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Tue Mar 04, 2003 6:00 pm

I have a '61 ragtop. I have been told that it should have a fuel reserve lever because it has no gas gauge. Where is this lever located?

thanks
Drew

Tue Mar 04, 2003 7:08 pm

The lever is centraly located in the front fire wall just above the frame tunnel. The idea is that you use your right foot to kick the lever to the reserve position while the car is still being driven. There should be a hole where the lever comes into the cabin. If there is no lever there should be a hole where the lever should be with a rubber grommet. You might want to check your fuel tank outlet to see if there is a reserve valve at the bottom of your fuel tank., Crawl under the front axle, find the fuel line where it enters the tunnel resverse direction and follow the fuel line up to the tank. If there is a large roundish thing at the bottom of the tank this is the fuel reserve valve. Good Luck!

Wed Mar 05, 2003 10:17 pm

And as for which is "main" and which is "reserve" - to the left (usually upright) is the main and to the right (usually angled to the right) is reserve.

That gives you about 5 litres (1.5US gals) more.

It's done very simply with two outlet pipes - the main projects up inside the tank about an inch. The reserve has it's tank outlet in the bottom of the tank (both on the one fitting).

Rob
Rob and Dave's aircooled VW pages
Repairs and maintenance for the home mechanic
http://www.geocities.com/aussiebug1970/

Wed Mar 05, 2003 10:20 pm

Do 68 verts have this reserve lever?

Wed Mar 05, 2003 10:22 pm

61 was the last year for reserves(except for standard models)

Thu Mar 06, 2003 10:43 pm

Mike, in 62 the bugs got fuel guages (first mechanical, then electrical) so they didn't need the reserve lever after that.

Kinda fun and quirky driving an old bug with a fuel guage (I learned to drive in a 60).

Rob
Rob and Dave's aircooled VW pages
Repairs and maintenance for the home mechanic
http://www.geocities.com/aussiebug1970/

Thu Mar 06, 2003 10:44 pm

Ugh - typo again...

kinda fun and quirky driving and old bug withOUT a fuel guage.

Rob