Thanks again for a great newsletter. Like everyone who is our age (over 50) and who has ever owned a VW growing up yearns someday to own one again, I believe. Now that our kids are gone and married, my wife and I found and bought a '74 Sun Bug out of Atlanta which we didn't knew existed until we saw a feature article on one in the March 1998 edition of VW Trends. After driving it for two years, we took it down and had it restored to stock including finding the proper radio from a '74 VW sales brochure, the special gear shift knob on eBay, the plastic engine cover Sun Bug logo for a collector here in Dalton GA; and just recently, the special Sun Bug striping for the sides. It has won a number of first place awards in the Super Beetle stock class at local SE VW club shows over the last two years, so we decided to find another special edition. I opened one of my many VW hard cover books, this one called Volkswagen Chronicle, authored by Graham Robson and the Auto editors of Consumer Guide(R), and on page 87 there was this full page picture of a 1978 Champagne Edition II and said that I had to find one. We did on eBay and I bought it for my wife for her birthday last September. After driving it over the winter, we took it down beginning in February and had it restored just finishing it for her birthday this September. We showed it at the big SE show held just recently in Sevierville, TN in October. We drove it up over the Smokies to get their and she won two first place awards "right out of the gate"--Convertible Stock, all years; and Super Beetle Stock. Good thing didn't run against with the Sun Bug.

Why am I telling you all this. I thought maybe Dan would like pictures for his new web page or you for spotlighting. Secondly, I am looking for another special edition since I have three sons and only two VW's at present. I wanted to tell Dan that I stumbled on a SE Super Beetle web site the same evening I found your web site using Google's search engine. Dan might want to check out this special edition web site. It is: www.sebeetles.com. And if you or Dan are interested, I could send pictures of each vehicle. I've had the Sun Bug on the Sun Bug web site: http://bellsouthpwp.net/s/a/saarij/sunbug before I found the gear shift knob and added the striping. My good friend Phillip Colquette who I met at previous SE meets just added his Sun Bug (in disguise) and it was Tony Towny, who also has a Sun Bug on this same web page, who took a digital picture of his striping and sent to me so I could arrange with ActionGrafix in AZ to make a set. They even made a facsimile front license plate for the Champaign Edition II to match the one on the Special Edition web site.

I've talked enough like all who have a VW story or two, but again, the articles in the newsletters are great. Keep it up.
Regards,

Bill Schuler
Dalton, GA

I'll pass your message about the SE Beetle web site along to Dan. There is a link at the bottom of each Spotlight so you can contact the owner yourself. I met the owner of the SE Beetle site while I was on holiday in the UK, and Colin is a special edition fan like you and I. We'd love to see pictures of your Beetles at the site and could talk about putting them in the Spotlight too.

Wayne-SuperBeetles.Com

Hi,

I just wanted to say hi and offer my thanks for such a great site! I love the format, obviously some of the technologies are mind-blowing….and the stories are my favorite. I enjoy the stories of the Bugs and their owners more than anything else.

Well, I’ve bookmarked the site, I’ll certainly be back – it has been a great hour plowing around here.

John

Thank you for all your kind words. I do put a lot of work into this site because of my love for the air-cooled Beetle. Comments like yours make it all worthwhile.

Wayne-SuperBeetles.Com

Dear SuperBeetles.Com,

I am restoring a 74 Super Beetle, that needs all 4 fenders. My question is, can I use 73 fenders and bumper brackets with my 74 bumpers. I would like to eliminate the bumper shocks, and go with the narrow style brackets. From what I've seen the fenders are 74 only. I am wondering if the bumper brackets are the only deference.

Thanks,
Ryan

We asked VW expert John Spironello from John's Bug Shop your question, and this is what he told us...

"Sounds a little confusing but I'll try to answer. In order to put 73 style fenders and bumper brackets on the 74, and use the 74 and later style bumpers would require you first to change the bumper bracket mounts where the bumper bracket attaches to the body. The 74 style shock absorber mounting brackets on the car would have to be replaced with the 73 and earlier style, available as a replacement Body panel (Bumper Bracket retainer , or Inner Wing as some call it) . Once this rust repair/replacement panel is welded and fit into the original location/place, the 73 fenders will fit on. The flat style bumper brackets will now be able to bolt into place on the body. For the question about the late style bumpers fitting early flat brackets, I'm not exactly sure if the curve is the same. You may have to put some spacers in between the bumper and the bracket in order to get the bumper to fit right. You will have to drill an extra hole or two in each bumper under the impact strip so that the holes from the bracket will match that of the bumper. I would recommend using the earlier style bumper for ease of installation, but I'm not ruling out that the late style won't work. Hope the info helps out. John Spironello - John's Bug Shop"

I hope John answered all your questions,

Wayne-SuperBeetles.Com

Dear SuperBeetles.Com

I have just read the section on storing Your VW for the winter. Well, I'm just glad that we don't have any winters as bad as you have in Northern America. Winter is the best season to drive our air cooled Volkswagens, as the heaters work great, and normally we don't have any ice on the road and salt isn't applied to our roads (only to our fish & fries). I realize that we are lucky that we can drive our VWs 52 weeks a year without any problems. If anything, we would store our VWs in the summer as air conditioning is a must in our very hot summers. I plan on adding an air conditioner to my '68 Autobug in the near future. Air Conditioned air cooled Volkswagens are VERY rare here in Australia as it wasn't an option from Volkswagen of Australia.

Thanks for a great site which I frequent very often....

Lee Noonan
Scone NSW Australia

Actually, air conditioning is pretty rare in North America too, even though it was only a couple of hundred dollars for the option back in the day. People believed that the AC would under power the Beetle that was already considered slow by American car standards. In the northern US and most of Canada we have to store our Beetles (unless you want it eaten up by rust) from November to April every year. That is why we try to make the most of the short season we have.

Wayne-SuperBeetles.Com

Dear SuperBeetles.Com

The article by Rick Higgens on body removal was a great help. But I thought it might be worth while to point out one problem I had. After disconnecting all of the wires, hoses, bolts, tie rod ends etc. on my '73 Super Beetle, I hoisted the front end off the ground. To my surprise, the chassis came up as well. The trouble was a dealer-installed air conditioning system at the very front of the car that was bolted to both the body and the front headframe. I'd suggest that anyone with a louvered front skirt check for a/c connections before lifting the body. They're pretty well hidden. Thanks.

-Andy Scott

Thanks for that tip Andy. We're going to add it to the Body Removal article in the Tech Talk with Rick section.

Wayne-SuperBeetles.Com

Dear SuperBeetles.Com

Just wanted to let you know I stumbled on your web site the other day and think it is great. I was just starting to replace my floor pans and found your article on Floor Pan replacement. This was the best information I have found on pan replacement. It was easy to understand, and the photo's were very helpful. I'm pretty competent at all of the mechanical work on the car, but was a little nervous about tackling the pans. After reading your article it was a piece of cake.

Thanks for a great web site,
Brian Andress

Brian,

The pages that you are referring to were written by Rick Higgens from Bug Me Video. Rick has a set of videos that cover just about any repair you can think of on a Beetle. I'm glad they were of help to you and you can learn more about Rick and his videos at his web site www.bugmevideo.com Good luck with your car!

Wayne-SuperBeetles.Com

Dear Idle Chatter,

I am in possession (2nd owner) of a 1976 Bicentennial Edition VW convertible. I was told only one car of this type was made available per VW dealer throughout the USA. Furthermore, since my car was delivered to an Arizona dealer and originally owned by a famous businessman (Richard Gaylord: Inventor of the first retractable hardtop and originator of the 1952 Gaylord automobile.) It came with a rare 'Southwestern' interior design. I have yet to hear about another with this interior option in existence today. The car has less than 15,000 original miles and came fully loaded...A/C, 8-Track, full body trim, etc... It is in very good (near mint) original condition but unfortunately has had a few minor modifications such as CB, multiple gauges. The original owner added just about every gauge he could get his hands onto because he was an engineer and had a fascination with same. As a matter of fact, the 52 Gaylord car also came with a multitude of gauges along the same lines. All are VDO.

I am trying to gather more information about my car so I have a better idea of it's value and rarity. Can you help in any way?

Kind Regards, Ron

Ron,

I have never heard of a special edition Beetle with a name like that before. I've done some checking (at SE Beetles) and no one seems to have heard of it either. It could be model that was put together at the dealer level, with the dealership doing the customizing in house. There is no doubt that your Beetle is a rarity, and the fact that it only has 15,000 miles with you being the 2nd owner doesn't hurt either.

As for the dash I'd try to get it back to original condition be removing all those gauges, You still can purchase most parts for the Super Beetle convertible. The vehicle would be worth much more if it was in original stock condition.

Wayne-SuperBeetles.Com

Hello SuperBeetles.Com,

I'm a 13-year old boy (will be 14 by August) from the Philippines. I'm a loyal Volkswagen enthusiast and because of that I was given a chance to be a member of Volkswagen Club of the Philippines. My dream Volkswagen is a 1973 Beetle, but I have some problems about dreaming it...

1. I can't choose between a Super Beetle 1303 or Standard Beetle! 2. I can't determine what is the best stock (year-correct factory) paint job for it! 3. I can't determine if 2 1/4" whitewall 560-15 stock tires look good on it's stock wheels! 4. I can't determine if a vintage Beetle roof rack look good on it! I hope you could help me with this problems of mine! Please give me recommendations so it can be solved!

PS A private party imports brand-new air-cooled Mexican Beetles here in the Philippines and sells them for Php 698,000 or approximately $13,000US. From July 2002 to February 2003, they were able to sell 25 units. It comes with air conditioning and security alarm as standard equipment.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Bautista

Jonathan,

It's great to hear from such a young Volkswagen enthusiast with such a heart felt love for the Beetle. Buying your first Beetle is a hard decision and a subjective one. Either a 1303 or standard Beetle will serve you well. The Super Beetle does have more storage room and better suspension than the standard. 1973 is the first year for the curved windshield and full dash and some people do not like that style, it's a matter of your own taste. You should have to look at the 1302/1303 Super Beetle and standard Beetle and see what appeals to you. The next decision is whether you want to go stock or custom with your Beetle. If you go stock, do you want to go 100% stock? In which case you should check to see if that Beetle came with whitewall tires. If you want the stock look when repainting you should either stick with the original colour or another from the same year. It's actually harder in some cases to keep a Beetle stock because you might not be able to find all the original pieces to put it back to original condition. As far as the luggage rack goes I think they look pretty cool on a stock or custom Beetle.

Take some time and look through our Gallery and Spotlight sections, after a while you'll get and idea of what appeals to you. You might even want to mix a bit of the custom look with the stock items. Whatever you decide you're going to love owning one. Who says you won't get another in time and do that one up in a totally different style, it's all good!

Wayne, SuperBeetles.Com

SuperBeetles.Com

Thanks for a good advice on the tech pages. I've read your site two times it's so good!

Thanks again
Skip Cormier

Thank you for your kind words Skip. I myself have to thank Rick Higgens from Bug Me Video and Jeff Hamilton from ReVolks for all their hard work. Every month these two Volkswagen enthusiasts come up with a different topic and photos that you see in these two informative sections. Our idea at the site is to build an archive of tech articles that air-cooled VW owners can access to help work on their cars.

Wayne, SuperBeetles.Com

Tech Talk with Rick,

I have just been reading this months pages from You ,and I was very impressed. I noticed the 1965 beetle You were working on had a push button rear deck lid lock.... My Son has one of these hanging in His shed, even though they were never fitted to Australian Beetles. VW Australasia made the 1964 Beetle until late 1967 with no changes excepting the 1300 engine replacing the 40 HP 1200 engine. We received the Large Glass, Vertical Headlamps 12 volts etc. in 1968... No rare 1967 Beetles here... When I first saw the 1967 Beetle diecast model (authorized by VW AG) about 8-10 years ago... I thought... they have it ALL wrong... Large Glass - Vertical Headlamps with horn grills, early bumpers with flat hubcaps and slotted wheels.... until many years later after - where I read about the rare One Year only model Beetle... and then the 1966 & 1965 models... which We NEVER Had. We never had the type 1 Karmann Cabriolet or the Karmann Ghia Cabriolet, in fact We only had the Karmann Ghia coupe until around 1960...

One thing We did have though, was Unique Tail lamps in late 1960-1961 with the top half being amber and the lower half being red... in 1962 the normal tail lamps (mounted higher) were introduced with the towel rail bumpers. I do have a photo of the tail lamps if You would like a look. They are NLA although they were made by Hella in Germany and they were roughly 2" smaller than the 1962 tail lamps.. All restored 1960-61 cars now have the later tail lamps as on the 1965 You were working on. I am restoring a 1968 stick shift Beetle, which hopefully will be finished within the next 4 months. The 1303S curved windscreen Beetle was called the "L" Beetle in Australia and had a "Volkswagen L" badge on the deck lid. The 1302S Super Beetle was called the Super Bug in Australia.

Regards

Lee Noonan 68AutoBug

Hi Lee,

I have worked on the beetles since 1962 and have been around them since 1955 as my step father worked at the first VW dealership in Indiana. Nonetheless I continue to see and hear of things like you are mentioning. Things I never knew existed. The VW has such a vast history. Guess that is just another one of the things that keeps the interest in them alive. I would like to see a picture of those tail lights you describe. I am adding your letter to my VW files. I would like someday to do a video on all or at least as many of the changes as I can. I think it would not only be interesting but a great aid to the restorers. Besides it would be fun to shoot.

That company that made that die cast 67 beetle used a good friend of mines perfect 67 bug as it's model. He has the first die cast model that was made. He had the largest VW restoration operation ever. He had 80 employees working 2 shifts. He turned out thousands of bugs until the stock market crashed on "black Monday". He was forced to close down. You will be seeing more about him and his part in VW history soon.
Thanks for interest and the info.

Rick Higgins, SuperBeetles.Com, Bug Me Video

Hello!

I would like to tell you how much I like your site you have. I go there often, and is one of my favorite VW sites. I enjoy the trivia very much and want to know if you are going to be putting more games up soon for the trivia with more questions? You do a excellent job on the site...it looks awesome.

Thanks,
Jordan Cyr

Thanks for your kind words Jordan. I'm always looking for new questions and answers that will make up the next Online Trivia game. If anyone has some that they would like to contribute please send them my way. As for the next edition of trivia, subscribe to our FREE monthly news letter you'll be one of the first to know.

Wayne, SuperBeetles.Com

Dear SuperBeetles.Com,

I have developed a frustrating problem recently on my 1971 Super Beetle. I do not get a half mile from my garage until the Bug is sputtering and dies, just like it has run out of fuel. I checked the" see through" fuel filter and it is empty. I have replaced the fuel pump, it did not fix the problem. I have replaced the fuel lines, this did not fix the problem. I used 1/4 inch flexible copper tubing. I have a single 1/4 inch line venting the gas tank. I check the fuel filter when the engine stops and it is empty, after about 1/2 hour the car will restart and run for the same short period. What is stopping my fuel from flowing? This has become very frustrating.

Thanks,

Steve

Here's some advice from Jeff Hamilton.

You probably have dirty gas tank or clogged fuel "sock" at the bottom of the tank. This same thing happened to me when I was a younger guy living at home with my folks. I would startup my beetle and I'd always get to the DVP south bound ramp and the engine would die - exact same phenomenon - wait, then it'd run fine for a few kms and then die again..... I finally got sick of this performance and asked my Dad to take the bug into work (he was a mechanic) and he found the fuel tank had about 1" of "garbage" collected at the bottom of the tank by the fuel sock. The "garbage" choked-off the fuel sock. He removed the tank for me after siphoning off the gas and then simply washed the inside out with water (fuel tank upside down) and dried it again with compressed air. After this operation it ran great for the rest of the years I owned and drove it in Scarberia :)

Since you've replaced the fuel lines, filter and pump, it's the most likely thing. It would also be possible that there's sufficient rusting inside the
original metal line to be blocking it off but he said he replaced that too with copper line..... On all of my Vdubs, I run a "see through" filter
immediately after the fuel tank/before the hard-line through the tunnel and then a secondary fuel filter between the rear hard-line and the flex line before the fuel pump, this way I can keep the tunnel-section of hard-line clean (the first filter will catch the debris) plus it's easy to see how much trash is coming out of the tank and how frequently it would otherwise choke-up my fuel pump (I always run electric fuel pumps anymore).

Hope this helps

Jeff-reVolks.com & SuperBeetles.Com

SuperBeetles.Com,

I wanted to drop you a note commending you for the terrific site! I recently picked up a 1972 canary yellow Super off of eBay from a gentlemen in Ann Arbor, MI. So far, yours has been the most informative and extensive site I've found on Supers. I was a little distressed about reading your bit on the rarity of 1302 hoods; my Super (AKA "Louis") was struck by an out-of-control motorist last week, pushing in the front bumper and denting the nose of the hood. (All of this while he was parked on a quiet side street in front of my work-- talk about bad luck!)

Thanks,

Russell W.
Jefferson City, MO

-I can tell that you've been reading the "My Dairy" section of the site. If you read a little further you'd see that I did manage to locate a brand new hood from a VW dealer here in Toronto, but it was a bit pricey. Replacing the hood should depend on just how badly bent it is. You might be able to repair the hood and keep your car all original at a good body shop. After I bought the hood for my Super I got all kinds of offers of good used ones. You could try a locate scrap yard or go to AllAirCooled.Com and search for one in your area, good luck!

Wayne, SuperBeetles.Com

Just surfed onto the site after test driving my first Super Beetle in over twenty years, may even buy it. The heater channel story was great. It's amazing how many things can have a huge impact on future restoration time and money. I look forward to picking up a 71 soon (to replace the one I unceremoniously traded away in 1976) Great site, keep up the good information!

Gary Mayer

-Anyone that has every looked into restoring a Beetle knows just how bad heater channel rot can be. After reading Jeff's article it helps you to realize that rusty heater channels are not always a terminal illness for a Beetle. Good luck on your future purchase, a 1971 Super Beetle is always a good bet!

Wayne, SuperBeetles.Com

Hi, I just wanted to let you know what a great web site you guys run. I love to browse through it all the time and especially like the "Tech Talk With Rick" section - it helps a complete novice like me. I get excited when I get my monthly newsletter email. I love the fact that the site is free and hope it stays that way! I just wanted to drop you a line to let you know that your efforts and hard work are greatly appreciated. Keep up the good work!!

Peter Fadden

-Thanks Peter! I'm glad you like the "Tech Talk with Rick" section and I would like to thank Rick Higgens from "Bug Me Video" for taking the time to put that page together every month. Running this site is a lot of work but our love of the air-cooled VW and comments from people like you make it all worth while.

Wayne, SuperBeetles.Com

For submission to this page send your comments to mail@SuperBeetles.com