finally got a real bug

[jmartin7]

I just got out of the late bug phase and into this.



I sold my badly rusty 76 and was able to get this pretty solid or slightly rusty 67 for a good deal.



That dark spot behind the rear window was rotten all the way through thanks to the late model death foam. It was also full of holes where the rear fenders bolt on as well.

Coming from a late beetle, I`m pretty familar with the character of these cars, but one thing that I have not figured out is the swing axle suspension. The car seems to sit far too low in the back and I don`t know how to adjust it. And I`m not sure what it is called, but it is missing the parts that go in between the axle and the rear stabilzer bar, but the bar itself is still there. How important are these missing parts? What do I do adjust the rear suspension? And as always all suggestions and critizism is welcomed.

[Snydr]

The 67's notoriously sit low in the back, compared to the front (as well compared to any other year beetle). As you'll come to learn, "that's just how '67s roll stock."

Welcome to '58 - '67!
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'63 Beetle Ragtop - (Build in progress)
'00 Jetta Sedan

[gt1953]

67 and 68 have the same rear suspension. The do sag, go figure its 45 yrs old. What I did with my 68 was reindexed it 2 spines on each side, it did raise it a lil bit, yes it still sags, but not like it used to. I did notice a difference in the ride however. They have the Z-bar back there as well.
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Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Find one keep it Stock. You will be glad you did.
PS Wife wants a Type 3 Fastback

[YouBugMe58]

Great looking car. Congrats on joining the 58-67 group.
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=493553
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[Keith]

'67s suspension was designed differently than '66 down in that the rear torsions are smaller diameter and therefore have a lower spring rate than '66 down bugs. They MUST be used with the Z-bar in order to work properly as this is how it was designed to function. Regardless, from the factory they sat nose high. There may be some sag too from age but that how they look normally. Reindexing your torsions is a bandaid if they are old and worn out. The only proper fix is new torsions bars. If you dont want the factory saggy look you can get '66 down rear torsion bars and omit the Z-bar as well with those. Or hook up your z-bar and put dropped spindles up from to bring it down or an adjustable front end and then you can dial it in.
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Formerly known in the forums as "OVALTEEN"

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[Dubbydubdub]

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1228718

the 3 stock bolts holds the zbar plate/springplate/wheel bearing housing in place (in that order from inside out). The rounded "U" part of the zbar bottom plate wraps around your axle tube.

if you're not seeing negative camber from the sag and plan to keep it stock, just install the plate, if you do, reindex or get new bars.

[drscope]

Since this car is new to you I'll repeat a lot of the 67 stuff that I've said many times before.

If you know your automotive history you would know about the Chevrolet Corvair and Ralph Nader. Basically the Corvair was an air cooled rear engine car similar to the Porsche 911 of it's day.

It had an oversteer issue not unlike the same charicteristics the swing axle VW has.

The fact is that the average driver doesn't know how to drive. And so if the car does anything strange, their first reaction is to lift off the gas and get on the brakes.

With an oversteering car, when it starts to step out, the instant you lift off the gas, the car is out of control and usually backwards.

In the Corvair, that killed and injured a lot of people.

By contrast, if you have an understeering car, when it starts to understeer, and you lift off the gas, the result is the car slows and usually slows enough that it regains front traction and goes around the corner.

So while an understeering car may scare you enough to make you pee your pants, it isn't going to kill you as quickly and easily as an oversteering car.

Remember we are talking about the general public here and not about high performance drivers.

Anyway, Nader and his negative publicity is what killed the Corvair.

VW needed to do something to protect the beetle from being put into that same "unsafe at any speed" category. They needed to take this oversteer prone rear engine car and make it understeer.

So in 1967 and latter, the car rode high in the front and it had more positive camber in front then before. This was done to get the front to break traction before the rear.

It rode low and soft in the rear - both characteristics that gave more rear stick.

Another evil problem swing axle cars had was the outside loaded wheel in a turn would get overloaded and tuck under. Usually when that happened you were instantly on your head!

There was a device called a Camber Compensator which basically was (is) a big leaf spring under the rear axle. It attaches to the chassis under the transmission in the center of the car and sort of pushes up on the ends of the axle which reduces the likelihood of the wheel tucking under.

This sort of device had been used successfully under other small swing axle cars in the past. But VW couldn’t fit a typical Camber Compensator to the car. Doing so would have said to the world that they had a wheel tuck issue and knew about it.

So they came up with the Z-Bar first used on the 67. This mounted to the body above the suspension and was designed in such a way that it not only reduced the wheel tuck problem, but it could also be used as a helper spring.

The Z-Bar was NEVER referred to by VW as a safety item or that it had anything to do with wheel tuck. It was simply marketed as an additional helper spring to handle loads in the vehicle.

So anyway your 67 looks funny to you because it is high in the front and low in the rear. But many, many big brains went into setting it up that way in an effort to protect the general motoring public from the evil handling of the rear engined, swing axle cars.

It is NOT sagging because of weak or smaller springs! It is supposed to sit that way for your protection and safety.

You may not like it, but that’s why it looks that way in a nut shell.

Get your Z-bar links replaced. And you can make shims to take the slack out of the links. VW left slack in there so the Z bar would only go to work under a load. But if you shim it up, you can make it work all the time.

A fully stock 67 with a shimmed Z-Bar is by far the best handling stock swing axle car ever produced by VW.
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[slik]

That is awesome info. Does that mean I should be wary of letting my wife drive a prior to 67 beetle. (I'm not joking)

[Longrifle]

X2 on the great info DrScope...listen (or read) and learn people. The 67' has limits, step one is to slow down and drive within its' limits and enjoy the ride!
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Longrifle

67' sedan, pan-off resto in the werks!

[Rome]

[jmartin7]

I`ve been away from the computer for a few days dealing with finals. I just got through today and I`m ready to work. I got a picture of the missing parts.



This is the drivers side. The one on the passenger side is missing also. The bar that goes across is still there and both of the arms that come down are still there as well. So what is the name of what I`m missing?

[66brm]

Z bar links
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Aust. RHD 66 Type 1
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[jmartin7]

I just got the brakes done, its up and drivable, and now I have a few more questions.

1. I don`t have a key for the door locks, this being a 67 what are all my options.

2. My transmission has a random leak somewhere on the driver side. I drove the car home it didn`t leak. I replaced the axle boots and gear oil and it didn`t leak. It only leaked after I drove the car when I got everything changed. I did the work on a downward facing incline, could I have overfilled the transmission and it is leaking out now that it got a good run in and its in a different position or is it something else?

3. The engine is completely unknown as to what size or mileage. I do know that it is a single port. The case is not original either, it is stamped Made In Mexico #0700. What would be the recommended clearance for the valve adjustment.

4. The engine runs good at idle and under moderate to full acceleration, but it wants to die under light or no acceleration. As the car warms up, this becomes less of an issue, but it will then strike at random and not as predictable as before. It has a 009 distributor, a Brosol H30/31, decent looking plug wires, and unknown condition spark plugs.

This is all I can think of for now.
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