What did you do to your Bug Today?

[Cusser]

[Chinaclipper]

This weekend, I replaced my rear shocks on the 1971 super. I have no idea how old they were, but I'm just gonna guess that they were more than a few years old.

The old ones weren't too difficult to remove. I had my trusty air tools.
The bolts and nuts were nasty. I replaced all the nuts and washers and cleaned up the bolts.
I also replaced a lens on my front fender. I REALLY want to keep the Hella lenses. Is there anyone out there who maybe has had any luck trying to re-stain or rejuvenate the faded Hella lenses?

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China Clippers Official 1971 Super Beetle Project!
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728089&highlight=

[Cusser]

This morning I replaced the right outer tie rod end on my 1971 Super. I also removed the control arms and had a shop press the old ones out, I tried using sockets and bench vise, but I felt I might break something or my body. I decided to use a shop to press these out rather than try a loaner tool or buying extractor kit.

Then I installed new urethane bushings into the arms using my bench vise, pretty straightforward. Hopefully tomorrow I'll re-install the control arms into the VW.
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1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[Rome]

[Cusser]

I got the front end completed on my 1971 Super today, with new bushings for control arm and sway bar; also new steering damper bushing and right tie rod end. Here: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...p;start=40
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1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[stagewex]

When I first bought my '73 Super in 2021 the seller told me it had a slow drain on the battery from (he thought) an aftermarket car alarm. I've left that alarm in place because it is the same one my Dad had in his bug in 1971 and it actually works. Plus I didn't let the "drain" bother me because in driving the car on a regular basis it never ran down the battery.
So in almost 4 years now that has happened 3 times when left and not started in say 4-5 weeks.
Over the years I've found and corrected most of the butt connectors and bad wiring with soldering and upgraded connectors. If there is a bad ground or connectors someplace I have not found it yet.
About two weeks ago the battery was close to dead in my driveway so the usual PITA taking the rear seat out and hooking up the charger for a few hours. A few friends on mine that own vintage and antique cars suggested what they have, a charger/maintainer that they installed in their engine compartments.
Of course they can pop the hood and look at them. For me install would be under the rear seat but I do/did want to see status. So on recommendation bought this NOCO that was highly recommended:

When I went to install the negative lug on the battery came off without loosening it. I had put some fog lights on the car a month earlier. The lug bolts were tight but kinda crushed into itself. So that may have been why the battery was running down in the first place, who knows? I used some aluminum from a pie plate to help make a tighter bite:

That worked fine.
I installed facing out so I could see & monitor battery status. In the future I might flip it around so only the power cable is shown. But I was doing this outside in the cold so for now and it being not in the way, this was fine:

Put the seat back in:

And hooked-up to house power, My 52 year old beetle Tesla:

It only took a few hours for the only indicator light to start blinking Green indicating 75-85% charged. But it took almost 24 hours for it to read straight and stay Green. This charger de-sulfates the battery and that is a long process for a little 2amp version. But it will correct or fix anything on the battery if possible. Which is kinda amazing.
Just went thru a period of ultra cold weather where I didn't drive or start the car in about 12 days. Other than the finial install and charging on Dec. 17th it wasn't till yesterday that I turned the key and she came to life with all lights and other stuff showing brightness. I'm short of 100% recommending yet as the loose lug may have been the problem in the first place and also the only other times the battery ran down was several weeks of not being used. But my friends with this same charger ($39.00 on Amazon) swear by it and leave it "on" all the time on their cars. I just hated taking that seat out and back on.

I maintain six (6) motorcycles and do not Winterize them. I start and ride them at least once a month if not too cold or snowbound and am a diehard Deltran Battery Tender owner. But this NOCO brand is a step higher in my limited opinion than the BT 12V battery charger/maintainers I use on the bikes, snowblower and generator battery's. I'll come back to this posting after the Winter to offer a final "you should get this" as my friends and a huge amount of positive reviews indicate. What my hope is to NOT use it (plug it in) at all to see if in fact it did correct and maintain the battery from the get-go.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=battery+charger+maintai..._sb_noss_1

[BIGMIKEY]

I use an earlier version of the NOCO Genius. Been using it each winter storage. Pretty happy with it.

Mike T
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BIGMIKEY

Deserter Series 1 project.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=787047&highlight=

1973 Beetle Driver, Marina Blue.

[woodscavenger]

Found some local bumpers with override bars. Doing a rehab project and will retrofit them to my slammed bug.
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1973 Beetle
55k miles.....sitting since 1988.
Complete re-do is in process.

[Long-roofs]

Drove '77 sunroof standard around the yard in fresh snow.

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Trying to keep poor cool

People are talking, the greatness is coming, going to be greater than great, so great, greater than anything ever.

--

[vamram]

In my '73 Super, I adjusted and bled the brakes, completely flushing out the old brake fluid. Gotta say, gravity bleeding really works, followed by the motive pressure bleeder for the finish. Didn't even need a pedal pusher to help.
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"Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition
to put moral chains upon their own appetites. -Edmund Burke
“If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.”
Stop Russian-Soviet Aggression!!

'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...languishing since 2022.
Click to view image
Save the Supers!!

[Tridentine]

Nada... waiting on parts. Darn thing will not start.

[jinx758]

@ Tridentine ...

Welcome !

Plz start a thread with symptoms & pics.
Lots of knowledge to help in here.

Best to you ...
stay safe

jinx
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" It's not valuable unless you learn something from an experience. " Henry Ford

It's not unlike the same difference ...

My Craigslist rescued 100 footer :
1971 Standard Bug
1776cc dual port
034 distributor
38mm EGAS Carburetor

[baldessariclan]

Replaced the battery in my bug yesterday. The old one was beginning to get a bit weak when starting the car, especially during our recent cold snap last week.

That old one, which had come with the car when I first bought it about 10+ years back, had a date sticker with "8/13" on it. So evidently lasted 11+ years -- impressive!
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1971 Standard Beetle — fairly stock / driver

baldessariclan -- often in error, never in doubt...

[azimech49]

Yesterday I installed bumpers, plate, headlights and foglights with their rock guards and the eyebrow

[BCE56]

Over the last few days (with some help from my friends):

Inst cluster to Speedo King for refurb and calibration.
Thanks, Steve!

Oil change, new valve cover gaskets, adjusted clutch and heat cables.
Set timing, new plugs, miscellaneous carb and choke adjustments.
Thanks, Carlos!

Significant improvement all around

On to the next fiasco!
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=BCE56=

'86 Syncro Tintop
EJ22, OBD II SmallCar adapter plate conversion

Side project: '69 Frankenbug now driven daily.

[jinx758]

So this really happened...

yesterday

Drove to grocery store (about 12miles) but filled up first.
No headlights afterwards.
Drove a half mile to O'Reilly's with parking ones only. Used flashlight & all fuses good. Used bent coat hanger to unscrew bezel - cassette/radio already removed last week.
The plastic "base" separated. Pushed it back together & lights came on.
Used 28ga bell wire to hold it. Got us home.
I always try & make do with bubble gum & duct tape.
Seems el cheapo switches will be $15 to $35 depending on who I order from.

O'Reilly's system shows oil pressure switch when typed in electrical for '71 bug.
No help whatsoever.


Always an adventure... stay safe

jinx
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" It's not valuable unless you learn something from an experience. " Henry Ford

It's not unlike the same difference ...

My Craigslist rescued 100 footer :
1971 Standard Bug
1776cc dual port
034 distributor
38mm EGAS Carburetor

[Cusser]

[jinx758]

Counter person typed in "1971 VW bug headlight switch" and clicked on "electrical component" ...
All that showed up was an oil pressure switch - nothing else :
no relays, fuses, emergency switch, TS switch, NADA.

No help at all.
That's when I pressed it together & used doorbell wire.
I didn't have my pack of zip ties.

Thanks anyway ... stay safe

jinx
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" It's not valuable unless you learn something from an experience. " Henry Ford

It's not unlike the same difference ...

My Craigslist rescued 100 footer :
1971 Standard Bug
1776cc dual port
034 distributor
38mm EGAS Carburetor

[BIGMIKEY]

[PiperFixer]

Installed a Maxi 2 Oil pump and filter. Blasted and painted a few tins.

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Orange 72 Super
A&P IA