Welcome to the STF! Please Introduce Yourself and Your Ride

[smittysplace]

hello all!

new to the forum, and i am out of Arizona. i have owned 3 bugs and still have 2 of them. a 73 super that my dad bought new and was my first car, a 68 domus bug, and a 63 bug which i don't have anymore.

I'm trying to get all the help i can again as its been since 2013 when i put a hold on them when i started having kids. jeep is done now and i want to get back into my 73.

thanks for having me!

[AdminSteve]

Welcome to the STF!

AdminSteve

[Ralph_vw]

Hello & Welcome.

I'm excited you found ShopTalkForums. I'm totally into VW newcomers.

I remember what it was like when driving my first VW home. It had a funky sound... people were swerving all over the road to look back at my unusual car.. it ran horrid.. then OOOPS. My macho men friends were laughing at it, my mechanic had no clue about where to start and quickly learned that zillions of things were different on our bug compared to the manual. I was stumped and stuck.

Hours were spent trying to learn the basics. Wasted hours net surfing trying to figure out exactly what was wrong. I'd ask questions like "what's the funky cannister thingbop on the round metal thing with plastic on top going to the spark plugs." Instead of ignoring my post, about 1/3 of people would reply "buy a book and use the search key." Time was wasted at the wrong forum and internet sites.

Before owning VWs, I had motorcycles and hotrods that were all totally road worthy -- not projects. I didn't have any real friends into cars. I was out there on my own.

THEN one magical day, I ran into a guy named SPEEDY JIM. I didn't know it, Speedy's an "Aircooled" legend. He sent a warm note with a suggested reading list. I was then directed to this ShopTalkForums for newbies and his site for electrical.

I quickly learned some of the cool facts about aircooled (what we call classic vw engines)

• -They can be insured for about $30 per year
  -Nothing tows easier than a VW
  -VWs are the most economical
  -They're great investments
  -You can modify just about anything you like on them (speed, longevity, durability, racing)
  -Complete brake systems take an evening and cost about $150
  -There were a 21,500,000 (yes 21-1/2 million) made ceasing production in 2004
  -Complete power trains can be swapped in an afternoon with $50 worth of tools
  -Hitler and Porsche engineered the car so you can afford it and fix it.
  -1/10 the cars in Brazil are White Transporter Vans (or T2).. Much of Latin America still runs on Bugs.
  -You can store 4 VWs in a 2 car garage
  -Aircooled folks are the coolest in the car world

Since meeting Speedy and STF, I've owned countless Dubs (slang for VW). Your benefit from this is I've made just about every possible blunder and wasted tons of money going the wrong directions. It’s my commitment that you don't have to repeat my proven mistakes.

We're truely blessed that Doc (STF Owner) self-funds this forum for you. AdminSteve ensures the technical internet wheels keep turning. A team of moderators keep it on track. The members create the content. This is all done to insure you’re successful.

Please let me know how I can serve you.

Tim

P.S. Please make the commitment to post often and make STF your VW and Internet home.

[Ralph_vw]

Thanks for taking me and my Manx buggy in the group

[AdminSteve]

Welcome to the STF!

AdminSteve

[Timas]

Hello everyone.
I feel like I've introduced myself before, however this thread keeps popping up...so.

My name name is Tim.
I have a California edition 1977 vw bus.
I live in SLO county, so if anyone is from around my neck of the woods I would love to meet up for a beer
2.0 motor ( I hope to upgrade very soon)
Stock fuel injection ( I forget when D- jet ends and L- jet begins)
Stock everything...for now.
I've know enough basic stuff to know I don't know poop.
Hence, my heavy reliance on the good people of STF.
Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and allowing for all of us to have access to such a huge information source.

Thank you as well to all that have already helped me and to all those that help my butt in the future.

[3wdub]

Hello, It's been awhile. Last time on this site I owned a glass dunebuggy. Now I did something stupid- bought a 70's vw trike/ big daddy roth glass body. Hard wired and worn out. I'm doing this 25 years later? I had family and friends drive the dunebuggy, but the trike will be a different story. I'll get the wife to ride it mostly. She's enthused about it, she has more faith to get me through the learning curve in rusty/stubborn matter. This calls for the breaker bar!

[AdminSteve]

Welcome to the STF! and good luck with the Trike build.

AdminSteve

[Oncedid]

Hello, My name is Michael! I go by Oncedid and I have purchased a 1971 Karmann Ghia in 2022. During the last 10 months or so, I have busy re-doing this car from the ground up. All new running gear, ball joints, tie rod ends, shocks, bearings front and rear, new CV joints, you name it!. I am close to finishing up this project and I need some answers! I have installed 2 1/2 inch drop spindles on the front of my Ghia and am now getting ready to purchase my new tires and I need to know what size is best to run? I would like to keep the 155/80R15 on the rear, but am afraid they would rub on the front. Do you recommend dropping down to 145/80R15 on the front or smaller? Any answer would be helpful at this time. Thanks for reading and helping on this project!

[Piledriver]

Welcome to the asylum!

Try to find wheels with a higher "ET" (IE a 40 ET sucks tire 20mm in vs an ET20 given same width)

Sadly the drop spindles ~always move the wheel out 13mm per side... probably a "copy exactly" of the same issue from the original welded drop spindles, required on the welded ones but a silly move on new forgings.

The typical aftermarket wheels for a T1 tend to stick out too far, if still running steel I think the T3 rims had higher ET, but Ghia may have been same. (Ghias are tricky) May want to look at a different bolt pattern like 4x100 for better choices.

Also consider shorter rubber like 175/70r15 as Retroracing runs on their race Ghia.

[Oncedid]

Thanks for this information! I’ll spend more time looking at different offset of some wheels and more information on the tire size! Thanks Again! Soon to be On The Road Again!

[Piledriver]

If you have not done the brakes yet you can get rotors and even drums predrilled and studded for many bolt patterns.
Given the cost of the rotors/drums might be worth still doing.
Getting a machine shop to do it locally can be a huge pita depending on where you are.

Machinists do have a weakness for pizza and wings....

[Longtooth Jim]

Hello from Montana!!!
My introduction to VW's was first in the 80's with my best friends Baja bug. Fast forward 40 years and my special needs son and I have started a dune buggy project. I have plenty of experience working motorcycles and trucks so I know my way around a torque wrench ,however I have to admit an ignorance where the transaxle are concerned. The dune buggy has an Type 1 IRS transaxle on it but no engine. I have access to a 1977 spra-coupe engine and transaxle which is a 3 rib type 2 I believe. I'm reading through the forum but am wanting to know if it would be a better tranny for the buggy then the type 1 and what is needed to convert it gear wise. Thanks

[Ol'fogasaurus]

The first-generation VW bugs came with either swing axle trans while the next generation was IRS transaxles. Also the front beams are different, but the changeover mount can be fairly easy to do.

Because of that the rear of the early and later pans are somewhat different, mainly where the IRS axle joins the trans mount. There is a kit available to upgrade if you need/want the later setup.

What you are going to use the buggy for (street only, racing, off-road for example) depends on what I changes I would suggest doing when setting up the buggy.

I'm not sure on transmissions as I have changed over to bus trans (off-road only) which now... are very expensive but work good but they also require some pan updates.

Doing some searches might get you to things or you can ask questions on specifics.

Lee

[Oncedid]

I’m Michael and I go by Oncedid! I am in N.E.Alabama! I am close to finishing up my 71 Ghia Coupe! I Thank everyone fro the information needed on my question of wheels and tire size needed to prevent tire rub due to the drop spindles being installed on the front end!