the 74 with the energy absorbers failed miserably on the 74 Bug I was a passenger in when it hit a 68 Buick Wildcat head on. The Cat killed the Bug in that meeting and I exited through the front windshield.....
'74 Beetle Daily Driver
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the 74 with the energy absorbers failed miserably on the 74 Bug I was a passenger in when it hit a 68 Buick Wildcat head on. The Cat killed the Bug in that meeting and I exited through the front windshield.....
When I had my Ghia ('71 green w/ 4 sp) I picked up some extra wheels. When I got them home I noticed they were not as wide as what was on the Ghia.
Sorry for the (very) late reply. Anyways my plans with the car are to build it a little bit here and there, one piece at a time. Eventually I'll probably find an early car and yank this engine/trans and out and drop it in that car, but for now I'll enjoy this car as it is. Currently battling a very highly reviewed exhaust system that doesn't fit and was improperly bent. The company I bought it from says "Defective parts are an unavoidable fact of life in the autoparts world." Now does that sound like someone you want to do business with? If only they told me that somewhere other than the receipt that arrived with the package. Anyway, once I get the exhaust squared away I'll do the valve adjustment and most likely fiddle with the 30/31 carb or possibly slap a Kadron on it and play with a few other parts while I'm at it
Well, after spending a short summer with the bug, I've realized that maybe I got a bad one. This car has been even more unreliable than my Cutlass(and that's saying something). Sure it's cool, but now I'm at my wit's end.
I'll explain my problem;
Points are good, Valve adjustment good, I have spark at each plug, fairly new cap and rotor, plugs and wires have 500 miles on them and are free of fouling or broken/melted wire. Newer fuel pump, unsure of fuel filter condition, and unsure of ignition coil condition, no vacuum leaks found either. No carbon/exhaust buildup in the valve cover area. The car has an extreme misfire. It shows no symptoms of a burned valve. Severe lack of power, but drivable. Today the car drove ok for about 8 miles, then it began backfiring out the exhaust on-throttle, at high-ish RPM. The driver's side exhaust, #3 & #4, is very hot and the chrome exhaust tip is kind of "heat-treated" gold now. The passenger side exhaust tip, #1 & #2, is still perfectly chrome, but cold to the touch if it's idling(gets much hotter after driving), and the exhaust coming out is far colder than the other side. If the engine is running at any throttle position, unplugging the #1 wire from the distributor makes no difference in how the engine runs. If I hold the plug wire just barely over the #1 pole on the dist. cap, enough to see the spark between the cap and wire, the engine runs slightly better, but fully connecting the plug wire has the same effect as completely disconnecting it. The #1 plug has spark, but isn't firing in the cylinder, it seems. I'm stumped at this point, and I either need to make it run properly and keep it, or fix it and sell it. Either way I need to fix this car. If anyone here could point me in the right direction that would be fantastic.
Picture just for fun
I'll explain my problem;
Points are good, Valve adjustment good, I have spark at each plug, fairly new cap and rotor, plugs and wires have 500 miles on them and are free of fouling or broken/melted wire. Newer fuel pump, unsure of fuel filter condition, and unsure of ignition coil condition, no vacuum leaks found either. No carbon/exhaust buildup in the valve cover area. The car has an extreme misfire. It shows no symptoms of a burned valve. Severe lack of power, but drivable. Today the car drove ok for about 8 miles, then it began backfiring out the exhaust on-throttle, at high-ish RPM. The driver's side exhaust, #3 & #4, is very hot and the chrome exhaust tip is kind of "heat-treated" gold now. The passenger side exhaust tip, #1 & #2, is still perfectly chrome, but cold to the touch if it's idling(gets much hotter after driving), and the exhaust coming out is far colder than the other side. If the engine is running at any throttle position, unplugging the #1 wire from the distributor makes no difference in how the engine runs. If I hold the plug wire just barely over the #1 pole on the dist. cap, enough to see the spark between the cap and wire, the engine runs slightly better, but fully connecting the plug wire has the same effect as completely disconnecting it. The #1 plug has spark, but isn't firing in the cylinder, it seems. I'm stumped at this point, and I either need to make it run properly and keep it, or fix it and sell it. Either way I need to fix this car. If anyone here could point me in the right direction that would be fantastic.
Picture just for fun
Forgot to mention, driver's side blows a bit of black smoke on-throttle. Since it's a 1-bbl carb with no secondary, I can't explain the imbalance for each side
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