TheSamba.com :: View topic - "Winterizing Procedures"

Sun Jan 03, 2016 9:33 pm

Howdy, I had just one question about what were the winterizing procedures for the beetle in the video below at the 2:28 mark? Other than that... the video is really interesting! Thanks.

Sun Jan 03, 2016 10:00 pm

Looks like some sort of intake manifold insulation, the two gauges and the intake drift guard (I like that idea!). I would guess maybe lighter weight engine oil and perhaps a case heater. I also see a trailer hitch and snow chains.

Sun Jan 03, 2016 10:03 pm

I think that same guy narrated practically EVERY documentary and TV commercial from that period!. Be interesting to know what eventually became of little red "Antarctica 1" ......

Mon Jan 04, 2016 12:43 am

Great movie, thanks for posting it.

Antarctica 1 was a 1962 Ruby Red bug. The OIC of Mawson base wanted something light and manuverable for general running around the base and VW Australia was at the same time experimenting with winterising bugs and so the factory sent the car,( with a movie camera and lots of film) down to try out. The winterising did include a 0 weight engine oil, and ATF was used in the gearbox.
They put a second 6v battery under the back seat so the starter worked on 12v but the rest of the car was 6 v. The second battery was bench charged, not connected to the generator. With that arrangement they could start it unassisted (no pre heat) at -35c and it would then continue to run, down to -50c.

It returned to Australia a year later, swapping over on the beach with an Antarctic Orange 63 bug.

The first bug has been lost and no one seems to know its final fate.

The second car, after it returned to Aus, took part in the 65 BP Around Australia rally (Google Redex Trial [the original name of the rally] for details of that). It was supposed to be unaltered from its Antarctica condition, but one Bureau of Meteorology employee named Mark Forecast (great name for a weatherman -recently deceased unfortunately) had worked on Antarctica 2, welding the frame head where it cracked from the rough ice) told me that he had a look at the car after the BP tally and could not see any of his welding. This car actually won that rally!

It has been lost too. It was a rally-cross car in Sydney got a few years then disappeared.

A third, privately owned bug went down to Mawson a few years later. It was being driving across sea ice when it hit a thin patch and broke through. The two guys were wearing Antarctic suits so could not get out the window (bugs will float for a while) and so had to open a door and and stepped out on to the ice as it sunk. They were rescued by a Polaris (early type of snow mobile) after walking about 10km back over the ice. It's still there under 75 meters of water if you want it!

Another bug went down later too. An open frame buggy. It was re-engined with a type 4 engine in about 91. Don't know if it's still there.

I used to work for the Weather Bureau in Aus and have more info on these cars on my web site.

Mon Jan 04, 2016 6:09 am

Yes that is an terrific film - a lovely record of Australian national and VW Australia history

Mon Jan 04, 2016 6:20 am

Thank you, Aussiebug for sharing your insights. Very interesting.

Mon Jan 04, 2016 8:21 am

That sunken VW bug sounds like good fodder for a National Geographic Special ...wonder how much would be left after all this time in near-frozen salt water?

Mon Jan 04, 2016 9:54 am

Digger89L wrote: That sunken VW bug sounds like good fodder for a National Geographic Special ...wonder how much would be left after all this time in near-frozen salt water?

We all might be surprised at how much is left of it . I read that metal and some other materials last longer in colder water .

Mon Jan 04, 2016 10:10 am

Thanks for that interesting history, and thanks to Bloku for posting the movie. I might never have seen it otherwise.

Mon Jan 04, 2016 3:16 pm

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/lit/10_58_winter_service_canada/1.jpg

Don

Mon Jan 04, 2016 5:05 pm

Yes it looks like they were trying to keep that carb heat. Carburetor preheat and icing is a problem even down here in Oklahoma if conditions are just right with humidity. I could just kick myself in the ass for selling this 62 way to cheap to a sambanista about 7 years ago he lives in Edmond.

Mon Jan 04, 2016 9:09 pm

No problem peeps, glad to share it :) ! And thank you Aussiebug for the incite on the Antarctica 1 . Your website has (and still does) help teenage me learn a whole lot. It taught me how to time my car a few years back! Maybe the samba could make a fundraiser to find the car and bring it back to its former glory. It was the first vw in the last frontier for the bug!

Zundfolge1432, I want to get a bone stock bug (like the one in your pictures) and fix it up to make it a daily. That car is sold so what's done is done! Meanwhile my car still has a leaky engine :wink: