TheSamba.com :: View topic

Mon Mar 25, 2024 5:53 am

Hello everyone, this weekend I picked up a 72 Super as the title says. I'm pretty excited! My family had an orange autostick way back in the day that dissolved from NY rust and I've always wanted an orange one since, particularly a 1972 'cause that's my manufacture date as well. I'm an aircraft mechanic so I'm not afraid of any mechanical work aside from welding. I've restored a few vintage Vespas and it was time to move to four wheels.

Supposedly 29K original miles and years of neglect. 1st owner bought it in 74. He passed in 1990 and his widow wouldn't part with it until a couple years ago. It sat covered for around 30 years. I got it from the second owner. Every piece of rubber is done for. 2nd owner did all brakes/lines/MC and put a new carb on it. Good floor pans. Has a small hole in the bottom of the Napolean Hat that I might have patched eventually.

I drove it 90 miles home and it feels like all the bushings in the front are gone. About halfway home the generator light came on so I have questions.
Battery is very old, can that cause the gen light to appear?
I'm going to pull the generator and check brushes/clean it etc.
Batt ground and positive cables look pretty worn so will be replaced.
I have the Muir book ordered.

Plan is to get it somewhat reliable to drive around town with the Mrs. on sunny days.

Mon Mar 25, 2024 6:11 am

Congratulations on a great find! Looks like a very easy project and a very sound car. Good look,keep us updated. :)

Mon Mar 25, 2024 7:07 am

Put a meter on the battery while running. That will tell you if you need to dig into the gen/alt.

Mon Mar 25, 2024 7:16 am

Wow, looks like a real gem to start with! Welcome. Be sure to get a copy of the orange Bentley service manual for '71+ Beetles and Ghias. You'll need to familiarize yourself w/the components, it will make your restoration work and diagnostics much easier, including familiarizing yourself w/the basics of the Bug!

Mon Mar 25, 2024 7:33 am

bsairhead wrote: Put a meter on the battery while running. That will tell you if you need to dig into the gen/alt.

Will do, thanks.

Also the brake warning light came on at the same time as the gen light. I found the parking brake does nothing so maybe the switch there is inop.

Mon Mar 25, 2024 8:19 am

Congratulations, and welcome to the Samba!! Yeah, looks like a great find indeed. But as with any car that has been sitting for that many years, you'll likely have to go through just about everything to bring it back up to full running condition.

Recommend you focus and work through one or two systems at a time, at most. Typical advice is to start with the brake system, and then onto mechanicals and electrical system (aka "First make it stop, next make it go, last make it pretty").

As noted above, you'll definitely want to get a copy of the orange Bentley shop manual and start getting familiar with it. Also look up the wiring diagrams in there and on this site. The Samba's "Technical" section (above) has an absolute wealth of information, as do searches in the "Forums" section for just about any subject or question you can think of.

Finally, start acquainting yourself with the various replacement part options and related considerations (vendors, classifieds, etc.). Sources, cost, and quality vary widely nowadays, so it definitely pays to do some significant research before you start buying these.

Here's wishing you good luck and fun w/ your new project! :-)

Mon Mar 25, 2024 8:29 am

I'll definitely get the Bentley manual.

Mon Mar 25, 2024 10:37 am

So who doesn't love an orange Super Beetle???...

Only the coolest color next to yellow...IMHO...:)

Welcome to the chaos...a great bunch of folks on here to help you thru your VW journey....

One bite at a time my friend...

MikeC

Tue Mar 26, 2024 10:09 am

I've got the Energy Suspension poly bushings in my 72 super and it handles awesome. The kit is 50 bucks, available on their website, or Amazon or Ebay usually too.

https://www.energysuspensionparts.com/15.3106

Tue Mar 26, 2024 10:11 am

Buggeee wrote: I've got the Energy Suspension poly bushings in my 72 super and it handles awesome. The kit is 50 bucks, available on their website, or Amazon or Ebay usually too.

https://www.energysuspensionparts.com/15.3106
Buggee, do the control arm ones require keeping the metal sleeve of the factory bushing rubber?

Tue Mar 26, 2024 11:48 am

Buggeee wrote: I've got the Energy Suspension poly bushings in my 72 super and it handles awesome. The kit is 50 bucks, available on their website, or Amazon or Ebay usually too.

https://www.energysuspensionparts.com/15.3106

Thanks for the link. That's definitely on the list along with the idler arm bushing.

Tue Mar 26, 2024 3:59 pm

PiperFixer wrote: I drove it 90 miles home... About halfway home the generator light came on...
Welcome!

You might know this, but since you didn't mention it... The generator light also can indicate that you've lost the belt and in that case you will have lost both cooling and charging. The loss of cooling is a big deal. When the generator light comes on while driving, you need to immediately determine whether or not you still have cooling before continuing to drive. Usually this means shutting off the engine and pulling over to look at the belt.

Tue Mar 26, 2024 4:08 pm

PiperFixer wrote: Also the brake warning light came on at the same time as the gen light. I found the parking brake does nothing so maybe the switch there is inop.
That might be a significant clue if the two light really came on at the same time. The problem might not be with the brakes or the generator, but with some wiring. Off the top of my head, I don't know what those two lights share, but it could be worth studying the wiring diagram.

The parking brake doesn't have any electrical connection as far as I remember.

Tue Mar 26, 2024 5:33 pm

The gen light will also activate the brake warning light, they share a ground or power path somehow, its been explained here elsewhere. if your brakes work fine then the gen not charging it what is turning on the brake light.

Wed Mar 27, 2024 6:58 am

kpf wrote: PiperFixer wrote: I drove it 90 miles home... About halfway home the generator light came on...
Welcome!

You might know this, but since you didn't mention it... The generator light also can indicate that you've lost the belt and in that case you will have lost both cooling and charging. The loss of cooling is a big deal. When the generator light comes on while driving, you need to immediately determine whether or not you still have cooling before continuing to drive. Usually this means shutting off the engine and pulling over to look at the belt.

Yeah first thing I did was check the belt. All good there. Buying a new battery today and will check running voltage and wiring security.

Thu Mar 28, 2024 1:53 pm

PiperFixer wrote: I'm going to pull the generator and check brushes/clean it etc.
Batt ground and positive cables look pretty worn so will be replaced.
As you're about to discover, pulling the generator is no easy task on a VW. Also, it's not necessary. There are springs that hold pressure on the generator brushes. Remove the plastic cover (if there is one) and check that there is sufficient pressure on those springs. If not, you can stuff something between the spring and the brush to add a little pressure. If the light goes out, simply change the brushes.

As you change the brushes, you'll discover that the top one is easy, so do it first. The bottom one is tough, because it's backwards and upside down, but some perseverance will get it.

More VW generators have been replaced over a lousy $5 set of brushes that you can possibly imagine.

Thu Mar 28, 2024 2:14 pm

Looks like a nice find!

Thu Mar 28, 2024 6:14 pm

Some good news, put a new battery in and I’m getting mid-13s at high idle and low 14s at speed for voltage readings. No gen or brake lights illuminated.
Threw in some new plugs. The old ones weren’t too bad, nothing fouled or anything like that.

Oil change happens tomorrow.

Fri Mar 29, 2024 6:26 am

Now brake lights are intermittent/not working. Wife followed me the other day and said they were working. Going to check the fuse and clean the switch contacts.

Fri Mar 29, 2024 7:34 am

PiperFixer wrote: Now brake lights are intermittent/not working. Wife followed me the other day and said they were working. Going to check the fuse and clean the switch contacts.
Check the brake/tail light contacts. They get corroded and sometimes bent and loose good contact.
I was dealing with this exact issue earlier this week.

I used a little chrome polish on a small felt disc mounted on my Dremal arbor. The contacts shined right up.