1972 Beetle

[Stelth]

My son is planning to buy a 1972 Beetle from a friend of his. I tried to talk him out of it, but no dice. I know the friend, and he's a trustworthy kid.

So. Apparently will be a relatively stock 1600, recently rebuilt. Is 15w-40 the thing for these? 3000 mi. OCI? Also, I assume they need valve adjustments fairly often?

Any maintenance advice you can give me on this beast would be appreciated. I'd like to get things off on the right foot with this car.

 

[DB_Cooper]

15w40 would be fine. I think the original spec was 30w. Unless someone added an oil filter kit, the only filter on the engine is a screen on the bottom of the engine. no worries about the lack of filtration, those engine would go 100k miles+ if the oil was changed often.3000 miles would be a good idea for an OCI.

It may have an aftermarket (don't think they had a fuel filter, except a screen in the carb) fuel filter going to the carburetor..be sure and add/change the fuel filter..old gas tanks can be rusty.

Valve adjustments are a ritual of VW bug ownership. Get a copy of John Muir's book..very 1970's work of art and most essential if you service your VW. About $20 on Amazon

 

[4wheeldog]

Make sure the fuel line in the engine compartment is new and correct, or replace it. It used to be a usual thing to see those things burned or burning, almost always from a split fuel line near the carb. Just sayin'.

 

[sorce_code]

check the block number!!! this is very important, its located just below the fuel pump. VW engines have different head bolt sizes, 8 & 10 MM. the case savers are the threads that the head bolt go into on the block and on the old style cases these are junk, and will lead to replacing the motor. as for the valve adjustments, they are easy and after you do it once or twice you should be able to do it in about 10 to 15 min. and it's not a weekly event. they will on occasion leak oil, but with proper maintenance they are reliably. I live in So. Cal. so I see plenty of them. if you live in an area that requires smog, it's exempt!

 

[Tegger]

Originally Posted By: Stelth
Any maintenance advice you can give me on this beast would be appreciated.

Buy a manual.

Larry Johnson's Fix Your Volkswagen covers the 1972 MY, including the differences between 1971 and 1972. It seems that 1972 was the first year Beetles were designed for unleaded gas.

Cheap on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Fix-Your-Volkswage...your+volkswagen

Strangely enough, while Johnson gives the oil capacity for 1972 at 5.3 pints (7.4 for the 411), he neglects to give the oil grade and viscosity...

 

[NHGUY]

If its a Super Beetle,the strut front suspension is always a weak point.If its a regular Beetle,check the front suspension beam for rust and loose beam bushings/bearings.

 

[Mud]

become friends with thesamba.com forum and classifieds

I'm in the middle of a 73 standard beetle resto and it's been a great resource.

 

[rshaw125]

I had a GF in College who owned one. I hated the sight of it. Nothing but trouble, her as well.

 

[OneEyeJack]

All those bugs for all those years could not be all wrong. I've owned 11 bus's and today miss every one of them.

Find a real bug mechanic and follow his schedule.

 

[Bandito440]

He speaks the truth. That's a great book.

15w-40 is the way to go.

Originally Posted By: DB_Cooper
15w40 would be fine. I think the original spec was 30w. Unless someone added an oil filter kit, the only filter on the engine is a screen on the bottom of the engine. no worries about the lack of filtration, those engine would go 100k miles+ if the oil was changed often.3000 miles would be a good idea for an OCI.

It may have an aftermarket (don't think they had a fuel filter, except a screen in the carb) fuel filter going to the carburetor..be sure and add/change the fuel filter..old gas tanks can be rusty.

Valve adjustments are a ritual of VW bug ownership. Get a copy of John Muir's book..very 1970's work of art and most essential if you service your VW. About $20 on Amazon

 

[Nick1994]

I have a 70'. I run Rotella 15w40 in it (yes it's a diesel oil). Adjust valves to .006" and do a full tune up.

John Muir's book How to Keep Your VW Alive is a good book, but the best one, yes it's expensive, is the Bentley manual. (Not Bentley cars)

The best VW forum is The Samba

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/

 

[Stelth]

Excellent. Great stuff. Thanks to all.

 

[GatorJoe]

I had a '72 Super Beetle for 7 years until I was 25 years old. I didn't have an owners manual nor shop book, and no Internet then, but as I recall I put 10w30 and 10w40 in it, respectively. It ran great. I remember wiping the oil screen clean with each change.

Bought it for $700 in 1984 and sold it for $500 in 1991.

 

[JimPghPA]

Those air cooled engines were known for cracking cylinders, so if you hear something that sounds like a bad exhaust think cylinders instead of exhaust.

 

[crazyoildude]

for sure one of the most dangerous cars you can drive check for rust and try again to talk him out of this.
My opinion only but i would not let my kids drive or ride in one of those.

 

[djb]

Keep in mind that it's an air-cooled engine, and thermal expansion will increase the wear rate.

I don't know what the current approach is, but it used to be easy to address the wear. You just bought a 100K mile maintenance kit. It included new rings and minor associated parts (pistons, wrist pins and cylinders).

I see that the kit now costs about the same as buying a set of spark plugs at BMW list price.

 

[GatorJoe]

OP, since you're in California and I was (and still am) in Florida where a car heater may not be needed, and as mentioned the bug has an air-cooled engine, if the heater hoses aren't fitted anymore, you might consider covering the heater hose holes in the bottom engine compartment plate with some type of metal to keep the engine cool(er). I pop riveted aluminum Coke can material over the holes and the car never overheated.

Ps: and yes, the red Coke label was facing up for the cool effect.

 

[moving2]

Originally Posted By: crazyoildude
for sure one of the most dangerous cars you can drive check for rust and try again to talk him out of this.
My opinion only but i would not let my kids drive or ride in one of those.


Yes. See this.

 

[Whimsey]

I bought a new 1972 Beetle for $1995.00 It was fun to drive, a bit under powered, to say the least, but great in the snow. I changed the oil no later than 3,000 miles using Valvoline straight 20w and straight 30w. In the winter even with the 20w cold starting was "painful". I believe I adjusted the valves every 3,000 miles or every oil change basically. I had Muir's book, it was helpful and real fun reading. The downside to the '72 was the emission controls which hurt the drivability and fuel mileage. Also in the winter the heat and defroster were almost totally useless unless you ran it hard for quite a while before it started to warm up. That was a long time ago

.

Whimsey

 

[Gokhan]

LOL Apparently SAE 40 is the recommended viscosity for California temperatures and 15W-40 is too thin.

From the 1979 VW bug manual:

That said, a modern 20W-50 API SN oil is probably the best choice for this engine in California temperatures. It should give more wear protection and less oil consumption than 15W-40.