Survivor 71 Squareback Daily Driver?

[kaeferman]

This is where i found her.. fired right up the first time i hit the key.
Hello folks,
I have decided to introduce my recent adoption of a survivor 71 Squareback. I need to do a tuneup and fix a few things. It’s previous owner recently passed and the car was her father’s. It never left the family. I guess its a two owner car then, but is in remarkable shape and everything works mostly. Driver window needs love amd it has two nasty exhausr leaks. It drives slow and sounds like poop but really runs ok considering the leaking exhaust and that it has been sitting for years. But she kept it a garage and maintained the car well over the years as it feels like its totally original. I think the headliner is OG and has not amsingle tear!

This is where i found her.. fired right up the first time i hit the key.

Everything sounded pretty good at start up and i liked the dry engine compartment. I ran it down and back up a steep drive and it pulled fine.
First thing to do was plug exhaust leaks, since thhey can burn valves and the fuel hoses looked fairly recent. The muffler is toast but i thouht i d try some patch kit crap to get to drive it til i can do the muffler job. Later i adjusted the valves to .005 -thx Eric G for the pic! These pulleys look different than the beetle!!
I found a few exhaust valves tight, and pretty white looking plugs that were newly installed...that makes me worry about hot running...?
But the valve adjustment went well enough and its running smoother sounding with the leaks fixed.
Heres how that went:

Its not beautiful but itsmholding. The other leak was from around one of those large nuts threading into a pre heater riser box thing guess on top of the muffler. I taped it and used one of those hose hose clamps and its tight now.


The other bug my buddie bought for his wife.
More,pics soon
B

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83 Westfalia wbx “Idaho”
84 Tintop “Vanamos”
formerly
71 Squareback sold
70 Westfalia lost to fire by new owner
71 Super Beetle rolled/scrapped

[oxsign]

Looks good, nice score.
_________________
1971 Squareback, fully bagged, 1776.
Build thread here.....
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

[Bobnotch]

Definitely a nice score.
_________________
Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120

[KTPhil]

Normally you would try to tighten the big nuts holding the two smaller heat exchangers to the main muffler body, but as rusted as it appears, you might just twist them off if you tried!

The stock muffler is a pretty decent, low restriction, balanced system. You may end up needing to replace the small HEs, and definitely will need new copper crush rings there. These can be hard to find, so start looking now and await good deals so you are ready when it really comes apart.

There is a thin 46mm wrench needed. They occasionally come up in the classifieds, but are getting pricey. Maybe find someone local who could lend you theirs? More prep for that noisy, curse-filled day!

[gt1953]

As Phil mentioned start now sourcing out the new muffler as it will continue rot out and have it on hand when needed. Also I had to replaced my muffler and my memory says I got the copper ring in this stuff. See attached.
https://www.jbugs.com/product/341298003.html

Nice find for sure.
_________________
Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[KTPhil]

When the muffler is off, replace the stock muffler-to-head bolts with the smaller copper or brass style... much easier to wrench, and with a dab of anti-seize, will not rust in place like your present nuts have probably done!

[kaeferman]

Yes i am dreading the muffler swap. I once did a brazilian or mexican muffler job on my old Super Beetle and there was a fair amount of cussing and struggle. It didn t fit too good, but it was cheap enough for a broke high school kid
I looked around at type 3 mufflers and they re a little more dough. Im just hoping whatever i get will fit without ‘mods’. Somewhere i saw a Dansk. Will that fit ok?

I just bought a hardware kit for the van i m working on. I had cool copper nuts. will copper colored nuts be better somehow or do they all rust into a mess anyway after enough miles. Course i guess if you do it right you don t need to worry about getting back off.
Main thing i need to know is muffler swap doable with engine in the car?

Here’s more goodies the PO family gave us with the car: i have more NOS parts, but i got to go throuh it with my buddy who bought the bug, some of the stuff is his. who knew Luger made grease guns too?!

_________________
83 Westfalia wbx “Idaho”
84 Tintop “Vanamos”
formerly
71 Squareback sold
70 Westfalia lost to fire by new owner
71 Super Beetle rolled/scrapped

[kaeferman]

I was told the original owner who bought the car from the dealer was supposedly a mechanic and had a shop in FLA. I have a registration car in German that says the car was delivered to Miami.
I m grateful he horded up some spares that he kept in boxes in the trunk. Some of it is ‘pre-owned’ but there are a few NOS items in their orig boxes.

_________________
83 Westfalia wbx “Idaho”
84 Tintop “Vanamos”
formerly
71 Squareback sold
70 Westfalia lost to fire by new owner
71 Super Beetle rolled/scrapped

[gt1953]

Yep it is nice to have some unobtanium parts.
As far as swapping the muffler in the vehicle. Honestly it is easier with the engine on the stand. I like my skin on my hands. You had some rustosis on several of the nuts. The separation of the small pre heaters will require heat and lots of it. Do shop for the decent muffler components. I was shocked when started shopping for the muffler.
_________________
Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[old_man]

If you are asking if you could daily drive your SB; I see no reason not to. I drive mine on errands and to work all the time. Drives rather nicely on the highway, can cruise at almost 80mph, and soaks up bumps well. It's just not the best I have found in twistys.

Nice looking SB. I also had problems with those muffler nuts. I ended having to buy a complete set of 'service wrenches'. Not the ideal tool but it worked, I have since used that set for other things as well. I also had to buy a die from China to clean up those threads and a massive nut to weld onto the mini heat exchanger.

[Bobnotch]

Yup, spare parts are always a nice bonus.
I used to drive my Notch daily, from spring thru fall, but this year spring came so late (moved from winter directly to summer about 2 weeks ago), that I haven't had a chance to work on my own stuff.
_________________
Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120

[Emeraldlion]

Great find! You have the twin to mine. 71 shantung . You got a lot more goodies though. I am 3rd owner but previous took great care of it. Automatic and it had been sitting since '91.

[KTPhil]

With a little work and maintenance, these are fine DDs. I drove mine 75 miles a day round trip for more than 10 years (and bug before that, same drive), and loved it. Well, not so much in stop'n'go driving in 100+ heat wearing a suit... but I knew she would always get me home. Just expect a lot more monthly maintenance than your Civic or Corolla. Well worth it!

[kaeferman]

Oh i figured out why ya’ll were talking about the daily driver thing. My title has a ?... I guess i was more pondering the life this car had with the PO. Which one she drove more or what. I would see the cars around town for years, but i never got to meet the owner. I knew some folks that knew her and we even invited her out to one of our club’s cruise night, but she was not in good health by then and maybe didn t want anyone else to drive it for her!

Heck yeah i m driving it. Someone did the fuel lines recently, even under the car. Tires are holding air. They aren t great, but they have tread. Motor oil looked caramel-colored and didn’t smell of gas. I put a fire extinguisher in the floor board and run it around town. I got the tranny oil swapped out. It was a little foamy but had plenty in it. Always like to change it on anything i buy. some people forget about the gears needing new oil too.
Its doing good so far. These things were made to drive weren t they?!
B
_________________
83 Westfalia wbx “Idaho”
84 Tintop “Vanamos”
formerly
71 Squareback sold
70 Westfalia lost to fire by new owner
71 Super Beetle rolled/scrapped

[Bobnotch]

[kaeferman]

I finally got a moment to snap a few more pics of the new ride...
Here is some of the bad stuff about this car
Paint bubbling ominously on the front fenders

Puddy patching in the trunk doesn t make me happy...

Does the trunk rust look typical for type 3s. This is a florida car

There is also heater channel rust that i can see through the little vent by the floor up front.

B
_________________
83 Westfalia wbx “Idaho”
84 Tintop “Vanamos”
formerly
71 Squareback sold
70 Westfalia lost to fire by new owner
71 Super Beetle rolled/scrapped

[Clatter]

Woo..!

Sweet car,
But to fix that rust correctly will take some doing...!

I’d be deciding if you really want to do it right,
Or if you just want to rally the thing..


It’s fun to just drive it as a rusty beater,
And not have to worry,
But,
Once you drive that car in the rain and get it wet,
It will soak up water like a sponge...

Maybe time to start looking for a few patch pieces?

Last year’s Kelly Park show I had a set of really really nice dry/perfect heater channels,
And basically gave them away to keep from hauling them home.
So,
Parts are out there,
But you’re going to have to sleuth/dig,
Because they all seem to rust in the same places.
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Bus Motor Build

I have excellent news for the world...
There is no such thing as patina.
It does not exist!

[Bobnotch]

Looks like standard equipment rust to me.
_________________
Bob 65 Notch S with Sunroof
71 Notch ...aka Krunchy; build pics here;
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=249390 -been busy working
64 T-34 Ghia...aka Wolfie, under construction... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=412120

[gt1953]

Well it is a North Carolina east coast car so some rustosis will happen.
The muffler is an interesting job to do. yes the type3 mufflers are $$. Watch the want adds daily they show up or you can pay up. When you go to replace it let us know as a small couple of items are needed for sure.
_________________
Volkswagen: We tune what we drive.
Numbers Matching VW's are getting harder to find. Source out the most Stock vehicle and keep that way. You will be glad you did.

72 type 1
72 Squareback
({59 Euro bug, 62, 63, 67, 68, 69, 73 type ones 68 & 69 type two, 68 Ghia all sold})

[kaeferman]

I found a good home for the car recently with a gentleman who once owned a ‘73 back in the day and lives in our county so i may get to see the car again occasionally. I am pretty busy with two vanagons right now and couldn t find much time for the Squareback. I was tarping it in my driveway and its new owner has dry storage for the car and seems really excited to have a vw again.
B
_________________
83 Westfalia wbx “Idaho”
84 Tintop “Vanamos”
formerly
71 Squareback sold
70 Westfalia lost to fire by new owner
71 Super Beetle rolled/scrapped