Aircooled VW South Africa

Hi All

So I invested in a 59 beetle last weekend! It has very little rust (just a patch on the front A piller and rust under the battery - it's not rusted through though). Its got original interior (needs some serious cleaning and repadding of driver's seat though), paint (except on the fenders) and 1200 motor. Only 77 000 miles on the clock. The guy selling the car inherited it from his aunt who bought it new on 01/01/1959! I eventually managed to find a 6v battery, hooked it up and drove 2 hours back from Evander.

To do list/list of things I need advise on from ACVWSA forum ( , , ) includes:
- The car jumps if I don't get the clutch/accelerator balance perfect when taking off...cluch seems perfect when changing gear etc though (Any advice?)
- The left axle/driveshaft is bent (apparently the previous owner drove up a curb and bent it). Seems to drive fine like this, but the wheel does wobble. Drove 2 hours + back to Joburg after I bought it, and it went fine...I couldn't feel the wobble). Can I replace this without dropping the motor and taking the transmission out?
- buff old paint to see if I can make it shine again
- remove paint from fenders to try to get back to the original paint underneath
- get fenders panelbeaten back into shape (3 have some dents etc)

Once all that's done I'm gonna drop it in front, put on my 6" stock wheels and enjoy!

Photos to follow...need to find a camera

Sid

Sid

Unfortunately no advice, But I am truly happy for you. That sounds like an awesom Project, cant wait to see the photo's...

Good luck man.

Congrats on your new car, pics ASAP

Mooi man Sid

That shudder on pull of could be the steel clutch tube under the back seat came loose from the welding
Remove the back seat then you will find a cover plate in the middel of the bug which you also remove normally a star screw
Then on the passenger side under that cover you will see a tube comming from the front of the tunnel with a blob of welding that is the clutch tube it the welding is loose then it will do that
Or check under the bug by the gearbox side that the clutch rubber tube is slightly bowed and the bracket on the box does not move these are possible causes for that

Sid all the best for your project. Some pic's when you have a chance. Sounds like a good find.
May the force be with you (as well as the beers) cheers.

Congrats Sid! Now where are the pic's?

Congratulations Sid!

Hey man congrats on ur find,luckily no rust,thats a good thing,post some pics asap,would love to see what u doing......have u widened ur rears yet

Phillip wrote:Hey man congrats on ur find,luckily no rust,thats a good thing,post some pics asap,would love to see what u doing......have u widened ur rears yet

Ja, I took the wheels to Vaal Piet in Vanderbijlpark. He did a really good job, you can't even see where he has added the metal in!

So, a few pics of the car...the mirror is my favourite feature




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Not much progress on this beetle. Just been buffing the paint, removing the stickers and putting some wider wheels on

I've been thinking about the long term plan for the car... does anyone know would it be possible to run a 1600 motor off the current 6 volt system? I've done a bit of research but I wondered if anyone on the forum has done this to their own car?

I've read that I would need to use the 6 Volt flywheel from my current 1200 engine which will fit onto a 1600 crank and get a replacement bushing to use the 6V starter on the 12V bellhousing...anything else?

sid wrote:I've read that I would need to use the 6 Volt flywheel from my current 1200 engine which will fit onto a 1600 crank and get a replacement bushing to use the 6V starter on the 12V bellhousing...anything else?

A 59 36Hp 1200 6V flywheel wil not fit a 1600 crank, what you can do is retain the 1600 flywheel & clear the bellousing to fit the 1600 motor with 12v flywheel. You can retain the 6v starter.

Cool! Thanks Rui

Hey Sid, this should be a 60 model year (not 59). Push button door handles, recessed steering wheel and horn ring. Colour is ceramic green (L419) – one year only. Also last year for 36hp 1192cc motor. Enjoy!

Hi fitting a 1600 to your car is quite a big issue.
the flywheel can be changed for a 1200 model 6 v model 180mm which would allow you to retain the present clutch and starter even with 12volts those 6v starters work well. should you be so fortunate to find a 6v type three (post 66 or a post 67bus) flywheel it will be 6v ring gear but 200 mm clutch.
This will allow the engine to physically fit onto the gearbox but....
later heaterboxes his the body and will not fit unles the body is clearanced (usually with the biggest hammer you could find) or you could use non fresh air heater boxes from a 61 to 62 beetle If you can find them that is
the othe problem is the rear breast plate and std 1600 exhaust both will need trimming to fit. once this is sorted you can drive the car but the 1200 gearing will be to low for the almost double horsepower and will make you wish for longer gears

Hope this helps
Armand