and Citroen 2CV- I remember them from old days at car dealer. X Kaiser Jeep dealership that AMC wasn"t treating the same as the ones with AMC cars. He had Renaults, and Subarus besides Jeep. Peugots and Citroens came in for some service also as nearest shop with French car manuals and mechanics. Beetles were traded in sometimes. The #3 valve problem was partially fixed about 1971 with the oil cooler shift to outside of shroud, heaters were better about mid 60s 1200 40horse when the exhaust pipe heat exchanger fins were used instead of tapping cooling shroud like 36 horsepower . Old 1962 bus went to Texas, I"d put tubes on the swapped Ghia engine so windshield defrost and back got heat all the time- needed in Wisconsin. If you want a interesting bug- the Death Race 2000 Shark driven by David Carridine is supposed to be for sale from Volo auto museum- $19,000.00 and has a 1968 title so can be registered. RN
 
I suppose you mean the Citroen Deux Cheveaux? Better known in the USA as the 2CV?
It's one of the longest built model of cars in world history (3rd I think). Over 40 years.
 
IN 63, POOR MAN'S RACING CALSS IN SCCA CREATED, FORMULA VEE. AIM WUZ TO KEEP GUY W/MORE $ FROM WINNING. LIMITED 2 STOCK CARB, 1200 CC, USED BUG FT AXLE, ENG, TRANSAXLE. WAS MID=ENGINE, W/ TRANS @ REAR, SO HAD 2 HAVE RING GEARR MOVED 2 OTHER SIDE, OR 4 SP REVERSE...USED TUBE FRAME, GLASS BODY KIT, OUR FORMCAR WAS HOMELY BUT DURABLE. AUTODYNAMICS WUZ PURDY. EXHAUST PIPES HAD TO TERMINATE IN ONE PLANE, NO TUNING. BOUGHT 68 BUG NEW @ VIET NAM, HAD 58 36 HORSE BUS. BE BLESSED & BE THANKFUL, NIK. MORE TOMORROW
 
didn't those split window VW's also have a little arm come out of door post for turn signals too ?
 
The vans reminded me of a loaf of bread.

With wheels. . .

I had a new '68 Beetle. Put about 60,000 miles on it before I got sick of it. The heater worked good in it.

I also had a woods buggy - a VW with the body removed and pan shortened 14", pipe framework and rollbar, torsion bars cranked all the way up, fat tires, 40HP engine. Lots of fun. It would outdo a 4 wheel drive vehicle in a swampy area, but couldn't compete on a hill. Not enough power to turn the big tires. And you wore the mud, whereas the 4 wheel driver came home clean.

Paul
 
Yes,the 2CV IMO 40 yr of building junk,I drove them,it would not pull against a good head wind or climb over an high bridge,
On the other hand citroen had a well build high end sedan,long and sleek with an air system to raise or lower the car on the go.I can't remember the model
It was nicknamed Snoek( the pike) or Strijk ijzer(the iron)back in Holland.
 
Bought a vw for my dau. to drive to high school,was a sharp ride, painted baby blue, had hub adapters with pont. fire bird wheels, raised white letter tires, looked good, had a "auto stick" trans, 3 speed, could shift or stop in 3rd and take back off, took 2 miles to get back to 50 mph, had to work on it 3 or 4 times a week to keep it going, had a good heater, worked off the manifold, had to keep hoses in place.
 
What purpose was it invented for? not the icefields so it performed for what it was designed for. I never had any trouble with mine except once the fuel pump pin fell out and it sat on the shroud so I was able to replace it by the roadside..
 
Last I heard, Hitler's people designed it as the "peoples automobile."

Where I come from, people drive "automobiles" in cold weather. Dealers in the Northeast certainaly sold them. Volkswagen sold optiional gasoline-heaters, so I guess they figured some would be used in the cold also.
 
My dad was impressed with them. Called them the "French Lemon", which I guess "Citroen" sort-of means if translated to English. Citroën was the first to have front-wheel drive, first with unibody, and first with air-suspension.

To be technical, the French invented the four-stroke-cycle engine (it wasn't Otto),and also the "diesel" principal. The French were pretty creative until they got socialized.

Several of my 80s Subuaru 4WD wagons also had the air-suspension. Push a button and the whole car gets higher off the ground.
 
That Rootes-Group Sunbeam in Get Smart was a Carol Shelby Tiger, not a stock Alpine. I've always wondered why they did that, since that car was never used in any high-performance episodes - like James Bond's Aston was. They were fast little cars. Came with Ford 260s and 289s.
 
Ya a lot of the old VW as they got older became ticker toys as in you played with them off and on if you drove them. @ bog problems that they had was the generator system and the cooling system. Because the oil cooler sat over #3 and #4 cylinders those 2 always ran hotted and they in turn would sort of burn out before 1 and 2 did. Back when I had those VWs I had an complete engine in my room and my room was the 2nd story of the house. Brought it up there in piece and assembled it on a table I had up there. Don't remember how we got it back out of that room but we did as a complete engine
 
Here's my library book that was due back Aug 3, 1959. Yes, I'm guilty as charged, I guess. I was a kid then, fascinated with foreign cars - with things like turbochargers, overhead cams, front wheel drive, unibody, diesel engines, etc. Sound familiar now? Sounded like "Jet-Age" stuff in the 1950s. Foreign cars were way ahead of us, but we didn't care with gas at 25 cents per gallon.
"Glenn's Foreign Car Manual." 1,218 pages of pretty neat stuff. Has . . Alfa Romeo, Austin, Austin-Healy BMC, Austin A 40, 55, 60, 850, and 1800, Austin-Healey, BMW, Borgward, Citroen, DAF, Daimler, Datsun, DKW, Fiat, Ford, Glas, Humber, Isuzu, Jaguar, Lancia, Mercedes, MG, Morris, Magnette, NSU, Opel, Peugot, Porsche, Renault, Saab, Sunbeam-Hillman-Lord Rootes, Toyota, Triumph, Vauxhall, Volkswagen, and Volvo.

<a href="http://s104.photobucket.com/albums/m162/jdemaris/?action=view&amp;current=volks_1.jpg" target="_blank">
volks_1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket
</a>

<a href="http://s104.photobucket.com/albums/m162/jdemaris/?action=view&amp;current=volks_2.jpg" target="_blank">
volks_2.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket
</a>
 
A good (not rusty) 356 will be hard to find and very expensive. Porsche also made a model 912 two different times; has a 4 cyl engine and is relatively easy to work on. Also prone to rust, at leas the earlier ones. A 911 up to about 1989 is not too difficult to work on at all. The SC models from the early 80s are particularly "bullet proof" and easy to work on. A VW bug is very easy to work on (you can remove an engine in about 20 minutes), but again rust is the main problem. A good one (relatively rust-free) in most parts of the US will run over $3000. Not a great car by today's standards, but fun to own and work on if you don't need it for primary transportation.
 
$3000 ?? Geez. I junked a few last year that sat out in my woods. All sat for years but complete. I can't get used to what some stuff is selling for now adays.

When Porsche built Hitler's first "strength through joy" Beetle, it was to sell for the equiv. of $225. Seems when it became the "peoples car" instead, the price went up a bit.

My dad almost bought one in the mid-50s. Local dealer who sold odd-ball stuff had new Beetles for around $1200 and new Nash Metros for $1400. My dad bought the Metropolitan instead. Neat little car with an Austin engine.
 
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