Just bought a 72 Super

[r6kid]

Hey all! I have been a member of the forums for a few short years but made my first post the other day. I have been a huge Beetle fan all my life. My first car was a 72 SB. I remember crying the day I sold it. But I digress...
I just purchased another 72 the other week. Goin' back to my roots! This time around I have a little more money that I did when I was in my 20's and I want to do a mostly full mod on this project. Over the next year or two I intend to pull the body and and go crazy on the frame and body work. At some point (after a couple of good contracts overseas I'm sure) I will put some concentration on paint as well as a few new electric mods (gauges, stereo, electric windows) and a new engine. I'm looking at building a fuel injected 300hp, possibly turbo powerplant.

First things first though. I need to get her roadworthy! My first purchase was disk brake replacements. (They're in the mail) I also purchased LED headlights. I haven't found a vendor yet that makes LED tail lights but I'll worry about that when I buy flared wheel wheels and do some mods of my own. Other than a few minor adjustments with the clutch and accelerator and connecting the lights all I need to do is get some tires. I've looked around the forums and have suffered a brain bleed when reading all the posts about tire sizes. This will require a few more hours of research to find what I'm looking for.

Anyone know the best place to find a wiring diagram for a 72 SB? That could be helpful. At some point I'll most likely replace the entire harness and add the wiring needed for all the extra electric I'm gonna run. But in the meantime I'd like to get in there and start labeling.

[Relyt]

Wiring diagram for the 72 Super:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/wiring/bug_std_super_72.jpg

Sounds like you’re going nuts on this, have fun!
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69 Beetle - Daily driver
1600 SP (unknown history)
30 PICT 1 w/power circuit (Volkzbitz)
205T (Bill)

[r6kid]

[73SlowBug]

We need pics of your new vw
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Daily driven....Slowly.

[r6kid]

73SlowBug...I gotta figure out how to post pics.

Good thing though, I bought from a guy that specialized in air cooled VW. The car is virtually rust free. Pans and heater channels are in great shape. I dare not say this will be an "easy" project...but easier than others. LOL!

I'll get some pics as soon as I figure out how to post them.

[Relyt]

How to post pictures:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6
_________________
69 Beetle - Daily driver
1600 SP (unknown history)
30 PICT 1 w/power circuit (Volkzbitz)
205T (Bill)

[r6kid]

As you can see from the tires, I am ok with the front size, just need to flare the fenders. The rear I would like to go a little wider.

Anyone know of a good vendor that does LED taillights? I have LED headlights with integrated signals so I can shave off the top mount signals up front.

[73SlowBug]

You could put led bulbs in. I think that's the only choice for a 72, other than something custom, or swapping to earlier style rear fenders. Just my opinion, but I'd consider getting bumpers, they saved me once from what would have been some expensive damage. Instead, i only slightly bent the bumper, and was able to hammer it back out.
That car look like it's in very good shape. It will.br awesome with the flared fenders.
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Daily driven....Slowly.

[Rome]

Good going to realize the dream of your youth by buying another '72 Super. When you say you want to pull the body, will that be to repair/replace the floorpans which imply lots of rot holes? If the floors and rest of the frame are solid, as well as your heater channels which you did mention, then NOT removing the body would save alot of time and labor.

Flaring the fenders will work to cover the tires. But you can also buy fiberglass fenders that are wider than stock, and not have flares. Gives a closer-to-stock appearance than flares, though you have to mount your taillamps slightly farther out than stock to maintain visual balance.

When you install LED bulbs for all turn signals, the vastly lower resistance than incandescent bulbs will cause your blinker relay to flash very quickly, or not at all. There are some ways around this. Search theSamba for some solutions.

Your generator is incorrectly mounted. The two large terminals at the top where the wires are attached should point up to the right. 1/4 turn to the right. If you don't rotate the generator accordingly, there is a cooling vent attached to the round tin at the fan shroud. That vent must point downwards, which it does only when the gen is pointed as described. Here's a shot of a correctly oriented gen. The large terminals are covered by rubber boots.

[Buggeee]

I like it! Enjoy the build. Looks solid from the rocker panels in the picture.
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1966 Sportsmobile Camper https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0
72 Super Duper http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=672387
(adopted out) 61 Turkis Pile https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=728764

[r6kid]

Thanks all! Rome, I appreciate the advice. I'm most concerned about the LED relay. I'll get into that search.

[r6kid]

FINALLY!!! I got started on the disassembly! While on quarantine due to symptoms in late February (turned out negative but I'm not certain.) and being furloughed ever since I had to wait to get a shed built so I could clean out the garage. Now that the shed is up and garage is cleaned out (except for another motorcycle I bought for my wife to learn) I could finally start the process.

I started with removing the front fenders, wheels, drum brakes and suspension. I will be replacing them with adjustable strut housings, new struts and springs and upgrading to disk brakes. The new wheels and tires are in today. I bought chrome Empi 8 spoke. For the moment I am only going to install the new suspension and disks since the entire chassis will be torn down once the body is off.

Then I removed the running boards and rear fenders. Unfortunately I'm at a slight lull in the action because I'm waiting on parts I forgot to order. As soon as the front is ready to reassemble I'm removing the rear wheels and brakes, adjusting the torsion bars for lowered rear stance and then wheels back on to continue disassembly.

I'm referencing JBugs videos from their Youtube channel. These guys are not only a very dependable vendor for VW parts but their How-To videos are priceless!

Along the way so far I have only found minor pockets of rust that will require some patching. I believe I got really lucky. And, thankfully, I have a buddy up the road that knows VWs well and also knows how to weld. This guy will come in handy!

[r6kid]

I also ordered the fiberglass fenders. 2" wider in the front and 3" wider in the rear. Unfortunately they are slow in their processing due to the current situation and I won't see them for 6-8 weeks. I'm excited for these parts considering they don't cut out the holes to mount lights and stuff. The headlights are about the only thing plug and play. I am deleting the front top mounted turn signals since i bought integrated LED headlights (turn signals in the LED rings) and I will most likely go with tear drop tail lights which will only need a small hole drilled out for wiring and hardware. This will lend to a really clean look in the end!

[r6kid]

Started the day with door disassembly. Continued on to interior tear down and finished with dash removal. My daughter decided she wanted to come out and help. Not only did i make her do most of the work but she learned some stuff today. She learned tools and which one to use for the job. And she learned that cutting wires is pretty fun.

[r6kid]

Didn't do much today. Tore apart the trunk. Removed the gas tank and all the wiring mess and, well, everything from the trunk. Perhaps tomorrow I disassemble steering components.

I vacuumed the interior and found several small areas that will need some cutting and welding. Not too shabby all together.

Still waiting on an order or two from JBugs. But I did get the tires mounted and balanced. I'll post pics in the morning. It's obvious that whoever I purchased wheels from a few months ago sold me polished aluminum thinking they were chrome. When I find those emails... But the rear wheels I just bought (new) are chrome. Nice and shiny!

[r6kid]

Got the trunk done the other day. Just uploaded pics.

It would have been pretty silly of me to assume this car had no rust. I knew I'd find some. Overall, I'm rather pleased that it really isn't that much. So far the chassis looks good. There's some cutting and welding that will need to be done on the body to include two cut out areas in the engine compartment at the wheel wells. Not sure why these areas were cut out but I need them filled in. When I took the doors apart I found that I can see ground when I look down inside the driver's side door. I tried looking around for a vendor that sells VW doors and all I'm seeing is door skins. I have the one piece window that I would like to convert to vent window. Is that in the realm of possibilities without having to do modifications?

got the tires mounted and balanced. Those chrome Empi 8 spokes look nice!!!

[r6kid]

I have these items for sale and they are posted in the classifieds. I also have headlights, taillights and turn signals. The headlights and taillights are in good condition. The front turn signals aren't that great. But if anyone wants them, let me know.

[r6kid]

Oh yeah, I also have these front speaker kick panels.They're in the classifieds as well.

[Rome]

Before you sell the fenders, have you tried how the new 8-spokes and tires fit with the fenders on? I'd guess that they don't stick out nearly as far as the original sets, if at all. You only need to try the front and rear wheels and fenders on one side. It'd be a shame if you sold the fenders when they'd work out, even though you've ordered the wider ones.

What size tires did you buy? I just bought, but have not yet mounted some wider rear tires for my '77 Standard Beetle's 5.5" wheels; size 205/65 to replace 185/65.

[r6kid]

Hey Rome! Thanks for the reply.

I bought the same size tires that were on from the PO. I like the size. (195 front and 205 rear). So, mock up with stock fenders would be unnecessary. My intention was to mock up the brakes, suspension, new wheels and tires and wider fenders before I tore it all down. However, I wasn't fast enough on ordering the fenders. They'll take a few weeks. I need this car apart. There's an appointment with the media blaster and some weld repairs needed.

And again, I'm stood still until parts and tools come in. I was disassembling the steering components. Didn't get very far. I was able to get the steering damper out but the tierod ends won't budge. They've been sprayed with some penetrant for several days and they endured a pretty good "massage" from my 2 pound brass hammer. No joy! So, when the parts come in I'll go rent a pickle fork and finish the job all at once. I have to replace the ball joints anyway and I think a pickle fork will be easier with that job.

Slow and steady wins the race.