“Ella’s” new beginning…

[CoastalBug]

[OldSchoolVW's]

[CoastalBug]

[Bobs67vwagen]

Are the tires on the car now 165-80R-15? The width of the wheel can usually be found on the inner hub of the wheels near the lug nuts.. it will say 4jx15, or 4 1/2 jx15. . Bob

[CoastalBug]

[Bobs67vwagen]

Chris I asked about tire size because the 165s are close to what the car came with originally. Back then they were either 560-15 or 600-15 and were bias ply tires. When the 67s were new with the wider track transaxle( which your 68 also has ) they made the rear fender a little wider to accomodate that. If you go to a wider tire you may create some new issues such as fender scraping and tire scraping on turns. Do some reading on this before making the changes to avoid problems. Bob

[CoastalBug]

Ella and I had a good day yesterday. I feel like I passed the VW Clubs initiation day. We went for the longest drive yet, about 40 miles round trip, stoped off at the VW house for parts, our local VW clubs presidents house, Oreillys for more stuff, and she got an oil change, new shift coupler, new boot strap, new valve cover gaskets, and a valve adjustment! She even got up to 65mph on the freeway (which was a little butt puckering) but she was great!

There was definitely a major sense of satisfaction after I was done. I’ve done a lot of things on cars but have never adjusted valves! It was quite fun!

_________________
Chris - 1968 Beetle Sedan, a book, and a lot of determination.

[Bobs67vwagen]

Good work Chris , it does feel good to not be dependant on others to do things like valve adjustments. Sometime long ago before the internet one of my vw friends told me that the 2 most important things to do on your acvws were to change the oil often and check valve clearances. That has served me well for about 57 years. In that time I have never blown a motor or even suffered a breakdown that I could not remedy with my spare parts assortment that I always carried. This included 5 one way trips of 3k miles across country along with regular commuting to work with the cars. Most of the time unless your engine has been apart recently or run very hot recently the valve adjustments will really be a valve check where you run the feeler gauge through each one to make sure nothing has changed. Now you will find that there are folks on this site who feel that these cars even though 50 plus years old should be run at full throttle all the time. I do not subscribe to that theory and I think if you do those 2 things and drive your car moderately without winding every gear out to the limit and cruise on the highway at 65 your car can live a long life. Enjoy your nice bug.

[heimlich]

You've got a nice car there. It looks really similar to the first one I had at 16 years old. It's the same color.
_________________
www.vwnos.com [email protected]
Classic Brands. Classic Quality.
Not all parts are made the same. NOS OE/OEM parts made mainly in West Germany, Early Germany, and Early Brazil are where VW produced the best quality parts and best fitting products.
5% Off your order with coupon code: 5%OFF
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[CoastalBug]

I forgot the best part!! I finally got all the necessary ORIGINAL parts to correct her steering wheel.

Before:

After:

_________________
Chris - 1968 Beetle Sedan, a book, and a lot of determination.

[heimlich]

Is that car a different color on the inside? The outside looks darker.
_________________
www.vwnos.com [email protected]
Classic Brands. Classic Quality.
Not all parts are made the same. NOS OE/OEM parts made mainly in West Germany, Early Germany, and Early Brazil are where VW produced the best quality parts and best fitting products.
5% Off your order with coupon code: 5%OFF
Restored Distributors Available (<--Click here)

[CoastalBug]

[heimlich]

I have a 68 in the same color. I'm trying to figure out why the outside of yours looks darker. I think there was a darker red as well.

Either way you have a nice car.
_________________
www.vwnos.com [email protected]
Classic Brands. Classic Quality.
Not all parts are made the same. NOS OE/OEM parts made mainly in West Germany, Early Germany, and Early Brazil are where VW produced the best quality parts and best fitting products.
5% Off your order with coupon code: 5%OFF
Restored Distributors Available (<--Click here)

[CoastalBug]