Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2016 i VolksWorld

“I fitted the additional oil cooler as I like to go fast!” Paul Bacon, 1973 1300 Paul is a member of the Leicestershire and Warwickshire Volkswagen Owners’ Club, and bought his 1973 Beetle brand new when he was 26-years old. Now 69, both Paul and the car are in remarkably well preserved condition! Paul remembers fondly his father asking him when he bought the Beetle, “What do you want to buy that blooming thing for?” To which he replied, “Well, I don’t know dad, maybe it’s because I like ’em. I’ve always liked ‘em and, 43 years later, I still like ’em!” The car was purchased from Foleshill Garage in Coventry for £1,060, with a trade-in on Paul’s old Ford Cortina. Having clocked up just 90,000 miles since, the Beetle…

Let’s get something straight before we go any further. Neither of these VWs are Type 3s! The misconception could be down to the fact the red car uses the same ‘pancake’ engine as a Type 3. This was a necessity for the new Variant 1600 as it needed a flat engine so the loading height was lower, but the Variant 1600 was nothing more than an old design updated to dupe buyers into thinking they would be ahead of whatever the Brazilian equivalent to the Joneses is. The contemporary Type 4 headlights and new front end looked modern but, from the windscreen back, VW didn’t bother changing a thing. The beige car here, on the other hand, is a very different story. At its launch, the Brasilia was modern, brilliantly…

If there’s one thing I’ll take away from this year’s show it’s how amazing all the cars were. And, if there’s a second thing, it’s how much effort everyone makes to be there / have their car at our show. You know as well as I do that it’s the people that make our scene what it is. I’m not being schmaltzy here, but it’s true. It’s the people involved in our hobby who build the cars, the people who dedicate their working lives to restoring them, making and selling parts for them and for getting off their arses and driving to shows up and down the country in them. Without everyone who comes to the show, who is into the show and understands what it is, there would be…

OWNER INFO NAME: Jon Robinson-Pratt OCCUPATION: Photographer CAR: ’64 Bug WORK THIS MONTH: New hub seals, re-detail wheels; remove louvred firewall; re-engineer rear air ride set up In my last report, did I say something along the lines of “this whole air ride thing being a lot simpler than I originally thought?” Well, in theory it may be, but I can now categorically say that in practise it most certainly is not! It’s safe to say in the process of sorting my car out, I have had my eyes opened somewhat on the topic of safe suspension practise. So let’s go back a few steps. As with all project reports, I submit a handful of descriptive photos to go with the text. Mere minutes after submitting the shots for the…

“Without the car plant that is its heart, it would be nothing” Wolfsburg. Mention the name to any non-Volkswagen enthusiast and they’ll probably look blankly at you. But say it to anyone who appreciates certain air-cooled German classics and eyes will start to gleam and pulses race. For Wolfsburg is the city that gave birth to the Beetle, and is still as closely linked with it as Detroit is with American muscle cars, and Coventry once was with the British motor industry. Wolfsburg is Volkswagen Central. It may only be the 61st biggest city in Germany (with around 122,000 inhabitants) and they may, on average, earn more than anybody in the country (almost £70,000 per capita) but, without the car plant that is its heart, it would be nothing. Because,…

“If anyone arrived as a visitor, they left as part of the Vee Dub Family” What is Vee Dub Family? We’re an online facebook page whose members share a passion for Volkswagens. You don’t need to be an owner to join, everyone is welcome. Why did we have such an awesome turnout at our November meet? That’s easy, it’s all down to the Family members. Without great members we wouldn’t have anything. Securing a good venue helps, of course, and a central location is key. The Family was started online, in the Bristol area, over a year ago, so it seemed right to find somewhere local that the original members could have a good convoy to. But we also wanted it to be somewhere newer members outside of Bristol would…

Riechert twin carb kit Chris Grocott, via email My car is a 1965 Beetle with its original 1200, 40bhp, single-port engine. With its great history and low mileage, I chose to do just a sympathetic restoration and was keen to restrict any improvements to accessories that an enthusiastic owner could have got hold of back in the day. I originally bought a Judson supercharger, but sold it before fitting it as I’d started to read about the many twin carburettor kits available in the mid-’60s, including Okrasa, Theo Decker, Express, Vanguard etc. I then read about the bolt-on kits developed by Bernd Riechert in Germany in the 1960s that are still offered by him today. I emailed the company and got a response from Bernd himself, who forwarded the options…

As with any VolksWorld feature, the story about to unfold before you is about way more than just the car itself, it’s about the owner, the people involved in the restoration and the journey they all went on in order to complete it. In the case of this Anthracite ’63, there are three main protaganists we need to introduce. The first is Julian Robinson, who found the car in the first instance. Julian’s is a name that will be familiar to some VolksWorld readers as he’s the man behind the VW Parts Emporium and www.vwbug.co.uk. The second man of the hour is Hayden Watson, main man at Bedfordshire-based VW restoration shop, PanelKraft, who, as you’ll no doubt remember, built the VolksWorld 2014 Best of Show-winning blue ’67 Squareback belonging to…

Pick up any magazine, trawl ‘Instabrag’ or talk to somebody in a field of VWs and the topic of lowered cars and narrowed beams will crop up sooner of later. If you’re new to the air-cooled scene and are confused by all this, we’re here to explain. After all, you can either be a fool for a minute or a fool for a lifetime. How does a VW work? Air-cooled Beetles (with the exception of MacPherson strut-equipped 1302 / 1303 models), Karmann Ghias and Type 2 Buses all left the factory equipped with torsion beam front suspension. Though the principal is similar, to avoid technical overload we’ll ignore Type 3s for now. In the VW design, trailing arms act upon two transverse packs of spring steel bars (or leaf packs),…

“The entire build has been a bit of an organic process” OWNER INFO NAME: James Peene JOB: Editor CAR: ’60 Beetle WORK THIS MONTH: Finally fit the 4-inch narrowed beam and crack on with the conversion to 12V electrics With the deadline to have my car at The VolksWorld Show missed and but a distant memory, work continues on the ’60 at a slightly more leisurely pace. As señor Gosling put it, what’s the point in rushing it and getting your car out there not looking how you want it? A wise man, and good with his spanners, too. Waiting for parts to arrive has meant a bit of hopping around from one job to another, so the build has been a bit of an organic process. As I reported…

JOB INFO TOOLS NEEDED: Wire strippers / crimpers Screwdrivers, flat and cross head 8, 13mm spanners MATERIALS NEEDED: Selection of electrical terminals, 12V bulbs, cable ties TIME TAKEN: 5-7 hours COST DIY: £100-£150 PRO: approx. £250-£350 parts and labour Last month, we showed you how to replace the dynamo on your Beetle. For us, that was a precursor to a full six to 12V conversion on our Swedish import ‘67. There are multiple benefits to running 12V electrics, not least better lighting and starting. There is also the better availability of replacement components. In short, unless you are a diehard for originality, there really is no logical reason not to do it. Please note though, there are numerous small detail changes for every year of Beetle production, so treat this…

If you read last month’s issue you’ll be familiar with Ben Laughton and his penchant for rescuing the unrescuable. Well, he’s been at it again… Originally discovered way back in 2008 in Sweden, some local Bus pervs considered using a helicopter to rescue this Barndoor, stuck miles from the road in the middle of a bog. Then came to their senses. No one thought it saveable, so it was left to rot into the bog. Waiting for Ben… It was quite the local landmark for walkers, but the landowner liked the idea of a crazy English guy saving it, so he agreed to let Ben have it, if he came and got it. The main reason for saving this old tub is that it’s eight digits newer than Ben’s Panel…

12V semaphores From: www.vwheritage.com  Price: £91.16 (sale price) If you’re lucky enough to own an early (pre-’61) VW, then you’ll have semaphore indicators (otherwise known as trafficators). Over time, these can become lazy and, if you’re going to upgrade from six to 12V electrics, these little beauties from VW Heritage are just the ticket. At the time of going to press, they were on offer, too Carb rebuild kit From: www.justkampers.com  Price: £13.50 Got a dirty or leaky carb in need of some love? This comprehensive rebuild kit is what you need. It’s suitable for 28 / 30 / 31 / 34 PICT carburettors, as fitted to 1200cc-1600cc air-cooled engines, and contains everything you need to breathe new life into yours Short IDA stacks…

Mike Stanley, 1972 1303 Mike’s 1303 is the first Volkswagen he has owned, having bought it 15 months ago. “We’ve owned other older classic cars in the past, the last being a 1946 Humber Hawk,” explains Mike. “The Hawk was a nice car, but very heavy to drive, so I wanted something lighter and something I could buy replacement parts for fairly cheaply and easily – something we certainly couldn’t do for the Humber! I spotted this Beetle for sale on eBay, up near Crewe in Cheshire. I had a good chat with the vendor on the telephone, agreed a price, then took the train up to Crewe, did the deal and drove the car back to our home in the Midlands.” Mike says he is still getting used to…

It’s just an Oval thing. Ever since clapping eyes on Chris Jory’s car in the third ever issue of VolksWorld I have been smitten. There’s something about the way the swage line runs along the side, swoops around the shapely decklid and continues back along the other side. The rear window, pope’s nose, rear lights, dashboard, it all just works for me. So when I started on VolksWorld in 1995 I made it my mission to own one. Back then I was concerned about parts availability, six volts, reliability, all that boring stuff, but I was convinced – easily – and so started looking for one earnestly. I eventually bought a Polar Silver Blue sunroof ’56 from a good friend, but it wasn’t the right car for me, so when…

I’ve been around VWs for long enough now to know when something a bit special comes along, and Gazz Priest’s 1303 is definitely that. I’m not even going to start to describe the heroic restoration work that went into this car, other than to repeat Gazz’s description of the Helios Gold ’74 Big Beetle he bought for £250 through VZi as “an absolute basket case”. What I will say is he did all the work himself in a single car garage at home, including teaching himself to weld, fabricate, lead load, body prep and paint. That’s right, he did everything, including painting it himself in 2-pack in the very garage you see in these pictures. If you want the gory details, set aside a couple of hours and read the…

I’ve driven a couple of low mileage Beetles before and this is just as good. The engine pulls well enough, and the gears are still really positive. I love the suspension set upas it doesn’t look like an old buffer’s car, yet I can easily go over speed bumps. The interior is a very pleasant place to be. I love the fact the seats and door panels are the originals, while the new headliner and carpet make it feel really nice around me. It’s just gone through its second MoT, and I calculated the mileage. I’ve done 4,500 miles since The VolksWorldShow last year without any issues. That’s exactly what I wanted from this car – a useable car I can get in and drive wherever, whenever. This car is…