1974 Super Beetle Convertible

[djgpitcrew]

This car was a gift to my wife from her 94 year old dad. We had it shipped from the east coast to our home in northern Wisconsin. It starts and runs ok but needs a good tune up.

My father-in-law just past on to my wife a 1974 Super Convertible. In fair to good it runs but needs work. At the moment I am trying to get it running a little smoother. There are no vacuum lines running from the air cleaner to anywhere. I have searched for diagrams but none of them match the engine/carb/distributor configuration we have. Maybe I haven't dug deep enough yet but as a retired computer consultant my google search have been extensive. I'm hoping I can attach a photo of the engine compartment as it is today. But let me add these facts. The distributor has no vacuum advance (maybe centrifugal?). Just when I think I have ID the carb as a 34-PICT-3.... it turns out some things seem different on our carb compared to photo of others. I'm fairly sure it a 1600cc engine. Help would be greatly appreciated. New to VW world. Lots of mechanical experience and tools. But lots to learn. Apologies I may have upload this to an "event" while just trying to upload a photo to my gallery...Sorry!

[Tim Donahoe]

On the bottom half of your air cleaner, there is a thermostatically-controlled valve. Your can see the exterior of it as two small pipes coming out toward you as you're facing it. The pipe on the left goes, via a vacuum hose, to a small pipe, coming off the left side of your manifold, just under the carburetor (currently, this manifold pipe has a rubber or plastic cap on it).

The right-side pipe goes, via a vacuum hose, to that inverted cup sort of thing at the top of your air cleaner snout.

If your air cleaner thermostat is in working order, once you start the engine, vacuum will enter the thermo valve. With the engine cold, the valve will allow vacuum to enter the snout's flap diaphragm, causing the flap to open. An open flap will allow preheated air to enter your air cleaner. Gradually, as the engine warms, the thermostat closes off the vacuum to the snout, and the flap closes, thus allowing ambient air into your carburetor.

This operation helps to warm up the carburetor and fuel, and helps keep the carburetor from freezing up.

Now, also on the bottom half of your air cleaner, is a much larger pipe on the right. It's the first one you see while standing behind the car. In other words, the back of the air cleaner (the back of the engine is the part you see first, as you're standing behind the car looking at it). A hose is supposed to run from your charcoal filter (located in the upper region of your right wheel well) to this larger pipe. If you have no evap system--no charcoal filter--then cap off this pipe, as it resides under your air filter, so you don't want unfiltered air entering here.

Also, there is another large pipe on the right, but further forward (forward means front; the front of anything on a bug is always facing the front of the car). This last pipe connects, via a special bent breather hose section, to a short pipe on your oil filler spout.

You're also missing your preheater hose that runs from the bottom of the air cleaner spout to a stove pipe connection that runs through the right, back side of your engine tin. This conduit supplies warmed (pre heated) air to the snout, assuming your air cleaner thermostat is working, that is.

If your air cleaner thermostat isn't working, replace it before hooking up all these hoses, or just cap Them all off if you're not going to restore them.

The way to check if your air cleaner thermostat is working--once the smaller hoses are hooked up--is to look at a small black hinge pin on the snout, just under the inverted cup (diaphragm) housing. This hinge pin is about the diameter of a pencil. It has a line on it. When starting a cold engine, the line will go from horizontal to the vertical, indicating that the flap is going from closed to open. If the diaphragm is working, the hinge pin line will go back to the horizontal once the engine is fully warmed up on a warm day.

By the way, your car looks like a Sun Bug.

Tim
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Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[Tim Donahoe]

P.s. I also noticed that your choke wire appears to be perilously close to your throttle arm. This presents a problem, in that the wire's insulation can be chaffed by the throttle arm, causing a short. A short here can be very bad, so run the wire in front (remember front is front--toward the front of the car) of the carburetor, and make sure it has some extra insulation on it.

Your carburetor appears to be a 34 pict 3. A good carburetor, but the distributor you have is wrong for it. Get an SVDA 034 distributor, which is a combination vacuum and centrifugal advance unit.

Tim
_________________
Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[djgpitcrew]

Tim Donahoe

Thanks for the great feed back. I will make (add) the vacuum line changes you suggested and move the wire to the front of the carb. I thought the distributor wasn't right but.... ????

Oh the badge on the back only say Volkswagen and the Vin and other numbers seem to rule out the Sun Bug. Is there another indicator I could be looking for?

Wayne G... "the pit crew"

[Tim Donahoe]

If it's a 1974 and was originally painted gold, it's a Sun Bug.

However, your new pictures don't show the Lemmertz Sports Wheels that came with the Sun Bug.

Check to see if your horn button is slightly padded (not hard plastic), and does it have a black and silver Wolfsburg Crest in its center, as well as a soft, rubbery steering wheel? Also, do you have a dash with wood grain or rosewood covering?

Tim
_________________
Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[Tim Donahoe]

One more thing: it seems that the end of your air cleaner snout is blocked off with a clamp and some kind of material. Why?

If your air cleaner warm up flap closes, then you'll be closing off the air to your air cleaner.

Buy an Orange Bently Manual, as well as John Muir's "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive". Both will educate you about bugs.

Tim
_________________
Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[joey1320]

Sun Bug or not, that's a great looking vert.
Great info from Tim above.

Besides what was advised, I would recommend going through your braking system and maybe giving it a nice overhaul. The rubber hoses tend to collapse due to age and low quality.
_________________
**1971 Super Project
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[djgpitcrew]

Tim D. At this point I'm guessing that there have been some signification alterations / changes to this bug. It has a lot of emotional significant to my wife so my hope is to make it safe and driveable. Maybe the next generation will do it justice and bring it back to it's original condition. She enjoys driving it. And after 70 years I finally have a car to wrench on. The fact that I recognize most of the things in the engine compartment is comforting. In the mid sixties while in the military I rebuilt two VW engines. But the was nearly 50 years ago. Thanks again for your help.

[joey1320]

[djgpitcrew]

Tim D. At this point I'm guessing that there have been some signification alterations / changes to this bug. It has a lot of emotional significant to my wife so my hope is to make it safe and driveable. Maybe the next generation will do it justice and bring it back to it's original condition. She enjoys driving it. And after 70 years I finally have a car to wrench on. The fact that I recognize most of the things in the engine compartment is comforting. In the mid sixties while in the military I rebuilt two VW engines. But the was nearly 50 years ago. Thanks again for your help.

[heimlich]

Enjoy it and take care of it. Don't drive it through the salt.
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[old gh bug]

Nice vert i have a 77 model , I would check the tar boards a firmly fixed to the sides and in front of the fan they look a bit loose to me .You dont want any of this getting sucked into the fan as it will cause overheating and could seize the fan and engine .

[djgpitcrew]

Thanks to all who replied. Tim D. Ordered SVDA 034 distributor, news wires, new plugs. new coil. Hope all are as advertised for 1974 Super Beetle 1600cc. That stuff is on the way.

Now one more question (well maybe not) but I decided to replace the muffler as the one on it was slightly damaged (bent tail pipe riding lawn mower collision). Again I would like stock / original and I'm seeing several that are label (should fit). Anyone have a source and or part number.

Tim D. I have the Bentley Manual the other suggested manual is on the way.

Anyone willing to offer a good reliable parts source. That might also have tech support so I can get the exact parts I need. Everything for me will be mail order. We have two national chain store but not much expertise for Vintage VWs.

[heimlich]

What brand distributor did you order?
_________________
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)

[Tim Donahoe]

Hm? Where did you find an 034 SVDA? Well, even the new ones may be better than that one you have on it. But there's a guy here who refurbishes and sells restored 034's (Bosch). I'd have gone with Tasb (I think that's his screen name). But maybe you'll get lucky with the 034 clone.

If you can straighten your old muffler, do so. Many of the new ones are a bitch to fit correctly. The preheat kidneys don't line up correctly, etc.

I buy a lot of stuff from Wolfsburg West.

Tim
_________________
Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[djgpitcrew]

Apologies to everyone who has been answering. Things we're not lining up and making sense. Here is what today presented. The title going back 20 years says it is a 1974. The VIN number starts with 154 xxx. BUT the engine number from under the alternator mount. Starts with AE 939 xxx. Seeming to indicate it a 1973 engine. If I read the charts right.

So back to square one. I will be pulling the back seat tomorrow to check the chassis number there. The 154 VIN came from a plate in the trunk. Based on the tire mounting it is a Super Beetle. It was a convertible today I will be reconfirming that tomorrow (sense of humor helps in the midst of the confussion).

More to follow.... sorry again for all your efforts and suggestion.

Tim D. I guess I can't say for sure it was and 034. That's what started me revisiting the situation. I couldn't find a distributor with vacuum and centrifugal advance. So I settled on vacuum advance model as it was listed for a 1974 / 1600cc SB. Back to square one.

[Tim Donahoe]

You can also tell a 1973 and later Super Beetle because it has a round windshield. And all Super Beetles have the big McPherson struts in the front.

You need a combination vacuum/centrifugal advance for your engine. That is true if you have a 34 pict 3 carburetor on it. Look on the left side of the carburetor bowl. It should say if it's a 34 pict 3, or not; but judging from the size of the electro-magnetic cut-off valve on the left side of your carburetor (it looks like a small tin can, lying horizontally, with a wire attached to it) it does look like a 34 pict 3.

What was the brand and type of SVDA distributor you just ordered? Before ordering more parts, you might want to ask here for advice on where and what to buy. We don't get paid to say; we've simply been burned, and you can learn from our mistakes.

Tim
_________________
Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[Tim Donahoe]

P.s. Your vin should start with 134xxxxxxx. The number on the tunnel under the rear seat will tell all. Your engine may be a rebuild.

Tim
_________________
Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien

[heimlich]

Do let us know where you bought your parts and what brand. Some brands will need to be looked over before installing. Used ones can be hit or miss.
_________________
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)

[wcfvw69]