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Sat May 04, 2013 9:51 am

Hello All... I recently got a 1975 VW Dune Buggy that my wife's Grandfather left her when he passed. Runs good but I have never worked on a VW engine before. Went to take off what i thought would be the air filter and found oil in the case. Needless to say i spilled some of it on the driveway. I have been trying to do some research on this rear mounted engine but havnt really found what im looking for. Perhaps someone can answer a few questions for me or point me in direction of a good website that may assist me in doing some tuneup's or minor maintance.

What type of oil should be in that 2 part housing? and how much?
There is a "valve" that runs from that housing down past the engine and pretty much just dumps the oil / liquid out the bottom, is that normal?

What would be the suggested oil type for changing the oil and I believe this is an oil cooled engine as well.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. If anyone wants a photo of the engine ill gladly post that if needed.

Thx

Sat May 04, 2013 10:17 am

VW Oil bath air cleaner.
pour out old oil, Wipe out housing,
Fill to the line with motor oil (same as you use in your vw motor) and your good to go.

you can see orange line in this picture.

Sat May 04, 2013 10:43 am

As for changing the oil there's great debete as the the best type. VW used to recommend a straight 30 but this advice was changed in the 70s to a 20W/50. Basically any basic mulitgrade for older engines will be fine, no need for fancy synthetic stuff, a 20W/50 or a 15W/40 will do nicely. There's a strainer in the 'sump' that you should clean and check or change if it's seen better days. You'll need a little kit with two gaskets and some sealing washers too.

Not sure about your 'valve', could you post a photo?

Strainer...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VW-Beetle-Oil-Strainer-Typ...mp;vxp=mtr

Gaskets...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fel-Pro-OS21625-Oil-Strain...mp;vxp=mtr

Sat May 04, 2013 2:35 pm

I have this type of Oil Bath Air Filter and there is not orange line to fill too. Am guessing that i should fill it to the rim of the lower portion.. correct?

I seen on a different thread there was a discussion on the Oil Bath Air Filters are superior then the paper ones. What application is that better in? If im just driving this as a cruising car, would i notice a difference with either? My only complaint with the oil was it was dripping out the dump line when it warmed up. But for all i know someone over filled it.

Thanks

Mon May 06, 2013 9:34 am

The oil bath filter was developed for the german military for dusty conditions in Africa etc.

The only major drawback with the oil filter is that if you do a bunch of tight turns the oil can slosh around and pour out.

Regarding your valve, I think you mean a flapper. If you note, there is a hole for a hose coming up to it (maybe .75 inches in diameter). It was a preheater hose. This flapper opens up when you gun the engine..similar to an exhaust flapper on old tractors...when you gave the tractor throttle, the flapper opens up and closes when there is less pressure.

The oil bath filter is the stock filter and functions fine. Most times they are tossed and a paper element filter is used instead.. To refill it, it must be drained, then fill it to the little lip in the bottom of it.

I am sorry for your loss of your grandfather. I hope that you can enjoy the car in his memory.

Mon May 06, 2013 11:14 am

Congrats on being a buggy owner and welcome to the Samba. VWs to me are one of the easiest to work on. Then again a '57 was my first car and what I learned on. Most likely your buggy is on a "Pan" or chassis that is older. Most of the models are very similar and you'll learn the differences here on Samba. You can see a lot in the Technical drop down above and to the right. Check out the owners manuals which have a lot of basic maintenance procedures in them. There's also some references to find out what year your pan and motor are. AND I've also gotten great help here, just by asking. Here's a link to a page with alot of good how to stuff.
http://www.vw-resource.com/index.html

Tue May 07, 2013 12:16 pm

The posters on this site tend to favor that oil bath air cleaner :) , but I like the factory paper filter unit that replaced it a few years later in the early 70's, like this one:

http://www.cbperformance.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=043%2D129%2D607c

There's no oil to clean out, the filter element fits a bunch of cars on into the early 90's and is about $5 from Wix, it's designed to be rained on without getting water in the carb, etc.. Just don't replace that oil bath unit with anything round chrome and Chinese, they rust in a month and won't keep your carb dry..