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macbones Samba Member
Joined: March 09, 2019 Posts: 15 Location: Los Angeles
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 7:47 am Post subject: Difference between 73 and 74 Thing? |
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I'm looking to buy my first Thing - I see 73 and 74 as the predominant years of Things for sale. I understand the 73 has the rear-view mirrors on the doors vs. the 74 has them mounted on the body. Outside of that, are there any other significant differences?
Thanks!
Pat
Last edited by macbones on Tue Jun 15, 2021 8:05 am; edited 1 time in total |
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TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12856 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 7:54 am Post subject: Re: Difference between 73 and 74 Thing? |
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Heat. ‘73s only had the gas heater while the ‘74s had heat exchangers & all the ducting, and sometimes the gas heater.
‘74s will also have the large air intake vents. _________________ Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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macbones Samba Member
Joined: March 09, 2019 Posts: 15 Location: Los Angeles
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 8:06 am Post subject: Re: Difference between 73 and 74 Thing? |
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TDCTDI wrote: |
Heat. ‘73s only had the gas heater while the ‘74s had heat exchangers & all the ducting, and sometimes the gas heater.
‘74s will also have the large air intake vents. |
Thanks! That's super helpful! Is it possible to retrofit a 73 with the heat exchangers/ducting? |
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TDCTDI Samba Advocatus Diaboli
Joined: August 31, 2013 Posts: 12856 Location: North Carolina
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 8:33 am Post subject: Re: Difference between 73 and 74 Thing? |
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Yes, but, unless the ‘73 is a stupid cheap deal, the acquisition & installation of all of those parts, from the fan shroud, to the heat exchangers, to all of the duct work would be more expensive than getting the ‘74.
The gas heater would be cheaper to get running, if it isn’t.
The ‘73s also don’t have the heater cable guide tubes. _________________ Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.
GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!
An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.
Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it. |
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macbones Samba Member
Joined: March 09, 2019 Posts: 15 Location: Los Angeles
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 9:04 am Post subject: Re: Difference between 73 and 74 Thing? |
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TDCTDI wrote: |
Yes, but, unless the ‘73 is a stupid cheap deal, the acquisition & installation of all of those parts, from the fan shroud, to the heat exchangers, to all of the duct work would be more expensive than getting the ‘74.
The gas heater would be cheaper to get running, if it isn’t.
The ‘73s also don’t have the heater cable guide tubes. |
Exactly the information I needed - thank you! |
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Dougster43 Samba Member
Joined: May 11, 2018 Posts: 183 Location: Texas
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2021 1:09 pm Post subject: Re: Difference between 73 and 74 Thing? |
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As mentioned above, the major visible difference between a 73 and 74 is the rear side air intakes. The 73 has a louver style intake and the 74 has more of a snorkel. See pictures below.
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74 Thing Samba Member
Joined: September 02, 2004 Posts: 7393
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Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2021 4:20 pm Post subject: Re: Difference between 73 and 74 Thing? |
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and gas heater on 73 vs heat exchangers on 74 |
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jakokombi Samba Member
Joined: August 15, 2010 Posts: 779 Location: Milwaukee
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Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2021 4:51 pm Post subject: Re: Difference between 73 and 74 Thing? |
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As mentioned above, 73 had no heat exchangers, it also had a different exhaust with 1 muffler on each side. _________________ 70 Sunroof Kombi
85 Motherfukinvanagon
73 Thing
72 Baja |
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macbones Samba Member
Joined: March 09, 2019 Posts: 15 Location: Los Angeles
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Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2021 9:42 pm Post subject: Re: Difference between 73 and 74 Thing? |
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jakokombi wrote: |
As mentioned above, 73 had no heat exchangers, it also had a different exhaust with 1 muffler on each side. |
Thanks! I'm hoping to install a hitch - just for a bike rack on the back. I was wondering how the exhaust might impact that. |
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Wildthings Samba Member
Joined: March 13, 2005 Posts: 50351
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Posted: Wed Jun 16, 2021 11:26 pm Post subject: Re: Difference between 73 and 74 Thing? |
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If you drive a lot of dirt roads the '73 engine will get way dustier than the '74 engine. I added the '74 muffs to my first '73 for this reason.
Also on my first '73 I added heater boxes to the exhaust so I had both gas and exhaust heat. This made the car pretty toasty down to about 20°F and tolerable to 0°F. |
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macbones Samba Member
Joined: March 09, 2019 Posts: 15 Location: Los Angeles
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Posted: Fri Jun 18, 2021 10:25 am Post subject: Re: Difference between 73 and 74 Thing? |
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Wildthings wrote: |
If you drive a lot of dirt roads the '73 engine will get way dustier than the '74 engine. I added the '74 muffs to my first '73 for this reason.
Also on my first '73 I added heater boxes to the exhaust so I had both gas and exhaust heat. This made the car pretty toasty down to about 20°F and tolerable to 0°F. |
Good to know - my (eventual) Thing will be a city driver (I'm in Los Angeles). I'll put that on my list of potential work to do on it though. |
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mondshine Samba Member
Joined: October 27, 2006 Posts: 2770 Location: The World's Motor Capital
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Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 5:32 am Post subject: Re: Difference between 73 and 74 Thing? |
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re: bike racks...
I always thought that the accessory spare tire carrier could be converted to a nice bike rack.
From the gallery:
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macbones Samba Member
Joined: March 09, 2019 Posts: 15 Location: Los Angeles
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Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 6:07 am Post subject: Re: Difference between 73 and 74 Thing? |
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mondshine wrote: |
re: bike racks...
I always thought that the accessory spare tire carrier could be converted to a nice bike rack.
From the gallery:
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Love that idea! My ebike weighs aboutr 75lbs so I was hoping to put on a sled-type rack that allows me to roll the bike onto it instead of lift it. |
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mondshine Samba Member
Joined: October 27, 2006 Posts: 2770 Location: The World's Motor Capital
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Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 6:40 am Post subject: Re: Difference between 73 and 74 Thing? |
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Maybe not such a great idea...
75 pounds is a lot!
Too heavy for that spare tire carrier. Even with a spare tire mounted (which weighs considerably less than 75 pounds) that carrier really stresses the sheet metal attachment points. Most people with those carriers "back up" the sheet metal with thick fender washers to avoid "Euripides / Eumenides".
I believe this could work for a lightweight bike, but not a 75 pounder.
Good luck, Mondshine |
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macbones Samba Member
Joined: March 09, 2019 Posts: 15 Location: Los Angeles
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Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 6:42 am Post subject: Re: Difference between 73 and 74 Thing? |
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mondshine wrote: |
Maybe not such a great idea...
75 pounds is a lot!
Too heavy for that spare tire carrier. Even with a spare tire mounted (which weighs considerably less than 75 pounds) that carrier really stresses the sheet metal attachment points. Most people with those carriers "back up" the sheet metal with thick fender washers to avoid "Euripides / Eumenides".
I believe this could work for a lightweight bike, but not a 75 pounder.
Good luck, Mondshine |
Thanks! Yes - I was planning on having some sort of heavier attachment made to the car for whatever hitch/rack system I put in place. |
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